Friday, July 31, 2009

Signs there might be something wrong with your children's ministry

If something like this happens in your church, you may want to reassess your approach to children's ministry. This seems like an extreme attempt to avoid going somewhere he didn't like.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Little-known, but often-experienced laws of nature


1. Law of Mechanical Repair - After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to use the bathroom.

2. Law of Gravity - Any tool, nut, bolt, or screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

3. Law of Probability - The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.

4. Law of Random Numbers - If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone always answers.

5. Law of the Alibi - If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire.

6. Variation Law - If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now (works every time).

7. Law of the Bath - When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.

8. Law of Close Encounters - The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

9. Law of the Result - When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.

10. Law of Biomechanics - The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

11. Law of the Theater and Hockey Arena - At any event, the people whose seats are farthest from the aisle arrive last, and they are the ones who will leave their seats several times to go for food, drink, or the bathroom and who leave early before the end of the performance or the game is over.

Those in the aisle seats come early, never move once, have long gangly legs or big bellies, and stay to the bitter end of the performance and beyond. The aisle people also are very surly folk.

12. The Starbucks Law - As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something that will last until the coffee is cold.

13. Murphy's Law of Lockers - If there are only two people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.

14. Law of Physical Surfaces - The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face down on a floor covering are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet/rug.

15. Law of Logical Argument - Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.

16. Brown's Law of Physical Appearance - If the clothes fit, they're ugly.

17. Oliver's Law of Public Speaking - A closed mouth gathers no feet.

18. Wilson's Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy - As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it.

19. Doctors' Law - If you don't feel well and make an appointment to go to the doctor, by the time you get there you'll feel better. Don't make an appointment and you'll stay sick.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

This a great piece of worship satire



Sadly, there is enough truth in it to make it sting: The mark of any great satire.

Friday, July 24, 2009

I'm sure this says something about me



Exactly what it says, I am not sure. But I love this style of music. The older I get the more I realize how much I like the New Wave Music of the late 1970s and the 1980s.


Saturday, July 18, 2009

I wish I were as graceful


As the guy in the picture. I feel like a juggler with too many balls in the air, and someone just threw in a chainsaw for fun. But that, in so many ways, is the way life is.

God is preparing new things for us, and me, all the time. The co-interim pastor title here in Dundee is the latest new thing, and one that I look forward to. This is a wonderful congregation and I count it as a privilege to help shepherd them through this transitional period. It will probably be a little bumpy, as people process the loss of the Mullens and begin praying, fasting and looking forward to who God will bring to lead this church in the coming decade. But God is faithful, and he will be here with us as we step out on faith like the juggler in the picture. The amazing thing is that he is our safety net when we are pursuing the Kingdom. As I think about this, the lyrics to an old hymn come to mind:

"My Hope is Built on Nothing Less"
by Edward Mote, 1797-1874

1. My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

2. When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

3. His oath, His covenant, and blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When every earthly prop gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

4. When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found,
Clothed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne!
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

That is my prayer during this season of transition. Let our hope be only in the one who can deliver us. Let it not be in our strength, wisdom, or desires. Let it be in the God who loves us.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Celebrating what God has done

Come and see what God has done,
his awesome deeds for humankind! He turned the sea into dry land,
they passed through the waters on foot-
come, let us rejoice in him.

— Psalm 66:5-6




Our church is entering a new phase of life. The founding pastor is leaving and taking a church in Deltona, Florida for reasons that escape me. Not him leaving, but why Florida? That is someplace that God would have to use the modern-day equivalent of a burning bush to make it clear to me that he wanted me to go there. Be that as it may, here we are moving forward and seeing new things.


