Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Shack

I have just finished a wonderful, thought provoking, and moving book called "The Shack" by William P. Young. Once I started to get into it, I couldn't put it down! It is a thriller, a mystery, an emotional and spiritual roller coaster, that caused you to search yourself as the main character is going through his own personal search.

Oddly, the book is not without some controversy. Having read the book, I can't see what the fuss is all about. It helped me grasp some "theological" concepts while it made think about others. Christianity Today has done several articles that might be worth a read:
1. Reading in Good Faith
2. Fiction for the Faith-Starved
3. The Trinity: So What?

There may be some things that some Christian readers will find disturbing, especially theologically. You can get a hint of that from reading a few of the reviews on Amazon.com. But for me, the book was more about hope and love, forgiveness and healing, and about an intimate relationship with an Almighty God.

So I encourage you to get a copy, read the above articles, even the Amazon reviews, and then get settled in a favorite reading place, hold your cup of whatever in one hand, the book in another, and begin to be touched and moved.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Pastor Dude and the Amazing VBS

It is 11:30 PM as I write this. My body is exhausted but my mind is racing. It has been a long day and a long week but what a great "long" it has been!

We had Vacation Bible School this week, during the day. There was an average of 161 children that came. They sang, they danced, the painted, the listened, and they learned. I talked to quite a few, shook hands with most, and, this evening after our closing, I received hugs from many.

Each day I told jokes. Each day they booed at my jokes. It became a game, each joke silly and down right poor, each time receiving a thumbs down. But always with smiles. I was always greeted with, "Pastor Dude!" We had a gnarly good time together!

This evening was our closing. We spent a lot of money on this evening festivities, along with the overall VBS program. I admit we were worried that not many would show this evening. We had a beach bash, with a free cookout, bouncy obstacle course and a bouncy house, or whatever they are called. We had 300 people show up. It was fantastic.

Several people from the church said, with understandable excitement in their voices, how successful the evening was, having this many people show up. And yes, it was exciting to see so many turn out and have a great time. But that wasn't how I measured our success this evening. I thought the evenings festivities were a success because, as people walk down to the pavilion and find a place to sit or watch their kids play, I watched the Good Samaritan people go and welcome them, strike up conversations with them; I watched connections being made. I watched GS people offer up food and drink with smiles on their faces and speaking words of grace to each that they saw. I watched GS people get up from their seats so that our "guests" could have a place to sit. I watched as God's people acted like God's people! And because of that this evening was a success. In fact, this week was a success not because of 161 kids showed up but because men and women gave up of their time to plan, to work, to teach, to fill in, to lend a hand, because they were being Christ to those kids and to their families.

I had a grandmother and grandfather come to me with tears in their eyes thanking me for this week because their grandkids don't go to church and this was their first connection with church, and loved it. I had parents say how much their kids loved the week and how they would come home to tell them the stories they heard, the songs they learned, and the stupid jokes Pastor Dude told. I had families say how impressed they were with what we were doing for them this evening.

What I heard was testimony from people about the grace the GS people demonstrated to these families. Connections were being made, relationships were being built, evangelism was taking place, and demonstrative service was being performed.

I expect that sharing God's grace will be a more frequent event for the Good Sam church. And I have no doubt, after watching everything this evening, that this church has much of God's grace to share, and will do so willing, joyfully, and thankfully.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Smell of Remembrance, Smell of Longing

Have you ever taken a deep breath and smelled some type of food and then gotten a mental sensation that reminded you of a time past? I get those from time to time - a smell that reminds me of my Mom roast covered with my Grandmother's relish, the smell of oranges that take me back to time walking into my Grandmother's kitchen and being drawn to her orange drop cookies, or the smell of vanilla cooking and then hungering for my Mom's vanilla pudding. It worries me how often the smell of something reminds me of some type of food from my past. I don't recall eating that much when I was younger but looking at myself in a mirror now, I guess maybe I did!

I have another smell sensation that really stirs some strong feelings within me. In fact, it creates an intense desire, a deep yearning, to act upon those sensations within me. It's the smell of woods, leaves, fresh water and the like. I causes me to want to load up my car with tent, sleeping bag, food, chair, books and journal, and head to the mountains.

I try to explain this desire to my wife but she just doesn't fully understand me. I try to explain the sense of calm and peace that I feel when I can get away for a couple of days for "retreat" but she wonders why I want to leave her for those few days.

It has nothing to do with leaving her or not wanting to be with her - but it has everything to do with recharging my spiritual, mental and emotional batteries so that I can love her better, and me, my vocation, and my life. It isn't because I am dissatisfied with my life, it's that I want to become more satisfied. And sometimes I feel the need to have more than a few hours to do that somewhere different than at home or the area in which I live my life every day.

Does that make sense?

I get this urge, interestingly, about every few months, especially after an intense time in my life and/or work. Let me also say that, about as often, I have the strong desire to take off with my wife/family and go away someplace to be with them, for very similar reasons: to recharge our connections to each other, to be "alone" and away from the familiar, to draw closer and more intimate.

I was having the "family time" yearning a month or so ago and Heather and I were able to take a few days and go to Myrtle Beach. It was a grand time, the two of us just lounging around by the pool or hanging by the ocean. Haley, our daughter, joined us for a day and it was almost perfect - having my other daughter and my son and his wife join us would have signed the deal!

