Note: During Sabbatical this is a personal journal that briefly shares a diary of my day with a few thoughts...don't expect good writing or profound wisdom.
Got up early to spend intense time with Jesus. Primarily focused in the end of Luke and the first 8 chapters of John.
Went to Grace Bible Church of Vernon...interesting church...just had merged with another church and the Associate Pastor Bob Cowert was preaching his farewell sermon and sharing about his relocation to Honduras. The message was on the importance of gathering together from Hebrews 10:19-25 with an emphasis on small group gatherings....he wanted to encourage the people to devote themselves to one another. It's a church trying to transition from the 90's to 2008. It was 90% full (300 seats) and seemed to have a buzz...75% of the church was over 60 years old...but to their credit the whole worship team was under 35. So I believe this church will turn the corner and flourish because it opening itself up to the next generation.
Worship was sincere but much too quiet and unenthusiastic for my tastes...but that's me...and it didn't stop me from worshiping with delight in my God.
I love to experience what it feels like to visit a church for the first time....I am a professional church guy and it is a bit INTIMIDATING for me to visit for the first time. It impressed me with three things....ONE...it's so important for friends to bring friends to church...then they don't have to feel alone on their first visit...TWO...it's so essential for the "regulars" to go out of their way to enthusiastically welcome newcomers. Pastors must make the first timers their priority, greeters must be genuine and outgoing, and the general church must take it on themselves to be God's heart extended...THREE...the good-byes are as important as the "hello's"...what's the last impression as a newcomer walks to the parking lot....between the arrival and the departure you are safe in your chair...but the arrival and departures are essential because that's when the guest is wondering...will I be accepted here?
Lord, help LLCF be "the people loving place"...not in word but in deed!
Came home and read, and Deb and I went to coffee shop in village (Bugaboos) and talked with the owner, master baker Frank, then hiked, and picked raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries...all wild. All delicious...got drenched from the rain.
Came home, had a long talk with mom on the phone (going through chemo) and had dinner with the girls (the 4 female theologians) and had a good talk.
Read "The Shack" and went to bed.
August 25, 2008
August 24, 2008
S. #27 Grace, Peace and Girls
Lindsey and two of her girlfriends from seminary arrived at 2:30am. Praise God for their safe arrival. Lindsey had been in Alaska with TJ and flew back to Seattle and then used my mom's car to drive the 7 hours to Silver Star.
Spent time with Jesus in Luke for much of the morning. Then had a great talk with Lindsey and Deb about her future and her time in Alaska.
Then Deb and I went to the boat. Weather has been less than desirable for boating on the lake. Deb and I swam and I skied. The 3 girls came down from the mountain and Linz wakeboarded and skiied. Then we taught Molly to wakeboard and then read, swam and skiied some more.
I am reading the hugely popular book "The Shack"....it is also controversial in the Christian world so I thought I would check it out for myself.
Went to church, Saturday evening service and had a good time of worship. Jeremy the youth pastor brought the word...although it was apparent that he was nervous and new in the pulpit, I appreciated that a church as large as Vernon Alliance would allow him to get the experience. His message was on "Grace and Peace" and the fact that so many of the NT letters open with that salutation. His text of Philippians 1:1-14 is a great passage. I asked the Lord to allow me to soak in his grace and peace in new ways so that I can give it away in new proportions.
Came home and bbq for the girls...me and 4 girls (Deb, Lindsey, Molly, Kristina) and they are all SEMINARY TRAINED THEOLOGIANS! So it's fun to hear their life stories and their calling and their dreams.
Watched a little of the Olympics and watched the anchor of the USA women's 4x400meter relay team come from behind to catch Russia and redeem her personal 400meter failure. (she had been picked to win but came in 4th. Her failure didn't sink her, it only gave her greater resolve.
God I pray that this may be the case in my life as well...let me receive your GRACE and PEACE in my failures and come charging back with greater resolve for YOU!
Spent time with Jesus in Luke for much of the morning. Then had a great talk with Lindsey and Deb about her future and her time in Alaska.
Then Deb and I went to the boat. Weather has been less than desirable for boating on the lake. Deb and I swam and I skied. The 3 girls came down from the mountain and Linz wakeboarded and skiied. Then we taught Molly to wakeboard and then read, swam and skiied some more.
I am reading the hugely popular book "The Shack"....it is also controversial in the Christian world so I thought I would check it out for myself.
Went to church, Saturday evening service and had a good time of worship. Jeremy the youth pastor brought the word...although it was apparent that he was nervous and new in the pulpit, I appreciated that a church as large as Vernon Alliance would allow him to get the experience. His message was on "Grace and Peace" and the fact that so many of the NT letters open with that salutation. His text of Philippians 1:1-14 is a great passage. I asked the Lord to allow me to soak in his grace and peace in new ways so that I can give it away in new proportions.
Came home and bbq for the girls...me and 4 girls (Deb, Lindsey, Molly, Kristina) and they are all SEMINARY TRAINED THEOLOGIANS! So it's fun to hear their life stories and their calling and their dreams.
Watched a little of the Olympics and watched the anchor of the USA women's 4x400meter relay team come from behind to catch Russia and redeem her personal 400meter failure. (she had been picked to win but came in 4th. Her failure didn't sink her, it only gave her greater resolve.
God I pray that this may be the case in my life as well...let me receive your GRACE and PEACE in my failures and come charging back with greater resolve for YOU!
August 23, 2008
S. #26 Wild Strawberry Juice
Authors note: During sabbatical this blog is a daily semi-personal journal of activities and insights.
Spent the morning in chores and in the Word and the early afternoon in study and reading.
Deb and I took a long mountain hike. It was a good work out, it was beautiful. Saw deer. Spent a lot of time picking and enjoying wild blueberries and wild strawberries.
Standing at 7500 feet, in a clearing with pine trees surrounding, with sparkling fresh air filling our lungs, feasting our eyes on a hundred miles of mountains, trees, and lakes; with the tingling taste of wild strawberries dancing on our tastebuds, and blueberry juice dribbling down our face, with our hands clasped together in a mixture of friendship and romance, with our hearts light & free & happy, with our eyes lifted to our Father in heaven...truly one of those moments to capture, savor, and remember.
Creation floods my spirit with the presence and goodness of God..."Thank you Jesus for the intricate works of your hands".
Watched two of Lindsey's former classmates compete in the Olympics. Bryan Clay was with her at APU...he won the gold in the decathlon...and Tony Azevedo was with her at Wilson High School and he led the water polo team to the gold medal round.
Lindsey and two friends from Fuller Seminary arrived at 2:30am.
Spent the morning in chores and in the Word and the early afternoon in study and reading.
Deb and I took a long mountain hike. It was a good work out, it was beautiful. Saw deer. Spent a lot of time picking and enjoying wild blueberries and wild strawberries.
Standing at 7500 feet, in a clearing with pine trees surrounding, with sparkling fresh air filling our lungs, feasting our eyes on a hundred miles of mountains, trees, and lakes; with the tingling taste of wild strawberries dancing on our tastebuds, and blueberry juice dribbling down our face, with our hands clasped together in a mixture of friendship and romance, with our hearts light & free & happy, with our eyes lifted to our Father in heaven...truly one of those moments to capture, savor, and remember.
Creation floods my spirit with the presence and goodness of God..."Thank you Jesus for the intricate works of your hands".
Watched two of Lindsey's former classmates compete in the Olympics. Bryan Clay was with her at APU...he won the gold in the decathlon...and Tony Azevedo was with her at Wilson High School and he led the water polo team to the gold medal round.
Lindsey and two friends from Fuller Seminary arrived at 2:30am.
August 22, 2008
S. #25 Happy Wife, Happy Life!
Spent time with LUKE...that is a the gospel of Luke and I felt like Theopholis (see Chapter 1).
Helped Deb and Shelley prepare for meeting with our new caretaker of our homes at Silver Star. This new venture of going out on our own after have had a property manager for the last 12 years is scary. We (the Pauls and us) have to market the homes for ski rentals and run the business at a whole new level. But we really have no choice and we believe we can do it much better than what it's being done. To see the homes visit our website at wishuponasilverstar.com
Deb is running lead on this and doing a super job. She is a Proverbs 31 lady for sure....thanks God for a great wife who is very sharp, good looking, and loves you and me greatly!
Took Shelley to Kelowna airport and ran errands with Deb...then we just spent some good couple time. I love my wife!
One of the most well known Christian speakers just chose to have an emotional affair and is separated from his wife. What a tragedy! The announcement is rocking the news last week. My motto in marriage is "Happy Wife, Happy Life!" If I can serve DEB and lay down my life for her she will go out of her way to be a blessing to me and we will grow closer as the years go by.
Marriage before Ministry!! That's part of what this sabbatical is about...taking some great time to just go deeper with DEB...she is my first ministry.
Met with Don Kassa (our Canadian realtor) about selling our property since construction prices have become prohibitive.
Came back up to house and ate big healthy salads and watched Olympics.
August 21, 2008
S. #24 The Agony of My Dream
Matthew, Mark, Luke....finished Matthew, read through Mark, and started Luke. Good morning in the Good Book...God's word is like fresh water pouring over my body, soul, and spirit. Cleansing, renewing, refreshing, reinvigorating.
Deb is in Long Beach until tonight so I have the day to invest.
One dream I have had for the last 15 years is to ride my bike from the top of the mountain at Silver Star to the town of Vernon in the valley. So I said, "why not today?" I knew it would be tough...I knew it would take some time....but "you only live once!"
So under cloudy skies and a cool day, I jumped on my bike and coasted downhill at speeds up to 30 miles an hour...it was so fast it was scary. 4,000 feet in 12 miles!
But "what goes down must go up"...so the 4,000 foot, 12 mile climb began and it was intense...about 3 miles up it began pouring rain...I was drenched from sweat and now I was drenched with rain...it grew harder to ride. Trucks were blazing down the hill and there is no shoulder on the road so in a spray of water they would go by me.
I stopped and drank but I had no calories with me. I rode on in increasing pain and exhaustion. About the 10 mile mark I was so out of fuel and the terrain so steep that I walked the bike for at least a mile...willing myself forward step by step. LIVING DREAMS OFTEN INCLUDES AGONY.
Finally, 3.5 hours after I started down the hill...I arrived at our house...Praise Jesus for his strength and help. Although my legs were cramping and throbbing...my heart was filled with victory and satisfaction...the dream in all it's glory and struggle had been lived!
I ate tons of calorie, jumped in the hot tub, crashed on the sofa and recovered.
At 9:30pm I went to pick up Deb and Shelley at Kelowna Airport.
Deb is in Long Beach until tonight so I have the day to invest.
One dream I have had for the last 15 years is to ride my bike from the top of the mountain at Silver Star to the town of Vernon in the valley. So I said, "why not today?" I knew it would be tough...I knew it would take some time....but "you only live once!"
So under cloudy skies and a cool day, I jumped on my bike and coasted downhill at speeds up to 30 miles an hour...it was so fast it was scary. 4,000 feet in 12 miles!
But "what goes down must go up"...so the 4,000 foot, 12 mile climb began and it was intense...about 3 miles up it began pouring rain...I was drenched from sweat and now I was drenched with rain...it grew harder to ride. Trucks were blazing down the hill and there is no shoulder on the road so in a spray of water they would go by me.
I stopped and drank but I had no calories with me. I rode on in increasing pain and exhaustion. About the 10 mile mark I was so out of fuel and the terrain so steep that I walked the bike for at least a mile...willing myself forward step by step. LIVING DREAMS OFTEN INCLUDES AGONY.
Finally, 3.5 hours after I started down the hill...I arrived at our house...Praise Jesus for his strength and help. Although my legs were cramping and throbbing...my heart was filled with victory and satisfaction...the dream in all it's glory and struggle had been lived!
I ate tons of calorie, jumped in the hot tub, crashed on the sofa and recovered.
At 9:30pm I went to pick up Deb and Shelley at Kelowna Airport.
August 20, 2008
S. #23 The BIBLE and TV
Helped get the group ready to leave...Deb is doing a quick trip back to Long Beach to deal with the matters created by the theft of her wallet...primarily DMV but other issues as well...thank God for a friend like Shelley Pauls who works for Alaska and is using her vacation to fly down with Deb so that the flight is free.
Spent most of the morning and afternoon in God's Word...it's so rich and invigorating just to fill up with the truth.
Took a long mountain hike and spent some quality time in prayer...ran some errands for Deb in the valley. Read some more and watched Olympics.
While I am greatly enjoying having a TV for the sake of the Olympics, I am reminded why I am so GLAD that we don't have a TV in our HOME! The commercials alone are enough to introduce all kind of evil into a home. So many homes are soaked in the atmosphere of sex, violence, greed, pride, sarcasm, lust, anger, pleasure, slothfulness, all because their TV's spew the garbage into their family room day after day.
