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...

Birthday Musings

Today is the day. 60 years old. Boy, does time fly. Fortunately, I think the saying is correct, "you're only as old as you let yourself think you are." I really believe some great days are ahead. I suppose that when you boil it all down, the biggest blessing of reflecting on a major birthday is all the relationships you have, and cherish. I am married to a wonderful lady and we're more in love now then we ever have been before. I was with 5 of my 6 children for my birthday celebration and I am so blessed to be related to each one of them. Each one of our children brings special joy and great experiences. I am blessed with some wonderful friends, and Facebook, amazingly, brought a ton of birthday greetings starting on Friday from relationships from my entire adult life.

So today, I feel blessed. Blessed by so many people who took a little time to wish me well. And thank you as well for the boxes of bran cereal, over-the-hill stuff, black balloons, all the funny cards, etc. Yes, I really am so old that I can remember when the Dead Sea was just sick. :) Thank you everyone.

Pre-Birthday Musings

In a couple of days I will have one of th0se "benchmark" birthdays. This birthday has a zero in it, but does not have a 3,4 or 5. I must admit that for the first time, instead of thinking about all the things that need to be accomplished in the next few years, I have been much more reflective about what has already taken place, and what I could have done better. Don't get me wrong, this is not retirement time, I know I have some great years in front of me and I have plenty of energy. But I know I also want to factor in the time and energy to make sure that all of the positive influence I can exert, gets to the people I love and care about.

We have a plaque with the saying, "A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child". Looking back, I hope this has been true in my life. A weeks ago I re-connected with a young man from one of the youth groups that we pastored. He wrote this on my Facebook wall: "I just wanted you to know that, at a time when I was in your college group, grinding away at college and feeling overwhelmed, you told me you were proud of me because I wasn't just killing time like a lot of the others but was actually trying to get an education. It was exactly the time I needed to hear that and...it gave me such encouragement to keep going even though I felt like I was missing out of a lot of the "fun" by having to go to school. So, YOU have a big part in my accomplishment and I wish you could have been here for my swearing-in." Today Tony is a Superior Court judge in California.

More musings later...

Landing On Your Feet

God really helps us "land on our feet". Let me explain. Our oldest daughter and son-in-law have been working at a church in Northern California for the past couple of years. They were brought on the pastoral staff by a senior pastor who told them he would be there "until I retire". Greener grass on the other side of fence lured him away to another church so our kids were asked to be the interim pastors. Unfortunately, the church had not been left in real good shape, so Jason & Aimee rolled up their sleeves and went to work. Sadly, partly because they are young and do not have a "ton" of experience, and partly because some Christians insist on their way no matter what, they had some great experiences and some not so great experiences. All in all, they feel good about their time of leadership in this church. However, as the decision to hire a new pastor came closer, it was painfully obvious that church finances were not going to allow a pastor and an associate pastor. Plus, our kids were living in the parsonage that would have to be vacated when a new pastor came on board. So here they are; the pastor that hired them left, they can't stay in spite of all they have done, some people would love to have them become the new pastors and some would like to see them gone "as soon as possible".

So what do they do...they trust God. He opens a door and as they explore the open door they realize that God is really in this. So as it turns out, today they are packing their home up in Northern California and tomorrow they'll drive north 4 hours to Medford, OR. Our daughter will join the staff there as their new Children's Pastor and our son-in-law will be a Pastor on the staff, serving the Senior Pastor, plus working on his ministerial credentials and furthering his education. Today, Kathy (my wife), called the church to arrange for some flowers for Aimee's office when she arrives at the church on Friday. The secretary she talked with went on and on about how excited they are about our kids joining their staff. This church can't wait for them to get there and start working along side them. So, from one difficult situation to a wonderful new opportunity. God really does help us "land on our feet".

Change Brings Change

Last Sunday night was the end of a wonderful, weekly event for me. Our Sunday evening service always ends with a time of prayer. The congregation is invited to come to the altars, walk the aisles, or pray in whatever manner is comfortable for them. During this prayer time we play music that is appropriate for this quiet time. In fact, the inspiration for the CD that I recorded in 2005, Gentle Worship, Quiet Praise, came from these 30-45 minute sessions in which we played from one song to the next without much of a break. While we have had different musicians join us from time to time, basically Jonathan Gathman and myself have been the primary musicians. Over the years that I have been on the staff of WCAG, this evening service has diminished in attendance and beginning March 1st, our Sunday evening and Wednesday evening schedules are changing. One of the changes is the elimination of the Sunday evening service.

Jonathan is one of the greatest musicians I have ever had the pleasure of performing with. He moves effortlessly between the cello and recorder. His mastery of the cello is phenomenal. There have been times during our playing that I was so distracted from my own contribution because I was so taken with what I was hearing Jonathan play. There were other times when we both wished the session had been recorded because we knew that something special had taken place. For us, this became a worship time, our playing to God, that benefited us far more than anyone else who might be praying, and listening. I know people enjoyed our playing. They told us every week. When you play with someone week after week, you begin to "feel" how the other player will interpret the song you are playing. In our case, we would exchange the lead or melody without having to signal each other or say "you take the lead". In most cases I would change songs and Jonathan would follow, changing keys with me so easily that most people would think that we had written down all the songs, keys and arrangements. I think that when musicians truly worship God in their playing, you almost play beyond your ability. I think there were many times that Jonathan and both felt like that is exactly what was happening.

Last Sunday night we played as usual. As people began to leave, we finished up the last song. My emotions got the best of me as we played the last phrase and brought the song to a conclusion. When I stood up from the piano and turned around to thank Jonathan, it was obvious the same thing had happened to him. We embraced, and almost simultaneously we each said "I'm really going to miss this", and that was that. I'm really going to miss those times...

Good Reads

I try to read a couple of books a month. I vary my selections to include books that help me in my professional life, my personal life and then I read for fun. I have 3 suggestions for you, if you are a reader, that touch each area I outlined above.

The first book enhanced my professional life. The title is Who Stole My Church by Gordon McDonald. McDonald is a well-known pastor and prolific author. In this book, Gordon tells a story in novel form that outlines the changes that a traditional church makes as it tries to connect with present day culture. If your church is "changing", and you are having difficulty with some of the changes, this is a good read for you. The publisher is Thomas Nelson.

The second book helped me personally and is titled Meltdown (A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse) by Thomas E. Woods Jr. Woods is a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama. In 2006 Woods won a first prize in literature from the Templeton Enterprise Awards. He is a prolific author on economic subjects. In this book he gives a good history of economics in America, details the Great Depression, compares it to the financial collapse in Japan, and compares Great Depression thinking to our present economic crises. As you can tell by the sub-title, he does not agree with the present governmental course of action. This is a good book for people who want to understand what is going on, but do not want a lot of technical information. The publisher is Regnery Publishing, Inc. I bought my copy at Borders.

The final book I just finished was for fun. I've been a John Grishman fan since his first book, A Time To Kill. This brand new book is titled The Associate. It has a captivating story line that grabs you from the very first chapter. I read it in a couple of days and thoroughly enjoyed it. Many of Grisham's books are about lawyers and legal matters. This one explores the world of huge New York City law firms and brand new Ivy League lawyers. The publisher is Doubleday and I saved a ton by buying my copy at Sam's Club.

Here's a tip to save some money at Borders. Join their free reward program. Every week you get emailed coupons that can save 20%-40%. If you wait for a book to go on their normal 40% off pricing, with the coupon you can a lot off the price.

Trusting God In Difficult Times

As you know, a huge spending bill has been passed by our Congress and will be signed by the President in the next couple of days. While this is being touted as the "solve-all" for our country's financial woes, history and a study of sound economic strategy, tells me different. I believe that all of us in the middle class are in for some difficult and trying times.

