I've been moved

This morning started like many others. But as I turned on the news, I was reminded that today marks the 40th anniversary of the Death of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Normally, celebrations of death are quite somber and not something we remember or celebrate as a society. This death in particular is not one to celebrate, but rather, the life and death of this man has led us to think.

One quick thought i had this morning was how much his death woke up many people who would have otherwise not cared about the Civil Rights movement. Often times, we can see that someone's death has done as much as the purpose of his life- see Jesus Christ.

But what got me thinking is that this morning, as I was driving to work, reflecting on the work of this man's life, I turned my ipod to U2's "Pride (In the Name of Love)". and I was moved. extremely moved. I ran across this thought- of all the Christians who have served in such a popular role in society, Martin Luther King Jr. may have embodied the Gospel most- at least, in our time. This is not to discount the many men and women who have made significant contributions to the Christian faith, but something about his focus on not only equality in races, but also to social justice proves that he was not only focussed with spiritual, but also with some often missed, but extremely important parts of the gospel.

I want to encourage others to think about our calling to be reconcilers, advocates for the poor and marginalized, and ultimately, the first to call for justice. Martin Luther King Jr. saw something in society that did not line up with common decency, let alone the Gospel calling- and he chose to do something about it. Can we possibly be moved by someone who's purpose was not overtly 'spiritual', but was nonetheless one of the calling of believers in Christ.

hands and feet

i am in this weird place... I went with about 20 or so from my church today to Philadelphia to do a work project for a church that we have connected with there. To be honest, it felt REALLY good. I'm not the kind of person who does things like this for my feeling. and i'm not talking about feeling good about myself, anyway. i'm talking about how for the first time in a few weeks, i feel like i belong in this church again. and i've hit a realization.

i feel most a part of this church (and any church, i believe) when i'm doing stuff. In other words, when i'm serving. This has become more poignant recently because i feel like i belong when i'm serving, but not especially in our "sunday morning service". I think it's because of this- i've been coming to grips with the gospel more recently in terms of being the hands and feet of Jesus on earth. being HIS vehicle- His method for saving the world. and too often, in poiusness, the church has turned off the world. by doing horrific things, by commiting acts of evil in the name of Christ- by acting exactly the opposite of how Christ taught us to act. One of the primary ways that people will see the Church is really Christ's is by loving others. And honestly, love is not an emotion- it is, as the old song goes, something you do. my feelings of love for my wife mean jack crap if I don't express them some way. and our love for others means just the same without some way of expressing.

So, for whatever reason, i feel more like i belong in my church now when i'm serving and i don't feel very much like i belong on sunday mornings... this is very strange...

mistaken?

in the groggy place between sleep and awake when i'm usually making absolutely no sense and am completely incoherent, I thought of this today... it comes from the small snippet of interview that spawned my previous writing, but is a larger problem than an individual. Osteen was asked about how his points of his last book don't include God or Jesus Christ and he responded that there are biblical references to back all of them.

It made me think, this morning, about how we take our scriptures. Do we find our enlightenment in them, discovering rays of truth straight from them and then finding that to be proven true in other places in the Scriptures? or do we make our points and then go out to hunt down passages that support our point of view (which leads to using passages out of context)?

It is the equivalent of asking a scientist in her experimentations if her results are independently of her hypothesis with the intention of discerning the truth or if her results are used solely to prove her hypothesis- a study unwilling to accept that its original premise may have been wrong.

It is important for we Christians (and not just pastors) to think about these things because it is important for us to study the Scriptures with an open heart and not come to them to prove our pre-conceived notions. Or our self-thought self-help suggestions.

defining the role of the pastor

"There are lots of people qualified to explain the scriptures to you. That's not my gifting."- Joel Osteen

I just watched a clip with this quote. I cannot believe the audacity of this statement. if you are a pastor, according to the scriptural definition of the pastor, your job is to teach/explain the scriptures!! I've blogged in the past about cotton candy preachers, fluffy ministry and Christian Crack. So i'm not doing that here- but i'm saying this. I'm frightened- literally frightened- for the people who depend on Osteen's ministry. I'm afraid for those people in their spiritual life- because they depend on a person to teach them the scriptures who says he's not gifted in explaining and teaching the scriptures.

not to be overly political, but...

this is not about super tuesday. this is a personal rant/vent based on some stuff i've read recently that has confirmed my feelings for some time. it sparks from the budget that President Bush introduced yesterday. it is a $3.1 trillion budget. it is the largest budget ever and it calls for a number of things- the most noticeable of which are increases- in military spending and tax rebates. i like tax rebates because i like money in my pocket. but beyond those increases, it calls for tightening everything else- especially reductions in medicare and medicaid- medical plans for elderly and poor people. how much do we have to spend on those increases if we have the biggest budget ever and it still tightens up just about every other kind of spending?

