New Beginnings

Just a couple of hours until a brand new year. I've been working on a couple of small changes in how I organize my life next year, and I've decided that a few words and phrases I seldom use will become part of my everyday vocabulary. "No", "I'll check and see if I can fit that in my schedule", "I don't think I can do that", and other similar words and phrases are going to help me free up more creative and contemplative time.

This past year I read through the Bible using The Daily Message. I actually used it both in 2008 and 2009.
Tommorrow morning I'll begin reading from the God Sightings One Year Bible. This is a one year program that our senior pastor is suggesting our congregation use in 2010. I am also going to read daily from two books that were gifts. The first is The One Year Christian History, A Daily Glimpse into God's Powerful Work. I've already "fudged" and read the first two days. This is going to be a great read all year. The other daily book that was given to me is A Farmer's Year, Daily Truth to Change Your Life. This daily reading book is written by a South African potato farmer, Angus Buchan. His story is told in a wonderful movie titled Faith Like Potatoes. I'm looking forward to his writing.

On day one, Angus writes "Good farmers know that the worst thing a man can do is look behind him when he is ploughing, because he will not plough a straight furrow. Whatever has happened in your lilfe during the past year, do not look back. There may be things that you have not been able to rectify because the other party is not interested in reconciliation. Leave those things under the blood of the Lamb. Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary so that your sins may be forgiven. Make sure you do whatever you can from your side to rectify any undone situation, and then press on." Good advice to start the year.

To summarize, I'm going to eliminate a lot of the busyness in my life, make room for creative thinking and planning and look forward, not backwards. See you in 2010...

The End of Christmas

I love Christmas. I love the preparation, the anticipation, every event, concert, service, dinner and especially our family time. I love the Christmas story and all of the mystery and wonder that it inspires every year. In fact, I have a small collection of manger scenes. This past year I have had 5 manger scenes in my office all year long. During the month of December we have 2 manger scenes downstairs, 8 upstairs and one large one that we didn't set up this year. I even have a small one made out of glass on my bedroom dresser. Each time I look at one it reminds me of the wonder of this season. My oldest son and daughter-in-law gave me 2 manger scenes this year that I will cherish. I might even take one to my office and trade it for one that is there now.

The reality of the end of the season came when I went outside on December 26th and noticed that our neighbors had already undecorated their Christmas tree and it was laying on its side next to their trash can. Now, several days later, some of our neighbors aren't turning their lights on anymore and by the weekend, I will probably unplug my timers and that will be that. This is the sad time of the celebration, the slow finale of a wonderful time. One of my favorite Christmas stories is one titled Christmas Every Day. It's the story of a little girl who is granted her wish that Christmas would come every day of the year. After a while, there are no more turkeys to be had, no more gifts to buy, everyone is cranky and hates Christmas. I wouldn't wish this on anyone, but I do wish there was a way to extend the season and then bring it to an orderly, happy end. Maybe I'll work on that for next year.

For now, I'll enjoy some great gifts that I received, thank God for my family and friends, and concentrate on sharing the truth of Advent with a world that is desperate to know God, even if they don't know it.

Tamales Tomorrow Night

One of our long standing traditions is to have a Mexican food feast on Christmas Eve. Since I normally have had pastoral duties on Christmas Eve, our meal has had to wait until later in the evening. This is a tradition I look forward to every year, and each year we have a different group of guests for dinner that adds to the wonderful celebration of the Christmas season. I recently read a story about tamales, which are a main element of our Christmas Eve dinner.

Carl Fenter was out trying to find tamales on a very cold Christmas Eve morning. He had the bright idea of having a tamale feast after the service, but he didn't think about it until Christmas Eve morning. Who would've guessed that every tamale shop in the city would be sold out the day before Christmas? But they were, as Carl knew. He'd been driving all over El Pasto that morning. Determined to bring home the tamales, Carl tried on last tienda, an old favorite out in Canutillo.

When he arrived, a fresh batch was due off the steamer in forty-five minutes. Taking his place at the end of the snaking line of tamale-seekers, he watched the woman in front of him remove her jacket to drape around her shivering youngster. It wasn't long before she, too, shuddered in the chilly wind. After only a moment's hesitation, Carl shed his own jacket and offered it to the grateful mother. Together they cheered when the line crept forward at last, and smiling people exited the shop toting steamy bags. Finally, Carl got inside the door and inched his way closer to the counter, the woman now first in line.

"Sorry folks," the cleark announced, "that's the last of the tamales." "No way!" Carl groaned with everyone else lined up behind him. "But," stressed the man at the counter, "we'll have a final batch ready in, oh, about two hours." Defeated, Carl backed away, but the young mother grabbed his arm.

"You're leaving?" "I have to," Carl glanced at this watch. "I promised to put up luminarias at my church." "I'll get your order of tamales and bring them to your house." Carl's brow furrowed. "I couldn't ask you to do that." "But it's the least I can do. You lent me your coat." Her smile overrode his objections. "Just give me your address."

And at exactly noon on Christmas Eve, four dozen fragrant tamales-along with Carl's brown jacket-arrived at his home. What a great act of Christmas kindness. Have you had any moments where you could provide Christmas kindness?

Gotta go, my tamales will be ready for pickup at 2:00 PM. Can't keep traditions waiting...

Presence and Accounted For

Here's another story from The Book of Christmas Virtues... Every gift had been wrapped, each recipe prepared, and all the ornaments hung. I had seen to every detail; I knew I hadn't overlooked a thing. And now, with three anxious children tucked in bed at last, I leaned back in my favorite recliner-satisfied-to survey our perfect, shimmering tree.

I admired the packages arranged underneath. Thanks to my early planning and a little extra money this year, Christmas was going to be wonderful. I couldn't wait to see my children's faces when they tore into their presents the next morning, discovering all of the new clothes and great toys I had bought for them. I began a mental accounting of the treasures tucked inside each package: the Dallas Cowboys jacket for Brandon, the Fisher Price castle for Jared, the Victorian dollhouse for Brittany...

Basking in the glow of twinkling lights and my own thoughts, I barely noticed Jared sneak into the room. My normal reaction would be to jump up and rush him back to bed. This time, I chose to sit still and watch, hoping he wouldn't notice me. I needn't have worried.

Jared was a five-year-old with a mission. The glimmering tree illuminated his small figure as he made his way straight to the nativity beneath it. Sinking to his knees, he held out a paper and whispered, "See, Jesus, I drew this picture for you." Not wanting to miss a word, I held my breath and leaned forward. "On the left side, that's me." Jared's finger traced a path across the page. "On the right side, that's you." He pointed. "In the middle is my heart." He smiled sweetly. "I'm giving it to you."

With tenderness, Jared placed the picture beneath the tree. "Merry Christmas, Jesus," he said and scurried back to bed. My throat tightened, and my eyes filled. All the sparkling decorations and all the shiny wrappings in the room suddenly dulled in comparison to Jared's innocent crayon drawing. It took my small child's gift of love to remind me that only Jesus can make Christmas wonderful this year. And he always does.

I Am Especially Fond Of You

During the Christmas season I read a lot of Christmas stories. In fact, I collect them. I love how this season of the year impacts people in so many ways. This week, in addition to all my Christmas readying, I re-read a book that in not a Christmas story, but impacted my life the first time I read it. In fact, I wrote a blog about it a few months ago. The book is The Shack.

This time, the chapter titled A Festival of Friends (#15), really affected me. As chapter 14 closes, the Holy Spirit, named Sarayu, tells Mack (the main character) that "for tonight, I would love you to see a bit of what we see." After she touches him, the author writes, "He turned back to Sarayu, who still stood next to him. Although she was difficult to look at directly, he could now make out symmetry and colors embedded within patterns, as if miniature diamonds, rubies, and sapphires of all colors had been sewn into a garment of light, which moved first in waves and then scattered as particulate." The author goes on to describe all of Creation in terms of light, beautiful light in different hues and intensity. Color that could not be imgined. Creation that is perfect, unspoiled by sin. The author goes on to write, "Mack realized also that he felt no pain, not even in his usually aching joints. In fact, he had never felt this well, this whole. His head was clear and he breathed deeply the scents and aromas of the night and of the sleeping flowers in the garden, many of which had begun to awaken to this celebration. Delirious and delicious joy welled up inside of him and he jumped, floating slowly up into the air; then returned gently to the ground."