Here are a few promises from God's Word to meditate on:
God will be with us - Isaiah 43:2-3
God cares for us - Matthew 6:28-30
God will provide for us - Matthew 6:31-33
God will give us peace - Philippians 4:6-7
God will give us strength to endure hard times - Philippians 4:12-13
God will bless us as we bless others - Proverbs 11:25

Spend a few minutes looking at these scriptures. Allow the Spirit of God to point out key elements of His truth as you read His Word. We know and love a great God. And He knows us far better than we know ourselves. We can trust Him...

Heaven

A few months ago I purchased a book by Randy Alcorn titled Heaven. It is a near exhaustive book about Heaven, written in question and answer form. I worked through a lot of the book and then put it down, meaning to get back to it, but never did. A few weeks ago a member of our congregation gave me a small version titled Touchpoints Heaven. It is a much smaller version of the book I already mentioned, with 3 major divisions. First, the Present Heaven; second, the Eternal Heaven; and Life on the New Earth. This last section was fascinating. It included topics like age, alien life, angels, animals, books and reading, culture, free will, homes, marriage, sex, sports, technology and much more. I must admit that while the author uses scriptures for all of his answers, some of the scriptural applications seem to me to be a "stretch". However, this does not take away from this wonderful subject and the great treatment that Randy Alcorn gives it. Even if you are not much of a reader, this little $5 book reads very quickly and is packed with a lot of information. You will be amazed and inspired by what God has in store for those who know him!

She Is My Lady - For My Valentine

I am a Donny Hathaway fan. I have enjoyed his music, starting with 33 1/3 records, cassettes, Cd's and now on my iPod. One of the songs he sang on his self titled album Donny Hathaway is an all-time favorite because it describes my wife, Kathy, so well. So here is my early valentine to "my lady".

I've learned to live for the sound of her laughter
Her sunny smile is my only light
To love her now is the sole thing that I'm after
I'll make her melody my life
She came to me when I knew I'd lost the meaning
Lifted the shadow from across my way
She touched my heart with the sweet song she was singing
Brought back the sun into my days

Oooh she is my lady
I'm a witness to the wonder of her ways
Oooh she's my lady
The solitary reason for my days

And sometimes when my burdens just seem too overbearing
The girl turns my tears with a single sigh
She taught me loving
And through love we both learned sharing
Right now she's every, every reason why

Oooh she is my lady
I'm a witness to the wonder of her ways
Oooh she's my lady
The solitary reason for my days

A New King

The book of Genesis ends with the wonderful account of Joseph, the re-uniting of his family, and God's provision for His chosen people. I love reading this entire story over and over. I just finished reading it again in my daily through-the-Bible-in-a-year schedule. However, chapter 1, verse 8 of the book of Exodus begins, "Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. 'Look', he said to his people, 'the Israelites have become much to numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.'

When I read these verses, I immediately thought of our country and our recent change in presidential administrations. While I want to be supportive, and will pray for our new president and administration, already he/they have made changes that I cannot support. I cannot support my tax dollars, for instance, being used as foreign aid to pay for women to have abortions. I cannot support the use of embryonic stem cells to be used for research. I cannot support major aspects of the financial bail-out/stimulus package that has been put together. I wonder if this "king" has forgotten where we've come from, on Who's principles and truth this country was founded on, a more importantly, what will happen when Christians begin to protest anti-Biblical policies and legislation. I pray that Josephs will rise up, be recognised at the highest levels of government and be able to make a difference. Is a Joseph reading this blog...

E.T. Is 17

17 winters ago a little foster baby came into our lives. She was born with a number of birth difficulties, including a severe brain bleed. She also came with difficult legal issues and it took 18 months to sort them all out. She had a big forehead and big eyes and Kathy and I nicknamed her E.T. Her birth mom was 14 and a birth father was not identified. Each evening I took on the responsibility of putting Nicole to sleep. Many evenings during the winter I would light the gas logs in our family room and hold her, pray over her, talk to her, and generally have a wonderful time with this "little lady". More than once I agonized over that fact that she didn't have a daddy. One night, as I was praying over her, I felt the distinct impression in my mind that when I prayed words like "be a daddy to Nicole because she doesn't have one", the Holy Spirit whispered to me, "you are her daddy, just like I am your daddy". That was significant to me for a couple of reasons. One, it helped me understand that for the moment, I was indeed being a dad to Nicole and she was safe and secure in our home, and second, I needed the reinforcement that God was allowing me to see Him in a more intimate and personal way. I have always struggled with my image of God. Most times He was a distant God, able to do all that His word told me, and interested in me, but from a distance. I always felt like I was part of huge crowd in His presence. That evening, in the warmth of a fire warmed winter night, God became Daddy to me. I felt like He was there with just Nicole and I, letting us know just how much he loved us and cared for us. That memory will be one that will always be a highlight.

Yesterday "E.T." turned 17. Nicole is a beautiful young lady and Kathy and I are so proud of her. Yes, the legal problems were all resolved and by the time Nicole was 18 months old, we adopted her.

Being In Politics Is Like Being In the Ministry

As I watched the inauguration of our new president and all the pageantry and ceremony that surrounds it, I was saddened by the boos and derisive shouts when President Bush was introduced. While I realize that many of the people in attendance were ardent President Obama supporters and saw President Bush as an opponent, this kind of disrespect was offensive and totally uncalled for. I think history will see the Bush presidency in a much different light than it was portrayed in the last presidential campaign and in the media. A lot of good has happened in the last 8 years, however, much of it has been lost in the hue and cry of those who disagree with the former president on some high profile issues.

Sadly, I'm not sure much has changed since the founding of our country. Kathy and I just finished watching a great 7 part series by HBO on the life of John Adams, our second president. For all the great things he did, he was treated very badly by his opponents, and lost a bid for a second term. Towards the end of his life, he questioned the value of his public service. He wondered if the sacrifices he and his family made for his country were worth it, in light of how he was treated and the things that were written about his in the newspapers of his day.

With all this in mind, I look at my own life, a full time career in ministry. My family and I have made sacrifices in order to provide the best possible ministry to the churches we have served. There have been wonderful "high moments", and fortunately, most of our experience has been good. But we have also had the "lowest of the low moments" as well. Christian opponents and enemies have got to be the worst. (Yes, I said Christian opponents and enemies, they are real)There has been more than one Monday when the only thing I wanted to do was start packing and move away. Fortunately, I've never done that. I did have a friend, however, who felt so mistreated and unwanted that one Monday he and his wife did pack and leave without telling anyone. When people came for the Wednesday night service and activities, the church was dark and so was the parsonage next door.

At times the political process is so antagonistic and the press so relentless, that there must be hundreds of broken people who have been sucked in, chewed up and spit out in the process of "winning". Sadly, I know too many ministers who have had this same experience. I wonder if we will ever live in a "kinder and gentler" atmosphere?

An Orderly Transfer of Power

I watched the swearing in of the Vice President and President today with my 14 and 13 year old sons. I had the opportunity to share with them how blessed we are to live in a country where there is an orderly transfer of power. During the campaign it was very apparent that there are a lot of differences between the candidates and political parties. But the genuine appearing amicability between the two presidents was wonderful to see. Their embraces, yes there was more than one, was heartening. It was fun for the three of us to comment on all of this. However, I am also very concerned about this new president. This quote scares me to death, "The first thing I'd do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing that I'd do." -- Senator Barack Obama, speaking to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, July 17, 2007. In one interview tonight, at one of the balls, he told an ABC news correspondent that tomorrow there would be some announcements and executive orders signed that would put in motion a new direction for our country. What direction will that be? If they are some that he articulated during his campaign, I know it is going to be a difficult to support his new direction.

On another note, a young lady from our church traveled to Washington D.C. with her high school group for today's inauguration. They arrived at the National Mall at 4:30 AM and they were too late to get on the Mall. Estimates range from 1 to 2 million people were there for today's festivities. As my sons and I looked at the crowd, and Shawn wondered out loud "how many people are there?", I thought, what difference can 1 person make? How can 1 person who lives in the Midwest, with a relatively small circle of friends, acquaintances and family, and doesn't know anyone important in politics, ever make a difference? I know what I can do. The same thing I've been doing ever since the election in November. I'm praying for this new president. I'm praying that God will be able to lead him, inspire him, protect him, surround him with righteous counselors and prosper him, and our country. One person, praying, can make a difference, because as we join with millions of Christians praying, God will hear and answer.