our country- forget the war on terrorism, forget normal military spending without wars. just on Iraq, our country spends more money than the entire education budget. And he wants to approve yet more money for that while scrimping even more for education. and it's not just education, but education is one of the most important things we can focus money toward- as it becomes more and more obvious that America's students are not keeping up with the world and that more and more are not getting high school educations by dropping out, failing out or otherwise.

all this has led me to these personal questions that i vent here- not believing that i am very highly read anyway. "How can we as Christians still support this man as president?" Just because he is a Christian (whether it's true or not) does not mean he is doing the right thing. How can we overlook his poor record on the home-front- education, environment, helping the poor and needy. his sole focus now seems almost to be overseas on this war we were supposed to have won years ago.

and just this morning i read an article that adds to this- our president signed an exemption for the Navy from an environmental bill that bans sonar usage in a particular area due to its ill effects on whales. he claims to be environmentally concerned, but when push comes to shove, it appears he is not really. a judge said it was not legal for him to sign the exemption and that the Navy must abide by the guidelines set out. do we honestly want to support a president who feels that because he is president, he can, by virtue of his position, overstep laws and circumvent the rules? that sounds more like the tyrants and kings of the middle ages than the President of the United States in the modern age.

please don't take me wrong- i still support the office of the president, and on a personal level, i do not believe President Bush is evil. But to support a man for president based solely on his religious leanings is, as I've said so many times in the past, a ridiculous notion. there are too many things associated with the office of president that would compromise the true faith of most Christians that would need to be decided as president, and while a man can do it well, we cannot vote for him because of that. we must support his politics- and in this case, i do not.

Create Your Own Caption

Create your own caption for this image:



the favorite i've thought of so far- "Warning: all snowmen caught trespassing will be decapitated"

been thinking about- non-profits

Recently, I tivo'd an occurrence of "Good Morning America." I usually do not watch this show, especially on a Sunday morning as it was. However, I had turned the television on while eating breakfast and saw that one of the stories they were going to cover that morning was regarding televangelists, non-profit organizations and the way they spend their money.

In short, this segment explained that apparently the government and governmental officials have been concerned about the way that non-profit organizations- particularly the multi-million dollar ones- many wrapped around televangelists- are spending the tax-free dollars they rake in. They showed, to hit one particular, a televangelist who petitioned the watchers of his program to donate 20 million dollars to buy a private jet for (essentially) him to use. He pledged that it was only going to be used for the glory of Jesus Christ. Shortly after buying the jet, it was used to fly him to a conference he was speaking at in Australia. On the way there- multi-day layover in Maui.

Boy, it sure stinks to suffer for Jesus.

They all claim, however, that they operate within the legal tax limits and laws.

So, as I watched this, I thought- shame on them. I'd welcome any comments on this, please- but I can't help but think how the Bible calls us as Christians to live lives that are above reproach. How much more so for leaders of such large ministries should they be above that. If the government is going to be launching inquiries or auditing these companies because of supposed illegalities, it does not matter any more if what they have done is legal! The standard set by the government of legal or not is considerably less than what most Christians would consider to be right or moral. So, if the government is concerned that their rules are not being met, how much more should heads be hung, apologies be offered and confession and repentance be made.

a question for those who look for something specific to which to respond- Just because the law allows it, does that mean that the non-profit money these organizations take in is being spent in beneficial ways for the Kingdom?

Bumper Stickers- the good ones

Usually, I am not a fan of bumper stickers. My religious, political and moral beliefs do not fit easily into the small statement that usually are found on bumper stickers.

I ran into this, today, however- and it made me laugh, and, despite not wanting an non-removable sticker on my car- almost want one.

"When Jesus said, 'love your enemies,' I think he probably meant, 'don't kill them.'"

Defining "Teen"

While watching television this evening, I watched an odd commercial.

It begins by saying "this game is rated 'T' for 'Teen.'" The advert then goes on to show two obviously pre-teen boys (as in like, 10 years old) playing the game on their Wii.

What message does this send about the video game rating system?

Serving God

This thought has been swirling around my head for a few days as I ponder things that I hear in Christian circles. Often, we sing songs and pray prayers and talk about how we want to serve God. I wonder, in light of passages like Matthew 25:31-46, do we realize this plain and simple fact: Serving God means serving others.

and not just Christian others. serving other people. Often times, we spiritualize passages like Matthew 25, or Isaiah 61. but, as much as we can find spiritual comparisons to the types of people listed, but they are quite possibly talking more about the literally poor, oppressed, needy, sick, imprisoned. after all, Jesus himself served people with literal physical afflictions as well as spiritual.

i would welcome any thoughts on this subject- should any of my readers feel the desire to, or should you desire to direct others here, as well.

terrorists- of the ultimate kind

"Satan is {like} a terrorist." and later "...he is a terrorist"

Douglas Kelchner- in his sermon 10/14/07

Our 'New' Cars

Since the untimely death of our Camry (still one of the saddest days in history, which began one of the strangest weeks ever- see “God Has a Sense of Humor”), I have waited until the car situation was totally settled before adding the update here. So here’s the quick story and specs on each of our ‘new’ cars.