Praise God for the WORD that declares His paths...they are enlightening, empowering, and embracing of the SHALOM of God. That's the atmosphere I want permeating my home!
Spent most of the morning and afternoon in God's Word...it's so rich and invigorating just to fill up with the truth.
Took a long mountain hike and spent some quality time in prayer...ran some errands for Deb in the valley. Read some more and watched Olympics.
While I am greatly enjoying having a TV for the sake of the Olympics, I am reminded why I am so GLAD that we don't have a TV in our HOME! The commercials alone are enough to introduce all kind of evil into a home. So many homes are soaked in the atmosphere of sex, violence, greed, pride, sarcasm, lust, anger, pleasure, slothfulness, all because their TV's spew the garbage into their family room day after day.
Praise God for the WORD that declares His paths...they are enlightening, empowering, and embracing of the SHALOM of God. That's the atmosphere I want permeating my home!
August 19, 2008
S. #22 God and Gold Medals
Spent time in the Word...plus reading...plus some insightful spiritual conversation with the group of family and friends who are here in Canada with us.
Went to Lake and spent an afternoon of reading, skiing, boating, swimming, laughter, and theological discussion with the group. I began reading "Loving God with Your Mind" by the great apologist, J.P. Moreland...excellent read.
Had a special last supper with the group, followed by watching the Olympics. I reflect on how the apostle Paul used the games as a metaphor for his own spiritual development and for the crown of victory that is available to all of us.
Nastia Lukin, of the USA, tied for the gold medal in uneven bars, but through a crazy computer calculation, the Chinese girl was awarded the gold and Nastia received the silver. I am so glad that God's scoring is "grace based" not "performance based"....that God's scoring hands the gold medal to all of us who "tie" by "being found in Christ, not depending on our own greatness but on the righteousness of Christ, HIS greatness".
Grace does not mean I don't train for God's Olympics...as Dallas Willard writes and as I read from Moreland's book yesterday, "Grace is opposed to EARNING but not to EFFORT!"
I can never earn a Gold but I receive it by grace through faith, BUT I need to train daily to live in a way that pleases God...a truly "golden" life of becoming more and more like Christ!
Went to Lake and spent an afternoon of reading, skiing, boating, swimming, laughter, and theological discussion with the group. I began reading "Loving God with Your Mind" by the great apologist, J.P. Moreland...excellent read.
Had a special last supper with the group, followed by watching the Olympics. I reflect on how the apostle Paul used the games as a metaphor for his own spiritual development and for the crown of victory that is available to all of us.
Nastia Lukin, of the USA, tied for the gold medal in uneven bars, but through a crazy computer calculation, the Chinese girl was awarded the gold and Nastia received the silver. I am so glad that God's scoring is "grace based" not "performance based"....that God's scoring hands the gold medal to all of us who "tie" by "being found in Christ, not depending on our own greatness but on the righteousness of Christ, HIS greatness".
Grace does not mean I don't train for God's Olympics...as Dallas Willard writes and as I read from Moreland's book yesterday, "Grace is opposed to EARNING but not to EFFORT!"
I can never earn a Gold but I receive it by grace through faith, BUT I need to train daily to live in a way that pleases God...a truly "golden" life of becoming more and more like Christ!
August 18, 2008
S. #21 Worship in the Park
A brief daily journal with personal thoughts meant primarily for my own consumption.
Spent time with family and friends from Seattle who are at the house. Did some reading in the Word.
Went to an outdoor worship event sponsored by our church in Vernon. A great night of praise at the park that reminded me of our Long Beach Church Without Walls. Had good talks with our Pastor here, his executive pastor, and a guy who is just coming to know the Lord...he owns a sporting good store that I have gone to for years. We ended the worship time with a "How Great is God" under a beatiful Okanagon sky in a gorgeous green park with a stream flowing through it.
After worship in the park we came back and played a new dice game and I lost big time.
Lord, I read more in the "Who am I and What Do I want" book and am asking you to focus my energy, to help me to know what my "holy no's" should be and what my "holy yes's" should be. Grant me insight as I seek you on this matter!
Spent time with family and friends from Seattle who are at the house. Did some reading in the Word.
Went to an outdoor worship event sponsored by our church in Vernon. A great night of praise at the park that reminded me of our Long Beach Church Without Walls. Had good talks with our Pastor here, his executive pastor, and a guy who is just coming to know the Lord...he owns a sporting good store that I have gone to for years. We ended the worship time with a "How Great is God" under a beatiful Okanagon sky in a gorgeous green park with a stream flowing through it.
After worship in the park we came back and played a new dice game and I lost big time.
Lord, I read more in the "Who am I and What Do I want" book and am asking you to focus my energy, to help me to know what my "holy no's" should be and what my "holy yes's" should be. Grant me insight as I seek you on this matter!
August 17, 2008
S. #20 Beauty and a Broken Boat :(
Authors note: During my sabbatical I am using my blog as a brief personal journal of activities, happenings, and learnings. Others are welcome to read but expect simplicity, not profundity.
Shared time with my sister Brenda, partners and friends, Dwight & Shelley Pauls, and Bonnie and David Carpenter. Walked to the village (Silver Star) for cinnamon rolls at our friend, Frank's bakery. Gorgeous day. Walked through the car show they were having in the Village.
Went to the valley to the lake and skiied, swam, laughed, picnic(ed). I read a book by Mick Uklejwa (former pastor and now acquaintance of mine)...entitled, Who Are You and What do you Want? Good insight into understanding yourself and your sweet spot.
That evening we boated to the Blue Heron, a waterside cafe. After a delightful meal, we cast of for our 10 mile voyage back on a full moon stunningly beautiful night at 9:45. Guess what?
The boat broke down (overheated) and we were stranded...finally flagged down a boat and were towed back to the dock....we hit the bar not for a drink but for tools...one friendly guy, Craig Edwards from Canmoore helped us out with tools...Dwight and David worked on it for an hour and were able to fix it! Thank you Jesus! Finally got back to the marina where we are keeping the boat and where the cars were. Got home at 1am and fell into bed.
What's going on? Everything we do, something challenging happens. It's making it hard to relax and rest the mind and spirit. But God is bringing us through trial by trial. "Help me to learn step by step. I trust you Lord and I refuse to fear the power of the one who hates me!"
Shared time with my sister Brenda, partners and friends, Dwight & Shelley Pauls, and Bonnie and David Carpenter. Walked to the village (Silver Star) for cinnamon rolls at our friend, Frank's bakery. Gorgeous day. Walked through the car show they were having in the Village.
Went to the valley to the lake and skiied, swam, laughed, picnic(ed). I read a book by Mick Uklejwa (former pastor and now acquaintance of mine)...entitled, Who Are You and What do you Want? Good insight into understanding yourself and your sweet spot.
That evening we boated to the Blue Heron, a waterside cafe. After a delightful meal, we cast of for our 10 mile voyage back on a full moon stunningly beautiful night at 9:45. Guess what?
The boat broke down (overheated) and we were stranded...finally flagged down a boat and were towed back to the dock....we hit the bar not for a drink but for tools...one friendly guy, Craig Edwards from Canmoore helped us out with tools...Dwight and David worked on it for an hour and were able to fix it! Thank you Jesus! Finally got back to the marina where we are keeping the boat and where the cars were. Got home at 1am and fell into bed.
What's going on? Everything we do, something challenging happens. It's making it hard to relax and rest the mind and spirit. But God is bringing us through trial by trial. "Help me to learn step by step. I trust you Lord and I refuse to fear the power of the one who hates me!"
August 16, 2008
S. #19 Accidents and Awesomeness
Cleaned house and washed windows for a few hours before meeting a long time friend who has been our property manager for 13 years. We have ministered to him through the dissolution of his marriage and sought to be an influence for Christ. It was good to be with him, share our love and God's with him, and on top of that it was a good business meeting as well.
Went down to town in the valley...I had to slam on my brakes for a guy making a sudden left turn, behind us was a 22 year old driver following too close, going too fast and BAM!! He smashed into us. I jumped out and the entire front of his car was smashed in but he was ok. We were ok....I had a bit of whiplash but nothing major...His car had at least$2500 of damage...ours had damage to the paint and a displaced bumper...he hit our trailer hitch and that spared us a lot of damage.
We couldn't believe it!! Is the devil trying to ruin our sabbatical or what? Deb and I just shook our heads. We thanked God no one was hurt and that we had no more damage than we did.
We went to the boat and just relaxed and read and swam and I waterskiied. Our friends and partners in our boat, Dwight and Shelley, our long time Seattle friends and pastor of children Bonnie and David Carpenter, and my sister Brenda all flew in for the weekend.
We took a long mountain hike as the full moon was rising...the AWESOMENESS of God was present...and stayed up til midnight laughing, sharing old stories, and praying together. It was a rich time. During prayer they specifically asked that God would shield the rest of our sabbatical from Satan's destructive attacks.
Deb and I had decided to laugh in the devil's face....not out of disrespect for his power...but out of the certainty of our victory in Christ! The devil can't steal the joy and goodness of God in our lives. Sabbatical is not an escape from the reality of spiritual warfare but a space where we can reflect on our victory in Christ!
Went down to town in the valley...I had to slam on my brakes for a guy making a sudden left turn, behind us was a 22 year old driver following too close, going too fast and BAM!! He smashed into us. I jumped out and the entire front of his car was smashed in but he was ok. We were ok....I had a bit of whiplash but nothing major...His car had at least$2500 of damage...ours had damage to the paint and a displaced bumper...he hit our trailer hitch and that spared us a lot of damage.
We couldn't believe it!! Is the devil trying to ruin our sabbatical or what? Deb and I just shook our heads. We thanked God no one was hurt and that we had no more damage than we did.
We went to the boat and just relaxed and read and swam and I waterskiied. Our friends and partners in our boat, Dwight and Shelley, our long time Seattle friends and pastor of children Bonnie and David Carpenter, and my sister Brenda all flew in for the weekend.
We took a long mountain hike as the full moon was rising...the AWESOMENESS of God was present...and stayed up til midnight laughing, sharing old stories, and praying together. It was a rich time. During prayer they specifically asked that God would shield the rest of our sabbatical from Satan's destructive attacks.
Deb and I had decided to laugh in the devil's face....not out of disrespect for his power...but out of the certainty of our victory in Christ! The devil can't steal the joy and goodness of God in our lives. Sabbatical is not an escape from the reality of spiritual warfare but a space where we can reflect on our victory in Christ!
August 15, 2008
S. #18 CSI and the Right Heart
Spent time in the word...loving Jesus and receiving his love for me.
Helped Lindsey get ready to go to Alaska.
The four of us walked to the ski village and had a late breakfast at Bugaboos
Then drove to airport and saw the kids off.
Went back to the parking lot where Deb's wallet was lost...spent the next hour and half looking for the elusive wallet....searching dumpsters...talking with people...offering rewards...talking with the police...I kept thinking it's going to be here...it's going to be there...praying fervently....trying to listen as if God was going to show me exactly where it was....but I got no word of knowledge, no vision...just sweating under the sun playing CSI...but to no avail and to great disappointment.
We came back up to the house, read, watched Olympics, and hot tubbed.
God, you can teach me through these trials....help me not to waste the frustrations but to learn what you want me to know...I love you, Jesus and these small trials are an opportunity....keep my attitude positive and my mind focused on you.
Helped Lindsey get ready to go to Alaska.
The four of us walked to the ski village and had a late breakfast at Bugaboos
Then drove to airport and saw the kids off.
Went back to the parking lot where Deb's wallet was lost...spent the next hour and half looking for the elusive wallet....searching dumpsters...talking with people...offering rewards...talking with the police...I kept thinking it's going to be here...it's going to be there...praying fervently....trying to listen as if God was going to show me exactly where it was....but I got no word of knowledge, no vision...just sweating under the sun playing CSI...but to no avail and to great disappointment.
We came back up to the house, read, watched Olympics, and hot tubbed.
God, you can teach me through these trials....help me not to waste the frustrations but to learn what you want me to know...I love you, Jesus and these small trials are an opportunity....keep my attitude positive and my mind focused on you.
August 14, 2008
S. #17 Birthdays and a Very Bad Day
We were celebrating Lindsey's birthday today since we won't be together on September 6.
We got up early and did a long mountain hike...followed by mom's special German Pancakes...then off to the Lake for wakeboarding and waterskiing. Lindsey tore it up on both and so did TJ. I had my best day skiing also.
Then we took them to Turtle Bay Marina and rented a SEADOO for them for an hour...while they Seadoo'ed Deb and I chilled at the outdoor cafe.