What the author was describing was a scene from heaven, where God's perfection extends to mankind and changes everything. The part of this chapter that knocked me for a loop was near the end. The author, William P. Young, writes, "A hush descended. The anticipation was palpable. Suddenly to their right, from out of the darkness emerged Jesus, and pandemonium broke out. (my emphasis) He was dressed in a simple brilliant white garment and wore on his head a simple gold crown, but he was every inch the king of the universe. He walked the path that opened before him in the center-the center of all Creation, the man who is God and the God who is man. Light and color danced and wove a tapestry of love for him to step on. Some were crying out words of love, while others simply stood with hands lifted up. Many of those whose colors were the riches and deepest were lying flat on their face. Everything that had a breath sang out a song of unending love and thankfulness. Tonight the universe was as it was intended."

I wept many times while reading this book, sometimes longing for the kind of relationship with Pappa that the author was describing, and sometimes overjoyed at the scenes being portrayed. I wept at this spot because of the longing to see Jesus like He really is. I want Him to cause pandemonium to break out when I think about our relationship, when I spend time in His Word, when I spend time in prayer. What a wonderful thought, that everytime we met to enjoy His presence, pandemonium would break out!

One last thought from this chapter, and the title of this blog. In the midst of all the pandemonium, all the people worshiping Jesus, and out of everyone that Jesus could have chosen, from a distance He whispers into Mack's ear, "Mack, I am especially fond of you." As I sat on the couch, next to our Christmas tree, enjoying the scene from the book that I was imagining, I think I heard a voice in my mind whisper, "Louie, I am expecially fond of you."

It's More Blessed to Give...

Here is a great story I ran across this year. I hope you enjoy it. (I could not find an author's name)

A friend of mine named Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it. "Is this your car, Mister?" he asked. Paul nodded. "My brother gave it to me for Christmas." The boy was astounded. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you nothing? Boy, I wish..." He hesitated. Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels. "I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that." Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then impulsively he added, "Would you like to take a ride in my automobile?" "Oh yes, I'd love that."

After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes aglow, said, "Mister, would you mind driving in front on my house?" Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again. "Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked. He ran up the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car.
"There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm gonna give you one just like it... then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about."
Paul got out and lifted the young boy to the front seat of his car. His older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride.

That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what Jesus meant when he had said, "It's more blessed to give...."

Christmas Kindness

In the Chicken Soup for the Soul book The Book of Christmas Virtues, Marion Smith tells of her experience in Washington, D.C.'s Union Station on a bitterly cold December evening. She sat on a public bench with a steaming cup of coffee, waiting for feeling to return to her fingers. As diners left the American Restaurant, the heavenly aromas tempted her to consider an early dinner. She observed a man seated nearby, and from the longing in his eyes, realized that he, too, noticed the tantalizing food. His gaunt body, wind-chapped hands and tattered clothes nearly shouted, "Homeless, homeless!"

Half expecting him to approach her for a handout, he didn't. While she debated what to do, a well-dressed young couple approached him. "Excuse me, sir," the husband said. "My wife and I just finished eating, and our appetites weren't as big as we thought. We hate to waste good food. Can you put this to use?" He extended a large Styrofoam container. "God bless you both. Merry Christmas," came the grateful reply. Marion was pleased, yet dismayed by her own lack of action. The man scrutinized his new found bounty, rearranged the soup crackers, inspected the club sandwich and stirred the salad dressing-obviously prolonging this miracle meal. Then just before taking the first bite he stopped short. She turned her head to follow his gaze. Entering the hall and shuffling in their direction was a new arrival. Hat less and glove less, an elderly man was clad in lightweight pants, a threadbare jacket and open shoes. His hands were raw, and his face had a bluish tint. Marion gasped aloud at this sad sight, but her needy neighbor leaped up and guided the elderly man to an adjacent seat. He took his icy hands and rubbed them briskly in his own. With a final tenderness, he draped his worn jacket over the older man's shoulders. "Pop, my name's Jack," he said, "and one of God's angels brought me this meal. I just finished eating and hate to waste good food. Can you help me out?"

Marion writes, "It wasn't easy making my way to the food court with tears blurring my vision, but I soon returned with large containers of coffee and a big assortment of pastries. 'Excuse me, gentlemen, but'..."

Oh God, help us to be your hands of compassion in this wonderful season of the year. Help us not to let any opportunities to go by without doing everything we can to show Your love.

The Bar NR

A real keepsake came home with me after visiting with my parents at Thanksgiving. I brought home the cattle brand that my grandfather had made when he bought his first steers and pastured them on his new ranch land. I think I was about 10 years old when he bought 10 acres of land in the San Joaquin Valley of California. The land had 2 sides fenced. I remember spending several days laying out barbed wire fencing, helping to dig fence post holes and stretching wire to secure the fence. I'm sure I was more in the way than anything else, but I hope I helped a little. I remember helping my grandfather build a small pump house with a side room. We stayed in that side room many times while he, (and I) built a barn and then laid out a foundation for a house. He found a house on a nearby military base that needed to be moved. He bought it and had the foundation poured. I still remember the day the house came. I would run out to the intersection every few minutes and look for a house coming down the street. Finally, I saw it off in a distance. I house coming right down the middle of the street. Power lines had been moved and there was a truck in front with flashing lights. This was the most exciting thing I had ever experienced. Finally the house got to our ranch. After a lot of finagling, many "stay back"s from my grandfather, pushing and tugging, the last support came out, the men and their trucks left and the house was sitting on it's new foundation. What an experience.

We had many great times out at that ranch. My grandpa bought a few steers and we went to a shop to have a brand made. He picked the Bar NR as the name for the ranch. His name was Nemias Ruybalid. Just like an old West movie, we heated up the branding iron, walked over to the steer that had been roped into submission, and burned the "Bar NR" into it's hind side. He would raise them, butcher some for meat, and sell others. We went to auctions to both buy and sell. It was a wonderful time for me, and my hero. I learned how to drive my grandfather's F-100 truck out in the pasture, shot his .22, picked asparagus in the canal, helped flood the pasture to irrigate and a tons of other fun things for a kid my age. My grandfather's plan was to retire at age 65 and move from San Jose to the ranch. Wouldn't that have been grand. But, sometimes life doesn't turn out like you think it will. Before he was able to retire he got cancer, and died when I was 15. There are days when I still cry when I think about it. In fact, I'm crying right now as I type this...

I have a spot picked out on my office wall for the Bar NR. I'm going to make a wooden stand for it, clean it up and hang it there, right next to a picture I have of my grandfather's congregation in San Jose. Then every once in a while I'll lean back in my chair, close my eyes and relive some great moments at the Bar NR.

The Tinsel Tree

I love Christmas. Sometimes I wish it could be Christmas every day. I love the traditions, the family time, the special events, the food, the church services, and I love meditating on the Biblical story of Christmas. I really enjoy Christmas lights, candles, decorations and manger scenes. In fact, I collect manger scenes. I have 6 of them in my office all year round. So if you need a gift idea for me...(hint, hint)

I thing I really enjoyed as a child was laying under our Christmas tree and reading a book. Sometimes there would be a fire in the fireplace and the combination of the light from the fire, lights on the tree, the pine fragrance and a good book, were almost too much to take. Even today, that scene is vivid in my mind. Knowing this, you can imagine the shock I felt one day early in December when I got home from school and there was a tinsel tree in our living room. It was decorated with blue balls and it had a multi-colored wheel that rotated around and cast light on the tree from an irritating spotlight. I couldn't believe my eyes! No pine smell, no stranded lights, no ambience... but, I gave it a try. That night I plunked myself down next to the tree with a book. The whiring noise of the multi-colored wheel motor was distracting, the spotlight was too bright, and the lack of pine smell was just too much.

We endured the tinsel tree for a couple more years and finally the motor died, the spotlight melted the color wheel and the tinsel tree went to tinsel tree heaven. It was a wonderful Christmas again when we went back to a natural tree. In this day of technically perfect, pre-lit artificial trees, we still get a natural tree every year. Some have holes we have to hide, some are bent a little, and some droop earlier than they should, but they smell wonderful and look even better. It's just about time to select this year's tree. We always get it in the house and decorated by the second weekend in December. I can't wait...

I'm With A Saint

We're at my parent's home in Columbus, Ohio. As I have watched my mom care for my father this weekend, I am watching a saint at work. My dad is 90, and having a difficult time physically. His hearing is almost gone, and he needs help with nearly every task that we all take for granted. I watch my mom care for his every need, listen for his call, put him to bed and then listen to make sure he is okay. My parents have been married for 58 years, and I see the result of a wonderful marriage.

As we traveled here on Wednesday, 3 hours away my sister called to say that my mom was being rushed to the hospital. She was experiencing stroke like symtoms. As you can imagine, we begin to pray, and pray hard. Then I began to think of the potential consequences to my dad, if she indeed were having a stroke. Who would help her rehab? Who would take care of him? Thankfully, the diagnosis was Bell's Palsy. The recovery time is weeks to 3 months. We are so thankful to God that the result was this, and not a stroke.