So today I am thankful to live in a free country with a great system of transferring power. I'm also thankful that even though I don't agree with a lot of the potential policies of our new president, I can pray for him, continue to be a good citizen, and work for the issues and values that I hold dear.

We Have Another Unique Challenge

I sat with a group of St. Louis pastors yesterday morning and part of our discussion centered around the overall climate of fear and apprehension that we are seeing in people as they come into our churches for the first time. While most of the fear is of the unknown as it relates to the national and world economy, it also includes people with difficult health situations and other kinds of serious issues. The great thing about this conversation was that it turned rather quickly into a positive, solution sharing time that gave each one of us the encouragement that God has each one of us in a strategic place for timely ministry to people who are desperate for hope. I still remember the Sunday after 9/11. Our church was filled with people that I had never seen before. Fear had gripped our nation and no one could say with any certainty that the threat was over. Sadly, by the 3rd or 4th week after 9/11, we got back to "normal", and our attendance went back to where it had been.

This time it is different. People are being affected individually, and it is not a mass problem, yet. As people express their fears about layoffs, losing their jobs, not being able to pay their mortgage or bills and other issues, the fear is there and there is a reaching out for some hope to hold on to. As Christians, we have a great window of opportunity to share the love of Christ and His faithfulness to us. While His promises do not include providing for all our financial needs, His word does promise that He will not leave us nor forsake us. We may have to draw on every resource of the family of God to deal with what is coming in the future, but God will help us. His creativity and vastness will help us. Times will probably get very tough, but we will be better for it, because of Him.

A New Year, Starting Fresh

I know that making new year resolutions is "out". Everyone chuckles about broken resolutions and after a couple of weeks of the new year, it's back to business-as-usual. Picking a couple of fresh things to do, and sticking with them, seems to be a better way to go. We have asked our congregation this year to join a read-the-Bible-in-a-year campaign. I have done this for several years, with various Bible-in-a-year tools. I have joined, and if you are reading this, and a member of our congregation, I would hope that you would join us. This year I am using The Message Bible-in-a-year version. And yes, after 7 days, I'm right on schedule.

The other thing I desperately want to find time for is creative planning, writing and recording. I think I may have a book locked up in mind that is trying to get out, and I know there is a Christmas recording trying to make it out. In 2006 I recorded and released a piano CD titled Gentle Worship, Quiet Praise. Almost 1,000 copies are in circulation. I get requests all the time for another recording. For at least the last 18 months I have been mentally planning A Gentle & Quiet Christmas, (the working title). This year it is time to find the time to work on the creativity that will make it happen. What have you resolved to do in 2009? Can you change your routine and schedule to make it happen? Let's check back together in a couple of months and see how we're doing...

New Year Resolutions

I've been thinking about making some personal changes in 2009. I need to take better care of myself physically, I would like to pursue some individual projects, etc. In the process of thinking about how to go about making some things happen, I read an excellent blog by Mark Batterson on this subject. Mark is the lead pastor at National Community Church in Washington DC. Here is his blog...

"In the 1960’s, a study was done on the campus of Yale University. The subjects were Yale seniors who were educated about and encouraged to get a tetanus shot. Most of the students were convinced by the lecture that they needed to get the shot. But only 3% actually went and got the shot.

Another group of students were given the same lecture, but they were also given a copy of the campus map with the location of the health center circled. Then they were asked to look at their weekly schedules, make a plan for when they would go and take the shot, and look at the map and decide what route they would take. 28% of that control group got the shot. That is nine times as many! Why the radical increase? Because they identified how, when, and where?
I'm guessing all of us need to make a change going into the New Year. You need to stop doing something or start doing something. You need to do something less or do something more. But I'm guessing about 3% of us will make the change because we never identify how, when, and where!

So here's a plan. It's as simple as 1,2,3.
#1 Look at the calendar and schedule an hour between now and January 1st. Put it on your calendar. Make an appointment with yourself. It may be in the morning or in the evening. It may be at your house or a coffeehouse. It may be on New Years Eve or New Years Day. Just set aside one hour.

#2 Spend an hour reflecting and praying. And here’s a suggestion. Think in categories. I think it helpful to think in these five categories: spiritual, relational, intellectual, emotional and physical. Do an honest self-assessment. And ask God to reveal the answer to this question: what change do I most need to make?

#3 Make the change. Call it a goal. Call it a New Year's Resolution. Call it whatever you want. The goal is to make a change that honors God. Here's a suggestion. Don't make ten resolutions! If you make lots of resolutions you'll probably keep none of them. In my experience, you need to make three or less. And I'd start with the spiritual category.

Once you come up with your resolution you need to write it down. Then you need to keep it visible. Put it on a screen saver. Put it on your bathroom mirror. If it's diet related, put it on the refrigerator. You might even want to find an accountability partner who will make the same resolution. It helps to have someone hold you accountable."

I think this is pretty good advice...now, where can I go and spend that hour?

Start Putting Christmas Away...

Today is a sad day. It's the first day that I started putting away Christmas music, decorations, and other Christmas "stuff". I always hate to say goodbye to the things that make Christmas so wonderful. But time marches on and the new year is "in the wings". The great thing for Christians is that we celebrate Christmas all year long because of the relationship we have with Christ and His coming into our lives. From a church calendar stand point, Easter is the next big event, and we have another opportunity to tell a watching world that Christ lived, died and rose again to put us into a right relationship with the Father. I have been listening to Easter music throughout the Christmas season, and I think I've found an 8 song work that will be perfect for the Easter season. By Easter, April 12th, our nation and the world may be in a very difficult place financially and politically. We may have an unprecedented opportunity to share Christ with the people around us, in a way that has only come after 9/11 or other similar national times of crisis. I think we need to prepare now for this opportunity. So, while it is sad to pack away the Christmas things, it's exciting, and daunting, to think about what may be coming next. Emmanuel, God with us, God for us...

Two Days Until Christmas

I really enjoy these last days just before Christmas. Finishing special events at the church, preparing for the Christmas Eve service, shopping, wrapping gifts, getting the house ready for company and a myriad of other tasks. These all add to the excitement of the season. I still feel like a kid when it comes to Christmas. I love the cooking smells mixed with the scent of our fir tree, candles burning and a fire burning in the fireplace. I enjoy sitting by our tree, checking the lights outside and reading through Christmas cards. I must admit that my schedule doesn't really slow down until 6 PM on Christmas Eve. But after that it's our traditional Mexican dinner with our family, our son Josh and his wife Kelly and Kelly's family. Enchiladas, tamales, chili, beans, rice, tortillas, guacamole and more. After that we're going to settle in with a fire going and watch The Nativity as a family. We'll reflect on the wonderful story of Christmas and then the kids will go off to bed. Then Kathy and I will assist Santa Claus with putting out the Santa gifts and around midnight, Kathy and I will open the gifts that we've picked for each other. We started this tradition several years ago and it is a highlight for us. This time alone is a wonderful time to express our love for each other and to remember the great blessings of God to us and our family. God is good...Emmanuel, God with us. He is for us.