But then the trouble started. We drove back to Bagel Lane for Lindsey to eat at one of her favorite places in Vernon. When we got there...we could not find Deb's wallet! We searched high and low and determined it must have been left at the Seadoo place because she paid. She quickly drove back the 30 minutes one way to the spot...NO WALLET! She left numbers in case anyone turns it in. No one is fessing up yet. Our whole lives are in her wallet.
Near panic was setting in but we had tickets to the incredible outdoor theater called Caravan Theater so we had to go...it was spectacular evening in the Canadian hills...miles from anywhere...and the acting was good although none of us cared that much for the play this year.
But because of the wallet it was a somber night. TJ and Lindsey fly out to Alaska tomorrow to spend time with TJ's family and Deb may have to fly home for a few days to handle stuff if the wallet doesn't show up in the next few hours. This is hard...help me Lord to know how to minister to Deb...teach me in the tough times to be a rock and to trust you.
We got up early and did a long mountain hike...followed by mom's special German Pancakes...then off to the Lake for wakeboarding and waterskiing. Lindsey tore it up on both and so did TJ. I had my best day skiing also.
Then we took them to Turtle Bay Marina and rented a SEADOO for them for an hour...while they Seadoo'ed Deb and I chilled at the outdoor cafe.
But then the trouble started. We drove back to Bagel Lane for Lindsey to eat at one of her favorite places in Vernon. When we got there...we could not find Deb's wallet! We searched high and low and determined it must have been left at the Seadoo place because she paid. She quickly drove back the 30 minutes one way to the spot...NO WALLET! She left numbers in case anyone turns it in. No one is fessing up yet. Our whole lives are in her wallet.
Near panic was setting in but we had tickets to the incredible outdoor theater called Caravan Theater so we had to go...it was spectacular evening in the Canadian hills...miles from anywhere...and the acting was good although none of us cared that much for the play this year.
But because of the wallet it was a somber night. TJ and Lindsey fly out to Alaska tomorrow to spend time with TJ's family and Deb may have to fly home for a few days to handle stuff if the wallet doesn't show up in the next few hours. This is hard...help me Lord to know how to minister to Deb...teach me in the tough times to be a rock and to trust you.
S. #16 Silver, Sinking, Risking
Spent extended time in the Word...went to lake with Lindsey, Deb, and TJ. Skiied hard...TJ slalomed and did great for a first timer. BBQ'd ribs at the house. Watched Olympics.
The disappointment of the USA Women's Gymnastic team, led me to think of the disappointments in life. How we handle disappointments, unmet expectations, setbacks, defeats, even tragedies...determines how we move forward or backward in life. Most people play it too safe out of fear of failure. They know the pain of disappointment is very acute so if they set their goals much lower then they seldom have to face that pain. But if they go for the gold...they have to risk the possibility of frequent exposure to pain.
I had just read of Peter getting out of the boat...walking on water...what a risk...what a thrill...but when he sunk, he was rebuked by Jesus for his lack of faith...but how much more all those disciples who never dared to try something far outside their comfort zone. Peter goes down as the disciple of Faith, even though his career as a water walker failed. He dared to step out counting the possibility of victory as greater value than the possiblity of sinking!
God help me step out when I hear you say, "Come". He will always be there to pick me up when I sink!
The disappointment of the USA Women's Gymnastic team, led me to think of the disappointments in life. How we handle disappointments, unmet expectations, setbacks, defeats, even tragedies...determines how we move forward or backward in life. Most people play it too safe out of fear of failure. They know the pain of disappointment is very acute so if they set their goals much lower then they seldom have to face that pain. But if they go for the gold...they have to risk the possibility of frequent exposure to pain.
I had just read of Peter getting out of the boat...walking on water...what a risk...what a thrill...but when he sunk, he was rebuked by Jesus for his lack of faith...but how much more all those disciples who never dared to try something far outside their comfort zone. Peter goes down as the disciple of Faith, even though his career as a water walker failed. He dared to step out counting the possibility of victory as greater value than the possiblity of sinking!
God help me step out when I hear you say, "Come". He will always be there to pick me up when I sink!
August 12, 2008
S, #15 Learning Nothing
Chores...even on vacations or sabbaticals...there are chores...which I really don't mind that much because as you have heard it said, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"...but "All play and no work makes Jack an undisciplined little brat incapable of deeply experiencing pleasure but habitually looking for the next fun time instead of enjoying all times." Okay maybe you haven't heard the second quote.
After chores...we packed lunches and headed for the lake and spent the afternoon bobbing in the water and swimming and reading and laughing. Came back up the mountain to the house, hot tubbed, made dinner and played "Mexican Train"...a domino game...which Deb won (there seems to be a theme in our family)...and then watched a comedy movie.
I did not learn anything significant today...that I know of...and that is one of my goals is to have a few days where I don't accomplish anything...except enjoy God, my family, my life...and that at the end of that day I would feel just as special and valuable to God as days when I accomplish a lot...OK maybe I did learn something yesterday.
After chores...we packed lunches and headed for the lake and spent the afternoon bobbing in the water and swimming and reading and laughing. Came back up the mountain to the house, hot tubbed, made dinner and played "Mexican Train"...a domino game...which Deb won (there seems to be a theme in our family)...and then watched a comedy movie.
I did not learn anything significant today...that I know of...and that is one of my goals is to have a few days where I don't accomplish anything...except enjoy God, my family, my life...and that at the end of that day I would feel just as special and valuable to God as days when I accomplish a lot...OK maybe I did learn something yesterday.
August 11, 2008
S. #14 Conquering the Cliffs
Spent time with Matthew (the book) and Jesus. Good teaching for my spirit...Jesus was certainly a paradoxical blend of tough and tender...blasting Pharisees one minute, bouncing babies on his knee the next...I was touched by his humanity...when he got news that John the Baptist, his cousin, his hero (none born of women is greater) was beheaded, the next thing he does is go off alone and seek His Father...to me it has grief written all over it...his heart is heavy BUT he knows where to turn.
Since we had gone to church the night before...we packed lunches and headed for the daunting climb up the ENDERBY CLIFFS! Drove the hour there and started up. Of course Lindsey and TJ had boundless energy but Deb and I were huffing it all the way up the steep and strenuous path. It gets so steep at points that ropes are in place to help you up.
Deb felt like quitting several times but was a real champion...cheered on by the rest of the family. Ever since cancer surgery things like this have been more difficult but she refuses to be stopped. After 3.5 miles (one way) and 2200 feet of elevation gain we reached the top! What a view...we praised God!
After the 5 hour hike we were exhausted. But came home, hot tubbed, bbq'd ribs and then we went to a DRIVE IN...yes they still have them...a country drive in...we watched a double feature... Dark Knight (Batman 14) and Get Smart (Be dumb enough to watch it). Got home at 2am. What a FAMILY Day!
Lessons: Because we were committed to getting together to the top as a Family...we all had travel the pace of the slowest person...while it extended the climb time, it made the summit so much sweeter! I am the guy who likes to race to the top regardless of who I leave behind...sometimes it's more important to get there all together...Lord show me when to say, "let's go" and when to say "let's stay together".
August 10, 2008
Sabbatical #13 "My Father's Lap"
Slept in til 7am...got up and made coffee...spent time with Matthew & Jesus...Matthew writes some profound stuff about Jesus...I am struck by the pattern in Jesus' life of engagement and withdrawal, intensity followed by leisure, outflow followed by recharging.
Read the rest of Jim Collins' Good to Great for the Social Sector...key thoughts for me..."Great leaders are ambitous NOT for themselves but for the cause...a blend of personal humility and professional will...a commitment to do whatever it takes to accomplish the mission of the organization. When people see you are motivated first and foremost by the greatness of the work and not self-seeking then they are inspired to follow and emulate your example. I believe the Apostle Paul was a "level 5" leader...powerfully ambitious but only for the church and the cause.
It was cold and raining and hailing on the mountain...throughout the day...beautiful and powerful with lightening and thunder. Walked down to Bugaboos in the village, visited with Frank, our Dutch friend who owns the place...he gave us 4 of his famous cinnamon rolls...Lindsey, TJ, Deb, and me enjoyed them. Deb and I took a long mountain hike, eating wild strawberries, the clouds let loose just as we had about a quarter mile to go...we ran the rest of the way and then hopped in the hot tub in the rain!
Deb and I went down to the village for the wine festival...not to drink but to visit with friends we have on the mountain...saw several friends.
Then went down to Vernon to go to OUR church...Vernon Alliance Church pastored by our friend Stuart McKnight. He is on a semi break...working 4 days a week and only preaching 2 times a period of 9 weeks. He was there, but not preaching. Had a good time connecting with him and worshipping. Len Frank brought the word and it was perfect for me and for the start of Sabbatical. Detailed the difference between living from a Performance model and living from a Relational model...how we see to gain acceptance from God instead of receiving the GRACE of relationship...the Father's love...he brought the chair that his Father sat in all the time and how he was only allowed to sit in his father's lap a few times and when he was...he sat there tense and quietly until his Father fell asleep...he saw himself as an inconvenience to his Father.
In the worship following the message...God showed me how I had never really experienced "my Father's lap". I was too young to remember my daddy because he died when I was two. I was too old to sit on my step-dad's lap once he came into my life. The Lord seemed to show me that this is one of the reasons I have struggled with "performance" issues...having to establish my value through my accomplishments. God invites me to lean back into his chest, to feel the warmth of his arms embracing...not because I have done something special but because I AM SPECIAL to my Father.
Came back up the mountain and watched a movie with TJ and Linz.
Read the rest of Jim Collins' Good to Great for the Social Sector...key thoughts for me..."Great leaders are ambitous NOT for themselves but for the cause...a blend of personal humility and professional will...a commitment to do whatever it takes to accomplish the mission of the organization. When people see you are motivated first and foremost by the greatness of the work and not self-seeking then they are inspired to follow and emulate your example. I believe the Apostle Paul was a "level 5" leader...powerfully ambitious but only for the church and the cause.
It was cold and raining and hailing on the mountain...throughout the day...beautiful and powerful with lightening and thunder. Walked down to Bugaboos in the village, visited with Frank, our Dutch friend who owns the place...he gave us 4 of his famous cinnamon rolls...Lindsey, TJ, Deb, and me enjoyed them. Deb and I took a long mountain hike, eating wild strawberries, the clouds let loose just as we had about a quarter mile to go...we ran the rest of the way and then hopped in the hot tub in the rain!
Deb and I went down to the village for the wine festival...not to drink but to visit with friends we have on the mountain...saw several friends.
Then went down to Vernon to go to OUR church...Vernon Alliance Church pastored by our friend Stuart McKnight. He is on a semi break...working 4 days a week and only preaching 2 times a period of 9 weeks. He was there, but not preaching. Had a good time connecting with him and worshipping. Len Frank brought the word and it was perfect for me and for the start of Sabbatical. Detailed the difference between living from a Performance model and living from a Relational model...how we see to gain acceptance from God instead of receiving the GRACE of relationship...the Father's love...he brought the chair that his Father sat in all the time and how he was only allowed to sit in his father's lap a few times and when he was...he sat there tense and quietly until his Father fell asleep...he saw himself as an inconvenience to his Father.
In the worship following the message...God showed me how I had never really experienced "my Father's lap". I was too young to remember my daddy because he died when I was two. I was too old to sit on my step-dad's lap once he came into my life. The Lord seemed to show me that this is one of the reasons I have struggled with "performance" issues...having to establish my value through my accomplishments. God invites me to lean back into his chest, to feel the warmth of his arms embracing...not because I have done something special but because I AM SPECIAL to my Father.
Came back up the mountain and watched a movie with TJ and Linz.
August 09, 2008
Sabbatical #12 Thistles, Sin, & Servanthood
Got up and spent time with Jesus and Matthew...going verse by verse. I am convicted to be a "2 Mile Christian"...one who when compelled to go one mile cheerfully says "Can I carry that heavy load another mile for you?" That's servant leadership..."Lord, teach me to be a 'go-giver'"
Then pulled "thistles" for part of the morning...if you don't get them pulled up before they flower they continue to multiply...I couldn't help but think about sin in my life and how important it is to pull it out when it is young, new, beginning, before it's roots grow deeper and it begins to spread its poison and spread to other parts of the garden of my heart!
As I was pulling thistles my allergies went off the charts...red bumps up and down arms, sneezing, the whole deal. I pray that I would be that allergic to SIN!
Drove Deb and Lindsey to the airport and we picked up TJ, Lindsey's boyfriend. How weird does that seem to me. My little girl in a real and deepening relationship...next Thursday she is flying to Alaska to meet his family. We love TJ and are so proud of his devotion to Christ and the church.
We took the boat out and all of us went skiing and wakeboarding and had a kick! (my muscles are screaming..."too much fun!") Then came back and grilled steaks and watched some of the Olympics.
