Unbelievable

It's Saturday morning. I find myself at my regular coffee shop sitting in my regular chair. Today's task is working through the first draft of my thesis. (My second draft is due in a few weeks) The music of Rich Mullins is helping me make it through the day. . .

The coffee shop that I come to has a bulletin board inside the door where people can post things. It is smattered with car sales, handyman ads, and everything else. A few moments ago, a paper was put up that says "Feast to Fight Hunger". I would guess that it is a fundraiser of some type to raise money to fight world hunger or something of that nature, which in itself is interesting. Let us have a "feast" to fight world hunger. Is the only way that we as Americans can raise money for something like world hunger to offer those who will be giving the money something to come for or a reward?

Unfortunately, the interesting thing was not necessarily the announcement that was hung. Rather, it was the size of the woman who hung it. She was the quintessential overweight person of a shorter stature. She waddled over to the board, looking somewhat in pain as she struggled to walk. She stole a pin from another announcement, put that announcement behind hers and then stuck her announcement to the board right in the center, covering up even more announcements, ads, and what have you.

Now, I do admit that the lady could have some medical condition that has led to her largeness. I continually blame my mom for making me always clean my plate when I was little for my size and love for eating. Yet, we as Americans continually make excuses for the actions we take and the way we live. The church is no more innocent.

At what point do we take responsibility for our actions rather than blaming other things like "the clean plate club?" At what point do we quit saying, "Satan is attacking this or that in my life" and live the lives that God desires us to live under his reign? (Matthew 13)

Winter Continues

Well. It's March 1st. I'm supposed to be at GLCC today helping Esther with a panel discussion about worship and worship ministry. However, last night the snow fell and then fell some more. We in Lansing awoke to six inches of blowing snow with the prospect of another two to four inches today and one to three inches this evening. It is not the way most of us would want March to start, but what are you going to do. We cannot change the weather, or can we?

This week at church Joy read scripture during our gathering time. She read the passage out of John 9 where Jesus heals a man who was blind from birth. Jesus heals him with some spit and dirt--not things that you would look to for healing power (though, with the market of odd things like Mother Mary grilled cheese, we could make lots of money with some holy spit and dirt on eBay). In the process of healing him, Jesus causes trouble with the Pharisees and their belief system, turning the tables on their "all knowing" pride and understanding of who God is and how his Kingdom is to be.

Now, the thing that struck me most this past Sunday was not the narrative that Joy read. Rather, it was the fact that Joy is physically blind. How many of the people made the connection? They should have seen another one of our ladies lead Joy to the pulpit, step back while she read, and then step forward again to lead Joy off the stage. Even if they made the connection, did any of them think that it was odd to have a blind person reading this story? Did it make them feel uncomfortable? I know that for me, anytime we sing songs about blind people being healed and Joy is on the worship team, I am uncomfortable. How can we sing such things or read such things without having a want or even possibly an expectation for Joy to be healed?

Interestingly, I have been thinking on the idea of healing and miracles for some time now. As I have been working through my thesis the last few months, I have been working through the idea that those of us who make up the church need to be focused on how we live out the kingdom of God as the Body of Christ present in the world today. In our gathering time, this means that we are unified in the ways we praise God for who he is rather than dividing into separate musical style groups. It also helps us understand that what we do in the gathering time is for God alone, not for us or non-Christians. It also means that our existence as the body of Christ outside of the gathering is also cross shaped. Thus, the way we live out our lives must embody Christ in every way. This means that we are Christ-like when we drive. We are Christ-like as we surf the internet. We are Christ-like as we talk on the phone to telemarketers, and so on and so forth.

Also, I believe that as we do this cross shaped living, the Holy Spirit works in us and around us to show that life in the Kingdom of God is different than life in the world. In turn, we are a people of "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." (Gal 5:22) I believe that this was the same thing that was happening as Jesus lived out his ministry.

Yet, as Jesus embodied the Kingdom of God in his living, there was something more happening. The poor were treated with respect and sinners were treated with love and acceptance. Things like blindness and leprosy did not have a place. Jesus had power to heal and to cast out demons. He had power to raise the dead. The men in Mark 2 knew this and they cut a hole in someone's roof to get a paralized man in front of Jesus to be healed. The woman with the bleeding problem knew this and just touched him and she was healed.