Car #1

1995 Nissan Maxima
• Color: white
• Miles: 112,000 (when we bought it- a month ago)
• Automatic transmission
• Power windows, power seat (driver)
• General feelings: it’s not quite as gas efficient as the Camry was, but it’s also a larger car with a larger engine. I’ve been driving it to and from Lancaster for 2 weeks for work- it’s got a lot of good qualities, but our Camry was simply a sweet car and we miss it. It’s ok, though- no complaints, no worries.

Story: We had picked out this car on the Friday following Labor Day weekend. We had been to a few guys we know in the auto business to see if they could keep their eyes and ears open for us for something specific. We knew we were going to refinance the Camry to include a second car and we wanted to feel as though we were getting something we’d be able to keep for a while. We found this as we just decided to take a quick look on a used car lot with a good rep.

Funny thing is: we had taken care of all the financing options at the bank that Friday night, but it needed a manager’s approval to cut us a check- and there wasn’t going to be one till Monday morning. Through the rest of the weekend, Rachel and I figured out what was going to work best for us to get the car sometime before Tuesday night (when the dealership insisted we pick it up by) and decided that coming to Lancaster after work on Monday and doing the paperwork Tuesday morning would be ok- Rachel would be late for work Tuesday, but better Tuesday than Monday she decided. Then the Camry caught fire on Monday AM on the way to work, and despite this- the bank still let us refinance- so we got the Maxima (and it went along with our rental car on the insurance company’s dime). Story finished with car #2…

Car #2

1998 Mitsubishi Mirage
• Color: Grey
• Miles: 100,700
• 5-speed (standard transmission)
• Manual everything- windows, door locks, seats, side mirrors- everything. No frills.
• Cassette player
• 2-door DE Coupe
• General feelings- I’ve really missed driving a standard!! When we had gone looking for a #2 car and decided on the Maxima, I was sad because I had really been hoping for a standard! It’s a small car, however. A bit smaller than my first car- a ’93 Subaru Impreza Sedan. But it reminds me of that, too. And as long as I can fit (which I do), i can live with it.

Story: We heard from the insurance company on Friday- actually, from the adjustor who had looked at the car (as opposed to the claims adjustor who was the overseer handling our claim) and he told us what he valued the car at. MUCH more than we had anticipated. With this in mind, we sometime talked to the guy at the bank who had approved the refinance of the Camry and he told Rachel that the bank would release the title for less than the insurance company would pay, so we would get the difference. Slight misunderstanding there, however- as what he really meant was that the insurance company would have to send the bank the whole check, which would be applied wholly to the newly refinanced loan, and we would get a loan giving us the certain amount, and the rest of it paying off what was due on the other loan- basically, refinancing that loan to give us some to buy a 2nd car, but still pay off a good chunk… much more complicated- added a middle man, but whatever…

The REAL problem came in the insurance company taking forever to do stuff. We even told our claims adjustor that we would overnight the paperwork from us to her to speed up the process. That didn’t stop her from taking a week to do anything with that paperwork, then lying to Rachel about sending paperwork to the bank- she said she’d sent it a week earlier, then her assistant told Rachel that it had been faxed to the bank that day.

All that’s the side story. This car came across our plate from someone at church- she worked with a girl who was having her 2nd child and she and her husband needed a larger vehicle then as the Mirage would not take 2 car seats. We kinda dismissed it- not because we weren’t interested, but because at first, we thought we were going to have to finance something again and even though the price was good for this car, we really wanted to get something a bit more if we were going to be paying for it over the next 5 years.

Then we found out we were going to actually have money in our pocket to put a sizeable downpayment (or simply buy outright if it was less- which this was), we revisited the information that had been passed along to us. So, we set up a test drive of the car, which went very smoothly. We had a small side conference, and that evening we told them we’d take it- as soon as the insurance company cut a check and we had the money to pay for it. And this weekend (the first weekend of October, 2007), we transferred the title and picked up the car.

Not Against Flesh and Blood

Ephesians 6:12
"For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places."

