The Death of Terri Schiavo

Death is our enemy. It begins stalking us the day we are born. Eventually it catches up to us all. Consequently, there is an element of sadness whenever anyone dies. However, certain deaths have a special air of sadness surrounding them. After serving in ministry since the 1970s I have sought to comfort families in almost every imaginable circumstance relating to death. These have ranged from sudden deaths due to an accident or military involvement to slow lingering deaths by AIDS or cancer. I have presided over the funeral of a centurion and the funeral of a young mother taken in the prime of life. I have stood by the casket of my own mother who died at the age of 41 and my father who died at 66. I even delivered the message at my own brother’s funeral, a brother who had taken his own life while in the pit of despair, at the age of 24. So, from numerous experiences I know all too well that while all death is sad, some seem just a bit more so.

The death today of Terri Schiavo is one of those deaths that seem just a bit sadder.

I have read numerous articles and opinions on this matter. One of the most heart wrenching was by a man who wrote from the wheelchair that had been his transportation for over 25 years. His comments were that Terri Schiavo was given the death penalty by starvation as a punishment for having a disability. His question wondering when the death penalty would be extended to situations like his certainly got my attention.

One commentary stated that we starved Terri Schiavo, but a hardened criminal gets something to make his execution a bit easier.

I continually hear stated, “What would Terri want?” Want to know what came through my mind? I bet she would want to not have been in the national spotlight. I bet she would like to have just a bit of privacy. I bet she would want her name off the floor of congress and out of the courtrooms of America. I imagine Terri would want that horrible picture of her in the hospital room to stop being plastered over every major broadcasting means in America from newspapers and television to the Internet.

There is more about this national incident that I do not understand than there is that I do understand it seems. The more I read, the more there is to read. The papers now are telling accounts of Terri’s parents and her husband fighting over her death and body in addition to the monetary awards settlement of a few years back.

In evaluating what I have seen, read, and heard, I have these final comments to offer that we learn or are reminded of by the death of Terri Schiavo.

1. Life is precious. This thing we call life is so very precious. As we have seen, it is hard to define, but by any definition, it is precious. On February 22, I posted a blog called Thoughts on Life and Death, where I talked about the preciousness of life. If life is that precious, and it is, what does that mean for us? It means we should live our lives with gratitude and to the fullest extent. It means we should not take for granted one single breath. It means we should be grateful to God for granting us life to live.

2. Life is fragile. Imagine . . . Terri’s life was so fragile that simply removing a tube could end it. Sting recorded a song with this exact message in 2001. How fragile we are. Remember the people leaping to their deaths from the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001? Life is fragile. It can be snatched away in a moment. Cherish it while you have it.

3. Life is eternal. Our lives do not end when we breathe our last. We continue in eternal blessedness or eternal punishment, but continue on we do. Enjoy your life here. Care for the world around you. But remember, this life is not all there is.

Terri Schiavo may be gone from us, but she teaches us from her grave.

Culture Week - Part 7: Easter in America

I survived it. Some years this week is more grueling than others, but it is always a lot of work. I am talking about the week beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with Easter. It is a busy time for folks in the church. I love it. I relish it. But it is work nevertheless.

The Easter season is also usually associated with a few other things in our culture as well. How about these two? College Spring break and Jesus movies on TV.

Spring break is a phenomenon that occurs so college students get a break. But it is usually around the Easter holiday.

Jesus movies are really fun for me. In college I was a speech communications major so anything theatrical . . . I like. Now, usually I have a strong distaste for bad drama, but when it comes to what I call “Bathrobe Dramas,” or movies about Jesus, I love them. I watch all that come on during Lent, Easter or even Christmas . . . and there are a lot of them. I like anything that gives me a new slant on the character of Jesus. I may not agree with their interpretation, but I like the angles.

The point for me here is that we really do want the hope of a resurrection. We may doubt its validity (and without genuine faith, there is nothing else you could do) but it is the essence of a hope inside each of us. Deep down we all want to believe that this life is not all there is. Something in our souls cries out that this is so!

On Easter Sunday in our church this year we tried our best to balance Easter and Good Friday. We bounced back and forth between death and life, crucifixion and resurrection, burial and rising. The point: there can be no resurrection, if there has been no death. There can be no victory in the death of Christ without the resurrection. How can we feel the joy of Easter without fully realizing the pain of Good Friday? How can we endure the pain of Good Friday without the joy of the resurrection?

· Without Easter Sunday, Good Friday is desolation.
· Without Easter Sunday, Good Friday is despair.
· Without Easter Sunday, Good Friday is death.
· Without Easter Sunday, Good Friday is the end.
· Without Easter Sunday, Good Friday is no good at all!
· Easter Sunday and the resurrection declare that the cross was the ultimate victory!

At some time in the future, I want to blog about the cultural and temporal spectacles we all put on days like Good Friday, but for today, I want to say that there is a joy in the resurrection that our very being cries to be true.

My dear friend, it is true. The resurrection of the God/Man Jesus is ever so true!

Culture Week - Part 6: The Sad Story of Michael Jackson

I graduated from high school in 1972. I remember full well the big hit the Jackson Five were at that time. They were one of Motown’s biggest draws in that era. I remember the cute youngest brother in the group Michael. I remember watching him sing and dance. It was evident at a very early age that he was an incredible talent. I have memories of his first solo hits. He and Donny Osmond were the rage for what seemed like a long time for a young male who was into Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, The Beatles and the like.

Michael was, for a while, the hottest thing in music. For a long stretch during the 1980s Michael Jackson owned pop music. Everything he touched seemingly turned to gold or platinum. No matter what anyone will ever say about him they can never doubt his incredible talent.

With that as a backdrop, it is truly sad to watch talk shows and television news today as they mock and mimic the man who is but a shell of the talent he used to be. There are as many opinions on the Michael Jackson scenario as there are keys on a keyboard, but everyone absolutely has to admit that something took place in the man in the 1980s. Something happened to him. It may have been the result of something in his distant past, but something did indeed change. It led to a marriage, a disfiguring of his appearance, a strange selection of friends, and many other issues of which I am not even aware.

I am not going to even attempt to cast a judgment in the legal battle in which Michael now finds himself embroiled. As I have stated, I am not an expert in the legal or medical field, so to comment now would be futile and foolish.

A month or so back I was flipping TV channels at night for some background noise to my work at the computer when I came across a documentary on VH1 regarding Michael Jackson. I cannot recall everything that was stated, but some things still ring very true to my own experiences.

It appears that Michael lived a very conflicted childhood torn in the extremes of his mother’s strong Jehovah’s Witness religion and his father’s less than moral example. Most folks on this interview seemed to strongly believe that Michael Jackson was at worst molested and at best sexually abused as a young teen. (It actually depends upon your definition of abuse.)

Please do not misread my words here. I really am not casting blame anywhere, I am just commenting. There are a few things that really leap out at me on whatever level this is true. As is the case in each of these commentaries, I am attempting to put out my thoughts and hopefully at least attempt an eternal and spiritual perspective on these issues. Here are a few of my thoughts.

1. We cannot escape our environment. The home in which we were raised, the people with whom we interacted, the places we lived, are all a part of who we are. They help make up our personality, our behaviors and our attitudes. We can, and should, process those issues and seek to address them. The issues from our past will come out. We can address them and choose where they will come out or we cannot address them and they will choose where to come out, and believe me, we will not like it when they choose. But we have to remember it is a part of our makeup.

2. Children are vulnerable beings. The way we speak to them, treat them, love them, hold them, support them all affect who they become as adults and how they affect the world around them.

3. God loves Michael Jackson. I can tell you that is the truth. God loves this confused, weak yet powerful, conflicted man. God loves him as much as he loves me and as much as he loves you.

Culture Week - Part 5: Baseball and Steroids

At the end of 1997 baseball was in deep trouble. Fans were tired of millionaires battling billionaires for money and power. The interest was starting to wane on a lot of levels. I am sure many will cite figures to disprove this, but I am saying that as a fan and talking to folks a lot . . . baseball was in trouble.

Then came 1998. During the summer of 1998 Mark McQwire of the St. Louis Cardinals and Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs staged a home run battle that brought fans back into the seats, and brought excitement back into the game. It was an epic battle that will be remembered as long as baseball is discussed. That single summer started baseball on an upward trend that it works from even today.

Much of that came into question in the last few months. Whenever the topic of baseball is mentioned today, it is usually connected with banned substances such as steroids. These are indeed sad days for baseball.

Now I am by no means a baseball purist. I think the Hall of Fame is basically a joke. I do not agree with writers having the only votes. I first felt that way when Tom Seaver was denied unanimous induction by one writer whose only rationale for not listing him on his ballot was “No one deserves to get in 100%.” Come on. Get a life. It is the baseball Hall of Fame, not heaven. I never liked Pete Rose, still am not a major fan of his, but I think he should be in the Hall. It is only a game! But then that is just me. Your opinion may differ; that is fine.