Started reading "Good to Great for the Social Sector" by Jim Collins. Insightful for non-profit leadership and based on much research.
The book starts with the question "Are you trying to be interesting, or are you seeking to be interested?" There it is servanthood again.
Then pulled "thistles" for part of the morning...if you don't get them pulled up before they flower they continue to multiply...I couldn't help but think about sin in my life and how important it is to pull it out when it is young, new, beginning, before it's roots grow deeper and it begins to spread its poison and spread to other parts of the garden of my heart!
As I was pulling thistles my allergies went off the charts...red bumps up and down arms, sneezing, the whole deal. I pray that I would be that allergic to SIN!
Drove Deb and Lindsey to the airport and we picked up TJ, Lindsey's boyfriend. How weird does that seem to me. My little girl in a real and deepening relationship...next Thursday she is flying to Alaska to meet his family. We love TJ and are so proud of his devotion to Christ and the church.
We took the boat out and all of us went skiing and wakeboarding and had a kick! (my muscles are screaming..."too much fun!") Then came back and grilled steaks and watched some of the Olympics.
Started reading "Good to Great for the Social Sector" by Jim Collins. Insightful for non-profit leadership and based on much research.
The book starts with the question "Are you trying to be interesting, or are you seeking to be interested?" There it is servanthood again.
August 08, 2008
Sabbatical #11 Goodbye & Hello Friend
Got up early and broke open a new loaf of bread...that is code language for the fact that I bought Deb and I brand new, black leather, gold edge, red letter, names embossed on the front cover, NIV, large print, thin line, non reference, BIBLES! So I started breaking mine in.
Now you must understand this is always a bittersweet moment...you see there is the Holy Bible and then there is MY Bible. The Word never changes but the book I use to read, study, and preach God's Word MUST change...I simply wear them out from hauling them to places like Ethiopia...carrying them in backpacks...etc...the binding usually breaks.
So to change Bibles is to say goodbye to old friend and retire it to some shelf of honor.
But it is also like saying...hello to a new friend who holds just as much promise, adventure, comfort, counsel, wisdom, power, and creativity as my last friend.
Over the next 8 weeks I am journeying through the New Testament and the start of that journey was exciting.
Also read another entire book yesterday..."The GO-GIVER" great short book on servant-living. The theme is "The more you give the more you live" so find creative ways to give everyday...understand that YOU are a great gift and by giving yourself away, you can bless others and position yourself to be blessed. "Lord, let me give with an abandonment that blesses everyone in my circle of influence, Let me be open to receiving all you want to give to me directly and through others!"
Finally spent a whole day, reading, relaxing, learning, growing, taking a long walk with Deb and Lindsey....played a game like horseshoes which Deb won on her last throw...I would like to say I GAVE her the victory...but she WON it fair and square.
Now you must understand this is always a bittersweet moment...you see there is the Holy Bible and then there is MY Bible. The Word never changes but the book I use to read, study, and preach God's Word MUST change...I simply wear them out from hauling them to places like Ethiopia...carrying them in backpacks...etc...the binding usually breaks.
So to change Bibles is to say goodbye to old friend and retire it to some shelf of honor.
But it is also like saying...hello to a new friend who holds just as much promise, adventure, comfort, counsel, wisdom, power, and creativity as my last friend.
Over the next 8 weeks I am journeying through the New Testament and the start of that journey was exciting.
Also read another entire book yesterday..."The GO-GIVER" great short book on servant-living. The theme is "The more you give the more you live" so find creative ways to give everyday...understand that YOU are a great gift and by giving yourself away, you can bless others and position yourself to be blessed. "Lord, let me give with an abandonment that blesses everyone in my circle of influence, Let me be open to receiving all you want to give to me directly and through others!"
Finally spent a whole day, reading, relaxing, learning, growing, taking a long walk with Deb and Lindsey....played a game like horseshoes which Deb won on her last throw...I would like to say I GAVE her the victory...but she WON it fair and square.
August 07, 2008
Sabbatical #10 Your Patient Needs Patience
Got up at 6am and unloaded the jeep into the wrong house because we were locked out of our house because our property manager failed to leave the keys he had promised. Deb and Lindsey drove with me an hour to Kelowna to try and get the boat trailer fixed.
We thought this might take a couple of hours and then we could get on with the real vacation.
The bad news was the problem was worse than expected...the brake trailers had failed completely and the whole brake system would have to be overhauled. I kept checking back in, only to hear 3 different times..."It's not done yet".
My patience was running short. My frustration was building, while my attitude was deteriorating. But the Lord seemed to begin to speak to me on this subject..."Larry you are broken in places. One of the areas of brokenness is your demand that things go your way on your time table. Your "achiever" and "maximizer" strengths, while good in the right context, can become a destructive force to my peace. You are my patient whom I need to help with patience which is a fruit of my Spirit. You can have that in all situations if you trust my timing and sovereignty"
I tried to say "yes" to His voice. Finally at 5pm the trailer was done and $640 later (OUCH!) I was able to pull away for the hour trip back to the house.
I did have a good afternoon in the park with Deb and Lindsey enjoying a stunningly beautiful day on green grass by the exquisite Lake Okanogan.
Finally got the boat to the Lake...all our stuff moved into our house...and ended the day with a soak in the hot tub...thanking God that HE IS PATIENT with His Patient.
We thought this might take a couple of hours and then we could get on with the real vacation.
The bad news was the problem was worse than expected...the brake trailers had failed completely and the whole brake system would have to be overhauled. I kept checking back in, only to hear 3 different times..."It's not done yet".
My patience was running short. My frustration was building, while my attitude was deteriorating. But the Lord seemed to begin to speak to me on this subject..."Larry you are broken in places. One of the areas of brokenness is your demand that things go your way on your time table. Your "achiever" and "maximizer" strengths, while good in the right context, can become a destructive force to my peace. You are my patient whom I need to help with patience which is a fruit of my Spirit. You can have that in all situations if you trust my timing and sovereignty"
I tried to say "yes" to His voice. Finally at 5pm the trailer was done and $640 later (OUCH!) I was able to pull away for the hour trip back to the house.
I did have a good afternoon in the park with Deb and Lindsey enjoying a stunningly beautiful day on green grass by the exquisite Lake Okanogan.
Finally got the boat to the Lake...all our stuff moved into our house...and ended the day with a soak in the hot tub...thanking God that HE IS PATIENT with His Patient.
August 05, 2008
Sabbatical #9 Broken bearings & Burn Out
What a day!! As in challenging, hard, long day. Got up and packed the boat and jeep and finally left Seattle about 11am. That took forever!
Then drove for 7 hours at Costco in Kelowna...that's one hour from our home in Silver Star BC. As I was pulling into Costco I heard a terrible noise...it was my rear axle on boat trailer...the bearings are toast. It's too late to get it fixed but the problem is the boat is filled with stuff...to the brim...so we have to leave Lindsey perched on top of the boat as Deb and I drive madly to our house unload the Jeep and Deb drives back while I carry stuff up to the house.
Deb and Lindsey will be home in 20 minutes and I will have to unpack the Jeep...and be back up at 6am to rescue the boat from Costco parking lot and spend half the day (hopefully not more) getting the trailer fixed...Yikes!! So this little mishap cost us 5 hours of driving, probably $500 or more bucks, and lots of extra work...BUT...BUT...You know what I know???
God is good all the time, and the all the time God is good!! What if I had been stranded in the middle of nowhere....that could have happened. God helped me with my attitude when my circumstances made me what to holler. It's just stuff, it's just another day, God has purpose and blessing in the midst of mud! Jesus is LORD...my circumstances are NOT!
Just like those bearings burnt out from going too hard and too fast for too long...my life and ministry can burn out also. So maybe the Lord was giving me an object lesson...time to take your life to the shop and have new bearings put in so you can get your bearings in life a little more clear.
Then drove for 7 hours at Costco in Kelowna...that's one hour from our home in Silver Star BC. As I was pulling into Costco I heard a terrible noise...it was my rear axle on boat trailer...the bearings are toast. It's too late to get it fixed but the problem is the boat is filled with stuff...to the brim...so we have to leave Lindsey perched on top of the boat as Deb and I drive madly to our house unload the Jeep and Deb drives back while I carry stuff up to the house.
Deb and Lindsey will be home in 20 minutes and I will have to unpack the Jeep...and be back up at 6am to rescue the boat from Costco parking lot and spend half the day (hopefully not more) getting the trailer fixed...Yikes!! So this little mishap cost us 5 hours of driving, probably $500 or more bucks, and lots of extra work...BUT...BUT...You know what I know???
God is good all the time, and the all the time God is good!! What if I had been stranded in the middle of nowhere....that could have happened. God helped me with my attitude when my circumstances made me what to holler. It's just stuff, it's just another day, God has purpose and blessing in the midst of mud! Jesus is LORD...my circumstances are NOT!
Just like those bearings burnt out from going too hard and too fast for too long...my life and ministry can burn out also. So maybe the Lord was giving me an object lesson...time to take your life to the shop and have new bearings put in so you can get your bearings in life a little more clear.
Sabbatical #8 Lesson on Desire & Disappointment
Nice breakfast with Deb on the patio in the beautiful Seattle sunshine with tall pine trees overhead and beautiful flowers surrounding us.
Then off to fix broken things...brakes, etc on the Grand Cherokee....$500! Ouch! Flat tire on the bicycle! 18$! Ouch! Went to Starbucks with wife, daughter, and Shelley P. and drowned my sorrows in a mesmerizing doze of expensive coffee.
While at Starbucks got an email confirming that a dream has died. Call the mortuary for visions....buy a casket for expectations. A real estate project that was supposed to help fund the kingdom and be a blessing to Deb and me, fell through. 3 years we have been working on this thing. I won't detail it out but it gave me the opportunity to work through the whole "desire and disappointment" part of life.
Here's what I sensed the Lord may be saying to me in this significant letdown:
"Larry, when you make me the desire and the delight of your heart then disappointments, while real and painful, are quite small things. Because of who I am, Because Hebrews 13:8 is true and I will never change and thus never disappoint you, WHEN you keep me as the primary desire and delight of your heart, you rebound quickly from disappointments. Don't stop dreaming and creating and going for it...BUT never let anything but me have the center of your heart! I always have NEW and GOOD ahead for you as you trust me! So dream again but never let a earth dream get too big...As I told you in Psalms 34 Delight yourself in me and I will give you the desires of your heart (myself, my love, my beauty)"
Spent rest of day going to Pike Place Market on a gorgeous day...one of my favorite places...the smells, the sights, the people, the flying fish. Then to Fremont and lovely time reading and relaxing and then a gourmet dinner at 35th Avenue Bistro...try the Salmon or the Ravoli and the housemade sorbet!
Then off to fix broken things...brakes, etc on the Grand Cherokee....$500! Ouch! Flat tire on the bicycle! 18$! Ouch! Went to Starbucks with wife, daughter, and Shelley P. and drowned my sorrows in a mesmerizing doze of expensive coffee.
While at Starbucks got an email confirming that a dream has died. Call the mortuary for visions....buy a casket for expectations. A real estate project that was supposed to help fund the kingdom and be a blessing to Deb and me, fell through. 3 years we have been working on this thing. I won't detail it out but it gave me the opportunity to work through the whole "desire and disappointment" part of life.
Here's what I sensed the Lord may be saying to me in this significant letdown:
"Larry, when you make me the desire and the delight of your heart then disappointments, while real and painful, are quite small things. Because of who I am, Because Hebrews 13:8 is true and I will never change and thus never disappoint you, WHEN you keep me as the primary desire and delight of your heart, you rebound quickly from disappointments. Don't stop dreaming and creating and going for it...BUT never let anything but me have the center of your heart! I always have NEW and GOOD ahead for you as you trust me! So dream again but never let a earth dream get too big...As I told you in Psalms 34 Delight yourself in me and I will give you the desires of your heart (myself, my love, my beauty)"
Spent rest of day going to Pike Place Market on a gorgeous day...one of my favorite places...the smells, the sights, the people, the flying fish. Then to Fremont and lovely time reading and relaxing and then a gourmet dinner at 35th Avenue Bistro...try the Salmon or the Ravoli and the housemade sorbet!
August 03, 2008
Sabbatical #7 Seattle Sunday...Good, Sad, & Ugly
Got up and went to worship Jesus with the saints of New Heart Worship Center in Federal Way, Washington. Great time of worship and hearing the word from Pastor Gordon Banks. Preached on Delegated Authority from Genesis 41 how Pharoah raised up Joseph. The Lord spoke to me about the difference of walking in the authority I create for myself and the authority God grants me when I release my clinching fisthold on my own authority to operate in the peace and wisdom of His authority. Also that power and authority go together and I need to believe for more power and more authority in my life and my ministry.