I’ve been thinking about the topics of politics and religion recently. These are, as any sane person will tell you, the two topics to stay away from discussion regarding. Everyone’s opinion is usually very strong, and people are so charged- yes, driven- by these two topics, it is hard to hold a calm discussion about them without having it quickly escalated. A problem arises when discussing either topic of the two of them. Imagine trying to discuss both!

I’ve been thinking about these topics recently as I’ve done some reading. It has been a struggle for me to see what I have seen so commonly among, particularly, God’s people regarding these two subjects. The struggle has been so intense in me- seeing things that I know that God’s Word would not promote being taught and perpetuated so much. Jesus Himself would very strictly reprimand this behavior, I believe- based on his own reaction to a similar dilemma.

First, I want to take a look at Jesus response when asked to get into a discussion on politics. He was asked about paying taxes. A dilemma of the day among the Jews was whether or not they should pay taxes. They did not want to recognize Caesar as their ruler, but to stay out of trouble, they had to pay. Jesus was asked whether they should pay taxes.

Of course, they were trying to trap Him- if the answer was yes, then they would say he was supporting the Romans, something most Jews strayed away from- and certainly those who rallied around Jesus would. If the answer was no, then he was supporting anarchy and they could have had Him arrested by the Romans. The answer, however, was more complex and said so much more;

“Who’s face is on the coins?”
“Caesar’s”
“then give to Caesar what is His, and give to God what is God’s!”

In essence, that what he was here about was more important than the questions they were asking. His mission, which was clearly defined as bringing about the Kingdom of God, was more important than politics, not “wrapped up in” politics.

Ephesians 6 tells us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and principalities of darkness in the spiritual realm. I like the way the New Living Translation puts it: “we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies”

To the Christians out there who feel that God’s Kingdom will be brought about on earth through a particular nation, people group or political party, note this- those are flesh and blood “enemies” that we have focused on.

Our struggle to bring about the Kingdom of God is not against any of the following:
- Islamic people/nations (very cafeul- I specifically am noting the people!)
- Terrorists
- Communists
- Liberals
- Conservatives
- Homosexuals
- Abortionists
- Tree-huggers
- Harry Potter books
- “Family Guy”
- any other people on the face of the earth.

While we may wrestle with other religious worldviews (and perhaps the evil powers behind them), we are not to be wrestling with one another. Our enemy is not flesh and blood. Allying ourselves with any particular political view too closely will inevitably wear off on us saying that these ARE our enemies. We must resist that temptation!

These thoughts have been brewing in me for a while, and articulated as I began to read a book by Gregory Boyd. Stay tuned for my reaction to and summary of the first few chapters, as I’ve been reading them on lunch break at work.

God Has a Sense of Humor

As of Wednesday, this week was shaping up to be one of the worst that either Rachel or myself have experienced. On Monday, something happened with our car and we ended up with a hole the size of a baseball in the engine of our 2001 Toyota Camry with 72,000 miles on it. See my previous writing for some more info on that.

On top of that, the rental car company (which is covered by our insurance- as I had the foresight to realize that if our only car dies, we'd need another one) had no cars. It was 11 am (after the 7:20 fire under the hood) before they were able to pick us up and get Rachel off to work. Long story there, as well.

As if that was not enough with the rental car company, when we wanted to trade in the truck they gave us for something more economical, and within the budget assigned by the insurance company, the guy treated Rachel like a child and kept trying to make a little extra money on our misfortune. Of all the potential positive points, I would not rent from Enterprise again- and would advise anyone else to consider how much treating customers right matters, because they have not treated us well at all.

Rachel had been scheduled for surgery on her wrist on Thursday. A ganglion cyst that she had previously had removed with a 10% chance of return had, in fact, returned. So, on Wednesday, she called our insurance company to make sure that pre-authorization had taken place for her surgery. They hadn't gotten it or any of the referrals except for the MRI, so they were requiring her to get all that from our "family" doctor, who is only listed on our policy and not actually our family doctor, in order to ok her surgery. So Rachel called them, and they would not simply call the doctors who had done the work- they required her to leave work and go see them so they could look at her wrist and say, "ok, we can give the ok to the insurance company."

All frustrating things.

On the other side of things… After much searching, the prior Friday, Rachel and I had found and decided on what we were going to do for a 2nd car- a 1995 Nissan Maxima. We had gone to the bank for our financing- to refinance the Camry loan and roll the Maxima into it. They had pretty much ok'd, but required approval of a manager. With the Camry engine blowing up/catching fire on Monday morning, and us not having signed the papers, we were VERY concerned that this may not go through.

Talked to the guy at the bank- wasn't going to say anything, but felt that I should out of honesty. He told me that he could either forget I told him what happened, or they could deny us financing for the Maxima alone because it is too old to hold the title as collateral. We decided to go with the first option, as the Camry is still ours until the insurance company buys it.