I now read where McQwire may not get in the Hall because of his statements, or lack of them, in front of the congressional hearing. I just shake my head and repeat what I wrote above.

It is strange to me that congress felt the need to get involved with baseball. Are there not other more pressing issues in the world than a game? I know. I know. There are the anti-trust issues that I do not even claim to understand. (I dropped a political science major in favor of speech and theater for a reason!) I also realize that baseball had the 331st highest spending of the top 3,000 Political Action Committees last year. But still.

I am not a fan of Barry Bonds. Did he use a banned substance? I do not know.

Should substances be banned that are potentially damaging to youngsters who copy these high paid athletes? Probably.

But here is a thought. In my mind, a player beefing up with artificial assistance is not too far removed from actors and actresses in Hollywood getting all sorts of potentially dangerous plastic surgery to enhance them physically so they have an advantage. Again, that is just me, and just as I am no lawyer, I am likewise no medical doctor.

So what is the point of this rambling blog about baseball, sports and society? The point is this. This latest sports scandal, in my opinion, just underscores the over importance we place on athletics in our culture. Remember, I am a hypocrite here, because I love sports myself.

The issue is not totally the over payment of sports heroes. The highest paid athlete makes but a pittance compared to the income a movie star or pop singer at the top of their drawing power.

However, here is my beef. Where are our priorities? I think they are pretty clear. When we pay entertainers millions to keep us distracted and entertained (notice again I said “we”) is it not borderline sinful to pay preschool teachers below the poverty level! Check the stats; you will see I am right here. We pay our entertainers thousands of times more than we pay those shaping the next generation at their most vulnerable age.

Here is a phrase that comes to mind, although when it was written it had absolutely nothing to do with this discussion. “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.”

Culture Week - Part 4: March Madness

I love sports. I watch a wide variety of sports, but there are two that I really like: NASCAR and college basketball. I will rarely watch an NBA game. It cannot hold my interest. But a college game, now that is a different story. That being said, this month is March. March is college basketball heaven. It is four weekends of basketball ending up with one legitimately crowned champion. You can argue whether they were the best team or not, but you cannot argue that they are the champion. It is such a spectacle that culturally we have coined a special name for it. We call it March Madness.

This year has had its share of madness in the tourney. I hope there is one less tomorrow. I have been a fan of Duke Basketball literally my entire life. I jokingly say that my father laid me in front of the black and white television when I was born in 1954 and said, “You see that team in the dark blue. They are the ones you are to pull for.” If he did that it worked.

It is important that I mention that I have been a Duke fan a long time. The reason is that their success in recent years has a lot of fans on the band wagon. I was on the wagon, faithfully so, in times like the early 1970s when they were really bad.

It is interesting now to hear fans not only support their team, but also cheer for the team that it playing against Duke. The idea is that folks do not like the team that is on top. It does not matter how they got there, it is that they are on top. Fans get on board for the underdog quite easily. Duke is no underdog.

This year, the Easter season is as early as it can come. It is in March. Since I am in church work (see Personal Profile) that means it is an extremely busy season. This year I am calling it my own special version of March Madness. My church will have seven worship services in seven days. That is a lot of message prep for me. To make it worse, I do not get to choose the topic! It starts with Palm Sunday and ends on Easter Sunday. It is a season where everyone knows what you will speak on and would not be very pleased if you chose something else.

Easter is a season where we really celebrate the underdog. Now I agree it does appear that Jesus should never be called a true underdog, after all, being God does bring certain advantages. But let’s not forget that Jesus was also human. That means that when the religious leaders of the day attacked him, he was the underdog. When Jesus conquered death, He lived out conquering the odds.

This year Easter is indeed March Madness. In human terms, Easter morning is all about the victory of the underdog. It is about life conquering death. Talk about coming through in the clutch.

Culture Week - Part 3: Sargent Staples

In recent years when we read stories about CEOs of Fortune 500 companies it is full of dirt, dishonesty, greed, fraud, and theft. After all have we not all read enough about Enron, WorldCom and Arthur Andersen? It was with that background that I began to read an article on Ron Sargent.

Ron was named the CEO of Staples in 2002. A lot of what Ron Sargent does is the usual “run of the mill CEO stuff.” (If there is such a thing as run of the mill CEO stuff.) He leads his board and directs the incredible growth of this company. (It has grown 144% since 2002.) He says some pretty unusual stuff for a guy in his position at times, and some pretty predictable stuff at the same time. Here are a few quotes accompanied with my comments.

“Money does not trump integrity. Values like integrity and courage are alive and well in most directors and executives.” – This is a great line in response to a policy he has in place that he and other senior executives must own stock in the company worth at least five times their annual salary. Ron is an advocate that a good leader must have some “skin” in the game. In my line of work in the church, I feel like it is real skin that I have invested. I have often told folks, I did not go into ministry for the financial rewards. If I did I made the wrong career choice. Actually it is not a career for me, it is a calling. I spend most of my waking hours and many of the ones where I should be asleep, thinking and praying about what the church should be like or should do.

“Those two cases are in a league of their own. Those were unusual circumstances.” – Commenting on Enron and WorldCom. My response, maybe . . . maybe not. But I would probably say the same thing about Jim Jones and Jim Bakker. So I am not all that different in defending my field.

“You cannot legislate morality.” – Commenting on CEO fraud. I realize what he is trying to say, but that is a very broad statement that is tough to defend. Last I checked, murder and rape were moral issues. I sure hope we try to legislate them.

If you look at his picture, he is a pretty unassuming guy. He is 49 years old and reminds me of the “nerdy boss” or high school teacher on any number of sitcoms. But the guy does have an Economics Degree from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard business school. He obviously leaves me in the dust when it comes to intelligence.

Now, I am not attacking a man I do not know. In reality, most of what I read about Ron Sargent would indeed make me buy Staples stock . . . if I had any spare money. Here is what ran through my mind as I read the article. In the 1980s and 1990s church after church got into trouble by Pastors who spent more time in the Wall Street Journal than they did in the Bible. Now, I think a Pastor should read the Journal or something similar; I just quoted the business section didn’t I?

Here is where the issues arise in my opinion. Many of those pastors bought into the idea of the Pastor as CEO model. Those men and women (although mostly men) ran their churches like a company and in many cases I think did irreparable harm to those churches. It was a trend, and a very bad one at that.

Do not misunderstand, I think churches should use sound business practices. There have been times (one in particular) where I allowed myself to lose sight of that, and paid a dear price for it. But, and this is a big one, let’s never forget, the church is not a business. The church is a living group of believers. The church is not an organization, although it has organizational characteristics. The church is an organism. It lives and breathes and reproduces.

Yes, there is much I can learn from men and women like Ron Sargent. I should listen to what they say. But, there are likewise one or two things they could learn from men and women like me. I always remember that even though I want to be a good steward of the things entrusted to me in this life, there is a spiritual dimension that will ultimately trump the physical reality in which we live. And here is the kicker, the two are connected!!

Oh, by the way, did I mention that Ron Sargent’s 2003 salary was $2.4 million with bonuses? Also, I failed to mention Ron drives a Toyota Camry with 152,000 miles on it.

His stock just dipped and rose in the same paragraph didn’t it?

Culture Week - Part 2: Missing John Ritter

Amy Yasbek is a single parent. She works to raise her daughter Stella by herself, just as thousands of other single parents do in the United States. She has been a single parent since September 2003 when she abruptly became a widow. Her husband suddenly and unexpectedly died after suffering from a thoracic aortic aneurysm while at work. He was 54 years of age at the time.

The thing that is striking about Amy is that she is the widow of comedic actor John Ritter. Amy Yasbek loved her husband the way we seldom see in the environment of Hollywood and television. In an interview published in USA Today she said, “I still feel completely connected to him, so in love with him. I certainly wouldn’t want to be the man who was compared to John Ritter through my eyes.”

Amy still wears her wedding band (It is visible in the photo of her taken in an article promoting her upcoming sitcom on Fox.) and states, “I feel more married to John than ever.”

John Ritter was the youngest son of Country and Western singer Tex Ritter. He had roles on many popular television series, including “The Waltons” and a guest shot on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” (he played a clergyman on both) and was nominated for an Emmy Award for his appearance on “Ally McBeal.” He also starred on the late-'80s series “Hooperman,” and the early-'90s show “Hearts Afire.” Proving his versatility, he also provided the voice of Clifford on the PBS animated series “Clifford the Big Red Dog,” a role for which he received two Emmy nominations. John and Amy’s daughter Stella still watches the cartoon so she can feel close to her Dad.

I have always been a fan of John Ritter. I think he was a comedic talent with few in television on par with him. He was able to play parts from a buffoon to a serious role with equal credibility. I remember in the 1970s, during my more legalistic days, listening to many criticize his sitcom "Three’s Company" because it had a man and two women sharing an apartment together. It has since proven to be a very tame TV show.

Whatever.