We arrived on Wednesday evening at my parent's home before my sister and brother got my mom home. When we came in, my dad was sitting in his wheel chair by the front window, watching for my sister's car. Every few minutes he would ask "when will they be here?". Finally, they arrived home. I watched them embrace, shed tears of joy and watched relief spread across my father's face. Even though she should have gone right to bed to rest, the first thing my mom did was to make sure that my dad had everything he needed. Like every night, she helped him through him through his "going to bed" routine, made sure everything was finished, and then she went to bed. She's in bed tonight, it's 11:20 PM, I wonder if there is a glow in a saint's bedroom?

God Moments

Our oldest son, Jason, was born in January of 1976. We were living in Las Vegas and the high desert can get bitterly cold. One Saturday our heat stopped working. We were poor youth pastors at the time and I knew we couldn't afford a weekend service call. I climbed up on the roof to see if I could figure out why our combination heat/AC unit had stopped working. I'm fairly handy and checked everything I knew how to check. I tried everything, took off covers, flipped the breaker off and on, wiggled the wiring, nothing. Our house had already started getting cold and Kathy and I had a new baby that we knew could not get cold. I remember sitting on that roof, shivering so badly I could hardly work and finally crying, literally, out to God for help. I told Him about our cold house, new baby and new mother, as if He didn't know. I know the Holy Spirit put the next thought into my mind. "Run your hand along the bottom of the back cover." As I did that I felt a circuit breaker. I got down on my belly and shined my flashlight to look. It was Off. I pressed the On side and the heater fired up. I will never forget that God moment.

Saturday morning I had another one. Our dishwasher had stopped working and draining properly. Since this unit is probably original to our house, 30 years old, we had talked before about replacing it. But now was not the time. Things have been tight and we're trying to save some money to fly out our Oregon kids and grandkids for Christmas. I was telling the Lord all that on Saturday. No one else was up yet and I was having a little personal "pity party." In fact I was covering a number of feel-sorry-for-myself topics with Him as I started bailing out all the water in the bottom of the dishwasher. As I was trying to figure out how to get the last of the water out, a thought came into my mind that I know the Holy Spirit put there. "Take the back screen cover off, take out the plastic screen and put your hand down in the opening." I got my tools, took out the screws and removed the 2 screens. As I reached down in the well still filled with water, I felt pieces of plastic and other yucky stuff. By the time I had cleaned it all out, I had quite a collection. I put it all back together and shut the door, ran the control around to rinse and listened for the rinse cycle to stop. Just as it stopped, I opened the door to hear this great sucking sound and all the water was disappearing just like it is supposed to. A God moment.

Grrrrrrrr

Ever felt like this little girl? What a mismatch! But sometimes you don't have a choice. The fight you are in is the one you have to fight. Even if the enemy, (poor health, financial setbacks, relationship that have deteriorated, rebellious children, etc), appears to be overwhelming, God knows what it will take to defeat your enemy. Right now my reading-through-the-Bible-in-a-year reading is the book of Job and the book of Isaiah. What a combination. Even the best mornings spiral downward in a hurry reading those two books together. I wonder if the editor of The Daily Message thought that at the 3/4 mark in the year, the readers might be too happy and contented with reading each day and he decided to combine these books to bring us all down to earth. :) A couple of days ago while reading Isiah 9, I came to this wonderful passage; For a child has been born-for us! The gift of a son-for us! He'll take over the running of the world. His names will be: Amazing Counselor, Strong God, Eternal Father, Prince of Wholeness. His ruling authority will grow, and there'll be no limits to the wholeness he brings. Wow...bring that Sumo on.

Extra Spice

Have you ever felt like something was missing from your life? You can't put your finger on it, but something is not quite right. How about a meal you are having. It looks okay, and tastes all right, but something is missing. There isn't any "zing" to it. One thing I have done for several years is buy Embasa Querito Peppers. These are fairly hot peppers that add zing to any kind of meal. For all the years we have lived in the St. Louis area, I have purchased the peppers at a Mexican market near our home. I was quite surprised several months ago to find out that the store had changed hands, and, they no longer carried the peppers I loved. So, for several months I have not had a guerito pepper. I have tried other peppers from other stores, but they are woefully lacking. My meals have been good, nutritious, satisfying, but something has been missing. In the busyness of life, sometimes the routines we establish get everything done that we need to, but there is no "spice", no "zing". Life is too precious to just make a routine of living. So, I'm adding some zing, (I have a couple of good ideas) and I'm looking for another source for guerito peppers. When I accomplish both, I'll let you know.

Bittersweet

Today is a bittersweet day. Josh and Kelly have been working for over a year to raise funding for a two year missions opportunity with OneHope, in South Africa. Over the past 18 months we prayed for them, advised them, helped them and now the time has come for them to leave. Today, in fact, is their final day in St. Louis. Friday and Saturday, Kathy and I helped Josh and Kelly pack up and move out of their apartment. There was a very emotional finality about vacuuming the last bit of carpet, carrying out the last box and closing the door.

We are so excited about this opportunity for them. We wouldn't want them to stay home for anything. I think they were both created by God to be missionaries, and He put them together. I know they will miss home, and their families, but Kathy and I also know the call of God on our hearts, and Josh and Kelly are following that call. We are so proud of them and know that God has great plans for them as they train and facilitate teams of young people in this strategic African country. I think, deep down, we also know that they will probably do this for a career.

Later today they'll drive away, on the first leg of their trip to Florida for some final training and then on to South Africa. My tears have already started to flow as I write this blog. Sometimes it's hard follow God's leading, but from our experience, we wouldn't have it any other way.

What's Hot and What's To Come

I mentioned in a Facebook status update yesterday that I attended a very enlightening workshop regarding the current state of technology and what developments are just around the corner. First, the presenter confirmed a suspicion I have had for months, email is a dying technology. For months, my junior in high school daughter has been telling me that she doesn't use her email accounts anymore. The only thing she uses them for is for a phone application that requires an email address to register. Her primary method of communication is Facebook and her phone. The presenter for this workshop said that in today's digital world, email gets opened 42% of the time and phone texts get opened 98% of the time. In other words, if you want you communication to be received, send a text, not an email. The sale of laptops/notebooks is flat in the USA. Net books or mini-computers are now in. However, the sales of smart phones is going through the roof. Apple is selling iPhones at a phenomenal rate. This is the hot communication method today.

Here's one of the most interesting technologies on the horizon. Texas Instruments has developed a chip for your phone that will allow you to show pictures, files, documents, etc. as a projected image that will be approximately 6 by 8 inches. Instead of showing your pictures and other media on your tiny phone screen, you could put a piece of white paper on a table and project a rather large image.

For someone my age, it's getting hard to keep up...but it sure is fun trying. More later.

Reminiscing

This is a picture of one of the first houses that Kathy and I owned. It's in San Jose, California. On our vacation we stopped in San Jose to show our younger three children our childhood homes and to show them this house. We were so pleased to see how well its been taken care of. This house was built about eighty years ago and had so many wonderful little features that you would never find in a newer house. It had high ceilings with tin inserts and wood carved moldings. The entry way had carved pillars and beautiful wood paneling. The dining room chandelier was an antique brass and crystal piece that was quite valuable. It was interesting reminiscing about living here. I think sometimes we tend to block out the negative experiences and only remember the positive ones. We had a good time living here.

I hope when we have been gone from our present home for awhile, we primarily remember the positive experiences here. There have been some of both. The interesting thing is that you can have high moments and low moments at the same time. I thank God that He blesses us with mountain top experiences and walks with us through the valleys.

18 Days, 5300 Miles, 10 States

The Salazar 2009 vacation odyssey has come to an end. We traveled on Highway 70 through Kansas, Colorado, into Utah. Then we travelled Highway 80 through Utah, Nevada and California. Highway 5 north through California to southern Oregon. East on several 2 lane highways through Idaho and Wyoming. Back to Highway 80 through Wyoming, Nebraska, a little bit of Iowa, Highway 29 south back to Missouri. We visited Kathy's parents, sister and niece in Colorado Springs, we also visited with her brother Kent and his family and my sister Lori and husband Dave in the Sacramento area. We spent several days in Medford, Oregon, with our daughter Aimee, husband Jason and our granddaughters and grandson. We body surfed waves in Santa Cruz, California, watched Chinook salmon run the Rogue River in the mountains above Medford and white water rafted the Snake River just outside of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I had never seen a moose in the wild before, until last week. Wow...

We live in a beautiful country. The desert was in bloom, mountains still had fresh snow on them, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming has got to be one of the most spectacular parts of the West. I'm not so sure that our 3 teenagers totally appreciated the wonderful geographic sights. Overall, they did great with all the miles we traveled. We had occasional melt downs, but it all worked out okay. We really gave the DVD player in our van a workout.