Then went to brunch with family and friends at a special place that Shelley Pauls took us to.
Went to the home we found to relocate Mom from Oregon to Seattle. It was a gorgeous day and the home has a sweeping view of Puget Sound.
Then went to IKEA to shop with Deb for our Canadian rental home..then bike riding with Dwight beside White River..then Thai Bistro for some scrumptious Pad Thai.
Had a very disappointing email that seems to have a shot down a 3 year real estate project Deb and I had been working on...ouch...bummer. We will see.....the song I love goes, "You give and take away...Blessed me your name!" Holy Spirit coach me when I swing and miss! I love you Lord!
Then went to brunch with family and friends at a special place that Shelley Pauls took us to.
Went to the home we found to relocate Mom from Oregon to Seattle. It was a gorgeous day and the home has a sweeping view of Puget Sound.
Then went to IKEA to shop with Deb for our Canadian rental home..then bike riding with Dwight beside White River..then Thai Bistro for some scrumptious Pad Thai.
Had a very disappointing email that seems to have a shot down a 3 year real estate project Deb and I had been working on...ouch...bummer. We will see.....the song I love goes, "You give and take away...Blessed me your name!" Holy Spirit coach me when I swing and miss! I love you Lord!
Sabbatical #6 - Road Trips, Dreams?, Songs
Up by 6am going hard to finish as much as I can at Mom's. Packed up pick-up and headed out at noon for the six hour drive to Seattle...just me and mom talking about life past, present, future. Unloaded, went to sister Brenda's house where one of the guys from the drug recovery program they run was fixing dinner. He was a real chef, trained at the Culinary Institute of America and he was artistic last night...excellent. Then took brother Justin home and crashed at midnight.
The Lord may have spoken to me in a dream...I showed up to a normal looking apartment just as a young white man was leaving with a deadly looking knife in his hand. Somehow I knew (dreams don't fill in all the details for you, ever notice that?) that he was the mass murderer everyone was hunting for and I knew he had just killed again.
I spoke a greeting to him and said something that engaged him in a friendly conversation, even though I was fearful, I kept talking and looking at the knife...the conversation went deeper and he opened up to me without telling me he was the mass murderer. I encouraged him to get help and suggested my wife and another psychologist...he thanked me sincerely and then went sprinting off.
The next evening I was sitting in my home...not my real home but my dream home...not my "dream" home like a mansion...but the house in my dream...suddenly a note was slipped under my door and it was the young man writing me to say, he was ready to get help, he hated himself and his deeds and thanked me for my friendship and gave me his phone number...I had 2 emotions...gratitude that I could be used by God like that AND fear that he knew where I lived without me even giving him any personal info.
Then I woke up.
Interpretation? Not sure yet but praying about it...The first interpreation to come to mind was that God wants to use Deb and me to interrupt the murderous violence on the streets around our church and that if we care, we can make a difference....and that now is the time to help and if we do our part God will do His...and that it will be scary. Hmmmmmm.....
A MUCH EASIER WORD...About 11:30pm I am driving the pickup to Dwight and Shelley's, our best buds who we are staying with during our Seattle stint....and listening to Country Music for a change. This song comes on..."I know what I was feelin' BUT what was I thinkin?'" It was about a guy who got in trouble because he let his emotion\hormones override his intellect.
What a great song..."Lord, my people and myself we get the two confused to our destruction too often...help me to walk in what I KNOW is best"....Love you Jesus!
The Lord may have spoken to me in a dream...I showed up to a normal looking apartment just as a young white man was leaving with a deadly looking knife in his hand. Somehow I knew (dreams don't fill in all the details for you, ever notice that?) that he was the mass murderer everyone was hunting for and I knew he had just killed again.
I spoke a greeting to him and said something that engaged him in a friendly conversation, even though I was fearful, I kept talking and looking at the knife...the conversation went deeper and he opened up to me without telling me he was the mass murderer. I encouraged him to get help and suggested my wife and another psychologist...he thanked me sincerely and then went sprinting off.
The next evening I was sitting in my home...not my real home but my dream home...not my "dream" home like a mansion...but the house in my dream...suddenly a note was slipped under my door and it was the young man writing me to say, he was ready to get help, he hated himself and his deeds and thanked me for my friendship and gave me his phone number...I had 2 emotions...gratitude that I could be used by God like that AND fear that he knew where I lived without me even giving him any personal info.
Then I woke up.
Interpretation? Not sure yet but praying about it...The first interpreation to come to mind was that God wants to use Deb and me to interrupt the murderous violence on the streets around our church and that if we care, we can make a difference....and that now is the time to help and if we do our part God will do His...and that it will be scary. Hmmmmmm.....
A MUCH EASIER WORD...About 11:30pm I am driving the pickup to Dwight and Shelley's, our best buds who we are staying with during our Seattle stint....and listening to Country Music for a change. This song comes on..."I know what I was feelin' BUT what was I thinkin?'" It was about a guy who got in trouble because he let his emotion\hormones override his intellect.
What a great song..."Lord, my people and myself we get the two confused to our destruction too often...help me to walk in what I KNOW is best"....Love you Jesus!
August 01, 2008
Sabbatical #5 Clocks and Rodeos
Worked hard til 3pm...doing a final dump run and cleaning out cobweb filled junk.
Went to Sisters, Oregon....quaint little tourist spot high in the mountains to take an ancient clock there to be repaired by a master clockmaker...the clock's been in the family for almost a 100 years...and to repair it was $250...much more than the original price of clock. But things that last are worth the effort and expense put into them....I (and you) are eternal and therefore, God is willing to put the effort and expense into our lives...we don't just last for 20 years like most of the junk I hauled but we are a legacy...an heirloom...a masterpiece. Lord, please clean me up, lubricate me, adjust me, so I can run for you for another 50 years.
Went to the COUNTY FAIR and RODEO...favorite shirt I saw: "I messed with Txas."
Got a good dose of "yeehaw"...ate bbq beef, kettle corn, and tortatoes...homemade on the spot potato chips...good and greasy and gross and I am glad the fair is only once a year.
Went to Sisters, Oregon....quaint little tourist spot high in the mountains to take an ancient clock there to be repaired by a master clockmaker...the clock's been in the family for almost a 100 years...and to repair it was $250...much more than the original price of clock. But things that last are worth the effort and expense put into them....I (and you) are eternal and therefore, God is willing to put the effort and expense into our lives...we don't just last for 20 years like most of the junk I hauled but we are a legacy...an heirloom...a masterpiece. Lord, please clean me up, lubricate me, adjust me, so I can run for you for another 50 years.
Went to the COUNTY FAIR and RODEO...favorite shirt I saw: "I messed with Txas."
Got a good dose of "yeehaw"...ate bbq beef, kettle corn, and tortatoes...homemade on the spot potato chips...good and greasy and gross and I am glad the fair is only once a year.
July 31, 2008
Sabbatical #4 Chainsaw Sculptures
Deb and Linz drove in at 3am...yea God! Got up @ sunrise and did a double power walk...some good prayer time. Was at the dump by 8:20am and back to keep cleaning and moving mom.
On the way to the dump on the second trip today...listening to country music and thinking about keeping it really real and authentic in life (after all County Music does that better than most Christians I know and especially most pastors)...anyway on the way there I saw a place with a big sign that said "CHAINSAW SCULPTURES"...I immediately thought, "that's my life"!
God is the great sculpture of my life and I keep thinking there is a "David" by "Michaelangelo" inside me...and there's truth there...but I am so stubborn sometimes that God has to use a CHAINSAW to get the useless stuff out of my life. You can't do much fine sculpting with a chainsaw! God keep up your work on my life...use a CHAINSAW when necessary...but also get me to that finer tuning that comes when you can pull out your small wood chipper and your whittling knive and do some detailed work on my heart.
A 72 year old Panda Bear causes a melt down...We were cleaning more stuff in a separate barn and suddenly mom found a Panda Bear she had when she was 4 years old and burst out in tears. I held her for a while and got the story...our humanity is so intriguing...70 year old things can trigger emotions that take us back to childhood.
I also thought of the verse in John 21 when Jesus prophesies about John and says when you are old, people will come and take you places you do not want to go....Mom wants to stay here but knows she can't so she must go where her circumstances dictate.
On the way to the dump on the second trip today...listening to country music and thinking about keeping it really real and authentic in life (after all County Music does that better than most Christians I know and especially most pastors)...anyway on the way there I saw a place with a big sign that said "CHAINSAW SCULPTURES"...I immediately thought, "that's my life"!
God is the great sculpture of my life and I keep thinking there is a "David" by "Michaelangelo" inside me...and there's truth there...but I am so stubborn sometimes that God has to use a CHAINSAW to get the useless stuff out of my life. You can't do much fine sculpting with a chainsaw! God keep up your work on my life...use a CHAINSAW when necessary...but also get me to that finer tuning that comes when you can pull out your small wood chipper and your whittling knive and do some detailed work on my heart.
A 72 year old Panda Bear causes a melt down...We were cleaning more stuff in a separate barn and suddenly mom found a Panda Bear she had when she was 4 years old and burst out in tears. I held her for a while and got the story...our humanity is so intriguing...70 year old things can trigger emotions that take us back to childhood.
I also thought of the verse in John 21 when Jesus prophesies about John and says when you are old, people will come and take you places you do not want to go....Mom wants to stay here but knows she can't so she must go where her circumstances dictate.
July 30, 2008
Sabbatical #3 Rat Poop and Reality Thinking
Got up for an early morning prayer\power walk...maybe I should call them a double power stroll...gorgeous as I watched the sun start shining on the Cascade mountains. Then went to work in dad's shop...gross...rat poop, squirrel poop, mice poop mixed with remnants from 77 years of Dad's life...I probably tossed 5000 worth of outdated veterinary medicine.
After about 4 hours of this I was beginning to think...what am I doing? I have a doctorate this kind of work is below me...Just then I sensed the Lord say..."who do you think you are?, Are you so high and mighty that you can't get on your hands and knees to serve your deceased father and your cancer stricken mom....get real, Larry!" I repented in the rat poop. "Lord I know you honor humility...please let me live in the beauty of humility.
I sensed what I believe was the Lord's inner voice one other time today...As I was cleaning my dad's stuff up, I began to think about dad. He was a man who always had a new idea, a new vision, a new dream...rather than cleaning up the mess from his latest idea he just moved on to the next idea. I thought to myself...he needed to slow down a little on the vision thing and not move forward without cleaning up his mess"...so do I...I need to see the mess that my next dream is going to create and count the clean up cost into the risk analysis before charging forward.
Deb and Lindsey will get here about 2am....yippee!
After about 4 hours of this I was beginning to think...what am I doing? I have a doctorate this kind of work is below me...Just then I sensed the Lord say..."who do you think you are?, Are you so high and mighty that you can't get on your hands and knees to serve your deceased father and your cancer stricken mom....get real, Larry!" I repented in the rat poop. "Lord I know you honor humility...please let me live in the beauty of humility.
I sensed what I believe was the Lord's inner voice one other time today...As I was cleaning my dad's stuff up, I began to think about dad. He was a man who always had a new idea, a new vision, a new dream...rather than cleaning up the mess from his latest idea he just moved on to the next idea. I thought to myself...he needed to slow down a little on the vision thing and not move forward without cleaning up his mess"...so do I...I need to see the mess that my next dream is going to create and count the clean up cost into the risk analysis before charging forward.
Deb and Lindsey will get here about 2am....yippee!
July 29, 2008
Sabbatical #2 Chemo & Cockroaches
A 3 mile walk at sunrise, working until breakfast, taking mom to her cancer chemo treatment and then a trip to the dump - at least that's what they called it the last time I went...now it's not a dump at all but a "transfer station"...but still smelled like a dump to me.
Then a quick trip to Home Depot and then to the country grocery store and we had friend chicken...which is just like fried chicken only with an "n"...(don't let Deb know I ate fried chicken and even had jojo's which are a disgusting form of potato that I am told is well known by truckers and 7-Eleven junkies.
Then I went to work on a disgusting hay shed filled with junk and hay and beekeeping stuff and multitudes of cockroaches and spiders. Deb would have run for the house. But I like cockroaches... especially fried.
Catch this I was on the phone with Deb when a 5.7 earthquake hit So.Cal.
All this sweat, and hay hauling, and dirt and dump yards...such a far distance from my usual day to day life...I sense you Lord...I loved our quiet conversation throughout the day...unfettered by a to do list dangling from my neck like a noose. I am exhausted, yet at peace...just mom and me and you in a 900 sq. foot mobile home on Crooked River Ranch with the cool breeze blowing through the door. Blow, Spirit...refreshing my soul.