My point is that I admired John Ritter for his talent, his personality but most of all for his zest for life. Articles on him state that he was one of those individuals that just enjoyed living. He liked to do things, to get folks to do them with him, and to in general make life worth living. One reason I liked the man is that I like to see myself that same way. I want to live life to the fullest. In the words of George Bernard Shaw, “I want to be thoroughly used up when I die.” John Ritter was.

The point of this blog is not really to get you to rethink your opinion of John Ritter. It is much closer to home than that. Here are a few questions: How do you view life? Is it an adventure to be lived or a journey to be endured? Is it a challenge to rise up to or is it simply steps to walk?

Last evening I had the opportunity to see the movie Million Dollar Baby. As the movie nears it climax, Morgan Freeman’s character tells the character played by Clint Eastwood that what most people will regret when they die is that they did not “get their shot.”

Thinking of John Ritter, how do you live your life? Are you seeking “your shot?”

I want to work for “my shot.” I want it to be a life lived with excitement and challenge and intrigue and risk and expectancy and celebration. When I breathe my last, and my children stand over my body, I want them to say, “Dad enjoyed all of life that God gave him. He lived life the way God wants us to live it . . . with gusto!”

Culture Week - Part 1: Compassion for Terri Schiavo

Last evening I did something that usually reveals that a person has lost their mind. I sat and watched congress in session. They were debating the Terri Schiavo case. I must admit, I was pulled in all directions. As much as both sides to this argument want to believe they have an open and shut case, alas it is just not that simple. I was made more aware of that this morning as I read the various news stories on the account.

If you are not aware, in very brief form Terry Schiavo is the woman in Florida who the Florida courts (plural) have given permission to stop giving nourishment deeming her to be in a permanent vegetative state. This very sad, extremely traumatic event began in 1990 when a heart attack cut oxygen from her brain. She has been in this state pretty much since then. Her husband had led the fight to have nutrition removed deeming her with no quality of life and in a permanent unrecoverable state. Several (I am not sure how many) Florida courts have agreed with him. I do not even want to think what that man has been through in these years. To complicate matters, he is supposed to now have a common law wife and children by her, and has moved on.

Her parents, brother and family are fighting this issue. Last evening the Senate cleared the way for congress to allow Federal Courts to intervene, even though I believe the Supreme Court has denied hearing the case in the past.

The arguments are compelling on both sides. Here are snippets:

· As one senator put it Terri is indeed “one of us,” and how we treat her as a fellow human being is how we treat ourselves.

· We are indeed saying something about ourselves when we take it upon ourselves to determine who has a quality of life worth living.

· Terri is said to possibly be able to eat with therapy. A statement I do not understand nor will attempt to.

· This is an issue that has been discussed by many folks not just a few doctors seeking to get rid of a case or a husband seeking his freedom. (Although both may or may not be pertinent issues.)

· Those who knew her well, say Terri would not want to have her life sustained in this manner. Now there is a statement that gets all of us thinking about how we would feel if we were Terri!!

It is truly heartbreaking. There is no easy out in any direction. At stake are real issues such as quality of life, value of human life, the decision making process where there is no direction from the patient and many others I am not qualified to speak on. That being the case, I am not going to state my opinion here. (Partly because I am not really sure what my opinion is!) If you are reading to hear my opinion, you can stop reading now.

I will never be listed on the friends of the extreme right, even though I probably agree with numerous stands they take. But I will likewise not be listed on the friends of the left although I agree with some of their stands as well. Most things are not as cut and dried as both sides attempt to make them.

Here is what I do know and feel pretty qualified to speak about.

1. God loves Terri Schiavo!! He loves her more than her family, her friends and anyone else loves her. God is also with her and caring for her no matter what politicians, lawyers, medical personnel, lobbyist, courts and judges decide. God loves this woman whom I have never met. God loves this woman who has not spoken in over a decade. Of that I am as convinced as I am sitting at my keyboard.

2. We face today ethical issues that were unheard and undreamed of a century ago, even half a century ago. Our world is a new place. Those in the church, my field of work, who are attempting to do ministry the way it was done before these changes quite simply are beating their heads against a wall. Issues are no longer the same.

3. God’s truth has not changed. God is indeed with us in our most trying state. If we are Terri’s parents, her brother, her husband, or Terri herself, God is with us. He cares for us. God is indeed concerned with the covenant and His people and his plans, but God is also very concerned about individuals. Jesus stopped in the midst of a throng of people to be concerned about one woman with a hemorrhaging issue that doctors had not been able to cure. The crowd was so large that those around Him were amazed that He stopped. But He did, and for one individual. (Read if for yourself in Luke 8.) Jesus cares for us as individuals. God is not impotent in helping us and caring for us in our deepest pain.

Finally, as you watch this heart wrenching story unfold, remember that God loves and cares for you too. You are not Terri Schiavo and your issues are no where near as bad as hers, but he loves you too!!!

Welcome to Culture Week

This week I am devoting my blog to commenting on various issues I see taking place in American culture. At my church we have made a conscious commitment to be in our local community in a real way, but we are also members of the larger community and should be aware of what is taking place. What you will read will be my mental meanderings on various issues in our culture. Feel free to comment and either agree or disagree. My hope is to give some eternal perspective to a contemporary situation. This is an angle I hope the blog can take on occasion. At times I will expand it to the world at large, but for this week my blogs will be entitled:

· Compassion for Terri Schiavo
· Missing John Ritter
· “Sargent Staples”
· March Madness
· Baseball and Steroids
· The Sad Story of Michael Jackson
· Easter in America

Revealing God's Will

As you can tell, I enjoy writing. I enjoy putting my thoughts on paper and elaborating on them. The joy of writing carries over into my viewing a film on the screen. I analyze dialogue. I pick apart the directing of the film. I ask questions like: Why did the director have the camera focused there? Why did the actor say that? What is meant by that comment? What is the purpose of this in the overall picture? Where is he going with this?

A few years back in a film, I watched as the writer had the passengers on a bus tell about their lives. They shared their trouble and their insecurities. They told of their backgrounds and other seemingly insignificant things. Most of this information had nothing to do with the overall plot of the film. There was not a lot of detail, but there was some. What the writer was doing was to make you identify with them. These characters were made to “live” in the mind of the audience. The purpose was to make them seem real enough that the audience would feel with them when the trouble hit. It worked.

This character building was not the picture, but it was an indispensable part of it. Without it, you have just another Grade B film or cheap script.

Another item you quickly discover in the films you view. You can be given too much information too quickly. You as the viewer are not ready for it. You are given only what you have been prepared to receive.

Have you ever considered how that compares with the way the Lord reveals His will to us? He never dumps the whole ball of wax into our lap. His will is disclosed in small increments. He slowly removes pieces until the entire picture is exposed.

Aren't you glad that is the case? Suppose for a moment it were different. For the sake of discussion, let's assume the Lord followed a slightly different plan. What if, at the moment of faith, we were handed a list that gives in detail how God's will for your life will be laid out?

What would you do with that information? I do not know about you, but I would look way down the list to see how the key items in my life will play out. Who will I marry? Where will I live? How many children will I have? When and how will I die?

Herein is a tragedy waiting to happen. I am about to read about things the Lord has for me that I am not ready to receive. What about the item that has me experiencing the death of my wife, or one of my children? What about me discovering that I have cancer? What about a job change that would alter my lifestyle dramatically? I am not in a position to deal with those items now. To have that information before the Lord has brought me to the point of dealing with it would be disastrous!

Why does the Lord not reveal His will in large segments? He is in the process of maturing us. He is making us Christlike. Colossians 1:24 reveals that God has chosen to use tribulation to accomplish that goal. His will, if written out could seem mean and uncaring, unless you remember the character of the One orchestrating it. Just like the script writer who only reveals the part you need to keep up with the plot, Jesus gives us just enough light to keep up with His will for our life.

You don't think you have enough information? You have all that the sovereign Lord knows you both need and can handle. And so do I. We must rest in the fact that He loves us more than we could ever imagine. He is about our best, our very best and only our best. Just as Romans 8:28 details, even the bad things are for our good. What is that good? For you and I, it is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

The Victorious Limp

I walk with a limp. You cannot see it, but trust me it is there. In fact, I have several sources of limping.

Several years ago a movie was released that took our entire nation on a ride it had never been on before. The movie was entitled Saving Private Ryan. The movie was released in the midst of what I call America’s Greatest Generation Phase. Tom Brokaw’s book of the same title was at the top of every best seller list. He was interviewed on all major talk shows regarding the contents of the book. Both the movie and the book had as one of their primary purposes to extol the virtues of the WWII generation. In many respects, this was something that was long overdue. In other respects it became simply another United States’ fad.

My wife and I saw the movie when it was at the top of its run. I remember the theatre being 2/3 to 3/4 full. We were seated 10 rows or so from the front. Directly in front of us were a man and what I believe was his wife. It was apparent to me that this man was of the WWII generation. I distinctly remember whispering to my wife that it will be interesting to see how this man responds to the contents of the movie since he was of that vintage.