We had planned to sign that paperwork on the loan and the car on Tuesday morning, so we made plans to visit a couple apartments on Monday night. One of them, we really liked- a lot. But with this week's luck, what's going to happen, right?

Rachel's surgery on Thursday went well- as well as could be expected. We spent the day uneventfully resting after that- having had to get up early, and Rachel being tired from the anesthesia.

Friday, we got a call from the auto insurance company- they'd sent an adjustor and finally got back to us. They valued our car at almost DOUBLE what we had expected based on the Kelly Blue Book value. WOW!!! Then, as we were at Borders waiting for our table at Olive Garden (meeting with some of rachel's friends from YWAM), I got a call from the apartment. They wanted to rent to us, but wanted to ask a few more questions to be sure first. ???

So, the beginning of this week was abysmal. Had to look at the positive, but overwhelmed by just about everything going wrong that could go wrong! The middle of the week, things started to look up and the worst case scenario that looked like it might be happening was not actually happening. And as the week ended- even with Rachel having her wrist immobilized, things started to look up!

So here we are- going to be moving- a little later than we'd hoped, but still this fall. we have a car- we were hoping for a second, but the insurance money will almost completely pay off our loan for the 2 cars. Rachel's still got a job- i'm still looking. and we've got our church- the reason for moving and most important of all.

The Death of a Camry

today is a sad day. It is the day that, as I was driving to work, our Camry was unexpectedly and prematurely taken from us. I was driving Rachel to work in this wonderful car that had taken us back and forth across this great country and had a measly 72,000 miles on it. We were passing a truck that had been slowing us for quite some time (and had a trailer loaded down with junk- scraps of junk stuff)- he was going 35 in a 55. as the "safe passing" zone came, i picked up speed to go around him. either something fell off his truck or a huge rock caused a large thudding sound in the front of the car, and i saw smoke trailing us, the low oil light came on and so we got over (as i had just gotten around him) and pulled off the road...

as we got out, i popped the hood button, but decided not to open the hood as rachel saw fire on the ground and assumed it was in the engine as well. just as we were preparing to watch the car blow- the flames had crept over the hood) a gentleman stopped with a fire extinguisher and put it out.

as we were able to look under the hood, everything was fried, melted and charred.

there was a gaping hole in the engine looking at me.


the terminals on the battery were melted. the air filter was melted.

there was oil all over the place, including a huge streak on the road.

and so... our camry is a memory. the insurance company will more than likely determine the car to be a total loss.

But, Rachel and I are both ok. physically, anyway- although emotionally, this and so many other things (most not blogged) have just left me feeling defeated and feeling like we just can't win... on the other hand, we had just found a car on friday to be our 2nd car, and had procured the financing. we're picking it up on tuesday morning after we sign the paperwork at the bank. so... at least, we have one car, but that does nothing for me having transportation to a job and leaves us even again...

keep us in your prayers, if you would. and see more pictures if you want.

All Action Saturday

While driving to work this week, Rachel noticed that the drive-in was showing The Bourne Ultimatum and Rush Hour 3 this weekend. Both of them being movies we were interested in seeing, we decided to go to the drive-in on Saturday night.

This weekend is also the first weekend we've spent at home since the next to last weekend in July. It is a strange feeling for us. To be able to be home on saturday was very relaxing for us. Rachel opened her scrapbooking stuff up and spread our all over the coffee table, I had the laptop on and we popped in the Bourne Identity, and then the Bourne Supremacy. I always seem to forget how good the Bourne Identity is- partially I think because I saw Supremacy first, and then watched Identity. The hand to hand combat is better in the first one, I believe.

I still had placed Supremacy as the better of the two movies- something that is often NOT the case. A sequel not only equaling its predecessor, but surpassing it. I was hopeful that the Bourne Ultimatum would match that, because, after all- with a word like Ultimatum in the title, it ought to be good.

We had planned on going to the drive-in for most of the week, and most of the week it was cool, cloudy and kinda rainy. Saturday, the heat and humidity turned back on, and by Saturday evening, it was HOT, HUMID and scattered thunderstorms rolling through. Not exactly drive-in weather- the money saved at the drive-in would surely be lost in having to run the car to keep the A/C on so we could be semi-comfortable.

so we decided instead that we only really wanted to see Bourne, and that Rush Hour 3 was only a fringe benefit. We decided to go to the theater in Carlisle and let them provide the air conditioning. However, the rolling thunderstorms that were going through caused some major damage and power outage in much of Carlisle, including the movie theater. And every other theater around had either already started their show, or it started at the same time.

so with the sun going down, the lights out all over Carlisle and the rain cooling it off a little, we headed down route 11 to Newville and the drive-in. On the plus side, we arrived just as the movie started, so our normal routine of arriving early to get a good spot didn't leave us waiting. And for some reason, it wasn't crowded.