Then a quick trip to Home Depot and then to the country grocery store and we had friend chicken...which is just like fried chicken only with an "n"...(don't let Deb know I ate fried chicken and even had jojo's which are a disgusting form of potato that I am told is well known by truckers and 7-Eleven junkies.
Then I went to work on a disgusting hay shed filled with junk and hay and beekeeping stuff and multitudes of cockroaches and spiders. Deb would have run for the house. But I like cockroaches... especially fried.
Catch this I was on the phone with Deb when a 5.7 earthquake hit So.Cal.
All this sweat, and hay hauling, and dirt and dump yards...such a far distance from my usual day to day life...I sense you Lord...I loved our quiet conversation throughout the day...unfettered by a to do list dangling from my neck like a noose. I am exhausted, yet at peace...just mom and me and you in a 900 sq. foot mobile home on Crooked River Ranch with the cool breeze blowing through the door. Blow, Spirit...refreshing my soul.
July 28, 2008
Sabbatical Day 1
Departing from my blog style to date, I will be posting spontaneously rather than deliberately...which is to say...brief notes that serve as an on-line journal of this 3 month sabbatical adventure that I am on. More for me and Jesus than anyone else.
up at 4am to keep a promise to a woman worthy of being honored...promised to do the floors and take care of the boat before I flew out from LAX...
flew to see mom and care for her during chemo treatments which have recently been rougher.
landed in Redmond, ate at the Country Nook...yes sireee, yee haw...it was actually better than some prefabricated piece of cuisine conjured up in some fast food accountant's recipe book.
mowed the yard...that feel good to get really dirty...marveled at the deer in the front yard...then cleaned out the camper with mom...it was filled with dad's stuff and so it awakened memories and reminded me that since the middle of May I haven't had a minute to do the important work of grieving...Lord let it begin, cleanse my burden with the tears of gratitude and farewells.
Read paper, talked with Deb and Lindsey...they are driving up on Wednesday...oh and congrats to TJ on the new supervisor staff position at my alma mater, APU!
up at 4am to keep a promise to a woman worthy of being honored...promised to do the floors and take care of the boat before I flew out from LAX...
flew to see mom and care for her during chemo treatments which have recently been rougher.
landed in Redmond, ate at the Country Nook...yes sireee, yee haw...it was actually better than some prefabricated piece of cuisine conjured up in some fast food accountant's recipe book.
mowed the yard...that feel good to get really dirty...marveled at the deer in the front yard...then cleaned out the camper with mom...it was filled with dad's stuff and so it awakened memories and reminded me that since the middle of May I haven't had a minute to do the important work of grieving...Lord let it begin, cleanse my burden with the tears of gratitude and farewells.
Read paper, talked with Deb and Lindsey...they are driving up on Wednesday...oh and congrats to TJ on the new supervisor staff position at my alma mater, APU!
July 09, 2008
Little or True Pleasures?
Toilet paper, toilets, garbage collection, street sweepers, sidewalks, asphalt, hamburgers, vegetables, napkins, clean water, deodorant, hot water, running water, stoplights, etc.
Oh the little pleasures of life in a first world country.
I need a yearly dose of a third world country to remind me of how rich I really am and what rich is and is not. Having just returned from a trip to a remote part of Ethiopia, I am enjoying all the small things in a big way. I am so thankful for the fact that I live in SoCal America. Yet I always end up asking the question, Why me instead of Tesfye, Ashenafi, Getachew, Teshoma? They are great people who live on so little.
At the same time I am taught once again, what has real value. Is my real value in my Costco card, my 24 Hour fitness card, my Disneyland pass, my Starbucks card? My friends in Ethiopia are rich without having even toilet paper. The love of friends, the vibrant relationship with Christ, the tightness of their family, the joy they get from each new day, the purpose they find in simply helping someone who is in trouble or in sharing the simple story of salvation…these are their true pleasures that so many Americans are missing while we enjoy our little pleasures.
God help me fully live who I am and where I am, without missing the true pleasures because of the little pleasures that become much bigger in my mind than they really are.
May 22, 2008
Father’s Day Came
My daddy died when I was two and when I was almost 10 I got a new dad when my mom remarried. I called him “Royce” at first, but it slowly morphed into “Dad”. Father’s Day no longer meant longingly watching other kids doing nice things for their “pop”.
When I got married a few days before “Father’s Day” it was my dad who was standing beside me as my best man. As I got older Father’s Day always meant a long call to dad who was always waiting near the phone.
Of course “Father’s Day” became infinitely more treasured when I became one myself. To hear the words “Papa” on the lips of my little blondie was one of life’s sweetest thrills. Her first cards to me were masterpieces meant for parental art museums.
So it may come as surprise that this Father’s Day will be met with sorrow mingled with smiles. You see, Father’s Day Came on May 13 this year. It was the day God came to get my Father. After I had sat prayerfully at his side for a couple of days and nights, the damage from an aneurysm of the aorta, finished his physical life. It was Father’s Day to step over, to go home, to transition into his Father’s presence.
We think of death as some dark thief strangling the air out of us as we fight to keep breathing. In some ways that’s true of death. But death is also a joyful messenger, announcing that our appointment with our King has come and the feast prepared in our honor is about to begin. Death is our day…our glorious day…our day to slip away from the chains of our physical existence and be free to be the immortal, perfected self we were created to be.
So this Father’s Day, I will thank my God, that my Father’s Day has finally, although much to soon to my liking, come!
May 12, 2008
ICU, Do You?
Dad is fighting for his life…and if he lives he may lose his leg and his other foot. I sit here fighting sleep, exhaustion, and confusion.
ICU is not for the faint of heart. I have often visited but I have never spent the night sleeplessly listening for every chirp of the machines that monitor my father’s battle.
Often I arise from my seat to pray, touch a shoulder, call a nurse, or simply shake off weariness.
30 hours ago Dad had a aneurysm of the aorta and almost died. Two major surgeries later, he is hanging on. Plague keeps breaking loose and blocking veins. Any errant piece could lodge in the wrong place and take him home to Jesus.
Me…I spent a mostly sleepless night Saturday as I waited to hear results of the surgery, then I preached two Mother’s day services and dedicated 9 babies. As I gave the altar call at 12:22pm I raced to LAX to catch my 1:30pm departing plane. Amazingly I made it.
After an evening with family here at St. Joseph’s hospital in Tacoma, WA., everyone went home and I started my long watch through the night.
So here I sit…calling out to you Lord. It just hit me…ICU…Intensive Care Unit but it can also mean…ICU…I SEE YOU. Lord, I believe you do…it feels lonely but I believe your eyes upon me…Your loving gaze is upon me…I am the apple of your eye…your thoughts are toward…I am engraved on your palm…my hairs are being counted hourly…you know my thoughts…you know when I stand up and when I sit down and when I nod off.
Lord you are my hope, my strength, my God…even when I am simply clinging to you in weary prayers of wordless ramblings…you know my heart and you embrace me. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, mount up on wings like eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint…So shall it be.
ICU too, Lord!
April 21, 2008
Halfway People
I don't want to live half-way! I can't stand the thought of mediocrity when greatness beckons. Comfortable is always the enemy of courage. Risk is the road to results that rock! Here is a well-worn but not told often enough story:
There is a magnificent one day hike in the Alps. If you start early in the morning you can reach the summit and get back to the car before dark.
About half way up the mountain is this incredibly beautiful rest house where everyone eats a great lunch. The owner of the rest house has noticed an interesting pattern over the years. When everyone reaches the rest house they are all excited about reaching their goal of the summit.
They warm themselves by the fire and about half way through lunch somebody inevitably speaks out what many people are thinking. "I think I will just stay here while you finish the climb and you can pick me up on the way back down."
At that moment everyone must the make decision to stay or go.
For all those who stay the first few hours are incredible. They sit by the fire and tell mountain climbing stories about other great mountain climbers from the past. They may even reminisce about some of their great climbing experiences in the past.
By early afternoon the mood dramatically changes in the room and everyone becomes silent. One by one they make their way over to this huge window in the back of the lodge and they stand there and stare at the summit.
For you see it is at this painful moment that they realize they have settled for second best in their lives.
Someone has well said, “The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.”
March 31, 2008
Snow and Sand
As I sit here in British Columbia looking out our window as the snow falls on ski slopes that are calling my name...I am reminded that in a few hours I will be boarding a plane to return to Long Beach, CA...where I will look out our window and watch as the waves fall upon the sand in 75 degree weather. The best of both worlds.
I have to ask the question...Am I spoiled or blessed? I know God alone has put me in such a wonderful situation in life. A series of miracles have allowed me to enjoy such privileges that I never imagined. My own ingenuity or power have not created such earthly enjoyment.
Yes I have made financial decisions that have been wise instead of stupid...but I have made enough dumb ones that I could have sabotaged the good ones. So God gave us these blessings, and God has safeguarded these blessings. I believe the PRIMARY reason I am blessed, is to be a blessing....
So I believe that the question of is SPOILED or BLESSED depends on how I leverage these blessings for the blessing of OTHERS and the BUILDING of the KINGDOM OF GOD.
If I consume these blessings primarily for my own benefit...these blessings will in the end be curses...but if I invest these blessings for the Kingdom...these blessings will bless me now and forever. I will ONLY keep what I GIVE and SHARE with others.
So I will enjoy without guilt what God gives but I will stay keenly aware of the priority to GIVE away what I have been given. So LET IT SNOW!
I have to ask the question...Am I spoiled or blessed? I know God alone has put me in such a wonderful situation in life. A series of miracles have allowed me to enjoy such privileges that I never imagined. My own ingenuity or power have not created such earthly enjoyment.
Yes I have made financial decisions that have been wise instead of stupid...but I have made enough dumb ones that I could have sabotaged the good ones. So God gave us these blessings, and God has safeguarded these blessings. I believe the PRIMARY reason I am blessed, is to be a blessing....
So I believe that the question of is SPOILED or BLESSED depends on how I leverage these blessings for the blessing of OTHERS and the BUILDING of the KINGDOM OF GOD.
If I consume these blessings primarily for my own benefit...these blessings will in the end be curses...but if I invest these blessings for the Kingdom...these blessings will bless me now and forever. I will ONLY keep what I GIVE and SHARE with others.
So I will enjoy without guilt what God gives but I will stay keenly aware of the priority to GIVE away what I have been given. So LET IT SNOW!
March 03, 2008
How Much of a Man Am I?
I like quiche.
I am emotional.
I like romantic comedies.
I can’t build anything.
I can’t even change my own oil.
I get lost easily and my wife gives directions.
I like candles, dark chocolates, and like roses on my desk.
I listen to love songs on the KOST sometimes.
I love to make Rice Krispy treats.
I cry easily.
I love giving and getting hugs.
I like making babies laugh.
I get scared when I hear strange noises in the night.
I have never tasted beer.
I don’t like being home alone.
I don’t like facial hair.
I like writing poetry.
I don’t like confrontation.
I have never punched anyone.
I drive a 8 year old Sebring Convertible.
I rent but don’t own my house.
I gave my wife a power drill for Christmas, she gave me a Kenny G CD.
I call my mommy every week.
How much of a man am I?
WAIT....!!!
I had a college football scholarship.
I have ridden in rodeos.
I have run marathons.
I have motorcrossed.
I have climbed Mt. Rainer with crampons and ice axes.
I have skydived.
I have been places where no white person has ever gone.
I made out with 3 different girls on one New Years Eve, my Sr. year.
I snow ski and can do double black diamonds.
I water ski and have my own ski boat.
I have traveled with armed guards on dangerous mission trips.
I have stood in front of hundreds of hecklers to confront them.
I own a home on a ski slope in a foreign country.
I lift weights every week.
I have slept on the dirt in the middle of jungles.
I also drive a Grand Cherokee Jeep.
I married the Homecoming Queen of my college.
I have a doctorate,
I have written a book.
I like Action Movies…Mission Impossible and Die Hard
I have swam with the largest sharks in the world.
How much of a man am I?
The truth is I have not really told you one thing about my true masculinity.
What I have done is spew off a bunch of cultural stereotypes about what a real man is or is not.
Real Masculinity is determined by being a man of godly character courageously living the mission God created me for! I HOPE I am living like a REAL MAN!
February 20, 2008
Lifting Heavy
40 years later, I bark at my daughter, “Bend at the knees, Lindsey, be smart and bend at the knees.” When I have to lift a heavy object, it’s with reluctance and with carefully positioning of my body mechanics by bending at the knees. Bending at the knees and lifting with your legs instead of the back is the “power position”…you lift more and you keep yourself from injury.
Friday, I am going to give up a whole night’s sleep to pray at the church. It’s called a Watch Night Prayer Time. I need it. There are some heavy objects in front of me and the church…and the most powerful means to face them in is “bending at the knees”.
January 26, 2008
Missional or Miserable!