If you have never seen Saving Private Ryan, the opening 10-15 minutes are quite possibly the most intense minutes ever to play on the screen. Steven Spielberg (who was shafted by this not winning the Oscar) did as good a job of portraying the horrors of D-Day as could have ever been accomplished. This movie, along with Schindler’s List and The Passion of the Christ are definitely three “non-popcorn” movies. Eating just simply does not fit what is taking place. There are portions of this opening segment that cause you to literally gasp while remaining in your seat.

During this opening sequence the gentleman in front of me was rocking his seat back and forth at a feverish pace. I have never seen anything like it before or since. As he did this, he was continually hitting my foot which was crossed over my leg. Now, I am not a short man. I am 6’1” so there is never enough room for me in a row of seats, but I am totally honest when I tell you that I did not touch his seat once. His seat repeatedly rammed into my foot and knees however. It was so obvious that my wife noticed it as much as I did.

As this absolutely intense scene neared its end, this gentleman leaped from his seat, whirled around glared at me, pointed his finger at me and screamed, “Stop kicking my chair!”

I was totally taken back. I turned both my palms upward and looked at my wife, who nodded and said, “I know . . .”

In a previous blog, I mentioned that I often evaluate why people act as they do. As I sat watching the remaining three hours of the movie, I was thinking about this gentleman. He thought that I was kicking his chair. The movie was so intense that he had no idea that his chair was rocking back and forth in such violent fashion.

Now, I have no idea who this man is. I would not know him if he walked into my office. In another very real sense however, I do know him. This man was so into the content of this movie that he lost touch with reality. This movie was TOO REAL for him. This was no screenplay about an historical event. It was a very real event and a very real memory for him. This movie was about something in his life so real he could not overcome it. This man was marked. That evening, I sat behind a man who was scarred. I sat near a man who walked with a limp. Whatever happened to him in WWII scarred him for life. It affected him in ways I can only imagine.

In Genesis 32 there is a similar limping story. It is about a man named Jacob. Jacob has an encounter with God that changes him. Would you permit me to share the highlights of the story?

Jacob was a twin. His twin’s name was Esau. Both, he and his brother were favorites of their parents. Esau was the favorite of the Dad and Jacob the favorite of the Mom. (There is a great parenting lesson here, but I will resist.) In this paternal, male dominated culture the most prized possession among children was the blessing of the father. Couple that with being the first born and you have it all. You get the blessing and the firstborn’s share of the inheritance. It would be double what any other male child would receive. (Females could not inherit in their culture.)

In a twisted series of family events Jacob steals this blessing and birthright from his brother Esau. Esau swears revenge. Jacob has to move away from home to save his life. Twenty years pass. His mother dies. Jacob has married and has children. He now must come back home. On the journey home, he learns that his brother is coming to meet him. Remember, the last words Jacob ever heard Esau say were, “I am going to kill you.” Not the best scenario for a family reunion.

The night before the feared encounter with his brother, Jacob arranges to be alone to prepare. During that final night he has an encounter that forever changes him. God, in the form of a man comes to him and wrestles with him. As dawn nears, the angelic man touches Jacob’s hip and causes it to be out of socket. He then asks Jacob to release him. Jacob says not until he has a blessing. (Some things never change, do they?)

In what is no doubt a shocking moment, the angel says to Jacob, “What is your name?” I see Jacob slowly release the angel as he answers, “Jacob.” For you see Jacob means “cheater, deceiver, supplanter, dishonest one” or even “liar.” In order to receive a blessing, Jacob was required to admit who he was . . . a cheat. Then the blessing comes, it is in the form of a name change. His new name is “Israel.” This means “prince of God.”

But here is the final portion of the story. Jacob will now walk into this new dawn blessed with a new name; but he is visibly limping from the encounter. He will not win a physical battle with his brother or anyone else. He is injured. He is limping. Jacob is now in a situation where he must totally depend upon God. He is no longer able to handle the issue in his own power.

It did not seem too great at the moment, but this was a defining moment in the life of Jacob. It marked him. It forever changed him on numerous levels both physically, emotionally and spiritually.

As I wrote earlier, I have a limp. I actually have several of them. There are at least five major events in my life that are defining events for me. They have marked me. They have formed my character. They have made me who I am, good and bad. My entire ministry has and will forever grow from these events. Interestingly enough, they are all painful . . . some horribly so.

Okay, here is the kicker on which you have been waiting. Do you limp? What event in your life has so impacted you that it has marked you? Where is your hip that has been taken out of socket to cause you to limp? Where are you hurting?

You cannot walk from it. And strangely enough, you do not want to. It defines you.

While in seminary I once heard a chapel speaker say, “Everyone who has ever been used greatly by God has first been wounded greatly by Him.” I remember thinking to myself, “I want to be the first exception to that rule.” Well, that has not been the case.

I am of the belief that no one who is used of God escapes the limping.

Again, I ask you, “Do you limp?” Embrace it. Do not run from it. Welcome it. Allow it to shape you into a vessel that can be used by God.

Do you limp? Limp with a smile. View it as a badge of honor.

Making Lemonade

Call it Independence Day, call it the Fourth of July, call it whatever you wish. But one fact holds true: Few holidays are as nationally unifying to Americans as the Fourth of July. We ring bells, shoot fireworks, hold celebrations, and have parades.

But everything doesn't always go off as planned. That was the case for me a few years back.

In the early 1990’s my family was planning on going to a local park with some friends from a former church. A major glitch developed at the last minute which we were unable to control; consequently we were not able to go. We decided to go to dinner instead. But by the time all of the particulars had cleared up it was going on 7:30. It was a Friday evening, and you know what restaurants are like on Friday evenings at 7:30.

We visited two or three restaurants before finally deciding that a wait was inevitable. Our decision was that if we must wait it would be in a new restaurant which had been given high ratings by our friends. With our two daughters visiting friends, my wife Kay, my son Richard and I began our vigil to await a seat. Almost an hour later we were seated, and it was great. This restaurant was very nice and we had a seat near a TV so Richard and I could watch the Braves whip the Cubs.

Everything was fine except for the slight problem with the iced tea. During my second or third refill, she dropped the glass on the table, and partially into my awaiting lap. The look on that poor girl's face spoke volumes. You could tell she was not having a good day anyway. She was extremely apologetic, but it was too late. The liquid flowed very rapidly across the table. I comforted her by my response, which was to simply state that we are all human and it was all right. I reinforced that by a nice tip at the end of the meal.

We left the restaurant and decided to go shop for a few moments at a nearby store. Strangely enough, the parking lot was nearly full at 9:00 pm. It was then that Kay remembered that there was going to be a fireworks display across the street. We decided on a longer shopping spree, one that would last until the fireworks, an hour later.

As we sat on the hood of our car watching the fireworks, we listened to patriotic music being broadcast by a local radio station. Every radio was tuned to that station, so it was not difficult.

One of the last songs played was God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood. As I sat listening to that song and enjoying the fireworks, I could not help but think: “How blessed I am.”

My thoughts then moved to the events of the evening leading up to this moment. Almost nothing had gone right. I am not bragging when I say I had made a conscious decision to not let it bother me. I could have you know. The entire evening was going to go based upon my responses to the events as they occurred. I was the one that would determine whether or not Kay and Richard had a nice evening. For me to have responded with outbursts of anger would not change anything anyway. I would make the most of what was available.

Most things do not readily bother me. If something little seems to set me off you can mark it down; there is something far deeper taking place that you cannot see, and usually I do not share what it is with anyone.

I have LEARNED to roll with most punches – not all mind you, but most. I believe author Jan Silvious would call this “making lemonade.” Taking the things that seem bad and making them as good as possible.

Where are your lemons coming from? We all get a bushel basket of them now and then. The question you must ask yourself is: What are you doing with your lemons? Making sour faces, or making lemonade? The choice is yours.

“You don't know what it's like for me!” may be your response.

You're right, I don't. But I do know that it is not more than you can bear. You want proof? Try this, 1 Corinthians 10:13: “God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

Something very interesting arises in that passage. God provides a way out, but He intends for you to remain in the pressure. He doesn't want you to seek the way out to escape. He wants you to use the way out to gain comfort that He has not abandoned you. And having gained that comfort, endure what James would call “the trial.” Notice how the verse began: “God is faithful.” He hasn't forgotten you. It is your flesh that says He has.

In Jan's terms, God wants you to use His faithfulness to assist in “making lemonade.” I know it isn't easy. The Father never promised ease. What he did promise was His presence and guidance IN the trial.

You may feel like your home is in a lemon grove. No matter. Cut some sugar cane, pull some water from the well and make lemonade. If you allow yourself to do this, it may be the best tasting lemonade you've ever had.

Misconceptions

(A short blog for my single adult friends. I served in Single Adult ministry for over 20 years before becoming the pastor of my present church.)