We are so blessed to live in this country. We can travel in complete freedom, never having to show identification, or tell anyone where we are going, or why. More than once I found myself thanking God for His bountiful blessings on us. We have so much to be thankful for.

Father's Day 2009

I talked with my dad today, wished him a happy Father's Day and then spent most of the time talking with mother. My dad is 89 and can't hear very well. He was never able to adjust to hearing aids, so talking with him for the past few years has been very difficult. There is so much I would like to talk with him about, but it is almost impossible.

He gave us a scare last week. His lungs filled with fluid and he was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and congestive heart failure. He is home today, weak, but recovering. The doctor told my mom he will not recover fully because his body is tired, and he cannot handle any procedures that will strain his heart. Even though she didn't say the exact words, I could hear her telling me that this is probably the "beginning of the end."

A couple of weeks ago we were in San Jose, my birthplace, on vacation. We stopped there specifically to show my children where I grew up. When I was one year old, my parents purchased a brand new home in a new part of town. They were small homes, but to a young child, I remembered a huge yard and a big house. I had a wonderful upbringing there. My dad worked hard, but had plenty of time for his children. I always had a tremendous sense of stability, calm and peace because of him. He taught me by example, letting me work with tools to accomplish tasks, showing me how to care for our year, observing him do things that I needed to learn. He has the unique skill to figure out how to fix things, or make things, with materials that are easy to get and inexpensive. Learning this from him has been invaluable for me. As we pulled up to our old house, I didn't recognize it at first. It was so small, the yard was small, and it was so run down. When we lived there, it was always in perfect shape. In spite of the condition of the house, so many memories welled up in me. I hope that some day my children will pull up in front of their childhood homes and have the same great memories.

I have been blessed with a wonderful father. I love him so much. He may not be with us much longer, but he is ready to see his Father. Happy Father's Day, dad.

Is This A Little Glimpse of Heaven?

We spent Sunday afternoon in the mountains above Medford, OR. It was beautiful, at times awesome, and I thought how fortunate the people are who live in this area. I could live here very easily, perhaps too easily.

Today and tomorrow we are in Jackson Hole, WY. As we turned the last corner on Teton Pass, the Jackson Hole valley came into view. It was an incredible sight. The Tetons behind the valley, dark green mountain hillsides come right down to the town. The Snake River, very visible in the valley. Green is everywhere, the sky filled with clouds ringed a perfect picture. We pulled over, took some pictures and enjoyed the view. I could really live here. People who live here, live in a wonderful part of the earth. I can't imagine ever getting tired of the view.

I wonder if this might be a little glimpse of heaven? Obviously the town has been commercialized, but it seems like they've done a very good job of trying to keep the landscape as pristine as possible. If God's creation here on earth could be this beautiful, what must Heaven be like? And yet the Bible seems to indicate that Heaven will far surpass anything we can imagine. Looking at the scenery here, and being "wowed" by it, Heaven will be unbelievable. For now, we'll enjoy this place, and dream about living here.

God Is So Creative

Yesterday, after attending Aimee & Jason's church, we drove out of the valley into the mountains that surround Medford. We followed the Rogue River for quite a while and took a short hike to some beautiful water falls. Then we stopped by a fish hatchery on the Rogue River where salmon are collected and their eggs harvested. We didn't realize until we got there that the Chinook salmon run has just started. Chinook can be 50 pounds or larger and are spectacular fish. We watched several fish jump in the river and watched them run up the fish ladder in the hatchery.

At the hatchery there is the story of salmon that run this river. At different times of the year, Chinook, Coho and Steelhead salmon return to their birthplace. The amazing thing is that after these fish hatch, they go down the river to the ocean. They live in the ocean for several years and then find the exact river and start their spawning run. Not only do they find the exact river, they return to the exact spot in the river. When you consider this detail, you must acknowledge Gods creativity. Even though I am a fisherman, and have fished for salmon in one of Oregon's rivers outside of Corvallis, I was glad to see that none of the salmon fisherman that were fishing near the hatchery caught any of these magnificent fish. For the moment, all of us were mesmerized by the idea of what they do and why they were back to the hatchery. God is so creative.

The Call

It's Saturday morning and I'm writing from the Rogue Valley in southern Oregon. Our oldest daughter, Aimee, is the children's pastor at Bethel Church in Medford, OR. We are enjoying our visit with Aimee, her husband Jason, Madelyn, Elise and JJ. Geographically, this is a beautiful part of the state. Yesterday we toured their church building. It is on one of the hills that surround the valley and the view is quite spectacular. Bethel is a wonderful, growing church and Aimee and her family plan on putting down deep roots here. They moved here from a very difficult church situation in northern California and I am so happy that they are happy and filled with such optimism for the future.

The hard thing about ministry is that inevitably, a lot of distance separates families. Later this summer, Josh and Kelly (our second son), will leave for two years in South Africa. Aimee and her family live in Oregon and our oldest son, lives in Springfield, MO. With us in St. Louis, visiting our children and grandchildren means travel. Our parents live in Colorado Springs, CO, and Columbus, OH. For our three oldest children who are involved in full time ministry, they are the 4th generation of ministers. My grandfather and Kathy's grandfather were pastors. Kathy's dad is a pastor, Kathy, her brother Kent, and I are pastors, and now our three oldest are all full time ministers. On this vacation, we have been able to visit Kathy's parents and sister in Colorado Springs, her brother Kent and his family in Sacramento, CA and now Aimee and her family in Medford, OR.

I know that all of us wish we could live closer together. But would any of us trade what we're doing for less distance? I doubt it. There is a "call" to ministry that will not let you do anything else. I don't know how many times I have decided it was time to do something else, only to realize that I could never set aside the "call." So for now, we relish each moment that we have together, we take advantage of technology to exchange pictures, web cam images, telephone calls and emails, and know that all of us are doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing.

58 Degrees

I think this vacation is partly a Homecoming Tour for me. Today we spent the day on the boardwalk and beach in Santa Cruz, CA. The summers between my last two years of high school were largely spent at Santa Cruz, Capitola and other places where 3 friends and I surfed and fished. We were true beach bums for those two summers. Today the water temperature was 58 degrees and the air temperature was about 70. Sam, Shawn and I had a great time body surfing 3-5 foot waves. At one point Sam got caught in a rip tide and started to get farther out than he and the lifeguards were comfortable with. Just about the time the lifeguard took off his tee shirt and started to put on his fins, Sam was able to touch bottom and come in. Whew, scary for a moment.

The ocean has a steady rhythm. In, out, in, out. Much like our heart beats, steady. Another aspect of the ocean is that you never get tired of seeing it. It is so much larger and awesome than our everyday lives that it is constantly overwhelming. I have talked with people who live at the coast and have views from their homes of the ocean. They all say the same thing. They are constantly awed by it. Why else would people build on land that is unstable, and take the chance of their homes falling into the ocean. On our honeymoon, we stayed at an inn right next to one of the Santa Cruz beaches. We left our windows open at night so we could hear the ocean waves as they beat their steady rhythm. I think the ocean reminds me of the awesomeness of God. So big, so overwhelming, and yet approachable. I think sometimes we only get our feet wet or wade up to our waists in God, much like we do with the ocean. We get afraid of being swept away, or of the unknown in God. Oh God, let me fearlessly submerge myself in you. Overwhelm me with Your glory.

Remembering Home

Today we drove through San Jose, CA, on our way to spend a couple of days at the ocean at Santa Cruz. I wanted our adopted children to see the 2 houses where I grew up. I was one year old when my parents bought a brand new tract home in the middle of a bunch of prune orchards. People told them that they were crazy for buying so "far out of town". They were told they would never get their value out of their house. Today the city goes out for miles well beyond where this house sits. I remember our huge front lawn where we played football and baseball. The backyard went on forever, and backed up to a creek that provided loads of fun in the summer when it had pools of water in it. Today was a real reality check. The house was small, run-down and the yard front and back, was tiny. I remember the care that my dad took with the house and yard. None of that care showed today. It was still an emotional encounter, however, because a ton of wonderful memories flooded my mind. I didn't really see a run-down house, but a warm, safe and comfortable home where love and care were shared on a daily basis. We drove by a second house where I lived a short time before I moved out on my own and then we drove by Kathy's former house. It was amazing how many warm memories came out as we told several stories to our children.

Everything about these neighborhoods has changed. Almost everyone we knew have moved away. The saying "you can never move back home" is probably very true. There is not a good reason to consider it. But, driving through the neighborhoods was a wonderful experience. Tonight we are in Santa Cruz, on the coast. We had dinner in a restaurant on the Santa Cruz pier where we ate a few times as a family during my growing up years. Tomorrow we'll spend some time in the waves and on the boardwalk. I know more pleasant memories will get stirred up. I am so thankful for my parents, my homes, this area of California. All of this shaped me and prepared me for who I have become. I hope that when my children do the same kind of thing, they feel the same way. It is good to be home.