Good Christmas Listening & Viewing

Two posts ago I mentioned some great reading for Christmas. Here is what I'm listening to this year. First, my son Jason, told me about a new recording by Bela Fleck and the Flectones, Jingle All the Way. The Flectones are a blend of bluegrass, fusion and jazz. One of the most unique sounds you will hear is on their song Jingle Bells. Tuvan (from the Russian Federation nation of Tuva) throat singers sing along with the Flectones. The whole album is very unique. I have really enjoyed it. Download it from iTunes for $9.99. Since our Music Department sang 4 of Michael W. Smith's songs this year for our Christmas concert, I have been listening to his album, It's A Wonderful Christmas. His first Christmas album, Christmas, is well worth downloading. The Christmas Collection by El Divo is wonderful. Every year I enjoy watching The Preacher's Wife. Whitney Houston does some superb singing in the movie. I have some of that soundtrack album downloaded as well as her album, One Wish (The Holiday Album). Josh Groban's project from last year is great, Noel. Another favorite group has disbanded :(, Wind Machine. I have worn out two of their albums, A Wind Machine Christmas and Portraits of Christmas. You can still find these Cd's on eBay and other sites, but I couldn't find a download for them on iTunes.

There are some wonderful Christmas movies we love to watch at our house. I love the Alistair Sims version of Scrooge, The Preacher's Wife, Kathy and the girls watch White Christmas, and a new favorite is The Nativity, as well as the oldie It's A Wonderful Life. Whatever you do, take some time to listen to a variety of Christmas music and watch a movie or two, it will do your spirit good.

Christmas Music

This past weekend we presented a concert titled "Emmanuel-God With Us, God For Us". Saturday the concert was attended primarily by people who do not attend our church on a regular basis, and on Sunday morning, it was basically our own church folks. We had 110 vocalists and instrumentalists involved in this year's concert. For a church that averages approximately 400 attendees, I think this is remarkable. In fact, when you consider that our String Orchestra song was played by 6 violins, 2 violas and 2 cellos, plus a harp, all from our congregation, it is quite awesome. I feel both humbled and proud, (is that possible?) to work with the people that God has given our church congregation. As we were leaving after the second performance, several people said things like, "I bet you're relieved it's over...". The truth is, somewhere near the end of the last song, in the last performance, a little bit of sadness creeps into my emotions. After 4 months of rehearsing, it's a little sad to put away music you've lived with for so long. Since I begin planning and picking music in the summer, it feels like I'm putting away old friends. Today I'm putting away music stand lights, extension cords, percussion equipment, etc., because we're done, until next year. The main thing is that we had the opportunity to tell the story again, and to set an atmosphere where Emmanuel could touch the hearts and lives of people who were in our congregation during the concert with His love and hope, especially during this holiday season. We had prayed in advance for people to be invited to come who desperately needed to have an encounter with Emmanuel. Time will tell...

Christmas Reading

Over the years I have collected quite a number of Christmas books. Collections of stories, poems and other writings, Christmas fiction and inspirational Christmas writings. I also have a collection of short Christmas stories that I have gleaned from many different sources. I have shared many of these stories with our family, friends, our congregation and other groups. I think it is great to read "the" Christmas story with your family, but also, to share other people's experiences and writings. Here are a few suggestions:
This year Glenn Beck has written a wonderful, true story titled "Christmas Sweater"
Richard Paul Evans has written a number of Christmas novels, beginning with "The Christmas Box" in 1995. http://richardpaulevans.com/richards-books/ lists all his books and descriptions.
Max Lucado has written a number of Christmas books as well. One in particular stands out, "Cosmic Christmas". This is a great telling of the story of Christmas and the Father's love for us.
A collection you may be able to find in the bargain section of the major bookstores is "Norman Rockwell's Christmas Book." There are some wonderful stories that are well worth sharing with your family. A couple of my favorites are The Miraculous Staircase by Arthur Gordon and Christmas Every Day by William Dean Howells.

One of my fondest childhood memories is reading books by the light of the lights in our Christmas tree. I would lay on my stomach and get as far under the tree as possible to read whatever book I was currently reading. Since we didn't have a television in our home until I was 14 years old, reading was one of our family's favorite pastimes. While I don't lay on my stomach under our trees now, I still enjoy sitting as close as I can, smelling the scent of pine and reading a favorite book. In fact, that sounds so good maybe I'll do that tonight...

Christmas Lights

I love all the lights at Christmas. For several years, Kathy and I worked at the PTL Network and we had a million lights throughout the park every Christmas. It was wonderful to drive in or out at night during the Christmas season. Here in St. Louis we love going to the Shrine of Our Lady Of the Snows to see the lights, or drive through the Busch headquarters. But I also love the lights on the outside of our house, and on the inside. I enjoy reading or watching television in our living room with just a lamp to read and the mini white lights on. We have them on our tree, on garland on the stairs and on our fireplace mantle. Tonight I sat at the piano in our sanctuary and rehearsed music for this weekend's Christmas concert with just a piano lamp and the white lights on the big wreaths and 12' tree that are in there. After I finished rehearsing, I sat and played for another half hour or so, Christmas carols that I love to play. I've been toying with the idea of recording another piano CD and tonight I was really inspired by the atmosphere as I experimented with different chords and rhythms for some of the carols. I think I'll work on the arrangements through the winter and record next summer. I probably shouldn't bury the mini white lights too far in our Christmas boxes, I might need to pull them out for inspiration when it's 95 degrees outside and humid and I'm inside recording Christmas music.

I think I love the light because of what it does to the darkness. Even the smallest light pushes the darkness away. It is not a wonder that a name for Christ is Light of the World. It is so fitting that we use Christmas lights during this season. Even people who treat this as a completely secular holiday put up lights, symbolizing the Light of the World. If you feel the darkness of the press of life surrounding you, go find some Christmas lights. As you view their beauty, ask the Light of the World to surround you with His light. He will...

Sometimes Life Is Life

Two weekends ago the flu made its way through part of our household. We lost a weekend trying to get everyone well. This weekend, on Saturday, Kathy had to have emergency dental extractions. On Saturday Nicole began complaining of a lot of abdominal pain. I spent part of the day with Kathy at the dentist and then Saturday evening we tried to determine what we needed to do for Nicole. By Sunday morning she could not stand the pain and Kathy took her to the emergency room while I went to church early to begin my normal grueling Sunday schedule. To add to this Sunday, we had a lunch and Christmas rehearsal scheduled for our choir, orchestra and youth ensemble. Since there was a children's musical presented in the 11:00 service, Kathy and I had planned to do all the preparations for lunch so everyone else could hear the musical. Except, now Kathy is at the ER. Physically I'm at the church, but emotionally I'm with Nicole. Kathy is trying to text me and keep me up-to-speed, however, the ER at St. Luke's Hospital is in a basement bunker. It was very hard to get a cell signal. Kathy and Nicole finally got home in the middle of the afternoon, however, Nicole's pain did not lessen at all. They were not convinced that the ER doc had done everything he could have. By Sunday evening, we called the ER, found out another physician was now on the floor, and Kathy took Nicole back. This time they admitted her and she is there tonight, for a second night. We still do not have a diagnosis and Nicole's pain is still fairly intense. I spent the morning with her so Kathy could work at her job for a few hours and then I went to the church to set up the Choir and Orchestra areas so that theatrical lights could be set tonight. Tomorrow we need to complete the setup so we can have our first concert run through on Wednesday evening. Oh, did I mention that this coming weekend is one of the biggest weekends of the year for us? We're doing a major Christmas concert on Saturday and Sunday. As you know, the Christmas season adds its own busyness, and then along comes "life". Life's events do not adhere to schedules or events. Life just happens. I thank God that I can rely on Him for calm, for direction and for help in determining what I need to be doing when my orderly plan has been suddenly shot to pieces. Peace on earth, goodwill to men... thank you, Lord.