Images. They come to us every day. We hear a word or a phrase and we instantly have an image in our mind.

Let’s try one. “Clock.” What came to your mind? For some of you it was the grandfather clock that you wish resided in your living room. For others it was a trip to London where you saw Big Ben, perhaps the world’s most famous clock. Some began to think about the digital that calls you to return to the land of the living each morning. All of that, and more, from one word.

Let’s try another. “Automobile.” What came to your mind this time? A 1967 Ford Mustang? An SUV? Perhaps a Model “T,” or a Model “A?” A Hummer? The same word, many different responses.

How about one more: “Single Adult.” What came to your mind? Was it positive, or less than positive? Many folks, married and single think of the negative aspects. They think of loneliness and seeking a partner. This incorrect view of singleness misses the fact that in 1 Corinthians 7 the author goes to great lengths to state that it is good to be married AND it is good to be single.

Others think of something more positive about being single, the aspect of personal freedom. Granted, many take that to the extreme and believe that it means all single adults are social butterflies, a view that is totally bogus.

In your hand you hold the power to change the perspective of one or more people. Your words and actions can go farther than you ever imagine in helping someone see a Single Adult as a whole person with gifts, talents and worth. Some will never get it. But, some will and you can help.

Let’s change the misconception – that single adults are “broken” and in need of “being fixed” – one person at a time.

No Pain - No Gain

As you learn more about me, you will find that I have gone through such a variety of activities in my life that it may seem like I am a “Jack of All Trades, Master of None.” I hope that is not the case but, I can see where you could get that opinion. Two things that you may not know about me are my lessons in karate while in my early twenties, and my bout with weight lifting in my mid-thirties.

I know that every man dabbles in these things from time to time, but I really loved them. The two are so different that it probably seems like they are a paradox. Not really. Both activities have some similarities. They both develop the body; they both require dedication; and they both are misunderstood by individuals not involved in them.

There is another similarity. Both karate and weight lifting teach one common thread to success. They may or may not verbalize it, but it is still there. The entire teaching can be summed up in the slogan: “No Pain – No Gain.”

Although that slogan is usually attributed to weights, it is not exclusive to them. I recall the pain early on in karate. We had to do push-ups on concrete, with our fist closed and our weight totally on the knuckles of our fore finger and middle finger. It hurt for a while. I remember my instructor having me stand flat footed against the wall while he took my leg and with it fully extended, raised it until my nose could touch my knee. The weeks until I was able to do that caused considerable pain.

If someone did not understand the goal, they may have thought the instructor was simply mean, and he may have been. But he understood a very simple fact. You must undergo some strain in order to improve. The same thing is true for weight lifting. You must endure some discomfort in order to build the muscle to whatever is desired.

That is true for almost anything. It is true in college life. There is the pain of study in order to get the education desired. It is true in business. There is the pain of hard work, in order to get the operation at its optimum capacity. It is true in sales. You must make the painful sales call to make the big sale.

It is true spiritually as well. We just use different verbiage to describe it. We call the pain, trials or tribulations. We call the gain spiritual growth and maturity. It is not a vague concept in Scripture either. It is pretty plain. You have heard me say it many times before, "God is in the process of maturing believers, and He has chosen trials to accomplish that goal."

Don't you wish He had chosen blessings to mature us? Me too. But He didn't. He chose trials.

So why do we fight them? Is it that we don't want to grow? I don't think that is it. We want the gain; we just don't want the pain. We want what I call “microwave maturity,” the type that comes quickly and easily. We want the course “30 Days to Spiritual Maturity.”

Guess what? There is no course like that. There never will be. We must endure the hardship in order to gain the blessings.

I am very skeptical of people who come to faith and seem to display sudden maturity. It doesn't happen that way. Even a casual reading of the Gospels and the book of Acts will reveal that Paul left to spend three years alone in the desert to mature. The twelve apostles were given the three year course of study in the Messianic Seminary. Apollos was taken aside by Priscilla and Aquilla for some months. It is a long, laborious and painful process, this path to maturity.

Maybe we should stop fighting the pain. It is bringing the gain. Maybe we should stop bailing out from under the pressure of the trial. It is bringing the joy of maturity. Maybe we should do a little less griping and express a little more gratitude.

Our Father is after our gain. He must bring the pain.

Expectations

As some of you reading this are aware, I am a fan of NASCAR and have been for as long as I can remember. I gain a great deal of enjoyment out of lying on a sofa and watching cars go around in circles. I realize that for many of you, further doubts to my sanity have arisen. Be that as it may, the fact still remains, I like the sport.

For stock car racing, January is the month of high expectation. The season does not kick off until the Daytona 500 in February. That means that during January team owners and crew chiefs are constantly talking about their goals for the upcoming year.

The stock car season is a long one, ten months. By November when a champion is crowned, those expectations have either been met or gone unrealized (in whole or in part.) Every member of every team must deal with their January expectations. Did we achieve our goals? If not, why not? Was it from a breakdown in planning and preparation; or were the aspirations simply too high? The answers to those questions will lay the foundation for the expectations to be laid out the following year. It affects hiring and firing of team members and the signing of multi-million dollar sponsorship deals.

Those principles are not for automobile racing only, they are true for life! There are few things that get us in more emotional difficulty than unrealized expectations.

Last summer I attended the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. It is a great time for learning and challenge. I listened to African American Pastor A. R. Bernard, Sr. share one of the most remarkable pieces of advice I have ever heard from a stage. He said (basically) “disappointment comes when your expectations and reality do not match up. The key to emotional health as a leader is to manage your expectations.”

I remember thinking, “Man, is that ever true!” How often have I become discouraged at the response to an event, any event, because I expected something greater than the outcome. It is true in my church leadership. It is true in my personal life. It is true with my children. It is true in something as simple as a trip to the grocery store. If I expect something, and it does not come to pass, I run the risk of being “saddened” (or worse) due to unrealized expectations.

The first danger is to have too high of an expectation of an event. But there is a second, it is to have too low of an expectation. If it is too low we run opposite risks. We can begin to get too inflated an opinion of ourselves or a situation. We also run the risk of not working hard enough.

I have my staff give me semi-annual goals for their various areas of ministry. We then talk about them. I have several criteria for goals.

1. They must be measurable. If we cannot measure them, how do we know if we have achieved it? There is a difference in saying I hope to get a lot of folks and saying, “I expect to have at least 50 in attendance.”

2. They must be challenging. For a goal to be worthy it must be a stretch. Just achieving some simple goals that could be reached with little effort does not cut it with me.

3. They must be achievable. There is a real danger from setting your goals too high. I honestly look at the goals my staff give me and ask, “Is this attainable?” Goals that are too high play games with your mind. I know. I have been guilty of just that.

What do you expect from your life? From your job? From your career? From your marriage? From your church? From your family? From your friends? From your . . . well, you fill in the blank.

Be careful what those expectations are. We should manage our expectations carefully. If they do not come to pass we run into a variety of personal risks. None of which are pleasant. If they do happen, evaluate if it was worthy and then celebrate the completion. There is joy in the party too! But that is a topic for another blog.

The Christian Ghetto

Several years ago Elvis Presley sang a song that seemed a bit out of his normal style at the time. The song was entitled “In the Ghetto.” The song chronicled the story of a young woman living in an inner city Ghetto, having a child, only to see that child grow up and die as a result of living in an environment that views the outside world as the enemy or totally irrelevant to what took place in the Ghetto. In today’s vernacular they would not say Ghetto, they would say “in the hood.” (I actually know the issues are much deeper than that, but for the sake of illustration, please humor me.)

I fear that for the most part, this is where Evangelical Christianity lives. I think many Christians not only live in a Christian Ghetto, they like it there and fight all attempts to lead them out. Some may like it only because it is, quite simply, the only way they know. After all isn’t this the way Christians should live? Are we not supposed to be “separate from the world?” Are we not supposed to be in the world but not of it? Are we not called to be a “peculiar people” to use the old King James language?

No. No. Yes. And you’ve got to be kidding.

Before taking a few sentences to share my view, let me share some outcomes of Christian Ghetto thinking.

First Holy Righteous Church has a youth group. The kids like it. It is fun. But the youth pastor wants to do outreach. He/She wants to reach out to kids who are not in the church, or any church. The teens think this is a great idea. Have concerts, invite in bands, and open a skate park. The parents rise up en masse to protest. We do no want our kids to be around those kids. Will these be Christian Bands? What if they lead them into sin? What is these other kids lead to smoking or other activities? The parents in reality want their kids to live in a Christian Hot House or a Christian Green House. They can grow in an artificial environment and be safe around other Christian kids but totally separate from the real world.

Faithful Bible Church would not think of listening to non-Christian music. I mean that stuff really is of the Devil. They do not want to burn records, after all that would look stupid. But their radio is always set to the Christian station . . . except when no one knows then they can occasionally “partake.”