Anyway- down to the movie reviews. SPOILER WARNING!! for those who haven't seen the move, stop here and just know that I think that Bourne was amazing- perhaps the best movie I've seen this summer. It makes me question whether or not Supremacy was supreme. Rush Hour 3 on the other hand... could have waited till video had the Carlisle theater had power.

Ultimatum was filled with action. So much action, I almost thought it impossible to put that much in and not wear the audience out. Car chases, fight sequences, hand-to-hand combat, foot chases... Wow! It was fantastic.

What probably surprised me the most, however, was an hour and 15 minutes into the movie, I saw a VERY similar scene. In fact, it was the exact scene that ENDED the Bourne Supremacy. I probably would have noticed it anyway, but definitely because of watching Supremacy that afternoon, I knew that it was the exact same conversation- with a little more added to it. I was VERY impressed with how they wrapped it all in together.

In essence, the Bourne Ultimatum ended literally hours after the Bourne Supremacy. Basically, after he left Russia, but before he showed up in NY was where Ultimatum picked up. Very good writing, and very surprising. The other thing I liked was that there were times when i just expected something to happen, but didn't want it to happen- and basically just couldn't figure it out. it was great to be kept guessing the whole time.

Rush Hour 3 was disappointing. it was not bad, per se. But it was so unnecessary. It was another heart wrenching villain for Jackie Chan's character. It was another supposed friend who turned out to be a betrayer. It was another movie of Jackie Chan doing some real work and Chris Tucker running his mouth (although he has learned some marshall arts and while the final fight between Chan and the villain is taking place on the Eiffel Tower structure, Tucker is taking on 4 lackeys in the restaurant).

There was an overly-long, mostly unnecessary scene with women in underwear for a show in Paris and Tucker's character is posing as costume designer. Simply not necessary.

There was a bright spot, however. This came at the end, when the bad guy who pretended to be a friend was about to end the movie and evil was about to win and the Frenchman who had been picking on Americans for half the film, then pretending to be one the other half only to be disappointed by his wife- he ended up shooting the bad guy before he could shoot Tucker, Chan or the woman.

So, as is often the case, the drive-in costs less, we get two and are rarely disappointed. This particular double feature was well worth it, even if only for one movie.

why are you looking?

Rachel and I went to Borders tonight just to get out- and of course, we both love reading and love books. So it was a natural idea. Anyway, on our way home, we were talking about church searching some, because we were trying to decide where we were going to attend this coming Sunday.

I realized that through two lengthy blogs on this, I still had not covered everything. surprise, surprise- there's probably too much to talk about on this subject. But we were talking about this and I have decided to add it to the discussion.

Why someone would be looking for a new church makes a huge difference on where he/she would choose. If you're looking for a new church for a noble or acceptable reason, then you are looking for a church to plug into still. Usually, I’d advise people to be aware that in a mega-church, there are often times already a number of volunteers as well as a sense of being a nameless face. Unless you know lots of people there, and even then sometimes, it can be very anonymous.

However, in cases like Rachel's and mine- we've been burned by a couple churches now and the reason we're looking for a church is not to be ministers, and not even to spend all the efforts we have serving there. We are in a state of needing to heal, needing to be ministered to (as we have been taken advantage of and burned to the point where we're pretty empty), and needing to not be as involved.

Personally, I’ve taken a liking to smaller churches, and even see a LOT of value and benefit in them- maybe even more than large churches. But for this particular case or need- why we're looking- a larger church is a place to go. The church of 40 we visited will likely not be a good place for us because it is so small. But, then again- everyone is different, and the sense of family that is present in a smaller church may be just what healing people need to have. If we were in Lancaster instead of Shippensburg, we'd be going to a church of 100-125- because we know so many people there, there's no awkward "not knowing anyone" feeling, and those people there genuinely care about us. so... yeah

and if you're looking for a new church because you left your last one for reasons like music, or a personal conflict with one other person there, or because you simply are not able to sit still and can only be in one church for a few months at a time, you need to DEAL with your issues and stay put. At least, until God gives you the release to leave.

anyway. I’m not sure if I have much else- I’m not thinking of too much else just yeti. Keeping on keeping on.

finding a new church home

first, as a supplement to my previous blog and to this one, I offer this link. Please use it to check out the book- view the free preview of "look inside"- then maybe even head down to your local Chrisitian bookstore (you might even find it at Barnes and Noble or Borders) and pick it up. it's a smaller book, and it's thin. But it's so worth reading.

Quick refresher- Rachel and I are looking for a new church. this is the first time that we have looked together for a church in a non-ministerial capacity. So this is not so much a "here's how everyone should find a church." this is the path we're taking and i'm opent to comments or suggestions.