Beauty And the Beast

Another stop on our vacation was San Francisco. When Kathy and I started dating, many of our dates were in SF. We loved the Fisherman's Wharf area, Ghirardelli Square, Union Square, riding the cable cars, and a coffee shop that doesn't exist anymore, Portofino's. Downtown San Francisco at Christmas was a magical place. We loved the views around the Golden Gate bridge and a favorite date was to take the ferry across the bay to Sausalito. We dated at a time when the political climate in the city was more moderate and the extremists had not taken over yet.

Today the views were spectacular, the sailboats were out in force, we watched a couple of giant container ships come in to port and tried to explain to our sons what Alcatraz Island was all about. Two things were sad to observe. One was the landscaping in the parks and open areas around Fisherman's Wharf and the Cannery. It is obvious that no one is paying much attention. What used to be immaculate flower beds and trimmed bushes, are now overgrown plots of ground that have not had any attention in quite a while. I suppose that this is a casualty of serious financial mismanagement in this state that has brought it to the brink of bankruptcy. The second sadness was to see what has happened to all the shops and stores that line the streets that lead from the wharf area to Ghirardelli Square. There used to be art galleries, clothing shops, upscale gift stores, luggage stores and other interesting places to window shop. Today it is "junk row." Tee shirts, imported trinkets and knock off purses... We didn't even slow down as we walked down the street.

Still, this is a beautiful city that has lost it's way. People struggling to include everyone, and missing everybody. The contrast is of the bay and the city, with all of it's contour and substance, and a political climate that level headed people have trouble understanding and living with. I think if I lived in San Francisco, I would never get tired of the views. But I know I would be drawn into the fight for righteousness. There are some wonderful spiritual battles being won here, but so much more needs to be done. This jewel of the Pacific has lost its lustre, for now. But it doesn't need to be that way forever. Lord, as we think about this stop on our vacation, help us to pray for this wonderful city and its people.

What if?

We're on vacation and yesterday we spent a lot of the day in the giant hot springs pool in Glenwood Springs, CO. Glenwood Springs is a wonderful mountain city at the base of the canyon that leads to Aspen. In 2000 we spent several weeks helping the local Assembly of God church through a period without a pastor. Kathy and drove from Grand Junction, 100 miles, on several Wednesdays and conducted a Bible study and worship time. We interviewed with their board members and eventually candidated for their open pastor position.

During the time that we spent going back and forth, I feel like the Lord gave me some very specific insight into what needed to happen in Glenwood Springs to see ministry take place outside the walls of the church. People who live in the mountains work hard, and play hard, and from a distance, it appears like spiritual ministry in towns like this is very difficult. However, I felt like there were some keys to breaking through some of the barriers. On the morning of our candidacy, I preached a sermon on "What if?" I laid out some of the insights that I felt God was sharing with me and tried to help the congregation see the possibilities.

In the evening service, I shared a short Bible study and then a district official chaired a meeting to vote on us. On Saturday we had a great question and answer session and I felt like over the weeks we had been involved, we had done everything possible to help this congregation know us. After an hour or so, one of the board members came into the room where we were meeting and told us that we had not been elected. I think I might of scared some of the people. I think that maybe they wanted a pastor that would maintain the status quo and not change much.

Yesterday we drove by the church, through the town and then back around the church property. What if?

Mountains

I'm sitting at a computer at the base of Pike's Peak in Colorado Springs. Mountains have a special allure about them. As we were driving towards the mountains yesterday, all of us in our van tried to be the first one to spot the mountains. There is a grandeur, and majesty about them. Because of the snow runoff and spring rain, Pike's Peak and the surrounding mountains are lush with greenery.

When God set up special meetings with Moses, He always held those meetings on a mountain. Jesus met his Father in mountain top meetings. And when a privileged few were allowed to come along, it was with the caution that they not see God himself, because His glory was too powerful for a human to see or experience. Even though mountains are not spiritual in themselves, there is a spiritual drawing to them, perhaps because they are some of God's special creations.

Later this week we're going to drive through the Rockies. When we lived in Colorado, I drove that drive many times, and never got tired of it. I'm looking forward to the drive again, because of the mountains, and because I always know God's presence during that drive.

Institutions Really Do Fade Away

I went to a Gaither Homecoming concert last night. The last time I went to one, the stage was filled with all the "greats" in gospel music. From young to old, everyone made great contributions to a wonderful evening.

I cut my musical teeth on Bill and Gloria Gaither songs. He Touched Me, Let's Just Praise the Lord, and many, many others. Now these are "classic" songs. New writers have come to the front, Chris Tomlin, Paul Balouche, the Hillsong writers, to name a few. We appreciate and value the older writers, but their time has come and gone.

Last night's concert had a strange mix of artists. Besides the newly minted Gaither Vocal Band, there was another great quartet, Ernie Haase and Signature Sound. The only "old timer" was Ben Speer. They did a cool effect, playing an audio and video track from some of the older concerts featuring Vestal Goodman, Jake Hess, George Younce and others, and having the on stage artists sing along. During some of these songs they switched the large screen image from the old video to the live stage. Gloria Gaither was a no show and Guy Penrod isn't singing with the Gaither Vocal Band anymore. While I enjoyed much of the concert, I realized, as we were leaving, that even this great institution, is fading away and is only a shadow of what it once was. All of these thoughts prompt me to say; "Enjoy life in the moment, without looking too far ahead and missing it, and looking too far behind and never catching up." Someday, we will all be classics. Maybe I already am...

What Do You Guys Do All Day, Anyway? Part 2

Yesterday I described a typical Administrative Pastor day. Today, Wednesday, is the day that I have my Minister of Music hat on. On Wednesdays I am preparing for the coming weekend services, plus preparing for a Choir rehearsal. Later in the week I prepare for our Sunday Orchestra rehearsal. Today's to-do list consisted of:

1. Develop the AM services worship song list. This is a little like preparing for a sermon, selecting a theme, making sure songs are in compatible keys, working through transitions, etc.

2. I copy and collate music for the core worship team; vocalists, rhythm section. I also copy the song list for the orchestra and choir.

3. I prepare the weekend PowerPoint slides with all of the song words on them, including worship songs, choir song, and any extra features.

4. I email our tech crews with all the details for the weekend including who-is-doing-what, special features, video, etc.

5. I email the core worship team with a complete song list and remind them about our Wednesday rehearsal. 

6. I compose a one page Choir News newsletter and copy it for each Choir member.

7. I post the Choir News on the WCAG website so anyone who cannot make the rehearsal can find out what's going on. 

8. I update the main page of the website and any other updates that other department leaders have given me.

9. I prepare music for the Choir rehearsal. Today included copying a new Praise & Worship song that we are going to start working on and putting out a Choir song we'll start rehearsing for a June Sunday.

10. I prepare our rehearsal room with our sound cart, keyboard, attendance forms, sharpened pencils, water for coffee. Everything to make sure that we can start on time and have everything completely ready to go. (I hate wasting any volunteer's time)

11. I worked on booking a guest for our June 28th Star Spangled Spectacular.

12. I selected a Memorial Day video, and made sure it worked in our projection computer.

13. I read a Christmas script that goes with a brand new Christmas musical. I also, inventoried the new Christmas music I have received and got it ready to listen to. June 1 is the start of the Christmas season for most Minister's of Music.

14. I rehearsed some of Sunday's Praise & Worship music.

At 5:30 this evening I'll have supper here at the church with my family and then start the evening off with a 6:15 worship team rehearsal, a 6:45-8:15 choir rehearsal and then an 8:15 meeting with our middle and high school students and their parents to help our senior pastor talk about the search process for our next youth pastor. I'll be there because we're hoping to include our students in more of our Sunday morning worship planning. A youth pastor with worship leading skills will help us do this.

Well, that's it. A 12 hour Wednesday. I love it...   

What Do You Guys Do All Day, Anyway?

Since most parishioners only "see us in action" (pastors) on Sundays, a logical question is "what do you do during the week". I wear 2 hats, I am the Minister of Music and the Administrative Pastor. In order to manage both jobs, I break up the week according to the priorities of each job. Today, Tuesday, I primarily work on Administrative items. My to do list for today:

1. Format items for the church web site, up-date the website. (www.wcag.org) 

2. Review an Audit proposal, yay-we could save $3,000. a year with this new company.

3. Work on a warranty issue with the lift we use to change lights in the gym and Sanctuary.

4. Meet with a couple of guys to begin to develop emergency plans; people with weapons, tornadoes, fire, estranged spouses trying to pick children up from our kid's areas, etc.