Redeemer Church is not that radical. After all that is just plain stupid. All non-Christian music is not of the devil. Some non-Christian artists are actually very good. So they go to concerts, listen to their favorite form of music and listen to Christian music in church. After all let’s keep this separate.

I could share similar stories about politics (both the left AND the right), pastimes, hobbies, movies, reading materials, or any other number of things that really are good illustrations of living in the Christian Ghetto. The Christian Ghetto is as prolific on the Internet as pornography and almost as damaging. It is in every Christian Book Store. (Hm-m-m-m. Another Christian Ghetto symptom.)

The Christian Ghetto comes from a dualistic mindset. This mindset traces its roots back centuries to the distinction between the sacred and the profane. This mindset says that there is a real distinction between the God world and the regular sinner world. And the two should never intersect.

Now, do not read into my words that I believe “anything goes” as far as your lifestyle. I actually believe just the opposite. But the real issue is why? That will be a topic of a future blog.

The Scriptures are usually quoted in Ghetto mentality. But real exegesis is usually lacking, or it is so tainted with their Ghetto presuppositions that it has lost all integrity. Phrases like “in the world but not of the world” are often quoted – never mind it is not in even the Bible. This mentality misses the many variations in the language in the usage of the word “world.” It also creates an us/them mentality.

I believe I am called to be a missional Christian in all walks of my life. That means that in the every day living of my life I need to be in the world . . . on a lot of levels. That means I will rub shoulders with those of other viewpoints and lifestyles at every turn. Who am I to sit and take pot shots at them? Let’s see, if I am with the folks who are not Christians and I reach out to them where they are, I may look to my side and see Jesus. After all wasn’t he accused of hanging out with sinners? Didn’t He say something like when you visit those who are in prison (physical or spiritual) you have visited me?

I know full well the outcome of a post like this. I have been attacked on Christian talk radio for my views before. It will happen again. Probably very soon. My worst attacks, when I talk like this, come from my so called Christian brothers and sisters. There are some who will read this and begin to post all the logical misgivings to my comments on their own web page. They have the holy calling of pointing out other peoples errors. They can show you 23 reasons why what you say is not Biblical and not Reformed or not Christ honoring, or any number of other descriptors. But that in itself is a symptom of living in the Christian Ghetto.

(I must confess, as I will detail in a future post, I am a recovering legalist. And to this day legalism is a stench in my nostrils.)

I would surely hate to stand before my Lord and have to tell him “Well, Lord I really did not impact my community in a positive manner. But I pointed out the evils I saw in it with great regularity. And I was really good at pointing out other Christians errors to them too.”

“Really?”

Frown.

Me and My Big Mouth

Well, I did it again. I opened my mouth and got myself into trouble. Don’t you just hate it when you say something and someone actually believes you mean it? Don’t you especially hate it when that person is God? Well, you must be a better person than me, ‘cause it sure ticks me off! I mean come on, I am just talking. I run my mouth a lot. In MBTI terminology, I am an “E,” I have to talk! Who thought anyone was actually listening . . . especially God?

Okay, I am being a bit facetious here. I did know folks were listening. I wanted them to listen. I planned it so they would. I even knew God would be doing the same thing. And I knew that He knew I was serious.

So what was I talking about, and what did God know I was serious about?

Coaching soccer. Yes, you read that right. Coaching soccer. I can just hear the clicks on hundred of mouse pads as ‘Net surfers navigate away from this idiot’s web page . . . and fast! But hear me out. This is a lesson in believing in what you talk about.

It goes back a while, at least to 1995. That is when I started down the path that led me to start thinking about what it means for a church to be a “missional church.” (To read more about that, check out my blog entitled “There is no spoon” in February.)

As I thought about my present church and how I should be missionally minded in our locality, I got the idea that I could volunteer to be an assistant coach of a local youth soccer team as a way of being in the community and giving something back. I really believed that and said so in a message to my congregation.

God was listening, and so were some other folks. Yesterday I received a phone call whereby I was asked to coach a team of 8-9 year old girls. Actually, that is the exact age and gender that I had originally hoped to coach. They are at the age where it is fun, and girls are just less cut throat. I was a bit apprehensive because there really is no head coach. I am listed as such, but I have three other folks who will be working equally hard with me.

This is a bit daunting to me. I have served as an assistant coach before, but it was when my son was this age, and I was the assistant on his team. My son is 24 now! Get the picture. These girls may very well know more than me!

As I have thought about this over the last day, I am getting more and more excited about it. I get to have fun coaching some girls. I will be able to get to know their parents. And I will be showing that being a pastor is not the same as having my head where there is no sunshine and not caring about the community around me. It is a chance to give something with no ulterior motive.

What are you giving to your community? I am not asking you to coach soccer. I am not asking you to coach anything. I am asking you how are you involved in your community? My daughter and son-in-law serve an urban church. When they are involved in their community it looks totally different from me being involved in mine. But they are involved. Is that not what Jesus wants us to do?

In a few days or so, I am going to write about the Christian Ghetto. I will be talking about how many churches and Christians are so busy isolating themselves from their world that they have little or no connection with what is taking place around them. Where this ends up is yet to be determined, but I intend to be sure I am not sitting by taking pot shots at my community. I intend to continue to be involved.

This is going to be fun. I just need to be sure and not pick up a yellow card.

A Presidential Visit

President Bush was in our town yesterday. He actually visited the very part of the city where I sat and drank coffee with a Pastor friend of mine. The President and First Lady were here to support one of the Faith Base initiatives on Pittsburgh’s North Side.

I did not get to see him, but I wish I had.

Let me put that into perspective. Last evening on the local news (which I seldom watch because I usually get ticked off) a lady was interviewed who said something to this effect, “I will not go see the President. He is not someone I like, so I would not bother.”

I felt sad for her. I have great respect for the office of the President of the United States, and if given the chance I would go to see any President. I would do the same with Presidents I disagreed with as well as those with whom I agreed. I would offer respect for the position he or she held. But maybe that is just me.

There has never been a president since I passed into adulthood (legally that was in 1972 – some say that pragmatically I am not there yet) where I agreed with everything they have done. Shoot, I do not agree with myself after the fact quite often. That being the case, I do not understand why anyone would pass up a chance to meet a President. For me, it is a matter of respect.

Let me pose a question: Whom do you respect? What man or woman is there that comes to your mind when you are asked to name someone you have deep respect for. Actually, I could name quite a few. Some are famous. Others are infamous. But let me go back a few years and tell you about one.

The man’s name was Clarence Fain. I always called him Mr. Fain. Actually everyone did. Mr. Fain was one of those men who, as far as I knew, had always been old. He had an affect upon me that will last to my grave.

Mr. Fain was / is the wisest man I have ever known. Bar none. There was not even a close second until about six years ago. I have had many friends and acquaintances who have earned doctorates. They all paled to him in wisdom. Yet, Mr. Fain dropped out of school in the sixth grade to help support his family in my hometown of Kannapolis, N.C.

He impacted my father as a young man and did the same thing to me as a young man. He influenced my call into ministry. He fueled my passion for the Bible. He modeled what a true teacher was like. He showed me the example of “Job like patience.” He more than any single person is the reason I am not an alcoholic or worse today. And he never saw the full fruit of his effort. In a future blog sometime, I will share that account, but for today, please just accept that it is true.

I want to close the blog today with two areas of questioning. The first repeated is whom do you respect? Why? What did they do to earn your respect? You do know that respect is something you earn, not something you demand, don’t you?

The second question is this, who respects you? Whose respect have you earned? What man or woman, boy or girl looks at you with respect? If not for the position, for the person you are.

Chew on that for a while. I intend to do the same.

The Greatest Joy

I just experienced one of the greatest joys I have ever experienced. I just mailed a check to World Vision for over $10,000. It was not even all my money. It was money from my church; but I got the distinct privilege of mailing this check! I could have allowed our finance people to handle it, but no way! I was taking care of this baby all by myself!! I could not write or sign the check, but I could sure write the cover letter, insert the check and letter into the envelope and lick it sealed. The glue on that envelope was one the sweetest tastes I have ever experienced.

Let me back track.

Last fall, I undertook something that I have never done. I led my church in an extended study of The Beatitudes of Jesus. You know what they are. Those poignant little snippets that all begin with the phrase, “Blessed are . . .”

Although I was very familiar with the phrases, and knew their context, in over 25 years of ministry, I had never taught or preached on them. There is a good reason. Well, it is good in my mind anyway. I am more of a paragraph speaker. I like to take one or several paragraphs in a passage and let them craft themselves into a message that I get to deliver as I seek to expose the text. That means that to preach the Beatitudes would be for me a unique approach. I would not be speaking on a paragraph, instead over the course of eight weeks I would take these pregnant phrases and expound on what I learned of them from other passages of Scripture.