Too Much To Learn, So Little Time

I get frustrated at times with all the things I want to learn, but do not have the time to take a class, or sit for hours with a manual. For instance, I would like to have some graphic design skills. I am not an artist, so design comes hard, but computer graphic design has leveled the playing field somewhat. I would love to take some graphic design classes. I would also like to understand the engineering of my computer, and to be able to troubleshoot both the hardware and software. More classes... Or how about home repair issues. Right now I'm having trouble with our furnace at home. There is a lot of great information on the Internet, but there are a few things that I need to know that aren't there. I'm sure there's a class for that. We have a seminary down the street from our church, with a Master's program in Church Leadership with an emphasis on Administration that I would love to begin. And then there is theatrical lighting systems, large hall audio systems and the list goes on and on. Sometimes I feel like I know enough to be dangerous, to myself and the equipment or process I'm working on. I think that what I need to do is to set some priorities for the new year and figure out which things are the most important, and attainable. Then find out which things at the top of the list are affordable from both a time standpoint as well as financially. Sometimes being a "jack-of-all-trades" can be frustrating, but then again, if you are always learning, you can always be productive. Oh yea, there is one more thing I need to learn. High school algebra. When I'm helping our kids with their homework I can usually arrive at the right answer. However, I have no idea how they are teaching algebra these days, and the process of finding the right answer. I wonder if there is a class for that?

A Huge City

Sunday evening we had our annual Thanksgiving dinner at our church. After dinner, The Servant Quartet presented an evening of music and inspiration. As I was listening to one of the songs about heaven, the lyric mentioned "the city foursquare". For some reason, that phrase stuck in my mind. I refreshed my memory of its dimensions, scripture tells us that the city that God is preparing for us will be 1,500 miles wide, 1,500 long and 1,500 high. This city is huge. We are given the outside dimensions of the city but we are not told how high the levels are. If each level was a mile in height, there would be 1,500 levels. If each level was a half of a mile high, there would be 3,000 levels. If each level was ¼ of a mile high, then there would be 6,000 levels. If the levels were 1/8 of a mile high, then there would be 12,000 levels. We simply do not know. Regardless of the number of levels, There will be plenty of room for all of the redeemed through all the ages. We will not be packed in like a bunch of sardines. There will be elbow room. Jesus is preparing mansions for us and not condos. During the concert I calculated, (on my phone) that if the levels were a mile apart, the surface area of this heavenly city would be 3,375,000,000 miles square. Over a trillion square miles! To compare that to something we are familiar with, the earth's surface area, including water, is 196,935,000 square miles. What an incredible thought - even though it is hard to imagine. One of these days we'll wake up to an unbelievable sight, unbelievable, but real...

Was Christmas Ever Like A Thomas Kinkade Painting?

One of my favorite things to do at Christmas is to see the artwork that has been creatively painted and produced. Everything from manger scenes, to snow scenes, mountain villages, you get the picture. (pun intended) I have two Terry Redlin prints in my office that hang all year round. They are both wonderful country snow scenes with churches in the background and houses decorated for Christmas. Even though I know that the artwork is from the imagination of the artist, when I look deeper into some of these paintings and prints, I wonder if Christmas was ever like they portray. A village where everyone knows everyone, where the love and spirit of Christmas permeates everything people do. Where family gatherings seem to come directly from a movie script and memories linger well into the next year. I realize that Christmas really becomes what you make of it and I have celebrated some great ones. Just once, I'd love to be in a mountain town, with a carpet of snow, sleighs for taxis, roasted chestnuts on the corner. Our family all together in a big log cabin, with a huge fireplace and Christmas tree to match. We'd spend our time playing games, reminiscing about how good God has been to us, and just spending unhurried time together. We'd walk the postcard streets of the mountain town, greet everyone we met, sip hot chocolate, throw an occasional snowball and simply have a great time. Maybe I'm describing a time yet to come, where multiple generations will spend time together, rejoicing in the birth of our Lord, with Him with us. Christmas is what you make it. Make it grand!

A Must Read

In my last blog I told you about reading The Shack. I have finished the book and I highly recommend it to you. If you have trouble knowing God as a loving, unconditional embracing God, you must read this book. It is available at any of the major booksellers, or you can order it at www.theshackbook.com. This book came at a good time in my thinking because I have been overwhelmed with the process of thinking, praying through and talking to God about the way our church can reach people that live around us. In the latest issue of Outreach magazine, there is a mini-poll asking American adults, "What is an Evangelical Christian?" Here were the answers:

I have no idea 36%

A type of Christian 9%

Closed-minded 4%

Zealous/devoted 9%

Fanatics 5%

Impose beliefs on others 3%

Rely on the Bible 8%

Follow Christ 1%

If we follow Christ, we love, unconditionally. We don't force, protest, tear down, argue, demean. We love, just like God loves us. Read the book and we'll keep this discussion going.

The Shack

I am just about finished reading a wonderful book titled The Shack (Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity) by William P. Young. It is a story of a father and husband who is dealing with the tragic loss of a young daughter. Mack is experiencing what he calls The Great Sadness. A depression and sadness so deep that it is crippling life for Mack. During a severe ice storm, a note in Mack's mailbox invites him to meet "Papa" at the shack, a place in the woods where the reality of his young daughter's violent demise was discovered. I won't ruin the story by telling it all here, (you really need to read this book), but I can tell you that chapter 15 will have a profound effect on you as you see one possibility of eternity through this author's word pictures.

The one thing that has been so good for me in reading The Shack is helping me visualize God. I was raised in a fairly legalistic environment and from early on my view of God was someone who punished sin and responded to every mis-deed that I made. While I know that God loves me unconditionally, I still have difficulty putting that into a mental picture that I can equate with a loving God. I have struggled with consistent prayer throughout my entire adult life because I so often revert back to the image of a task master/punisher God, rather than a God who is my "papa", one who loves me and really wants me to spend time with Him, or in the case of The Shack, her. I'll let you read about that. :) Tonight I'll finish the book, and I think I'll make a note to re-read it again during the Christmas holidays. It's that kind of book!

November 4, 2008

By all accounts, yesterday was a historic day. Tuesday is normally my day off. Yesterday I spent 15 hours of it helping people, in precinct 435 in St. Louis County, vote. My specific assignment was to set up the touch screen machines for each voter, and to assist voters using paper ballots insert their ballot into a scanner that tabulated their vote. I arrived at 5am with 8 other team members and we got to work transforming the library of the Gambrill Gardens Retirement Community into a polling place. At 5:50am we were ready to go and we opened our polls with over 100 people in line at 6:00am.

Here are several observations that interested me. First, because of the location, we had hundreds of senior adults vote. Many of them needed help reading the ballot, using the machines, and even navigating the room. One lady I was leading to the touch screen machine tripped on a cord and knocked over the voting machine. I was able to hold her back from completely falling to the floor and hitting her head on a metal bookshelf. While the machine was damaged, the lady I "caught" only had a minor scrape on her arm. I'm sure she was sore today, but she was able to vote. I have a new appreciation for people who work with senior adults as a profession. The second observation was all the young voters, particularly those who were voting for the first time in a presidential election. Many of them came with marked sample ballots that they had spent time with, going over the candidates and issues. The third observation was that approximately 90% of the registered voters in our precinct actually voted. This was a great turnout. I thoroughly enjoyed the interaction with people as they waited in line for a free machine or paper ballot booth. I hundreds of short conversations and met a lot of nice people.

At 7:00pm we closed our polling location and started the tear down process, which included preparing the vote totals so they could be quickly tabulated at the central location. At 8:00pm I left the location, tired, but glad for the experience of being part of a historic vote. At 11:00pm I watched our new president deliver his acceptance speech, shed a tear for what could have been, resolved to pray for and be supportive of our new elected officials and then went to bed. The result could have been different, but not bad for a day off...

Christmas Is Just Around the Corner

I just purchased my third manger scene this year. In fact, it will go in my office this week to join two others that I keep up all year long. The other two new ones will stay at home and will go up the moment Kathy lets me put them out, maybe when we're cleaning up the dining room and kitchen after Thanksgiving dinner.

I am just a big "kid" when it comes to Christmas. Over the next weeks leading up to the actual day, I'll write several blogs about special memories and events, plus share a story or two. Here's the first wonderful memory.