Missional is the buzzword of the frontline church folks these days. I love the word because I love the world. The church is not an in-doors activity, you do it outdoors…outside of the weekly in-doors gatherings. Outside the doors is where the world is and consequently where the church must live.
Sure it’s a great thing to come inside for lemonade and cookies and especially for a hearty dinner, but as in my childhood, after a meal, it’s right back outside to experience life. On rainy days you played inside because you needed a safe place to stay dry. On sick days you played quietly in-doors because you needed a safe place to heal. But life happened outdoors where the imaginations of childhood were vividly recreated in forms of Robin Hood, GI Joe, Lone Ranger, and Superman.
The world is not waiting inside the church, the world is waiting outside our doors. So we gather in order to be filled up so we can be poured out. We gather to dream and imagine, so we can depart reenergized to build what could be. We were created for mission…it beats in our heart, and resounds in our imaginations.
My most miserable days were when I had a babysitter who wouldn’t let me outdoors. It was sunny and I was feeling fine and there were “Maid Marians” to be rescued, but thanks to an insecure babysitter I had to stay in-doors and she had to entertain me.
That’s like many pastors I know…they are insecure about letting the church outdoors to set captives free… “what if they end up getting involved with worldly people and aren’t as available to do church stuff?” With the church in-doors pastors must become entertainers instead of equippers. Every week…a better program, a softer chair, a new fad, or “egads”, the church might not stay in-doors as much.
My mom was an equipper…she would put my boots on me, my play chaps, my sheriff’s badge, my Mattel six shooter, and say no go outside and have fun. Boy would have I fun because I was living out my identity, my destiny, my dreams, and my mission.
The church is kind of miserable because it is not very missional. As for me? “Open the door, let me out! I am miserable unless I am missional!"
January 15, 2008
The Prayer\Miracle Deal
Miracles. Two bona fide, here’s the pictures, doctor-head shaking, read-em and rejoice, MIRACLES!
Two and a half years ago, my wife, Deb was diagnosed with a cancer so clear, so rare, and so lethal that the doctors sent her biopsy tissue to the National Cancer Research center. People around the world began to pray. 12 days after diagnosis she was pronounced cancer free! The doctors shook their heads.
This privilege, this partnership, this power called prayer is mysterious but miraculous.
It’s not a wand that we wave that works the way we want it to each time.
It’s a relational conversation that works best when we pray together as friends.
Far from the showmanship hype of money hungry miracle workers, there is a quiet authority that the people of God can band together to exercise against the dark powers of the enemy.
Of course we rejoice most when it’s a miracle that happens the way we are hoping for.
Nevertheless, prayer releases the provision of God, therefore, let’s take our position and pray!
January 07, 2008
My New Year Start
It was the final sunrise of 2007. My sister’s 3 story, 100 year old farm house is positioned in a way to catch those rays as if grasping them to hold them forever.
After a brisk mountain hike with Deb and Lindsey, we journeyed to one of our favorite places – Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. After a stroll through the market we watched from the park overlooking Puget Sound as the sun sat over the
A dinner at Cutter’s, which features great fish and an awesome view of Rainier, the Sound, and downtown Seattle, was followed by a movie. We decided to go for the gusto and see the New Year in at Gasworks Park on Lake Union overlooking downtown Seattle and especially the Space Needle. A fantastic firework display from the Space Needle brought in the New Year. Lindsey met up with some friends at Gasworks and Deb and I kissed our way into 2008.
The first day of 2008 I went to Mass at the tiny country church next to Mark and Brenda’s house. I walked down to an 8:30am Mass and listened, prayed, sang, and worshiped my way into the first morning of 2008. The message reminded me to seek God as my Savior, to ponder my resolutions as Mary treasured the secret things in her heart, and to move towards Christ as the shepherds ran towards him on that first Christmas. It was a stirring start to a new year.
After a visit with parents, Brenda and Mark, and then to Dwight and Shelley’s. We had a great brunch prepared by Shelley. Justin came by before we had to depart for the airport. Lindsey and I jumped on a plane to fly back home.
Romance, Worship, Friendship, Family, Prayer, Goal Setting...a great way to start a great new year!
December 19, 2007
Christmas Correction
Sunday is my favorite day, even though it is my battlefront day. Sunday I have to fight the enemy on emotional and spiritual levels. Sunday is usually a 15 hour day for me. It is exhausting but exhilarating. In the midst of frequent disappointments, many mini-crisis, people problems, and sermon bloopers, there are those glimpses of God, of the kingdom breaking through, of the miracles of God occurring in our midst.
So it’s nice when things go well on Monday, but when they don’t, it’s tough because my reserves are so low. This Monday life was not fun. What should have taken an hour, took six hours, and cost me big bucks.
I had just had the boat mechanic working on our 1995 20’ Wellcraft Open Bow Boat. I went to fill the boat up at the fuel dock. It was running so smooth on the way over. After spending $4.00 a gallon on 40 gallons of boat gas, I was ready to have a relaxing cruise.
I pulled away from the dock and the boat died. I was floating helplessly in the water as I tried for 30 minutes to get it started. I began rowing the long distance to the nearest boat dock. When I was half way there, the Lifeguard boat came and pulled me to the dock.
I tried calling my boat mechanic with no luck. What was I going to do? Meanwhile the precious hours of my Monday were disappearing faster than the money in my wallet. I thought to myself, “Nice Christmas gift!”
The boat dock was deserted and so I just sat there trying to get the boat started or reach me mechanic. The call of nature arrived and I made the short walk to the restroom at the marina. In a somewhat obscured area on the side of the bathroom I saw a refrigerator box. There was a man carefully adjusting the box just right…I realized that he was preparing his cardboard “home” for a long winter’s nap. It looked as if he was happily anticipating his time of rest.
When I came out of the restroom he had pulled the box top closed. Beside the top was a huge black plastic bag, that could have doubled for Santa’s sack of toys if it wasn’t so dirty and lumpy. His entire home was in one cardboard box and one plastic bag.
There I stood in my tiredness, frustration, pity party grousing at the injustice of Larry’s world…and all the time I had a beautiful ocean view home with a festively decorated Christmas tree, and sparkling Christmas lights on my house, and a mailbox full of cards from friends and family, and a sweet stereo filling our house with Christmas music.
A chuckle started at my toes and kept rising until it escaped softly out of my mouth. Life is all a matter of perspective. Your expectations determine your contentment. He who is content with little has a continual feast. My grumpiness seemed so self-centered and trivial standing there near the "refrigerator box man" that I had to laugh at myself.
The best Christmas is found in unwrapping what I already have and enjoying that with a childlike wonder...fresh and new and grateful. That was my Christmas correction.
December 13, 2007
Christmas Dawn
It’s 6:20AM. Our new home has a commanding vista of the Long Beach
The water catches the luminescent paint of my Master the Artist and magnifies the majestic display into a breathtaking masterpiece of light.
The advance of the colorful light is unstoppable. The darkness has no power to restrain the conquest of light. Creation begins to laugh again. The great light has dawned and triumphed once again. Each sunrise is a replay of Christmas morning.
My Master, the Poet, writes of this victory in Matthew 4:16…“the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
Einstein said that he was able to develop the theory of relativity because of the constancy, the reliability of the one factor: the speed of light.
Each morning my life is recalibrated to the reliability of light. My darkness is defeated by light. No matter how long the night, nor how strong the inky blackness, Christ arises again to spread his colorful light display across the canvas of my life.
The prophet Malachi sings to me of the dawn. Malachi 4:2 “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.”
Each dawn brings His healing to me. The fresh sunrise of his love begins to warm the frozen corners of my heart. The faithful mercy of his love as demonstrated in the dawn empower me to release hurts and cover offenses with grace.
Each fresh sunrise should make me feel like a young calf who has been kept in the small confines of a stall during the night. With the sunrise the farmer opens the gate and the calf, with his youthful exuberance and fresh excitement at the coming day, leaps from the stall to kick up his heels in the grass.
December 04, 2007
Catching My Sister
When I was born, Brenda was already 4. She had a head start on the looks, the brains, the personality, and the talent. I thought to myself, "no problem...I will catch her by the time I am 8!" Nope! I am 50 and she's 54 and I am now 8 years behind in all categories.
And when it comes to understanding and living the Christian journey with depth, poise, passion and beauty...well it seems I am a couple of decades back. Of course I always was the ornery one who exasperated my sister's futile attempts to civilize me.
All of these realities only made the injustice of her diagnosis of cancer seem that much more inconceivable. Yet the last four months have done everything they could to convince me of the reality of the enemy invader.
The losses have mounted...her teaching position, her hair, her energy, her feelings in toes and fingers, her color in fingernails, her appetite. Yet in the midst of the losses...she has only advanced. Her faith, wisdom, compassion for others, sensitivity to God, courage, and passion for life have marched forward.
I mentally conjectured that at least now I would be the better looking of the siblings but even without hair, she's ahead. (pun intended) So as tough as it is for a younger brother to admit...my sister is quite a lady...one whom I pay homage to. (But I am still glad I stuck gum in her hair during choir practice in 3rd grade!)
November 19, 2007
Today or Nothing
I heard a preacher once say, "There's no such thing as a Christian life, there is only a Christian Day".
While his statement was hyperbolic, his point resonated with the reality I live in...we don't have yesterday, nor tomorrow, we only have today. I live in the now or I don't really live at all.
It's important that I chose to follow Christ when I was 8 years old, but so much more essential is, "Do I choose to follow Christ today?"
Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23).
I become a Christian for today...I choose to follow Him today...I choose the way of Jesus for today.
While it is wise to reflect on the past to learn, and while it is essential to plan for the future to reach goals, my quality of life resides in how I live today.
When my pastor friend, Rick, was dying from Leukemia, he said his greatest lesson was learning to "stay in the day". He knew God's power was enough to get him through the day. He celebrated to the finish line.
I want to take today with its joys and challenges and LIVE it, celebrate it, drink deeply of it, grow in it, love with it, dance with it!
Today is the present that God has given me to unwrap and I will do it with gusto and glory!
While his statement was hyperbolic, his point resonated with the reality I live in...we don't have yesterday, nor tomorrow, we only have today. I live in the now or I don't really live at all.
It's important that I chose to follow Christ when I was 8 years old, but so much more essential is, "Do I choose to follow Christ today?"
Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23).
I become a Christian for today...I choose to follow Him today...I choose the way of Jesus for today.
While it is wise to reflect on the past to learn, and while it is essential to plan for the future to reach goals, my quality of life resides in how I live today.
When my pastor friend, Rick, was dying from Leukemia, he said his greatest lesson was learning to "stay in the day". He knew God's power was enough to get him through the day. He celebrated to the finish line.
I want to take today with its joys and challenges and LIVE it, celebrate it, drink deeply of it, grow in it, love with it, dance with it!
Today is the present that God has given me to unwrap and I will do it with gusto and glory!
October 30, 2007
A 50 Year Old Kid
She was about 70 years older than me and she was proud to tell me her age! A slight little African American Great Grandma, she looked like she would blow away if a good gust came up. Her toothless smile looked like it was trying to grab both ears at the same time. But what she said stuck with me like a piece of bubble gum on your shoe on a hot day.
She said, "Age is all about mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter." Then she cackled, not a witch's hollow cackle, but a cackle of such delight and genuine merriment that the flowers nearby seemed to start dancing.
50 is around the corner in just a few more steps. But it's not like some character flaw to be dreaded then lied about. 50 isn't a contagious disease, it's the green flag for the next lap of life!
50 is as old or as young I want it to be! 50 can trap me in such seriousness and stiffness that you might as well start measuring the coffin. OR I can choose new dance steps for a new decade.
I can choose to SOMERSAULT my way into 50 and just keep rolling with a childlike cackle that surprises the stuffier old men my age.
50 SOMERSAULTS...I did 50 in a row today and I felt like I was at recess in the third grade again! My MIND said, "You're still just a KID...my BODY said, "Hey old man you haven't done one of those in five years!"
Tonight I am still smiling but also thinking I need a little more practice in "mind over matter".
P.S. If you haven't checked out the main page...larrywalkemeyer.com...we just put some new material on. Exciting news!
October 23, 2007
The Great Sculptor
Pastor Greg was at the table next to ours at the World Impact Banquet in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday. His church, Malibu Presbyterian had pledged $500,000 to the Teen Center in Watts. Pastor Greg, who is a earnest follower of Jesus, gave the benediction.
7 hours later his church building burnt to the ground in the Malibu fire. God, is that fair?
I have found that God's idea of "good" and of "fair" is not bound to the "present", to the "short term", to the "small picture", or even limited to "earth time". His reasoning of "good" is "future", "long-term", "big picture", and "eternity". Until we see from that perspective, we must be careful about passing judgment on God.