It was eye opening for me and the church to say the least. But one phrase really cleaned my clock. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Now I have always known that the fact that Jesus mourns over personal grief was a reality. Jesus hurts when we hurt. I was likewise aware that Jesus mourns over the presence of sin and its affects on humanity. But what I was not as aware of, that absolutely killed me in my study was the fact that Jesus mourns over human suffering.

In the course of that message I looked at flood victims in the Pittsburgh area. I looked the starving children around the world with swollen stomachs. I watched the Sarah McLaughlin video and tried to find a way to get it to show to my congregation. But what really cleaned my clock was the suffering on the continent of Africa due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Consider:

• 26.6 million people are infected – more than the population of every state in the union with the exception of California
• 4 African countries have over 30% adult infection rate
• 2.3 million died in 2003
• 3 million children under the age of 3 are infected
• 1 million children have been orphaned
• In some countries there is the very real danger of an entire generation being lost.
  

I was totally taken back. My heart was broken. I had read all of this before, but for some reason it got my attention like it never has before. I remember sitting at my keyboard writing my message with tears flowing down my face at the intense suffering of my fellow humans in Africa.

About the same time a brochure from World Vision came across my desk. In it I saw that for only $4,000 we could build a home for widow and orphans of HIV/AIDS. I saw that for $1,300 we could send a metric ton of food to widows and orphans from HIV/AIDS that would be matched by government grants up to fourteen times.

The Spirit of God hit me so clearly. “Terry, why not get Fountain Park Church to raise that $5,300 over Christmas. You are in this affluent white suburb, challenge your people.”

So, I did. I challenged them to give to this effort above any other giving they planned to do over the Christmas holidays. I challenged them to consider giving up a Christmas gift to get this accomplished. My wife and I decided to not give one another a Christmas gift so we could give to this. My children were asked to give to this and not give us a Christmas gift. I told my church what we were doing and asked them to pray about what they should do.

As I said, I just mailed a check for $10,963 to World Vision. God so spoke to our people that we gave enough to World Vision to build not one but two houses, and send not one but two metric tons of food. Plus there was an additional $363 to send to the general HIV/AIDS effort. That may not seem like much to some; but to a new church development, it was and is huge.

But, it is more than just money. It was the awareness that these are fellow human beings who are suffering in ways that you and I cannot even imagine. Now I realize that there is education to be done, to help the sufferers and limit the disease. World Vision does that too. But this was a gift that we think will make a difference in the lives of some.

Will this gift cure AIDS? No. Will it help an entire continent? No. But it will help some! And that is what God expects. Do what I can, where I can, while I can.

I just mailed over $10,000 of my young church’s money to ease the suffering of some. Did it make me feel good? You bet your sweet bippy it did. Does it end there? No way. We have committed to pray regularly for these folks, for the children, for protection, and for a cure for this terrible disease.

What did you do today?

Exposing too Much

Last week I had a day of planning with my staff at Fountain Park. We did the usual stuff, but then as often happens in such settings someone shares a funny church experience, which leads to another, which leads to . . . well you get the point.

One of the staff shared an incident from his brother’s church that had us all rolling. It seems that once a quarter or so they have an “open mic” time for anyone to sing. It sounds all pretty scary to me, and after hearing about it, I think I am right on. One lady came up to sing and said something to this effect, “I usually sing in the key of ‘off’, but today I will be singing in the key of ‘F off.’” We all just about lost it, especially when he said that no one except his brother got it.

Well, not to be out done I told about what is the funniest church story I have ever heard. In a southern rural church (remember I am from the south) they had the tradition of a Wednesday evening Prayer Service where everyone would share what was taking place in people’s life, ask for requests, share gossip in the form of a prayer request, brag as a form of “praise,” you probably know the drill.

One Wednesday, while the Pastor stood up front, folks began to share. There were the usual stories about “I have gossiped this week. I swore this week. I lusted this week. I was dishonest.” You can guess all the normal stuff. However, after about 8-10 minutes one man stood up and said, “Preacher, I have something to confess. I had sex with a goat this week at my farm.” The room sat in stunned silence. Finally the Pastor said, “Brother, I don’t think I would have shared that.”

This was the most extreme case I have ever heard tell of where someone was caught, “sharing too much.” I have heard things along that line, but nothing even approaching that extreme violation of the “rules of self disclosure.”

Now, here is where I am coming from. Yesterday, I talked about Turtle People, those who hide in their shell and do not come out for fear of pain, rejection, etc. There is another extreme: those who share too much too soon. Have you ever been with someone whom you have known only a short period of time, and they start to share personal facts that make you very uncomfortable? So have I. These people are violating the rules referenced above – the rules of self disclosure. They share information that you have not earned the right to hear.

As best I can ascertain, there are two rules of self disclosure: First, I do not share what others have not earned the right to hear. In other words, I do not share too much too soon. Violators of this rule are the opposite of Turtle People. These folks just open their mouth and vomit self revelations all over you. Now, co-dependent types love this. They need to be needed, so this makes them feel valued. Normal folks, however, look for a crack in the floor in which to hide. They just do not want to be anywhere near this stuff that is over the line.

The second rule is this: I do not delve into areas of your life where you have not given me permission to venture. It really gets bad when rule violators start asking questions. These are questions you do not wish to answer, and would not talk to them about it, if you were so inclined.

I think my words to us today are twofold, to balance out yesterday. Do not share too much too soon. Oh, go ahead and follow Jesus in the risk so you do not remain a turtle person. But, do not only use caution . . . use wisdom. Be sure the person you talk to can be trusted with the information you are about to divulge. Be sure they desire to be on the receiving end.

Secondly, set appropriate boundaries. Some folks are not good at respecting them. Stand your ground. If you have set a fair boundary, stick to your guns. Be sure you are not mean or unkind, but remember some folks only understand the subtlety of a 2x4 up side the head . . . figuratively of course. If it takes an offense to get the message of your boundary, then risk the offense to safe guard your boundaries.

We dare not, we cannot, remain turtle people. But we likewise cannot put ourselves at unnecessary risk. We must discern, evaluate, listen, talk, ask questions, and then act accordingly.

Go ahead, get ready to come out of your shell; just be sure it is not in the middle of the Interstate when you do.

Turtle People

It will forever be emblazoned in my memory as one of the more pitiful images I have ever seen. It was one of those events that totally catch you by surprise and the sheer image of it shocks you.

Let me back up a bit. I am guessing it was in the late 80s when it happened. I was driving, where I do not recall, and saw a lady out of her car on the side of the road. Being the chivalrous type (or not too bright . . . take your pick) I stopped to offer my assistance. She was extremely emotional. My first thought was that someone was injured. After a few seconds I realized she had stopped because she had hit an animal with her car. Now for those of us who live in Pittsburgh, that is so not unusual. We in the suburbs have invaded their homes and the encounters take place. But I digress . . .

I thought perhaps it was a dog, or cat or some animal from the wild she had hit. When I walked around her car, I saw the strange pitiful sight. She had run over a turtle. The animal was not dead and not seriously injured, so to speak. The strange thing was that the animal shell was totally cracked open leaving the turtle totally exposed to the elements. It was, as I have said . . . pitiful.

A gentleman who lived in the area walked over to see what was happening and to offer his assistance. We were on a back country road which made the gentleman sort of a back woods type of guy who was well familiar with wild life and the like. He quickly explained to us that in his experience, which I deemed considerable, this animal was doomed. He said we really had two options. We could allow the turtle to go free which would probably mean a very painful death by a scavenger or being hit by another car. The other option was he would return to his home, bring his gun (I am a born and bred southerner remember) and we could “humanely” kill the animal quickly. After some discussion, we opted for the second choice. The lady who had hit the turtle left the scene being totally unable to cope with what was to transpire.

All in all, the incident was a bit surreal.

These years looking back I think many, if not most people I have known are like that turtle. We have been injured by life and we feel exposed, vulnerable and well . . . pitiful. What we do next is interesting. We grow another shell. It will be thicker and tougher than the original one. But we are not going to be exposed like that again. We choose to just live in our shell rather than to risk it, come out and be exposed.

Yesterday I wrote, “Herein is a good lesson for the church. We are not meant to be isolated either. We are supposed to be in community with other believers and with those who are not yet believers . . .”

I would like to think a bit.

What in life has injured you? It may be something totally devastating. It probably is something that cuts deep into your core and wounds you so badly that you simply refuse to reach again. You say things like, “This isolation hurts terribly, but it hurts less than the exposure and injury! So I will remain in my shell. It is much safer here. It is just easier to not risk it.”

You know what? You are right. It is safer inside that shell. It is also very lonely. It is also very dark. It is also dreary. It is also just NO FUN!

How do I know? I have a shell of my own. Sometimes I like it in there. It is small and confining but I know it well and I feel a bit safer. Sometimes I absolutely hate it inside there and scream to get out. But there is that pitiful turtle image that comes to my mind. What if I am ravaged by someone while exposed? What if I end up road kill on the streets of life?

Yeah, what if?