I was raised in a Spanish speaking church. As a child, I could hardly wait each year until the annual Christmas pageant was held in our church. I remember this huge stage that stretched for hundreds of feet in each direction, with a cast of hundreds portraying the wonderful story of Christ coming to earth. It seemed like every adult in our church was in costume. Even though I had the story memorized, and I struggled to understand all the words (after all, it was in Spanish), it was new and fresh every year. To top it all off, as each child left the sanctuary that night, they were given a bag full of candy, nuts and a piece of fruit. Since my grandfather was the founding pastor of the church, I usually left with him and he was always the last one out. That usually meant that if there were any extra bags, I would get two. Every year I fell in love with the story again, and as I learned how to play the piano better, I began to contribute a little bit to the celebration. Even now, I can see the outline of the Inn, the stable with the manger, straw and farm animals drawn on the stable walls. What great memories...

Several years ago I had the opportunity to poke my head inside the church for a look, after having been gone from San Jose for many years. I couldn't believe how small the stage looked. How did they get all those people up there? I even checked to make sure that they hadn't remodeled the stage and reduced the size. Fortunately, when I think back and visualize those wonderful pageants, I see them like I remember them as a child. I wonder if they still do a pageant at the church? It would be great to visit one Christmas. Too bad the church isn't "just around the corner".

Election Day 2009

Next Tuesday, November 9th, I'll be working in a polling location near our home. I "cut my teeth" earlier this year on the primary election. We only had a 20% turn out, so it wasn't very busy. Since Missouri is considered a swing state, our county election board is predicting a 90 to 95% turnout of registered voters. That means I better eat my lunch and go to the bathroom before I get there because there isn't going to be any time to do either one once the polls open. For this election I am a "Republican Assistant Supervisor". My primary duty will be to set up the paper ballot counting machine and set up the touch screen devices. During the day I, along with the Democrat Assistant Supervisor, will set up the touch screen devices for each voter and assist paper ballot voters in recording their votes by properly inserting their ballots into the reader. It's a long day. We have to arrive at the polling place by 5 AM and have one hour to set up and open the polls at 6 AM. At 7 PM we'll station one of the workers at the end of the line and no one can get in line after 7 PM. When the last person in line has voted, we begin the tear down of the equipment and insure that the paper tape records that will be used to count votes are properly secured and everything is properly transported to our drop off location. If we're lucky, we should be home by 8:30 PM. I'll probably collapse in a chair in our family room, eat some supper and watch the early returns. During our time in the polling location, we must be completely neutral. We cannot say anything about any candidate or ballot measure. In fact, if someone needs help voting, both a Republican and Democrat worker must give assistance as a team. This is to insure that no one is influenced one way or the other.

I can tell you one thing I'll be doing all day, and it's the same thing I've been doing for weeks. I will be praying for God's will and His intervention in this election. In 2000, George W. Bush was well behind Al Gore in the polls going into the election. Exit polling showed Gore winning by a large margin, and yet, when it was all said and done, "W" pulled it out. Again in 2004, John Kerry was the polls winner going into the election, but "W" won by a greater margin than in 2004. Many people are saying that this election is over, but I can't believe that God would allow our country to be exposed to the kind of moral changes that would further erode our values and standard of living. For weeks, every time I hear a political ad, or see a yard sign, or anything else that reminds me of this election, I breathe a prayer for God's will and His intervention. I believe that is exactly what happened in 2000 and 2004. On election day, at my polling location, I won't be saying anything political, but I'll be praying "up a storm" while I setup the touch screen machines for people to vote. Throughout the Old Testament, God setup leaders and He took them down, both for the Israelites as well as surrounding nations. The same God is still doing that today!

Transitions

The life of a career associate pastor can get real interesting when the senior pastor you are working for, and with, decides to do something else. It seems that this is a signal for the proverbial "chicken with it's head cut off" syndrome to begin. Suddenly, formally level headed leaders don't seem to know what to do, people in the congregation start wringing their hands in anticipation of the 'worst case scenario", and people begin to act like God didn't know that any of this was coming.

In the church I serve, we've just been through this process. It went amazingly well. Today we are officially installing our new senior pastor, 22 months after our former senior pastor announced his retirement. You can read his reflections on this day, http://www.jaredstoner.blogspot.com/. This is the fifth transition that I have made, and this is by far the best one. In the other situations, either we looked down the road and saw that it was not going where we wanted to go, or other people looked down the road and decided they didn't want us along for the ride. For now, my book boxes are still in storage and I'm planning for 2009.

One of my all time favorite Hillsong songs is Show Me Your Ways
Show me Your ways that I may walk with You,
Show me Your ways, I put my hope in You;
The cry of my heart is to love You more, to live with the touch of Your hand,
Stronger each day, show me Your ways.

Do You Remember the Days After 9/11?

I still remember the first Sunday after the bombing of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11/01. I saw people in our congregation that I hadn't seen in months. There was also a group of people that I had never seen before. There was a sense of expectancy, a sense that people were there to connect with God. There was urgency and a little despair. I think as a country, we realized that the "war" had come to our shores and it was possible for it to touch us right here in the middle of the country.

While we didn't see a lot of new people in our church services immediately after the revelation of our national financial crisis, I'm getting some of the same feelings from people that were present after 9/11. I think this is another wonderful opportunity for God's church to demonstrate to a watching nation what real trust and security in Christ is all about. While we do not have an "inside track" to knowing the future, we know the One who knows the future. We can depend on His word that tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us. His Word tells us that when we gather in His name, His presence will touch us, inspire us and help us worship Him.

Now, with an incredibly important national election just 3 weeks away, and our shaky economic outlook, we need to help people understand that God really does care. We need to share the fact that He is interested in our individual lives and He is simply waiting for us to call out to Him. Sadly, sometimes it takes a crisis for some people to draw near to God. Regardless of what it takes, let's do everything we can to help people find Him.

Milestones

This past weekend my family and I traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to help celebrate a milestone birthday for my mother, her 80th. We also celebrated my dad's 89th birthday. 3 of my mom's sisters and some of their children we able to attend along with both of my sisters and my brother. 35 of us had a wonderful time sharing memories, catching up on each family and eating until we were stuffed. One of the high points was taking the time to have each of my parent's children and grandchildren who were in attendance, give their personal thoughts and thanks for the impact that my parents have had in their lives. There was the recounting of great memories and events, thanksgiving for wise counsel and guidance, and financial and other support through the years. One comment that came up repeatedly was about the giving nature of both my dad and mom. Both of them worked hard through the years to provide for us. We never really wanted for anything, but we never had much left over either. It was amazing, however, to hear about specific incidents where my dad and mom gave time, or money, or whatever they had to someone who needed it. I remember going with my father every Saturday morning, for several years, to an elderly lady's home and chopping wood for her wood burning stove. She cooked and heated her home with wood. She would have the wood delivered and my dad would come over and chop enough kindling and wood for her to use for the week. My job was to take the chopped kindling and wood up from the basement to a box where this lady would use it from. On the next Saturday we would go back and do it again. My dad didn't get paid for doing this, in fact, he would refuse any payment when it was occasionally offered. When the lady passed away, he didn't get a mention in her will, or even a thank you from the family. We just showed up one Saturday morning to chop wood and found out she had passed away.

Now that we are home, and this most recent celebration will be added to our memory book of great times, I'm thinking about my own personal giving. Would I be willing to give a couple of hours every Saturday morning to someone who really needed the help? Am I so busy with my own "important stuff", that I miss the real need around me? I hope not. Now that this memory is so fresh in my mind, I'm going to be looking a lot closer for people who could use my help.

Interesting article and observations

One of the blogs I read is written by Tim Stevens, the Executive Pastor of Granger Community Church in Granger, Indiana. In a recent blog about our current financial mess, he cited an article by Steven A. Holmes written in September, 1999 and published in the New York Times.

In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders. The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring. Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.

In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called sub prime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates -- anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans. ''Fannie Mae has expanded home ownership for millions of families in the 1990's by reducing down payment requirements,'' said Franklin D. Raines, Fannie Mae's chairman and chief executive officer. ''Yet there remain too many borrowers whose credit is just a notch below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called sub prime market.''