Our schedules are crazy and now that Haley is in Color Guard, well, we are about to learn a new definition to what crazy is. But it will be even more important that we as a family spend time apart from the world and reconnect with each other, be lazy together, and enjoy someplace a little different than were we live out our lives.

But I still have that "I need to get away into the mountains for a couple of days" feeling and the smell of trees, lakes and streams, and mountains, calls to me. My soul wants to escape from the noise and business of the day and be in God's creation and commune with Him.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Can There Be Such a Thing as a Pessimistic Christian?

My wife says that I am a Pessimist. What she said to me was, "Jim, you can be rather pessimistic sometimes." See what I mean, she did call me a Pessimist. OK, that isn't what she called me but that is what I heard.

Had she called me a Pessimist, she probably would've been right, I guess, but she didn't call me that, just that I can me pessimistic at times. She says I watch too much news on TV. If I am a TV addict at all it is in watching too much news and it does make be a little, ah, negative about life, at times. But how can you not feel that way when that seems to be all you hear and read about concerning the state of affairs we find ourselves in in the good ol' US of A?

Here's what I think, and understand that it is only my opinion based on the news I have read and heard and watched over the last several weeks, months, even the last few years. Take it or leave it, add your own two cents to mine and we still couldn't afford a piece of gum but here it is:

I don't believe that we will ever see gas go down below $3 again, and probably never below $3.50, except for a "false" blip in the ever increasing cost of oil. If we were to drill tomorrow in the Rocky Mountains, where they say there is three times the amount of oil that is in Saudi Arabia, and drilled off shore and in Alaska, I don't believe that gas would decrease much and wouldn't stay there for long. We Americans have proven that, despite the ever increasing cost, we still will spend our money on gas and drive like bats out of hell. And most of us would never consider mass transit, especially since so many of our cities aren't equipped for such. Unfortunately, as the price of oil continues to climb (from $11 eight years ago to $141 as of today), everything else increases in price (my favorite sub place increased their subs about 50 cents about two weeks ago, oh my), which continues to have a ripple affect on everything else.

I watched about five minutes of news this morning and there they were, people lined up out side banks in California to take out their money for fear of the collapse of their bank. Now, if my bank closed I'd lose about $10 but I wondered: is their fear warranted or is it simply a response to rumors? The "expert" they were interviewing said it was from fear based on rumor and that their money was guaranteed up to $100,000 so there was really nothing to worry about. And yet, I heard that there could be close to 100 bank closings within the year because of poor financial management. All that to say this: I don't think we Americans will learn from this financial and credit mismanagement because we went through something similar in the 80's and, guess what? We're here again.

Again, the affect of the financial crises is having its ripple affect on other areas. Combine that with the oil crises and what you have is a financial catastrophe waiting to fall out of the closet. Already you have GM laying off people and discontinuing people's retirement benefits. There have been airlines and banks already laying off hundreds, even thousands, of people, from fear that they may become insolvant and exposed to buyouts or takeovers. I have someone in my church who works in a bank in Charlotte, a bank that has been in the news a lot lately, whose stock is so low that the company fears a takeover. He's working on his resume.

Another area that I have grown pessimistic about is the war on terror. No matter who gets elected, I don't believe that we will see much improvement. If Obama is elected and he withdrawls the troops, Iran will be overtaken by terrorists and civil war. We are seeing similar happenings in Afganastan. If McCain is elected, the idea that we will somehow be able to end terrorism and its growth is a fairy tale.

Speaking of Obama and McCain, I believe our government, if not broken, is at least no longer functioning in reality. That happens when you spend so much of your time in a cave like Washington, DC that causes you to lose perspective and become selfish, possesive and materialistic. Of course, there is a good chance that Congress will become even more controlled by Democrats, who, by the way, haven't done much to change the status of Congress any more than the Republicans did when they were in control. I've come to believe in term limits for those who serve in Congress - let's say it should be 12 years then they have to sit out for 4 years. Make them go back into the real world and live with their constituents - preferably having to eat at the local fast food restaurant at least several times of week so they can rub elbows with the "real" people, whoever we really are.

I could go on but I find my blood pressure is rising and my lip is starting to bleed, so I should stop. But all this causes me to wonder, is it possible to be a Christian, a true Christ follower, and be pessimistic?

I recall that there were several discourses that Christ had where His outlook about life was a lot less than rosey, about the present and about the future. In fact, His discription about the future was rather bleak. One might say it was almost pessimistic. Read Matthew 24 to see what I mean.

But in the midst of my pessimism I still have a Hope. Although I am pessimistic about what will unfold, what is unfolding, in what I believe are the last days, I am not pessimistic about the outcome. I know that my God is real and active and is working in the world. Though most of what is going on is caused by us - our selfishness, our abuse of the world's resources, our materialistic culture, etc. - I know that God is using it all to work out His will, which is to draw all people to Him, although some will choose to draw futher away from Him. But God does not give up on us.

I am filled with hope about Christ's Church, His Body of followers. Though we have much to apologize for, and though we have driven some people away by our "holier than thou" attitudes and confrontational approach, God still chooses to use us in the world, and His Church will prevail, even in the midst of persucution and an ever growing hostile world - hostile in part because we have presented not a Gospel of Love but, at times, just the opposite.

Yes, I am pessimistic. But I am a pessimist filled with a Holy Hope. If that's possible.