5. Meet with a contractor to review roof repair bids.

6. Find a vendor for restroom handicap grab bars. (Someone donated money for this, so it needs to get done right away)

7. Talk with a vendor about automatic opening doors. (Someone is going to start donating money for this)

8. Order larger TV carts to accommodate larger TVs that have been donated.

9. Work on issues that our landscape maintenance company informed me about.

10. Work on updates to our Leadership Manuals for distribution later this month.

11. Review invoices and approve them for payment.

12. Telephone call backs.

13. Email replies.

14. Try to find a good answer the tax liability for the possibility of a donated car for missionary use.

15. Work on insurance issues for our annual 4th of July commercial fireworks display.

16. Try to determine the best way to fund a missions trip to Viet Nam that will make donations tax deductible, and yet paid for by the participants with their own credit cards. (this is a tough one)

I really enjoy the Administrative Pastor job. While many of these tasks are fairly bland, I enjoy the detail it takes to stay on track. This is truly "behind the scene" stuff, but it is very necessary to the operation of our church. Next time I'll detail the other side of my job.

Poison Ivy 2 - Me 2

I decided that this was the year that I am going to eradicate poison ivy from my yard. The previous owner let our back yard develop very naturally with a lot of plants that she found "out in the wild" and brought into the yard. Growing up in California, I knew what poison oak looked like and had terrible cases of it many times. But I did not have any experience with poison ivy. The first year I did a lot of spring clean up in the yard, I trimmed, pulled, cut and raked for two straight days. Since it was warm, I used my tee shirt to wipe my face several times and used my hands to wipe sweat off my face as well. You guessed it... two days later I had a near medical emergency. A steroid shot helped, but my face and arms looked like balloons. It took a couple more seasons of observation to finally figure out what poison ivy looks like.

Fast forward to this year. I started in the front yard and pulled out a couple of plants that had started growing. I also pulled out what I hope was the entire root system. 1 for me. On my next workday I put on my gloves from last year and pulled out plants and roots from the backyard. While I was very careful, I later found out that poison ivy oil can stay active for over a year. So while I was careful to put on my gloves, I got the PI oil on my hands before I put the gloves on. 1 for Poison Ivy. On my next attempt at eradication, I didn't use gloves, pulled a lot of roots out and washed like crazy afterwards. 1 for me. Last Tuesday, I was careful again, pulled what I think is the last of the PI and washed my hands carefully. Later, I remembered that I had opened the back door of our house and the garage door with my bare hands before washing. I used a paper towel to wipe of both door handles. Here is where my memory gets fuzzy, but I think I may have wadded up the paper towel before throwing it away and did not wash my hands again. Today is Friday and I have poison ivy on my eyelids, ear, chin, both wrists and a place where the "sun doesn't shine". 1 big one for Poison Ivy.

I think there are some spiritual life correlations here: first, if it looks, smells and acts like sin, and you touch it, you are going to get dirty. Second, even if you are as careful as you can be, the moment you overlook one detail, your best plan is shot. We aren't clever enough not to get caught. Third, the recovery and consequences always take far longer and are much more painful than you ever imagined. Certainly not worth the pleasure - or in this case the satisfaction - of the original encounter. While you can spray for poison ivy, there is collateral damage to surrounding plants. Maybe that's what Christ meant when He said it's better not to have an eye or a hand if it causes you to lose your life. Maybe a little damage to other plants in my yard is worth more than the discomfort I'm experiencing right now. We'll see...

Thank God For His Protection

At 4:30 PM yesterday I received the call all husbands dread, "I've been in an accident". I rushed out my office and got to Kathy fairly quickly. She had been making a drive-through deposit at the bank, (she is the secretary at the Christian school that rents our church facilities) and just as she was handing over her school deposit, the wind caught some of the cash and blew it away. She jumped out of her van to retrieve the money, thinking it was in "park", only to realize that it started moving. She tried to get back in, but the van was too close to the bank wall. As it moved past her, it pinned her to the bank wall before it finally cleared the building. It went down a short lawn area, across a two lane street below and hit a car that was stopped in a left turn lane. When I got to the bank, she was sitting in a chair, ice on her thigh and the paramedics had treated a scrape on her arm. The passenger in the car that our van hit was taken to the hospital because he was complaining of pain in his leg. As I talked to the teller who had been helping Kathy, she told me that "when I came outside to help, I fully expected to see her on the ground, run over by the van."

Today she is very sore, and black and blue in places. She stayed home from work because she wouldn't have been able to sit for very long and walking is very slow and painful. While she is in a lot of pain, we are so thankful that the van did not crush her against the building, or cause her to fall and then be run over. God is good, and we are thanking Him for His protection. Even though we have all the hassle of getting her van fixed, being without a car for a week or more, and dealing with other people who are affected by this accident, we realize how much the "stuff" we own doesn't matter that much. Cars can be replaced, people can't. So tomorrow I'll take her van in and get the process started, and thank God again for His protection.

"Everyone Did As He Saw Fit"

My read-the-Bible-in-a-year reading today was from Judges 19-21. It has to be one of the most gruesome and oddest stories in the Old Testament. Basically, a Levite was having marital problems. His concubine (a non-married living arrangement) left him to return to her father's home. He goes and gets her and on the way stops in Gibeah for the night. Late in the evening, morally depraved men pound on the door of the home where the Levite is staying and want the owner to send the Levite out so they can abuse him sexually. They eventually send out the Levite's wife (concubine) after offering her and the host's virgin daughter. The moral depravity of this situation is not only the men on the outside, but the moral confusion of preserving the men inside but throwing a woman outside to be abused. In fact, she is so abused that she apparently dies on the doorstep of the host home.

When the Levite gets home, in a fit of moral outrage, (how can this be, he was the one who didn't protect her), he cuts his wife into 12 pieces and sends her around Israel to rally the nation to moral indignation. They eventually nearly completely wipe out Gibeah. Then, after massacring men, women and children, they have a moment of compassion and decide they need to help re-populate the tribe of Benjamin. These men were trying to protect the people of Gibeah. They discover that the people of Jabesh Gilead didn't help them in their war against Gibeah, so they decide to wipe out the people of Jabesh Gilead and give the men of Benjamin the virgins from Jabesh Gilead. Do we see a movie script unfolding here? From a starting cast of thousands to just a few hundred.

Then they discover that there are not enough virgins to go around, so they hatch a plot to help the men of the tribe of Benjamin kidnap virgins from a festival. When the kidnappings occur, they basically tell the families of the kidnap victims "live with it, deal with it". The last verse of Judges sums it all up. "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit."

For a moment I caught myself saying "boy, I'm glad I didn't live in that time period", and then I remembered that yesterday a member of the president's inner circle of advisers called pro-life advocates, "racists". We are still... so morally confused. God help us.

Tweet, Tweet

A couple of weeks ago I created a Twitter account. Twitter is a social communication network that is limited to 140 characters per Tweet. (a tweet is a message) I initially started following people who write the blogs that I read regularly. Interestingly enough, almost immediately I started getting email messages that told me people were "following me". To follow someone on Twitter means you have added their url to your account and you begin reading their "tweets".

Last week I spent some time acquainted with the program and began tweeting in earnest. The jury is still out on this one. Between my work emails, home emails, phone texts and my Facebook account, I'm getting pretty maxed out. I'm going to give Twitter another week. The nice thing is that Twitter adapts very well to my smart phone, so while I'm waiting in line, I can tweet, or read my incoming tweets.

If you Twitter, what has been your experience? Is it worth the effort. Leave me a message. Off to my next 140 characters...

Communication Has Really Changed

In my job as a Minister of Music, I communicate with a lot of people. Right now, for instance, I'm completing a music schedule for the next two months. With almost 100 people involved in our Choir, Orchestra, ensembles, soloists and instrumentalists, I have a lot of communicating to do before the final schedule comes out. In this particular schedule I am trying to schedule some of our students who will be participating in a national Fine Arts Festival in August. 

Here are all the communication methods I have used: for some Choir members, I need to send a postcard. For everyone else in the Choir and Orchestra, I can send an email. If I need a quick answer, I can make a voice call, or send a text message. For students, most of them do not check their emails anymore, so I use their Facebook account. I just set up a Twitter account, because many of the people I need to communicate with use Twitter. I'm still trying to figure out how to send Xbox 360 messages. It has been an interesting process to observe the difference that people from each age group adapt to new technology. While it is rare, anymore, to hear derogatory comments about computers, we still have a few seniors who will never adapt to this technology. On the young end of the spectrum, computers are too clunky, too large, too slow, etc. Once phone technology embraces everything a computer can do, that will be the end of the computer for most students who use a computer as a communication device. While I have just started my sixth decade, I notice that I am sending far more texts than using my cell phone for voice calls. I have even mastered the technique of using both hands on my Smart phone keyboard. I can "flat fly" for an old geezer.