Demographic information on these borrowers is sketchy. But at least one study indicates that 18 percent of the loans in the subprime market went to black borrowers, compared to 5 per cent of loans in the conventional loan market.
In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.
''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.'' (Continue reading here...)


It's possible Peter Wallison was a prophet. Or, perhaps, just a smart economist who knew that if you loan money to a bunch of people who can't afford to pay you back--it might just come back to bite you some day. It's okay, though, because there are no consequences. We, the taxpayers of these United States, will bail out the lenders and the borrowers. In fact, we'll bail out anyone. Even the Red Cross continues to spend money it doesn't have, and this week asked the government for a $150 million bail out.

I'm not smart enough to figure it all out. But I think I'm smart enough to only spend money that I have. And I'll save a little, because when the government raises my taxes to pay for this mess, I'll need to be ready.

Re-Connecting

One of the real phenomenons of the Internet age are the numerous social networking programs that have become so popular. In fact, many people say that connecting via programs like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and others, are replacing traditional emails. Did I say "traditional". Emailing is as common today as sitting down to an IBM Selectric typewriter was just a few years ago and sending out "snail mail" letters. Now, email can be so slow. Emails will probably be replaced by newer technology before we know it. Another amazing aspect of all this is that I get notifications and messages on my phone. I can add a friend or send a message via a text message. By the time I get to my computer, my Facebook communications are old news.

A few months ago I opened a Facebook account because I wanted to use some pictures of a building project in Mexico that had been posted in an album there. I assumed that would be about it... Now several months later I have well over 100 "friends" and I have re-connected with people that I haven't talked with or seen for many years. I have reminisced with old friends about wonderful memories, re-established a couple of relationships that had fallen off because we lost touch, and simply have "had a ball" seeing everyone out there. Since Kathy and I have lived in several parts of the country, I thought it would be fun to re-connect with at one person from every part of the country we lived in. It's been amazingly easy and I'm well on my way to achieving this goal. I have realized, however, that this can be an addictive pastime and I've got to be careful about good time management. Gotta go, I just got another notification...

Who's Bailing Out Who?

If you've been following the Congress as they work through legislation to solve our current financial crisis, you know by now that the Senate passed a 450 page bill last night. Included in that bailout bill are new tax earmarks for:

Film and Television Productions (Sec. 502)
Wooden Arrows designed for use by children (Sec. 503)
6 page package of earmarks for litigants in the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident, Alaska (Sec. 504)

The bill also extended previous earmarks for:

Virgin Island and Puerto Rican Rum (Section 308)
American Samoa (Sec. 309)
Mine Rescue Teams (Sec. 310)
Mine Safety Equipment (Sec. 311)
Domestic Production Activities in Puerto Rico (Sec. 312)
Indian Tribes (Sec. 314, 315)
Railroads (Sec. 316)
Auto Racing Tracks (317)
District of Columbia (Sec. 322)
Wool Research (Sec. 325)

Here we are, in one of the most difficult times in our country's history, and personal and pet projects get added to an already obscene amount of taxpayer money. These are examples, and there are many more, of the kind of government corruption and misuse of tax dollars that we have chafed at for many years. What it tells me is this, that even in the face of devastating circumstances, I'm still going to take care of myself first, period, end of debate. It saddens me to think that in the greatest country in the world, we can't work together to solve these problems and put each other first for a change. I am more convinced than ever that God must help us intervene in changing the direction that we are going in as a country. Greed and corruption must be uncovered and there should be a standard of righteousness held up that causes us to stop doing the same unethical things over and over. What am I going to do about this? Pray, call or email my representatives and ask them not to vote for the House of Representatives bill that will validate the Senate bill, and participate in conversations to help educate myself and others on what we are doing to our country if we don't begin to take some responsibility, and vote the rascals out of office in the next election.

Here Are Some Quotes...Again

I enjoy reading quotes. They often spark thinking in a direction that I would have never gone in, except for this short bit of inspiration. Here are some recent ones that caught my attention.

David Frost
"He's turned his life around. He used to be depressed and miserable. Now he's miserable and depressed."
Henny Youngman
"I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places."
Oscar Wilde
"Scandal is gossip made tedious by morality."
Abraham Lincoln
"'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt."
Takayuki Ikkaku, Arisa Hosaka and Toshihiro Kawabata
"Exercise relieves stress. Nothing relieves exercise."
Emo Phillips
"Some mornings it just doesn't seem worth it to gnaw through the leather straps."
Charles M. Schulz
"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia."
Judge Gideon J. Tucker
"No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session." (Does 700 billion ring a bell?)

And my favorite quote from this group:
G. K. Chesterton"If there were no God, there would be no Atheists."

A Big "But"

Psalm 3 is the conversation that King David has with God during the time that David's son, Absalom, is trying to take over the kingdom. David says "O Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me!"

We are living in unsettling times. From a conservative Christian standpoint, I feel at times like many foes are trying to take over the kingdom. The financial crisis that our country is presently dealing with shows how even in this great country of ours, corruption and greed can affect so many people. As I listen to our leaders and presidential candidates pontificate about what "they would do", and what must be done, it is clear to me that no one really has the answers. Where it hits home is in the high gas prices I pay, the increasing cost of food for our table, increasing insurance and medical care costs, and the list goes on and on.

David goes on to say "BUT (my emphasis) you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head." The "but" is huge here. Later in Psalm 3 David says "I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side". David realizes that even though the situation is very dangerous and seemingly unsolvable, God is on his side. The word "but" draws a contrast between what may be and what really is. In other words, you may be reeling from all the uncertainty and confusion of the day, but, God can be a shield around you. Most of us have been raised to be very independent and not ask for help. Unfortunately, when we live like that, we also tend to be independent from God as well. For me, these are becoming humbling times, I don't have answers, and at times my heart is gripped with fear for the future. But, I'm asking God to help me depend on Him, and I'm asking Him to "be a shield around me", and my family.

Coincidence Or Divine Planning?

On Monday evening I drove to Chicago with a member of our congregation. Three years ago, this member felt impressed by God to begin giving regular donations for the purchase of a harp. In mid-summer enough money had been given to place the order and on Tuesday morning this member and I toured the Lyon & Healy harp factory and then brought our new harp back to St. Louis. It was very interesting to see these wonderful, hand made instruments in each phase of their creation. Our member, who is not a musician, was delighted beyond words to see the factory and to hear this new instrument played. Now, rewind to 1986. My wife, Kathy, played the harp professionally for many years. As a student she played with the San Jose State University orchestra and then the San Jose Symphony Orchestra. In every city we lived in, she not only played for our church, but for many civic, social and celebration type events. In 1986 she suffered an injury to her left arm and hand playing the harp that has made it almost impossible for her to play. In fact, we finally sold her harp because the emotional distress it created for her to see it every day in our living room and not be able to play was too much to bear. Fast forward to Sept. 16 and now there is a brand new harp in our sanctuary. No one at our church, and certainly not the member that gave the funds, knew that Kathy had a history as a professional harpist. Kathy sits down and begins to play. Coincidence? Divine planning? We are believing that God can heal her injury as she begins to play again. Can you help us pray for that? I can envision her sitting down one day to play and her realizing that not only is there not any pain anymore, she has strength in her hand and arm that has not been there since 1986. If you pray with us, I'll keep you posted on the progress. For now, I'm believing this is divine planning... :)

Christians and Politics Don't Always Mix

Like almost everyone, I get a few forwards every week in my email boxes with stories, videos and other media that support one cause or another. Most of them end with "don't let this end with you. Forward this to 10 friends or ______ will happen to you." (You can probably fill in the blank) I have noticed that as the political season is heating up, most of these forwards are becoming political announcements and denunciations of the candidates that are being supported or derided by them. In many cases these are from a "Christian" perspective or supposedly supporting "Christian values". I really think that Christians are called to a much higher standard than name calling and spreading political dirty tricks against candidates that we are not supporting. If a candidate that we do not support becomes the office holder, will we pray for that person with as much fervor as we passed along the hateful and sometimes dishonest information? On the national scene, the introduction of Sarah Palin into the mix has turned the presidential race upside down. In the avalanche of news reports, interviews, news commentator's assessment, etc., as a Christian, I am choosing to take the high road. I will not hate one candidate as I support another one. I will not be known as a Christian and then pass along information that confuses onlookers because my "living" doesn't match my "believing". One of our greatest callings at a time like this is to pray. I think in my praying, I can live out what Christ would expect of me in this political season.