But during the next few weeks we will have the opportunity to review what God has done in our congregation. We will have the time to offer praise for lives changed, for prayers answered, for ministry calls that have been extended all during Sam and Ann's ministry. It is an opportunity that we need to avail ourselves of. It will be part of the celebration that will accompany the sadness of seeing our only shepherd move on to a new flock. God does wonderful things through different people with different skill sets. Sam has a great pastoral skill set. I trust that the person God has in mind for us has the skill set that we need as we enter the next decade of our church's existence


But as we look forward, we need to take a moment to take in the grandeur of what God has already done. Not that we have arrived, or that we are "all that," but to reassure ourselves that the God who got us here, is with us now, and will be with us as we go forward. The Lord will continue to walk with those who worship Him and follow his commandments. Now is a good time for us to remind ourselves of how he has been faithful as we embark on a new phase of life. We would be wise to heed the command given to Joshua following the death of Moses, the only true leader Israel had ever known. Joshua 1:9 says:

"I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989, S. Jos 1:9

The Message makes it a little more emphatic: "Haven’t I commanded you? Strength! Courage! Don’t be timid; don’t get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take.”

Peterson, Eugene H.: The Message : The Bible in Contemporary Language. Colorado Springs, Colo. : NavPress, 2002, S. Jos 1:8-9


Let the song in the clip above play as you reflect on this thought. Then let us share the stories of what God has done for us in our lives, in our church, and what we pray that he will do for us in the future.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Contest

Who will be the 20,000th visitor to the blog? We are perched on the verge of the milestone. There is no prize, other than bragging rights. Hurry and you can be the winner.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Being light in the darkness


This has been a week where the Lord has been challenging me on this very issue. How can I be light in darkness? There is so much darkness in the world, and it swirls around us unnoticed most of the time. But occasionally it rears its ugly head and announces its presence, and we are forced to deal with it.

This past weekend my neighbor's son died from a drug overdose. He was a young man with problems, but he seemed, at least from my perspective, to be making some headway in dealing with them. But the darkness that surrounded him eventually consumed him, and his grief-stricken family is left wondering what they could have done to prevent this.

Deb and I have spent some time with the family since his death, and it is hard. Drug abuse is so pervasive in our society that it is sickening. Prescription drugs, street drugs, and home-grown and home-made drugs are readily available and are evidently very affordable. I have to confess that I am at a loss as to what to do about this scourge.

Pray for me as I seek God's face on how I can be light in this darkness. What does my candle look like in my neighborhood. With this death, I have heard from others about their neighbors who have children hooked on drugs and bouncing in and out of rehab. I always knew it was there, but it has really hit home for me. We (I) need to be a light to show the love and truth of Christ in this pervasive darkness. I'm just not sure what God is asking me to do. I appreciate your prayers.

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Happy Independence Day

One of my favorites from way back in the day.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

A Historic moment for the Church of the Nazarene

Eugenio Duarte, regional director for Africa and a native of the island of Brava in the Cape Verde Islands, became the first citizen from outside the USA/Canada Region to be elected general superintendent on Tuesday. He is the first General Superintendent who is not from North America.

His acceptance speech is in the clip below:



This is a significant moment in the life of our church. Praise be to God.

Want to keep up with the news at General Assembly 2009?



That is the TWUB from the unofficial site.

Monday, June 29, 2009

For all you Trekkies out there

Thanks to the Good Clean Funnies List for this next bit of Blog Fodder.

Things That Never Happened On Star Trek

1. The Enterprise runs into a mysterious energy field of a type it has encountered several times before.

2. The Enterprise visits a remote outpost of scientists, who are all perfectly all right.

3. Some of the crew visit the holodeck, and it works properly.

4. The crew of the Enterprise discover a totally new life-form, which later turns out to be a rather well-known old life form wearing a funny hat.

5. The crew of the Enterprise are struck by a mysterious plague, for which the only cure can be found in the well-stocked Enterprise sick-bay.

6. The Captain has to make a difficult decision about a less advanced people which is made a great deal easier by the Starfleet Prime Directive.

7. The Enterprise successfully ferries an alien VIP from one place to another without serious incident.

8. An enigmatic being composed of pure energy attempts to interface to the Enterprise's computer, only to find out that it has forgotten to bring the right leads.