We have visited 2 churches that are relatively close to us. they are both Brethren in Christ denomination- the denomination Rachel grew up in and I'm fairly familiar with due to their connection to Messiah. so as for doctrine, I know that I agree. That's important to know- if the doctrine of the church is not something you agree with or can support, then you don't belong there! Often times, we won't know what that doctrine is, which is why it's important to try and talk to the pastor or one of the pastors, if it's a bigger church. It would not work very well for Rachel and I to be a part of a charismatic church because our faith would not be identified by the charismatic doctrines. (look it up on wikipedia if you don't know charismatic)

We also have decided that it is very difficult to make any decisions on a church based on visiting a single service. we plan to attend each of the churches we've visited at least one more time. There are things that can be out of place during the first visit- case in point- we went to a church on July 8th because the senior pastor is a former assistant of my first senior pastor (who is still a close friend). However, the pastor was out of town on vacation with his family that weekend, so what we got in the service was not a good taste. Some of it may have been normal, but obviously, the preaching was not normal.

Preaching is obviously important. A senior pastor is primarily a teacher, and teaches through the pulpit. We have been at churches in the past where the senior pastor did not challenge us. We would go for weeks without getting any kind of spiritual food in the services because he either a: dumbed it down because he thought the mental capacity of the church was not very high (a likely option, as the teens in the church would often tell us that he talked to them like they were 4 years old); or b: would preach irrelevant things from the pulpit. perhaps he felt it was challenging- which sometimes he would say he was challenged by preparing. but we were not challenged. And this led to us not paying attention during the preaching- because the one purpose of that section of the service- to be challenged, to meet with God and to grow- was not being accomplished. so the preaching, and the preacher- are important.

Now I'm also wrestling with what my place would be in a church. I have served for 3 years as youth pastor, and as worship pastor (and for a while as young adult pastor, too). i've got musical gifts, leadership gifts, a love and knack for teaching, an ability to connect with young people, and a knowledge of current ministry trends, etc. But where do I belong. it would be a shame to not use my musical talents in a church because they already have enough talented musicians- espcially with the churches that are out there that are lacking in that area. But is that where God is calling me to use my gifts right now? perhaps one of these things has been a source of pride for me and i need to sit on the sidelines for a little while until some humility can work its way in.

The bottom line with service is that TRUE service does not say "i'll do A, B or C. But do not ask me to do D, E or F- because i won't." if we are not gifted in an area, we need to trust the church to evaluate it and not ask us to work with kids if we get very frustrated with kids (or something like that). Service is not selective- it is offering our whole selves to Christ and saying "whatever you need- use me." Steven Curtis Chapman wrote an excellent song called "Whatever".

Everyone makes such a huge deal about music these days. But honestly, music may not be the real issue. We're not looking for the most recent music, or the best. One church we visited was quite large, and the music was very good from a quality standpoint. And i'm sure there were a bunch of people there that connected with it. But, i wasn't feeling it as much. maybe the new environment, coupled with the newfound freedome to actually sing harmonies again... Mix that together and make me feeling a little abnormal anyway (again, a good reason to visit a couple times). What music boils down to is that it's the most common way the Church in America does "worship". what is more important that music or styles is the heart behind it- the worship of our lives and of the lives of those around us. that's what's important about music. at least, for us it is.

Community. The early Church was all about this- not simply having "faith", but sharing that faith together and living that faith together. Rachel and I discussed this with some friends of ours a few weeks ago. The guy was saing that church is supposed to be about meeting with God and too many churches only go to meet with one another. I got the impression he'd rather go, worship, hear a message and leave. Those are two extremes- either there for God or for ourselves. The truth is a middle ground- our faith is about God and our worship gatherings should be about Him, but we are not alone! the people that we see, the people we attend church with, the people in our Bible study, the prayer meeting at school- whatever. that's our community. And to try and "do" faith or life without these people is simply ludicrous.

I had a community of friends even before i realized to call it community. Friends at school- we prayed together every morning before school. friends in youth group- we met weekly, but hung out together, shared our faith with friends together and were quite close. I went to a men's prayer group- these men became more than just other Christians- they became mentors to me. Men whom i felt were living examples of Christ to me, but also men whose lives i could model mine after because their faith was an important part of their lives. God's plan for us is not going solo- it's to live our faith in community with others. This is a VERY important part of what we feel God has laid on our hearts for finding a new church home.

and drawing a blank on another thing to put here that we are wrestling with, i will add this little tidbit. We are praying about going on the mission field. Right now, just praying about it- i don't want it to be simply reactionary to being fed up with church ministry in the US now becasue of having been burned by my last two churches. But God has given us both hearts for wholistic missions that are beneficial to the people we're trying to serve and go against some of the traditional, but outdated ideas of missions. However, we're praying about what direction that will mean for us. And that's huge in finding a new church, too- if we're going to prepare to be on the mission field, we want to find a home church that will be able to support us in that. We will plug into the church while we are there and hope for them to invest in us when our time there is up and we go on the field.

anyway- not sure how to end this, so i'll just say... you've just read the articulated version of just a fraction of what we are going through in trying to discern God's will for our church home for this next step in our lives.