I love new technology, even though sometimes it is hard to keep up. Students have such an advantage because they start working with computers, as normal tools, from the beginning of their school careers. I was already established in my career, and burning up my IBM Selectric typewriter, when personal computers were first introduced. I've been catching up ever since. Well, I have a few more people to connect with, I'm off to send a Tweet.

First Time To Mow This Season

Last week I mowed our lawn for the first time. A few weeks ago a did a lot of cleanup in our yard, and prepared it for the new growing season. Last week I finally broke down and started my mower and started the process that won't end until sometime in late October. My routine is the same every time I do our yard. I rake all the twigs and leaves, and unfortunately my neighbor's sweet gum balls; then I mow; followed by edging; sweeping the sidewalk; and then I sweep the street. I learned how to take care of a yard from my father. I helped him do it many times, and then he supervised me while I did it by myself, and finally I started taking care of our yard without the need for supervision. Now, I've settled into my own routine, and I don't remember if I still do the steps in the same order, except for sweeping the street. That was always the final touch. One thing I learned from my father was that if a job was worth doing, do it well and finish it. I watched him do this with everything that he did. So, while some of our neighbors blew their lawn clippings into the street and hoped that the street sweeper would come along, I dutifully swept the street to complete the job.

I've taught both my oldest sons how to care for their yards. And yes, when they tell me they were working in their yards, I ask, "did you sweep the street?" I have two younger sons at home who are helping me with our yard. They'll learn how to sweep the street, and in the process they'll learn how to finish the job well.

Hearing From People Who Were Unchurched

I am reading a very eye-opening book titled Surprising Insights From the Unchurched and Proven Ways To Reach Them, by Thom Rainer. The author and his research group conducted in depth surveys with 350 people who had come to know Christ and began attending a church. The surveys took place within the first two years of these people coming to faith and beginning to attend a church, and actually most had been a Christian less than one year. 90% of the respondents said that the pastor and his preaching were the primary reason they returned to church. 49% said they came back a second time because of he friendliness of the people, 41% came because someone from the church invited them or told them about Christ, 37% came back because they sensed the presence of God in the church services. Surprisingly, only 11% came back because of the worship/music style. 25% came back because of children's or youth programs, and only 7% cared about the location of the church.

This research project is eye-opening for church leaders who are trying to figure out how to reach out to the vast unchurched population of our country. In most cases, we think like people who already attend our churches. We think that if our worship style is the most contemporary, if our kids and youth programs are top notch and that our publicity is sharp and eye catching, these things will bring people in. And yet, apparently this is not the case, and the failure of most American churches to grow is evidence of that. Wow... more later after I read further in the book.

The Torn Curtain

Another one of those "sub-stories" surrounding the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ that I enjoy thinking about is the main temple curtain that is torn from top to bottom at the moment that Christ dies on the cross. As you might recall, from the time that the mobile tabernacle was used in the desert trek of the Israelites to the magnificent temple in Jerusalem, the Holy Place was separated by the Holy of Holies. No one, except the high priest, entered the Holy of Holies, and he only did that once a year after extensive preparations. My imagination takes over here, but I think that since the crucifixion of Christ was such a big event in Jerusalem, everyone in the religious community probably wanted to be there. I imagine that the priest who was lowest on the "totem pole" probably drew temple duty and all the other priests went to the crucifixion. This priest may have even been a rookie, anxious because he was the only one there, and frustrated because he can't be at the big event. I imagine him standing on the porch of the temple watching the clouds roll in and the light beginning to dim. He probably wondered, like everyone else, what was happening. Then suddenly the earth begins to move, it might have thundered, and lightning may have shot across the sky. While fear from these events begins to invade his mind, he hears a horrible tearing noise coming from inside the temple. Fearfully, he runs into the Holy Place and horror of horrors, the huge 4" thick veil has been torn from top to bottom, the two pieces have been pushed back toward the side walls and the Holy of Holies is exposed. Never in his wildest imagination did he ever believe he would see the Ark of the Covenant. But there it is...terror grips his heart as he gazes on the Ark, because he knows that instant death is the penalty for being in the wrong place in the temple. He expects at any moment to fall to the floor, dead. But nothing happens. He takes a few steps toward the Holy of Holies, then a few more. He gets to the place where the veil is now separated. I can imagine that he quickly pokes his hand across the "line" and then pulls it back, nothing... He does it again, this time his whole arm, nothing... then he jumps in, and quickly jumps out, nothing... Finally he walks into the room and into God's presence. I can imagine this rookie priest experiencing the presence of God like never before. He laughs, he cries, he dances...

I can imagine that at some point, the spirit of God draws this priest to Himself and he is born again. Oh God, on this Easter day, help us to rekindle am infectious love for You that helps us tell the people around us about your wonderful Presence.

Getting Your Ear Cut Off Must Really Hurt

One of the "sub-plots" of the Easter story that has always intrigued me is the High Priest's servant and his encounter with Christ. Since it wasn't politically expedient for the High Priest to go with the arresting party to bring Jesus in, he sent his administrative assistant. I'm sure the High Priest expected a full and detailed report just as soon as the dirty deed was done. Can you imagine the scene when the servant got back? Instead of reporting on the arrest of Jesus, I can't help but think that he would be consumed with the miracle that had taken place. As you recall, Peter took out a sword to defend Jesus when the arresting party walked up. He swung the sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, the High Priest's servant. In John 18:11 it says, "So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” Then Jesus proceeds to restore the man's ear. However, the Bible doesn't say anything about Jesus cleaning Malchus up. If you've ever had a head wound, you know that it bleeds terribly. I can imagine a lot of blood on Malchus' clothes, plus, if he fell to the ground, he may have rolled around in the dirt and leaves and some of it stuck to his clothes, and he probably wiped his hands off on his tunic. By the time he gets back to the High Priest, he is a mess.

After he finishes telling the HP what had happened, I can see the HP examining Malchus' head. He runs his finger around his ear and says, "I can't see anything here, it's as if it never happened". Sadly, even though these two had witnessed an unbelievable miracle, it didn't seem to change their minds. Or did it... I wonder if Malchus was a distant observer at the crucifixion. And as he stood and watched Christ die, I wonder if he ran his finger around the severed and restored ear every few minutes. In his heart he knew, this was the Son of God. Tomorrow we celebrate our new life in this same Son of God. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Reading Through the Bible In A Year

I am thoroughly enjoying reading through the Bible in a year using Eugene Peterson's The Daily Message. There are readings from the Old Testament, then it switches to the New Testament, from Psalms to Proverbs. I must admit, however, that some of the more difficult portions to read are some of the early books. There are a lot of instructions, laws, sacrifice directions and details about the Israelites journey through the desert. Yesterday, in the midst of a long litany of instructions there were some very interesting instructions regarding generosity. In Deuteronomy 24 it says, "When you harvest your grain and forget a sheaf back in the field, don't go back and get it; leave it for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow so that God, your God, will bless you in all your work. When you shake the olives off your trees, don't go back over the branches and strip them bare-what's left is for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow. And when you cut the grapes in your vineyard, don't take every last grape-leave a few for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow. Don't ever forget that you were a slave in Egypt. I command you: Do what I'm telling you." Earlier, in chapter 23, the Israelites are admonished not to charge interest to each for any loan.

Wow, how different would our society be if we lived by these directives? All of this got me thinking, how would this play out today? Instead of leaving olives on a tree for a widow, maybe I should "borrow" a widow's car, or a single mother's car, fill it full of gas, make sure the oil is changed and do a quick inspection to make sure everything is working properly. Instead of leaving grapes on a vine, perhaps I should be helping my senior aged neighbors power wash their house, or helping to clean up their yard for the beginning of the growing season. I wonder if today's foster care network is our opportunity to care for orphans? It almost seems like God's instructions to the Israelites were His directives for them to do random acts of kindness. If they could do this, shouldn't I be able to do this as well? Now, where can I find a banker that won't charge me interest...