I know the risk is great. Sometimes it is too great. But I also know I know the rewards of stepping out are huge. (As an aside, there are levels of exposure that are not just great, they are foolhardy and unwise. I will attempt to talk a bit about those in a future blog.)

So why are we still there? In short I think there are two reasons. I am sure there are more but these two come to mind.

We were hurt so badly in the past that we just are not going to risk again . . . no matter what the reward. We are done with this relationship / friendship stuff and that is that.
No one has given us enough reason to come out. Perhaps it is that the right person has not sought us out. If that were to happen, we would perhaps venture one more try . . . just maybe.

Now I will leave the application to you regarding your need to risk coming out of the shell but I want to go one step further. My friend, listen to these words. Jesus is not asking you to come out of the shell to Him. Jesus is coming to be with you in your shell. He wants to come where you are and help you heal. He wants to wrap his arms around you, care for you, heal you and then walk out with you.

We need not be alone in our shell. Here the knock on the outside? It may be Jesus wanting to join you where you are. Isn’t that just like Jesus? He accepts you as you are where you are. He does not ask you to clean up and come to Him. He just asks you to let Him in.

Somehow the vulnerability is a bit less, and the pitiful feeling reduced when Jesus comes in to be with us.

Listen. He is knocking. Let Him in. Let Him love. Let Him heal.

Cabin Fever

Winter has finally arrived in Pittsburgh. Of course it took it until late February to early March to get here! We have been below freezing for a while and having just left weather.com I noticed that it will remain the same here for the next week with one day’s reprieve. It is downright depressing to look at the forecast, even if weather is an inexact science at best. What makes it worse yet, it is March!! People expect it to be starting to warm up! (Yeah, yeah, my friend in Colorado will rub my nose in it about how nice it is in Colorado Springs. And he is right. But I have to deal with it here since this is the place God has called me.)

I have noticed a very interesting effect this weather has had on folks. Everyone is getting cabin fever. They have not been able to get out and do the outdoorsy things they like doing, me included, and it is starting to affect their behavior. Here is where I have noticed it . . . in their driving. People are driving like maniacs. They do often it seems, but more so now than usual. I see more speeding, more traffic lights being run and more tailgating going on. Why is this the case? I think that it exhibits the fact that our very make up by our creator is to be people in community, not isolated in our own shells and dwellings.

Herein is a good lesson for the church. We are not meant to be isolated either. We are supposed to be in community with other believers and with those who are not yet believers. How else do we encourage one another and reach out to others? It cannot occur in isolation. It is true in our relationships within and without the church. I will write a bit more about that and my views on the Christian Ghetto in the next 2-3 days. But for today, the lesson for me and us all is to be sure we in the church are relating with others. We need the interaction, the accountability, the support, the love, and the challenge that community brings. Let’s not run from the very thing we need. We are not turtles. We cannot exist within our shell.

Stars

Do you remember having a teacher tell you about the various constellations? She would show you two or three stars and say: “This is three soldiers and the four friends sitting down to lunch.” To which you would reply: (silently of course) “All I see is five stars.” Of course I am being facetious here, but the point is the same.

Now don't deny that at some point you have wondered how they got those intricate designs out of a few stars. I have too. After an evening church service some years back when she was still young, my oldest daughter pointed to three stars in the sky and informed me that it was Orion's belt. I responded that I would hate to have only three buttons holding up my pants. We then talked about this very issue, how so few stars can be made into a very involved configuration with a little bit of imagination. My son mentioned a few others that he was aware of and we got in the car to go home, still discussing how easy it is to build whatever you want when you have no guidelines.

Some people build their Christian life in the same fashion. There is no guideline, no standard, and no source of objective truth by which to determine their course of action. Consequently you arrive at all sorts of strange behavior. What right have you to call something wrong they believe is perfectly fine? What right do I have to do something someone else deems to be wrong? What right indeed, unless there is a final authority. What right, unless there is a source of objective truth that can be assimilated.

For the believer, Scripture must be that source. Do you have a good idea? I'm glad. But unless you can clearly substantiate it with Scripture, please don't be angry if I do not embrace it. That does not mean it is wrong, it just means I do not agree. Ultimately I may be the one who is wrong. That is okay, we can agree to disagree can we not? I will extend you the same grace. Because I am sure I will have many good ideas that others will not agree with. That is okay.

Paul told Timothy that all Scripture was “God breathed,” and “was profitable for doctrine . . .” Let me give you a slanted Terry phrase of that verse. “Scripture is objective truth by which to guide your life.” That provides us some limits on how far you can stretch the Christian life. It isn't what you feel. It is what does Scripture say? Unlike the constellations, with only the faintest hint of a guideline, we have a guideline for designing our life. Okay, some issues are not as clear as we would like, but God did give us a brain that He expects us to use. That does not negate the principles that are at work, however.

Design your life carefully. It will determine the nature of your influence on someone else's life and tells more about you than you realize.

Choose your lines of demarcation circumspectly, they tell who you are more than you care to admit.

Be careful at the lines you draw in the sand. You may end up fighting battles that you do not care to fight, and should you win, you have actually won very little and lost a great deal . . . perhaps the smile of Christ.

God's Protection

It would be great if our life was always fun and games. But alas, it just is not so. When life is fun, we think about how good the Lord has been to us. However, we sometimes forget that when circumstances are not in our favor. Yet the Lord is still looking after us. Even in the darkest of days and the most difficult of circumstances the Lord is on our side.

There is yet another time we overlook God’s protecting hand. It is when things in our life are not bad or good, they are “just there.” You know what I mean. You are just living your life. You are going to work, attending church, talking to friends, buying groceries, gassing up the car, etc., etc., etc. We do not always think about God’s guiding and protecting hand in those situations.

On occasion, the Lord has sent me reminders of exactly that. In the spring of 1992, I was given two such reminders very quickly. My youngest daughter Lori Beth and I were driving to the grocery store when a small truck came completely across the road in front of us, tearing down a stone fence and slamming into a tree. The two young men in the vehicle were seriously injured. I was the first one to them. They were in need of professional attention, which they received in short order.

The very next day, during a violent rainstorm, a young woman passed me on the freeway. She was traveling at an excessive rate of speed for any conditions, for these it was downright fool hardy. She lost control of her automobile, made two complete revolutions in front of me and hopped onto the median. She was barely injured.

In each instance, I was totally unharmed, but was quickly made to remember how often the Lord protects us in the course of our day. The protection is not usually this dramatic, thankfully – but it is always there.

Are you “just living your life?” That's okay. The Lord has his guiding and protecting hand over you even in the everyday occurrences of your life. It may not seem like much, but you are important enough that the Lord has his shield of protection surrounding you. Like Job of old, nothing can come your way without the Lord allowing it. It may not seem good, but the One who has all authority is in control, even in the “just living” situations of life.

Motivation

What motivates you? What gets you into gear? What moves you off of dead center? Something does. Unless of course you never do anything, that then, is a horse of a different color.

Everyone who knows me very well can testify to the fact that I am a people person. People energize me. They get me going. I enjoy being around others, doing for others, teaching others; you name it.

I also study people. What is it that makes them tick? Why do they do what they do? What was the motivating factor in their actions? People are not the same in this area. The reasons behind actions are as varied as the shapes of snowflakes.

Some are controlling individuals. Their motivation is simply to be “in charge.” What it is doesn't really matter it seems, as long as things are done their way. Others respond to compliments. To them, a compliment is like a carrot on a stick. Keep it out in front of them and they will go after it like ants at a picnic.

There are several examples of this at the location where I worked as a welder while in seminary. One of the men, (I'll call him Jack) hated to work on Saturday. If you were tell Jack on Thursday that he may have to work Saturday, he would put out at least twenty-five per cent more product over the next two shifts. Another (I'll call Caleb) worked harder when you made him mad. Go by his job site; criticize Caleb or anger him in any other fashion and he will work like a mad man for the rest of the day.

Those are things to stimulate. But what should motivate the life of a Christian. Paul said it best: “Christ's love compels us.” That should be our most basic motivator.

As you stand at the brink of spring in 2005, ask yourself the question: “What exactly is my motivation? Am I compelled by the love of Christ, or by something else?”

I love people; but that is not why I am motivated to work like I do. It is Christ's love for me, and mine for Him. In the final analysis, nothing else can be a lasting motivator. All else will grow pale and dim. Christ's love is unchanging and unceasing.

What motivates you? Fear? Greed? Or any of a thousand other things? I hope it is the love of and for Christ that keeps you going. If not, ask yourself another question: “Why isn't it?” Is your relationship with Him on the level that it should be? Is there a relationship at all? Do you spend time with Him? Do you ask for His assistance? For that matter, do I as the writer of this blog?

What better way to enter spring, than by having your connection to the God of the universe in proper alignment. Why not move through the remainder of the year letting the love of Christ compel you in your service and your life? Why not make that a goal for the remainder of this and every year?