What Bothers Me About the Church in America

For the last two Sunday mornings, and for who knows how many Sundays in the future, Rachel and I will be spending time in different churches looking for a church home. I hate this. For a couple reasons. First- it gives us this impression that finding a church is like finding the right pair of shoes. Or the right computer. There are so many options out there, all we need to find is the one that fits us. Consumerism America tells us that if we’re not happy with something, go find something else.

One of the unfortunate side effects of this process by which people find a church after re-locating is the changing of churches without re-locating due to unhappiness of some kind. I am not going to hold this discussion today of what are the good and bad reasons for leaving a church, and when is too much too much.

I’m going to have two main topics to this rambling rant, I believe. The first is the current church hopping/shopping state that we find so prevalent. Joshua Harris wrote a book called “Stop Dating the Church”, a book that I bought and found to be worthwhile reading for any Christian. It is worth reading because too many Christians are not plugged into a home church. They drift around, going from one to another. The youth ministry I worked with while in college would see kids in and out- later to find out that our youth pastors talked with other youth pastors and found the teens drifting from youth ministry to youth ministry.

God’s plan for reaching the world is the Church. Not as an institutional structure, but as a living body focused on reaching the world and discipling the believer. And ultimately, it is for the good of our own souls, argues Harris (and convincingly) that we dedicate ourselves to a single local church. I know it’s hard for so many people because instead of seeing the positive of the potential of a church, we only see the negative. It is important that we move beyond that.

I think the problem comes in looking for a church based on what it offers us. While it is important to plug into a place that you can call home, basing a church decision simply on what we can get is selfishness. Instead of what it offers us, perhaps we should look on what we can offer a church. Our talents, gifts, ideas- even our age or connections with non-believers could be a huge benefit to a church!! Not that we should feel we are saving a church of that it could not survive without us, but the call of the Gospel on our lives should be service!!

Case in point- Rachel and I visited a large church this morning. I have been in both large and small churches and know there are positives and negatives of each. But what I have found myself wondering today as we consider this church is what we may be able to offer to the church.

But ultimately, beyond what we can get or even what we can give- is God’s calling to a church! I know, though- I can hear it now- ‘how do I know if God’s calling me here?’ or even worse, someone using ‘God led me to a different church’ as a excuse when leaving a church for a less than Biblical reason. And of course, no one can argue with it because then we’re not saying that the person is wrong, we’re saying that God is wrong. So, the way we hear God is through this process of evaluating some of these more natural things we can see around us as well as discerning the Holy Spirit speaking to us.

Sometimes, we can misinterpret. Sometimes we can interpret or understand differently than others do. Rachel and I just experienced that with the church in Shippensburg where we felt led, didn’t feel a variation in the calling, yet the board felt it was not destined to be for us to be there. So, we must pull all of these things together and ultimately take a leap of faith. And when we take that leap, when we break our comfort zone, we must be willing to give it time. Just like a marriage must survive fights, disagreements and more, plugging into a church must survive doubts, unhappiness and disputes. If God has led us there, then either He must have changed His mind or led us differently if we are to leave.

I suppose this has become very long. So the second part of what I was going to talk about I will post tomorrow. But to give everyone a preview, it will deal with, for the most part, the practical things of finding a church- and the experience Rachel and I are going through in the middle of this now. Consider this the ideological or the “theological” and tomorrow I will be posting the “practical”. Stay tuned.

personally...

i don't get it, but my employment was effectively terminated tonight after 2 months due to reasons that the board was unable to quantify, at least not to me. i do not get it, nor has anyone approached me regarding these irreconcilable differences. Apparently, it's not personal- it's just that the congregation is feeling like it's not a good fit...

this leads me to my rant. i have gotten away from blogging as an output for my rants and things that bother me. back to it i come. i am so sick of the phrase "it's not pesonal". especially in this case- i can't stand it. i'm a person, it involves me- that makes it personal!! moreso, when it comes to church, the church is my life. i don't leave the "work" there at the office. and for rachel, it's what's outside of work for her. church is our lives!! and if there's something wrong there, it may not be against my personality, but it is personal because i'm a person and it's MY life that's invested. so take the it's not personal and stop using it!