Thursday, July 29, 2010

Relationships and Resources

Last Tuesday I had the opportunity to hear an amazing teacher speak to a statewide gathering of career and technical education teachers. (Our daughter-in-law received an award at this convention.) The speaker was Rita Pierson. She's apparently a much-sought-after educational motivator. She spoke around this theme - "No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship." (Dr. James Comer) Building on this, Dr. Pierson believes that a child, youth, or adult must have a certain set of resources acquired through significant relationships in order to survive, thrive, and succeed. These include financial resources, emotional resources, mental resources, spiritual resources (the sense of being valued by something/someone greater than themselves), physical resources/health, support systems, relational and role model resources, and awareness of hidden rules (knowing the expectations everyone else knows.)

This makes simple and incredible sense. Sometimes people on the so-called "left wing" in our country assume that all we need to do is throw money at under-resourced people, when that's only one of several resource areas in which such people need help. Some of those on the so-called "right wing" assume that people should pull themselves up, when the absence of any of these key resource areas makes that expectation completely unreasonable. In our movement, that of those who follow Jesus, our mission is about building relationships with people designed to enable them to thrive. It's our DNA. (For any who have Bibles, see Acts 4:32-47) It makes no sense to offer a new spiritual life in Jesus, without addressing the other resource needs. And it makes no sense to deal with the other resource areas, and ignore the anchor which is spirituality.

Good stuff. Sometimes we who are church people need to get outside the church walls more often. I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Praise

I heard something this evening which I think is brilliant. I was talking with some friends about the subject of "praise." In our particular faith system - following Jesus - many of us believe that praise should anchor our communication with our God, which we call prayer. By praise we don't mean stroking God's ego. God doesn't need or seek any brown-nosing from us. Praise means acknowledging who and what God is, apart from any particular effect that has on us or anyone. It is to recognize the nature of a creating, loving, life-giving God, and to stand in awe of this God. It's a hard concept to grasp for Jesus-followers, much less to actually practice it.

One of my friends noted that there are times when he offers words of praise in prayer, but isn't really feeling in a praise-focused mood. There are times, he said, in which he mostly goes through the motions, kind of like covering a checklist. At such times, he noted, he feels it would be best just to offer God what's in his heart, good, bad or indifferent - simply and honestly sharing with God exactly what is at the center of our will, the center of our God given identity, the locus of our allegiances, and the pulse of our passions...exactly as we are.

It occurs to me that God seeks to inhabit our hearts. To offer the real state of our hearts to a God who seeks us unconditionally might be the most genuine praise of all. This may be what matters, over and above our mood, our feelings, our style of praise, or whatever.

Good thought. I'm always learning from fellow travellers on the journey. I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Paul's Coming This Weekend!

I am the pastor of a church in our community. On several occasions I've told our church a story that I've shared with all four churches I've served since I received my first full-time assignment 32 years ago. One Sunday in that first setting a woman came to worship with her children. She was a single woman, having suffered through an unfortunate and unanticipated divorce. In seeking a place to worship she and her children had felt ignored or even ostracized in the congregations they had visited. When she brought her kids to our church for the first time, she sat them down in a pew that had been occupied by one of our veteran saints and his wife since about two years before the invention of baseball. However, in spite of pronouncing, "That's my pew!" this old gentleman willingly and graciously yielded his seat and row to the newcomers.

One of the children the young lady brought to worship that day was a boy named Paul. Paul is now a dedicated, gifted, and talented follower of Jesus. He is on the ministry team of one of the most dynamic, growing congregations of our particular denomination in our state. This weekend our church will have the unique gift of having Paul present in our worship services to help lead us God-ward. This is a real blessed moment for me. Paul and his story are an inspiration to me, and I can't wait to put a face and a person to one of the testimonies that has helped shaped my faith journey and that has given me great joy to share.

You never know when a moment and an unplanned act can plant a seed, set a direction, or even change a life. It can be the difference between, "That's my pew," and "That's all right; you're just welcome to sit there.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Next Generation?

How do you feel about the next generation - those who are in their teens and early- to mid-twenties now? Do you have trust in the next generation, or are you more fearful of the next generation?

There's a tendency for each generation to assume that the next generation will bring us all to ruin. Either their morals are all screwed up, or their priorities are all wrong, or they are endangering sacred traditions or something. Parents in the twenties feared that civilization as they knew it would crumble, as their children discovered motor cars and flapper dresses. Parents in the thirties and forties were certain that Frank Sinatra would lead the next generation to perdition. Then there were those of the World War II generation and the Korean War generation were horrified by we who were their hippie children. Whereas the latter generation sought to protect all their parents had built and believed in, we baby boomers set out to challenge all that. Now our generation has children and grandchildren. It's hilarious to me to listen to my fellow aging hippies. We who once chanted, "Up the system," and "Hell, no - we won't go!" are now saying things like, "These kids today!!"

I must be an oddball, I guess. I'm not worried about the next generation. I don't think they're taking us to hell in hand basket. Quite the opposite. I'm excited by the next generation. In my particular faith - that of being a Jesus-follower - I see people in their teens and twenties who are on-fire for Jesus in ways of which I have never thought. I am learning from them more than they could ever learn from me. I look at them and I have no worries for the future of our movement. Sure, there's a lot about them that I don't understand and will never understand. They don't like to music to which I'm drawn, and they don't do worship they way I may be accustomed. But they know what it means to be in a relationship with Jesus.