9. A power surge on the Bridge is rapidly and correctly diagnosed as a faulty capacitor by the highly-trained and competent engineering staff.

10. The Enterprise is captured by a vastly superior alien intelligence which does not put them on trial.

11. The Enterprise is captured by a vastly inferior alien intelligence which they easily pacify by offering it some chocolate.

12. The Enterprise visits an earth-type planet called "Paradise" where everyone is happy all of the time. However, everything is soon revealed to be exactly what it seems.

13. A major Starfleet emergency breaks out near the Enterprise, but fortunately some other ships in the area are able to deal with it to everyone's satisfaction.

14. The Enterprise is involved in a bizarre time-warp experience which is in some way unconnected with the Late 20th Century.

15. Kirk (or Riker) falls in love with a woman on a planet he visits, and isn't tragically separated from her at the nd of the episode.

16. Counselor Troi states something other than the blindingly obvious.

17. The warp engines start going haywire, but seem to sort themselves out after a while without any intervention from boy genius Wesley Crusher.

18. Spock (or Data) is fired from his high-ranking position for not being able to understand the most basic nuances of one in three sentences that anyone says to him.

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Sometimes you just have to say "Wow"

Check out this a Capella version of Africa. I was never a fan of the Toto version of the song, but this is just an amazing rendition.

Put your hands together



Click on the link and watch the new video from Jars of Clay. Imagine how the church and world would be different if we all had 2 hands doing the same thing for the Kingdom of God.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Is there room at the table?


The Church of the Nazarene, like so many denominations is struggling to deal with the fact that the world has changed in the past half-century, and the truisms that applied then are no longer applicable in all situations.

This White Paper was written by a group of Nazarene pastors and theologians to help the church start to have a constructive dialogue on how to deal with the changing world around us. There have been several comments made by church leaders that are condemning of the Emerging Church. What is disturbing is that people seem to be unwilling to address the elephant in the room, which is that the ground has shifted under our feet.

If we aren't willing to realize that the people we are trying to reach have dramatically different thought processes than their predecessors, we are dooming ourselves to irrelevance, IMHO.

Take some time to read the white paper please. I'll post more on this next week.




White Paper


Here is a link to the White Paper for you.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Measuring effectiveness


This article has some interesting thoughts on how we measure the effectiveness of a congregation. Traditionally, measurement has focused on attendance and giving. Those are still useful numbers but they can be misleading in some instances. The author is advocating the idea that we should try to measure more qualitative things, such as congregational health, rather than quantitative this such as attendance and giving.

I have been a part of two churches that have had significant additions to their congregational health by subtracting numbers from their attendance. Mercifully, I was not part of the congregations when this happened, but I have enough contact to know what was going on. In one instance, the folks that left were impediments to growth. After they were gone, the church enjoyed a significant period of growth with new converts and personal spiritual development in the life of the congregants. Previously, that development was stunted because of the constant turmoil that had been present. The Kingdom advanced, and the church grew in numbers and faith in their absence.

My caution here is to not just focus on attendance and giving when assessing a church. Nor should we use our spiritual development for our laziness in sharing the Gospel. We can engage in navel-gazing and so focus on our own "Jesus and Me" conversations that we do not share the Good News with a dying world. It is a dynamic balance between these measurements, and one that is often difficult express quantitatively. But that balance is where ministry happens, and where lives are changed. Jesus had big crowds during his ministry, and at his death, it was a pretty small group there with him. But we don't judge his effectiveness based on the numbers at the end of his ministry. We judge it based on the change in the lives of his followers and the way they changed the world. We would be well-served to follow that model.

Monday, June 15, 2009

What on earth?

This is not a SNL spoof folks. Click on the video below to watch the commercial.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

My theme for Sunday

Click on the link below and enjoy. I love the song. The pictures are so-so.