Moon and Stars Hung In Place

Here's one more science blog and then I'll be on another topic. The guest I've written about in previous blogs talked about the recent discovery of "dark matter". He said that it seems to be a framework that the entire universe is built on. In other words, it's as if the stars, planets, galaxies, etc., are all hung on this dark matter. It reminds me of David's writing in Psalm 8, When I consider your heavens,the work of your fingers,the moon and the stars,which you have set in place, (from New International Version). I have this picture in my mind of God putting together His creation like a puzzle, hanging each piece on a framework that is invisible to the observer. The illustration to the right is from a PowerPoint slide that our guest showed during his presentation. It is an artist's rendering of what dark matter might look like if we could see it. Fascinating stuff... One more thing, could the Big Bang theory of the beginning of the universe be the way that God chose to start the process. Did He speak the universe(s) into existence? When He spoke, was matter created from one spot and then begin to explode into what we now know is an expanding universe that perhaps started from one cataclysmic event? Again, our guest didn't know the answers to any of these questions, but as a scientist, he could easily see the work of an Intelligent Designer. David ends Psalm 8 with LORD, our Lord,how majestic is your name in all the earth! (and throughout the entire universe - my words)

How Much Do We Really Know?

In my last post I talked about a guest we had recently been at our church. During his presentation, he made two very interesting observations about man and knowledge. First, in the late 1800s, scientists, philosophers and others had determined that the progression of mankind through the ages had produced a nearly perfect scenario for the future. In other words, science and philosophy were producing the desired effect of a civilization progressing to its highest forms. Evolution at it's best... and then came the 20th century, the bloodiest and most violent century ever. Oops, maybe we didn't have it all together.

Second, our guest mentioned that in the late 1990s, scientists were ready to write what he called the TOE (the Theory of Everything). Science felt like it had solved nearly all the mysteries of the universe and the intricacies of the smallest particles and it was ready to document it all. Done, finished, we know it all! And then came the discovery of Dark Energy and Dark Matter. Suddenly we didn't know it all. Another interesting discovery is that the galaxies are being "pulled by something" outside of the visible universe and that there is a huge mysterious hole in the universe billions of light years across. No one can explain any of this. As our guest summed it all up, he used the pie chart at the top of this blog. He said now, it appears like all we really know is the 4% represented by the orange sliver, and that percentage might be shrinking. Again, throughout his presentation, even though a lot of it went right over my head, I was convinced over and over again that it is impossible to ponder these things and not be convinced that God, the Creator, is the source of all.

Science and Intelligent Design

On Saturday evening we had a guest speaker at our church. He is an engineer at Fermilab, near Chicago. Fermilab's official name is the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. It is the home of the Tevatron, four miles in circumference and originally named the Energy Doubler when it began operation in 1983. It is the world's highest-energy particle accelerator. Some of the questions that are hopefully going to be answered in the near future by research at the lab include:

What is the universe made of?
How does the universe work?
Why do particles have mass?
Does neutrino mass come from a different source?
What is the true nature of quarks and leptons? Why are there three generations of elementary particles?
What are the truly fundamental forces?
How do we incorporate quantum gravity into particle physics?
What are the differences between matter and antimatter?
What are the dark particles that bind the universe together?
What is the dark energy that drives the universe apart?
Are there hidden dimensions beyond the ones we know?
Are we part of a multidimensional megaverse?

Our guest spoke on many of these topics and I must admit that many of his explanations zoomed right over my head. However, in the midst of his presentation, he mentioned more than once that as scientists discover how little we really know about the world we live in, it is undeniable that the creative source has to be from an intelligent designer. From the farthest reaches of the universe to the smallest particle that can be identified, the design, function and form is too complex to even consider that the development was evolutionary in nature. Even though I didn't understand a lot of what I was hearing, what I did hear was that some of the smartest people on earth know that our Intelligent Designer created it all.

Safely and Humbly

I've seen a television commercial several times during the NCAA basketball tournament. A young girl, 8 or 9, is asking her dad if she can use the family car to go the the movies. The next shot goes to the dad as he asks her who is going. She tells tells him several girl's names and a boy's name. When he repeats the boy's name, the shot goes back to the young girl and now she is a teenager, with a "yes Daddy it's a boy" smile on her face". When the dad gives his permission the last shot is her thanking him and bounding down the steps of their house to the car.

About 18 months ago I replaced my old, tired van with one of those wonderful "finds". I found a 1994 Lexus ES300 in nearly pristine shape, with only 71,500 miles on it for a very reasonable price. After fixing a couple of things, this car is in nearly perfect shape for a 15 year old car. It looks nearly new and drives wonderfully well. Nicole turned 17 in January and I really relate with the commercial I described above. For some reason, Nicole always wants to drive my car instead of her mother's van. We have a little "father-daughter" routine we go through. She asks permission to use my car. After we discuss the details, I ask her "how are you going to drive"? She tells me "safely... and humbly". In my dry humor sort-of-way I've talked with her about not being "uppity" while driving this car. "It's a blessing we need to be thankful for". One of our driving rules is that we ask Nicole to call us when she gets to where she is driving. If I answer, I usually ask her, "Nicole, how did you drive"? When she tells me "safely and humbly" I can imagine the same kind of cute smile that the girl in the commercial has as she bounces down the steps to the family car. What Nicole doesn't know is that every time we have this little fun interaction, it is a prayer point for me. "Oh Lord, keep Nicole safe, and humble, right in the center of Your will."

Spring Is A Wonderful Season

I love spring. We have a lot of different trees, shrubs and flowers in our yard and I enjoy watching the "green" begin to appear. This year we have had some warm days on the weekends and I have been able to spend more time getting my yard ready than normal. Two weekends ago I filled 17 large yard bags with leaves, clippings from pruning trees and shrubs and dried vegetation from last year. In several cases, as I lifted up the dried and dead left over vegetation from last year, under the pile was a blaze of green. Last year's plants had dropped seeds or bulbs had come alive and now I could see this year's beauty beginning to grow. Yesterday I noticed that our big shade tree had the first little bursts of green that signaled new leaves. And this morning our Bradford Pear tree in the front yard had burst into white blossoms overnight. Before long our dogwoods will bloom, the daffodils and tulips will be in full bloom and spring will be here in all her glory. Yesterday I cleaned up Kathy's fountain, filled it full of clean water and started the pump. Within an hour or so, several birds had found the fresh water and were taking baths.

I am so glad that we celebrate Easter in the spring, the season of new life and hope. In the midst of the uncertainty of the current events that surround us, spring reminds me that God brings renewing life and hope. He is so faithful...

We Are So Blessed

In these times of such uncertainty and fear, we can easily retreat into the idea that "bad things are going to happen to me." You can almost envision the worst case scenario, even though our experience tells us that most of worries never come to pass. When you step back, and look at how blessed we are to have been born in the United States, you gain a whole new perspective. The great danger is that we will fall into the trap that the whole world is like the street we live on. Of course, it is not. How do you see the world? Six billion people are on the planet. If we reduce that population to 100 people, proportionately:
• 57 of those people come from Asia
• 21 from Europe
• 14 from North and South America
• 8 from Africa
• 49 would be women
• 51 would be men
• 68 would still not be able to read and write
• 6 of those people would own 50% of the world’s wealth and all of those would be U.S. citizens
• 1 of those people would have just been born
• 1 of those people is about to die
• Only 1 of those people have been to college

When I look at this list, and reflect on my own life, I have got to thank God for His tremendous blessings to me. And, it compels me, even in these uncertain times, to find ways to give back.

Are You Still Praying For the President?

In an Inauguration Day blog, I wrote that I would be praying for our new President, even though I could not agree with all of his views and beliefs. A lot has happened since Inauguration Day. (boy, is that an understatement) I realize now, more than ever, that I do not have very much in common with our new President. In fact, just when I think things are going to stabilize a bit, something else pops up that tells me just how much I wish this President wasn't the President. However, none of what has occurred releases me from the obligation to pray for President Obama. In fact, it should cause me to pray all the more for him and his advisers. I truly believe that there isn't a single politician, from either party, that knows what to do in these trying times. Without concentrated prayer, our leaders will not turn to God. They will rely on their own flawed wisdom and continue to make big mistakes.

I am reminded about the account in 1st Samuel where the nation of Israel cried out for a king. Even though God knew this is not what they needed, he granted their request because of their consistent asking for a king. Towards the end of Saul's reign, the people wished they had never asked for a king. They probably got what they deserved, but it sure wasn't what they expected. In spite of the situation, the people were still admonished to obey, serve and pray for the king. As a Christian, I'm in a tough spot. I don't agree with a lot that the government is doing right now. I don't agree with many of the leadership appointments and I don't like what we're hearing about plans that are coming in the future. But God has asked me to pray for my leaders, and I will continue to do that. This morning I was reading my "through-the-Bible-in-a-year" reading and Hebrews 1:14 in The Message says, "Isn't it obvious that all angels are sent to help out with those lined up to receive salvation?" What if we prayed earnestly that our leaders would be "lined up to receive salvation". I'm praying that our leaders will come in contact with people who can influence them towards God, towards righteousness and salvation. You can choose to be afraid, to complain, bad mouth, etc., or you can be part of a spiritual move in prayer. After Saul, came David...