So I have no worries. I'm more excited by the next generation than I am uneasy about them. How about you? I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Certain Inalienable Rights

One of our nation's founding documents speaks of human beings as having "certain inalienable rights" given by God. Among those rights are "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Here's an area in which I believe our nation is struggling now - what is included in "life"? Specifically, is health care among those inalienable rights?

Early this year my wife went through a major health crisis. She got through it, with very good health care. Now we're in the crunch of paying for that, even after insurance has covered the bulk of it. It's a strain for us, yet we both have jobs and will find a way to eek out covering the last of the billings. I think of the thousands; no - millions of Americans for whom a major health crisis would crush them, economically.

Granted, the baseline of health care keeps changing. Advancements mean that my wife is alive now, whereas 100 years ago she would have died, as would everyone else with her condition. Still, with techno-medical advancements, does everyone have a right to the benefit of those advancements, or are those just for the people of means?

Just for argument I'm going to say that health care is an inalienable right. That is NOT to say that I think the government should run it. (If you like the idea of government running health care, how did you feel about the government running railroads?) This is not a statement supporting "Obamacare" or opposing it. I'm just saying that quality health care should be afforded to everyone, if we are in line with our national values. And, for me, it goes beyond national values to a greater value - the way God sees each one of us.

Maybe I'm saying that churches and not-for-profits need to cowboy-up and get back in the game in a more central way. Haven't thought that far ahead. But, this is just me, and what do I know. What do you think? I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Second Chances

What's the best second chance you ever received in life? Maybe you did something bad or stupid to your boyfriend or girlfriend, but he or she forgave you and took you back. Perhaps you wrecked the family car, but your mom or dad eventually let you drive again. Maybe you were laid off at work, but eventually the company put you back on. Or the medical diagnosis was dire, but your last check up yielded a clean bill of health. What was your best do-over?

The first summer after my wife and I started dating in college, we fought all the time, it seems. We couldn't get along, and she just seemed constantly irritated with me. (Of course, I was perfectly charming - I don't know what her problem was...not!!) Anyway, it looked as they we just weren't going to make it, and the relationship had run its course. Somehow, though, when we returned to campus that fall, we decided to give it a second chance. Needless to say, I am very thankful and blessed that we did.

Second chances are life-savers. We long for them and need them. In our particular faith expression, we have a story about a great flood and a person named Noah. What the story says about our God is vital. It's there that we learn about a God who is a God of second chances.

I hope you get the second chance you need. I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

"Can do" and "Can't do"

Have you ever been in a house wherein you were overwhelmed by all that you could not do? You can't sit in this or that chair, you can't have shoes on the carpet, you can't take food or drinks into the living room, don't go in there or the cat will get out, etc. etc. Remember how uneasy that made you feel? Contrast that with homes that say, "Just come on it; sit anywhere. Make yourself at home. Can I bring you something to drink?" Recall how relaxed that atmosphere felt.

Here's a simple, no-brainer principle regarding people feeling welcome as newcomers to anything - homes, businesses, restaurants, theaters, or churches. If the "can't do's" are more clear and numerous than the "can do's," people will not feel welcome. I've seem dozens and dozens of churches of all sizes, settings, and brand names all through my adult lives. Way too many of them have more "can't do's" than "can do's." You can't come here unless you're dressed a certain way. You can't come here if you have trouble with steps. You can't come here and find the childcare room with ease. You can't come here unless you are literate. You can't come here and worship comfortably unless you know the Lord's Prayer by heart. You can't come here and join in any of the conversations that are already happening. Yet church people wonder, "Why won't new people come?" Sometimes we get so familiar with our own landscape that we don't even see the "can't do's" that are glaring and obvious to people who are new.

Just as when we're guests in a comfortable and welcoming home, people make note of places where the "can-do's" outweigh the "can't do's." Maybe that's why I like creeks and rivers so much. Water always moving, landscape changing all the time, multiple opportunities - lots of "can do" moments. I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Back from the Big Easy

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted anything. Sorry about that. That's what a short vacation back-to-back with a mission trip will do to you.

I've just returned from a week in the New Orleans area, serving as one of the adult leader for a high school age mission work trip. Specifically, we lived and worked in the Slidell, Louisiana area. A half a decade after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 the need for recovery work continues, particularly among the poor. Slidell alone had 18,000 houses lost or severely damaged. The day before the hurricane hit, Slidell had 3% unemployment. Twenty-four hours later unemployment was at 69%.

Our faith system has certain values. Among those is the belief that Jesus (who we believe to be God in human form) may be encountered in those who society tends to regard as the "least" among us. It's always refreshing to me to see how people under 20 years old get this without the hindrances and barriers that seem to afflict those of us who are older. Our little group worked to finish the house of a woman who hasn't had her own home since 2005. Clearly our church's kids saw Jesus in their service and in the gracious lady who allowed us to work on her house.

It's not rocket science, this thing we call serving Jesus by serving others. Whenever I need to be reminded of that, a youth mission work trip always restores my faith. I'll see you around the next bend in the river - sooner this time!