Now that is hard...because I don't live in the "future", I live in the "now", I hurt on "earth-time". But it does help to know God is at work to build something better.
Pastor Greg said, "It's not the church, it's only a building. We believe beauty will come from ashes." They were fully insured and now they can start to rebuild in ways that are even more conducive to God's work in Malibu.
I was near the Mount St. Helen's eruption in 1980...the ash was like snow banks. But not long afterwards, artists began taking that ash and creating beautiful sculptures from it.
This is my calling...I am an assistant to the master "ash sculptor"...I am to help Him take ashes in people's lives and sculpt them into something beautiful. Jesus has done and is doing that for me. How about you?
7 hours later his church building burnt to the ground in the Malibu fire. God, is that fair?
I have found that God's idea of "good" and of "fair" is not bound to the "present", to the "short term", to the "small picture", or even limited to "earth time". His reasoning of "good" is "future", "long-term", "big picture", and "eternity". Until we see from that perspective, we must be careful about passing judgment on God.
Now that is hard...because I don't live in the "future", I live in the "now", I hurt on "earth-time". But it does help to know God is at work to build something better.
Pastor Greg said, "It's not the church, it's only a building. We believe beauty will come from ashes." They were fully insured and now they can start to rebuild in ways that are even more conducive to God's work in Malibu.
I was near the Mount St. Helen's eruption in 1980...the ash was like snow banks. But not long afterwards, artists began taking that ash and creating beautiful sculptures from it.
This is my calling...I am an assistant to the master "ash sculptor"...I am to help Him take ashes in people's lives and sculpt them into something beautiful. Jesus has done and is doing that for me. How about you?
October 18, 2007
Living Large!
A 50 mile bike ride as I seek to LIVE LARGE!
(one of my 50 by 50 adventures) (see previous blog to check progress)
In the Middle of the Night
Let me see you in the middle of the night,
When the dark is long,
When the questions far exceed answers,
When the tossing of my body, reflects the churning of my mind.
Let me see you in the middle of the night,
When my efforts seem so great and my accomplishments seem so small,
When my thoughts bounce like a pin ball that makes noise but scores no points,
When my silent prayers seem as merely a pointless conversation with myself.
Let me see you in the middle of the night,
When I must view you by faith alone.
Let me see you so I may be stilled by you,
And so I may help others see you in the middle of their night.
For you alone are my rest in the middle of the night.
- larryjoewalkemeyer 10 18 07
When the dark is long,
When the questions far exceed answers,
When the tossing of my body, reflects the churning of my mind.
Let me see you in the middle of the night,
When my efforts seem so great and my accomplishments seem so small,
When my thoughts bounce like a pin ball that makes noise but scores no points,
When my silent prayers seem as merely a pointless conversation with myself.
Let me see you in the middle of the night,
When the distance ahead is matched only by the distance to return
And I am trapped between reaching for more or being content with less.
Let me see you in the middle of the night,
When I must view you by faith alone.
Let me see you so I may be stilled by you,
And so I may help others see you in the middle of their night.
For you alone are my rest in the middle of the night.
- larryjoewalkemeyer 10 18 07
October 15, 2007
Dirty Feet & Divine Moments
For 16.5 years I have arrived at church service with freshly showered feet. For 16.5 years I have never had my feet washed during service. But not this Sunday.
The Long Beach Marathon runs in front of our house. From our garage you can take the alley to the street and go north to the church. But from our driveway...it's almost impossible to go north because all the side streets are barricaded. So early Sunday morning...with NO wallet, money, phone, or SHOES...I jumped in our daughter's car to move it behind the house to the alley so she could get to church to teach the youth. Bad decision.
They wouldn't let me back to my house...all side streets were barricaded. I drove for an hour trying to find a route back to my house. Meanwhile the clock was ticking before service was to start. Finally I gave up. I scrounged through Lindsey's car...found one dollar bill...and walked barefoot across the parking lot to a grocery store to get change for a pay phone.
It's been 5 years since I used a payphone....but I called Deb and said..."bring my clothes to my office"...I drove to the church office...walked barefoot through the parking lot... finally 7 minutes before service was to start she showed up...I shaved and changed clothes and ran to service...with dirty feet. Our Leadership Council did an amazing job of running the entire service as an act of love for staff appreciation day. At the end of service...they washed our feet and mine were really dirty! It was a divine moment.
16 years NEVER NEEDING my feet washed. 16 years NEVER HAVING my feet washed at church. But God brought it all together...now is that ODD or is that GOD?
The Long Beach Marathon runs in front of our house. From our garage you can take the alley to the street and go north to the church. But from our driveway...it's almost impossible to go north because all the side streets are barricaded. So early Sunday morning...with NO wallet, money, phone, or SHOES...I jumped in our daughter's car to move it behind the house to the alley so she could get to church to teach the youth. Bad decision.
They wouldn't let me back to my house...all side streets were barricaded. I drove for an hour trying to find a route back to my house. Meanwhile the clock was ticking before service was to start. Finally I gave up. I scrounged through Lindsey's car...found one dollar bill...and walked barefoot across the parking lot to a grocery store to get change for a pay phone.
It's been 5 years since I used a payphone....but I called Deb and said..."bring my clothes to my office"...I drove to the church office...walked barefoot through the parking lot... finally 7 minutes before service was to start she showed up...I shaved and changed clothes and ran to service...with dirty feet. Our Leadership Council did an amazing job of running the entire service as an act of love for staff appreciation day. At the end of service...they washed our feet and mine were really dirty! It was a divine moment.
16 years NEVER NEEDING my feet washed. 16 years NEVER HAVING my feet washed at church. But God brought it all together...now is that ODD or is that GOD?
October 12, 2007
Hard to Be Served
Peter thought Jesus had lost his mind. Jesus - the miracle worker, amazing prophet, and soon to be King everything - was doing the work of the lowest slave...washing the grime and grossness off the feet of his friends. Peter says, "You ain't doing me, Jesus...I am not about to let you."
Jesus' reply was world-stopping! "If I don't, you won't have any part of my life". Peter would go on to become one of the greatest servants for Jesus ever. But first he had to learn that Christianity is about being served. Jesus came to serve Peter.
It's "hard to be served". You don't become the "hero" by being served. Instead it humbles you. You have to be humbled to let someone love you, bless you, serve you, even die for you before you can enter into real Christianity.
This Sunday, I will sit through service and watch our Leadership Council serve me and the staff. I will have my feet washed instead of being the one that washes feet. It will be hard for me, but also good for me. (But I am getting a pedicure today!)
Jesus' reply was world-stopping! "If I don't, you won't have any part of my life". Peter would go on to become one of the greatest servants for Jesus ever. But first he had to learn that Christianity is about being served. Jesus came to serve Peter.
It's "hard to be served". You don't become the "hero" by being served. Instead it humbles you. You have to be humbled to let someone love you, bless you, serve you, even die for you before you can enter into real Christianity.
This Sunday, I will sit through service and watch our Leadership Council serve me and the staff. I will have my feet washed instead of being the one that washes feet. It will be hard for me, but also good for me. (But I am getting a pedicure today!)
October 10, 2007
Sitting Tight When the Seat's Too Tight
In the last two months I have been approached about pastoring two very large churches - prestigious offers of upwardly mobile ministry positions. But after discussion with Jesus and with Deb (in that order) I have chosen to stay put...to sit tight leading a church with only 39 parking spots.
I am not making very good career choices...but I pray I am making great kingdom choices.
It's uncomfortable to my flesh...the seat feels too tight...but in a kingdom where you are called to lose your life in order to find it...to lay down your life for the poor...I believe that, at least for now, its a kingdom call that carries with it reward found following no other path. Jesus, please shape my seat to the seat you have me in!
I am not making very good career choices...but I pray I am making great kingdom choices.
It's uncomfortable to my flesh...the seat feels too tight...but in a kingdom where you are called to lose your life in order to find it...to lay down your life for the poor...I believe that, at least for now, its a kingdom call that carries with it reward found following no other path. Jesus, please shape my seat to the seat you have me in!
October 08, 2007
50 Unique Ventures Before I Turn 50
49 going once, going twice...gone...to the man turning 50!
But before 49 is released on November 6th, I am doing 50 unique ventures.
Here's the current list...it may change and there are NO promises...I will blog about how I am doing over the next month. Stay tuned....
The List: Between October 8 and November 6
But before 49 is released on November 6th, I am doing 50 unique ventures.
Here's the current list...it may change and there are NO promises...I will blog about how I am doing over the next month. Stay tuned....
The List: Between October 8 and November 6
- Write 50 post it love notes for Deb
- Ride 50 mile in one bike ride around LB (DONE)
- Select 50 of my favorite songs and make cd (DONE)
- Select 50 of my favorite photos…print some (DONE)
- Fast for 50 hours (DONE)
- Give away $50 worth of my books (DONE)
- Raise $5,000 for church planting in the Philippines
- Take the boat to Catalina and back 50 minutes each way.
- Sail 50 miles with Karl
- Hold my breath for 50 seconds (DONE)
- Swim 50 laps at Belmont Pool (DONE)
- Take Deb to a nice restaurant
- Go the Aquarium and see 50 different kinds of fish. (DONE)
- Read 50 pages of my favorite books of the Bible. (DONE)
- Make 50 journal entries.
- Tandem Sky Dive for 50 seconds or more.
- Watch 5 great Movies
- Give 50 5 dollar bills to street people.
- Send 50 appreciation emails.
- Watch 5 great sunrises (DONE)
- Watch 5 great sunsets (DONE)
- Write 50 words that describe Lindsey (DONE)
- Buy Deb 50 roses (DONE)
- Have dinner with 50 friends. (DONE)
- Do 5 sets of 50 set ups in less than 500 seconds. (DONE)
- Play Golf for 1st time…shoot 50 or less for 5 holes. (DONE)
- Have a 50 minute massage (DONE)
- Kayak around the oil island and back in 50 minutes.
- Take 50 pictures of people I love
- Give 50 dollars to a great teenager who needs it. (DONE)
- Talk on the phone for 50 minutes with Mom and Dad. (DONE)
- Write 50 postcards to people in the church.
- Drink 50 ounces of orange juice in 5 minutes. (DONE)
- Write a 50 word essay describing my life. (DONE)
- Tell 50 jokes.
- Spend 50 minutes in the convalescent home next door. (DONE)
- Take 50 pictures at
- Do 50 somersaults. (DONE)
- Pray on my face for 50 minutes. (DONE)
- Give Deb a 50 minute foot and hand massage.
- Drive 50 miles North of Malibu on PCH 101 in a rented sports car.
- Donate 500 dollars to a ministry I have never given to. (DONE)
- Drink 50 different beverages
- Spend 50 minutes singing to Jesus
- Sing “Agnus Dei” in 50 different places
- Send a 50 word love note to Deb
- Walk barefoot on the beach for 50 minutes (DONE)
- Write down 50 things that God has done for me.
- Write down 50 of my favorite memories. (DONE)
- Write down 50 things I want to do before I die.
10/8/2007 12:14:50 PM
October 05, 2007
Farmer in the Hood
If you don't know...I grew up in Kansas...in the heartland...Joe Moon was the only African American kid in our whole town...we were good friends.
Fast forward 40 years and here I am as far from "rural" as you can get, pastoring an urban church in the midst of "blood" and "crips". I have asked the Lord, "What's a white bread farm boy doing in the hood?"
Recently one of the teens that sometimes goes to our church was shot down...yesterday 3 of the girls in our youth group were at the bus stop when one of their friends shot and killed the other boy standing with them.
My heart is broken for the brokenness of our neighborhood. Meanwhile one of our top anglo givers said..."Pastor I'm out of here with my family because our church has become too inner-city." Is comfort the god we bow before?
I am angry at the sin of the church, the sin of the neighborhood and the sin in my heart.
What can a farm boy do in the 'hood?
Pray? Love? Raise Money? Preach the Light of Jesus? Start a Community Center?
Yes...and I hope our team can impact the 'hood!
Fast forward 40 years and here I am as far from "rural" as you can get, pastoring an urban church in the midst of "blood" and "crips". I have asked the Lord, "What's a white bread farm boy doing in the hood?"
Recently one of the teens that sometimes goes to our church was shot down...yesterday 3 of the girls in our youth group were at the bus stop when one of their friends shot and killed the other boy standing with them.
My heart is broken for the brokenness of our neighborhood. Meanwhile one of our top anglo givers said..."Pastor I'm out of here with my family because our church has become too inner-city." Is comfort the god we bow before?
I am angry at the sin of the church, the sin of the neighborhood and the sin in my heart.
What can a farm boy do in the 'hood?
Pray? Love? Raise Money? Preach the Light of Jesus? Start a Community Center?
Yes...and I hope our team can impact the 'hood!
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