Sin and Consequences

I really hate the consequences of sin. In my life I have had to deal with the consequences of my own sin, poor choices that led to difficult outcomes. When someone sins that has a wide influence, it spills out in so many directions and affects so many lives. Our choir recently began working on a wonderful song titled Healer. It was written by a young Australian minister who wrote the song in one sitting after finding out that he had an aggressive, terminal cancer. At one of our choir rehearsals we showed a You Tube video from Hillsong Church telling the story of the song and its impact at Hillsong. It was very moving and impacted each person there. Hillsong recorded the song on their latest CD. Earlier this week the world began to discover that this story is a total fabrication. There was no cancer and associated health problems. It was with great sadness that I told our choir last night about this terrible turn of events. While we want to be forgiving and compassionate, a lot of lives have been affected, and it gives people another example to point to when they say things like, "Christians are all hypocrites" or "If you can't get your act together and you say you are a Christian, how do you expect me to believe that there is anything to being a Christian." I hate the black eyes that these kind of events give us. And yet, at the same time it reminds us that God doesn't expect people to look to us for righteousness, He wants us to turn to Him. Even David, a man after God's own heart, was guilty of a heinous crime as King of Israel. Not only did he receive forgiveness, today we draw great strength and truth from David's Psalms. When the disappointment from this situation begins to fade, perhaps we'll work on the song again. It really is a great song. In the meantime, we'll try to keep our eyes on Jesus, just Jesus.

Life Can Be So Frustrating

I have enjoyed watching portions of the televised Olympics this summer. There have been some great victories and triumphs. And then there's been some shocking losses, stumbles and pure "choking". One of the poignant pictures is of Lolo Jones agonizing over her loss in the 100M hurdles. She was ahead, and favored for the gold medal, until she hit the second to last hurdle. It threw her timing off so bad that she could not recover before the finish line and ended out of the medals. Gymnasts had their troubles, divers and swimmers did as well. Even our undefeated ladies softball team choked and missed a gold medal. Both of our 400M relay teams (men and women) dropped their batons and were disqualified. Both teams were highly favored for gold medals. I can't imagine the frustration and disappointment of training and working for 4 years, and then not accomplishing what you set out to do. Some of these athletes will not have another chance in 4 years, their bodies won't let them. For others, life will take twists and turns that will not take them to London in 2012. But I do know the frustration of planning, working and trying to get something off the ground only to end in failure or defeat. God didn't promise us that He would smooth out our way and keep us from frustration and failure. He simply promised to be with us, to walk with us, to impart His wisdom and to be true to His word. I wonder if the little Chinese gymnast has any hope after falling off the balance beam? As the rude and uncompassionate cameraman zoomed in on her face, she tried to be brave, but tears began to trickle down her cheeks. Let's hope a Christian gymnast was able to love her, and allow Christ to show Himself through her. There's no denying it, life can be tough, but it's not without hope.

Here Are Some Quotes

I enjoy reading quotes. Here are a few recent ones from on of the blogs that I read.

"I can't understand why a person will take a year to write a novel when he can easily buy one for a few dollars." Fred Allen

"Now I know what a statesman is; he's a dead politician. We need more statesmen." Bob Edwards

"My theory is that if you look confident you can pull off anything - even if you have no clue what you're doing." Jessica Alba

"The government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." Ronald Reagan

"Start every day off with a smile and get it over with." W.C. Fields

"Every man serves a useful purpose: A miser, for example, makes a wonderful ancestor." Laurence J. Peter

"Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought." Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

"Just about the time that you think that there is nothing new in the world, someone comes along and stuns us with a new discovery or invention. The most interesting ones are the ones that provoke the thought, 'That is so simple, I should of thought of that'." Louie Salazar

The Highlight Of the Summer

Every year at this time (getting ready to go back to school) I have fond memories of my childhood. When I was in elementary school my mother did not drive. A couple of weeks before school started each year, my two sisters, my mother and I got on a city bus and traveled to downtown San Jose. The bus would let us off right in front of the large JC Penney store. We would shop all morning and get everything we needed for the next school year. To this day, I still buy a lot of clothes, particularly underwear (can you write that on a public blog?) at JC Penney because of those wonderful experiences. For the second part of this great experience we would lug all our bags down the street to the Woolworth store. We would plunk ourselves down at the lunch counter and have a feast for lunch. Eating out was a rarity when I was growing up, so this was a real treat. In fact, to this day I don't drink many soft drinks because we did not have soft drinks in our home. I never got used to having them in my diet.

When I look back on my childhood, I never felt like we were poor, or things were excessively tight. But I also know that my parents had the kind of jobs that didn't require a college education or specific skills, which meant they probably had to do a lot of "juggling" to make everything work out. Now that I am raising a family, I have a huge appreciation for what my parents had to do in order to raise us in a wonderful home environment. I know they made a lot of personal sacrifices to make sure we had everything we needed. One of the huge sacrifices they made was to pay for music lessons for my sisters and me. I am a church musician today because of the foundation of piano lessons that my parents provided. This was a wonderful gift to me.

After we finished our feast at the Woolworth lunch counter, we lugged our new clothes bags back to the front of the JC Penney store and caught our bus home. My sisters and I usually fell asleep after our big downtown adventure. The only hard part of the whole day was carrying our treasures several blocks from the bus stop to our home. Those were great days. The sad part about this is that I can't share the Woolworth lunch counter experience with my children. Woolworth went out of business several years ago. It just doesn't seem the same when you drive to the mall, shop from store to store, eat at the food court and drive home.

The last part of this great adventure was wearing the clothes for the first time. I can't even believe that some kids wanted their mothers to wash their clothes before they wore them for the first time. I loved the smell of new clothes and I would wear them over and over again before the first washing because I didn't want the new clothes smell to go away. I think it probably went away faster then I remember, especially on hot days in late August. Writing this has made me very nostalgic. I think I'd better go buy a new shirt and underwear at JC Penney next week, just in time for school to start.

20% Turnout

I had a brand new experience on Tuesday, Aug. 5th, I was a precinct judge for the Missouri election. I arrived at the polling location at 5AM and finished at 8PM when I helped deliver our ballots and official materials to a central location. Here are some of my observations of this new experience:

1. I was surprised how political the process is. There had to be an even number of Republican and Democrat workers at the polling location. Every person who voted had to fill out a voter ticket and a Republican and Democrat worker has to initial every voter ticket. Then the voter signed into a log, and again, a worker from both parties had to initial the signature. When we began the closing up process, all the logs and record keeping documents had to be signed off by workers from both parties. Then, to complete the process, a Republican and a Democrat had to go together in the same car to deliver the locked and sealed ballots to the central collection location. This bit of bureaucracy slowed the voting process down considerably, and we didn't have that many voters.

2. I was surprised that only 20% of the registered voters in this precinct actually voted. And, not everyone who is eligible to register and vote is even registered. It is disappointing that such a small group of people elect our leaders. I guess the moral of the story is, "if you don't vote, don't complain about the leaders performance". We had a supplemental list of registered voters. These are people that registered to vote at the last minute, and their names were not in the pre-printed logs. In our precinct, no one on that last minute list voted. Why bother to register?

3. This was really an enjoyable process. It was great to greet so many people I didn't know and assist them to participate in our democratic process. I think I want to work for the general election in November. It will probably be a "zoo" because the turnout rate will be very high. Even though this precinct only has approximately 1,000 registered voters, the results from this precinct really matter, and I had a small part in that.