The issue for me then is if we are living out the Kingdom of God, why are those miracles not present? Does it mean that we are not living up to our kingdom potential and embodying the life of Christ as much as we could? Have we reasoned away our belief that God could move in these ways in the here and now, thus limiting the power of the Holy Spirit? Even more grave, is our living out of Christ so incomplete that the Spirit cannot or does not want to be present? Or, is God just choosing to not move in those ways?

We as Christians really need to think hard about how we are living. Are we living in ways that these miracles could even be possible? Are we embodying Christ and living out his love and compassion for the poor and the sinners? Are we living out the love for one another within the church? Are we living out the Kingdom of God or are we living out the world?

Can we change the weather like Jesus did as he and his disciples sailed across the Sea of Galilee in Matthew 8 and Mark 4? It's still snowing outside. Will Joy get the chance to read God's Word with her eyes rather than her fingers before Christ's return? I do not know whether God will choose to move in that way between now and then. I do know that we as the body of Christ, the presence of God's Kingdom here on earth right now, need to have more faith and live more like Christ in every part of our lives. (Matthew 16, Mark 8, Luke 9)

Sunny But Cold

Today is a beautiful day. It is sunny outside. The sun has been quite absent over the last few months around here. I normally don't notice things like that, but I did the other day. I normally don't get annoyed with the snow because I love the 4 seasons of Michigan. Yet, the other day when it was snowing again all I could think was, "when is spring coming?"

That seems to be a theme in my life right now, the idea of waiting. I'm on the edge of the spring and the new, but not yet. Some of you know that I was away from life for a few weeks this month. I went to the hills of East Tennessee to crank out the first draft of my thesis. It was a long, hellish two weeks being squirreled away from my family in a 6' by 6' space for 10 to 12 hours a day. I did make it through the writing process and my first draft was completed. That's about the most you can say about it. It was horrible writing in my opinion. Dr. Norris, my thesis adviser, confirmed that the other day with an email saying it was miserable and with his pen marks all over the paper copy he returned to me. So, while I'm closer to being done with my degree, I'm still not yet there, and there is a lot of work yet to do. Plus, I have so many books on the to read list like Lord of the Rings that I cannot get to right now because of the thesis work and focus.

It's the same way in my ministry. When I came to South Lansing Christian Church I knew that I would do a dual ministry in worship and youth for awhile. When I think back, two years sticks in my head as the estimated time frame. It has been four years now and there is no hope of a change anytime soon. Not that I don't enjoy my job. I love my job and the things that I get to do. It is just that I sometimes feel spread so thin in the areas that I lead that I cannot make good progress in either one.

My family life also has the same challenges. Steph and I have had the priviledge of living in the farmhouse on South's property since we moved here in 2001. It has been a blessing for us. Yet, we are at the point where we want a place that is our own. We have ideas and dreams of what we want in a house, how far we want to be away from the church, and such. But, with the comotion of the thesis the last few months, winter colds and the stomach flu in Januray, and keeping up with ministry, we have only had the time to dream.

So, as the day outside is beautiful and sunny, the cold of winter is still present. Snow covers the the dormant brown of earth and new life waits behind the curtain for another day. As Christians we are in the same place. Our Lord and Savior has come and gone. He has showed us the way, the truth, and the life. We eagerly wait for his return. Yet, as with my thesis, my ministry, and the desire for a house of our own, we must move forward with life now while we wait. We must live out the way, the truth, and the life with our faith and actions in this world as we wait for Christ's return. (John 14:1-21)

An Outdoor Interruption

I have been away from my family now for 10 days. It has been a long ten days where my focus has been on finishing my thesis. That has gone ok, though I unfortunately am no where close to being done with it. It just takes too long to get into my data and get my brain out of "not thesis writing" mode.

I have been in the library or reading and working on this thesis pretty much nonstop. At best, I have had some mental breaks in the evenings when I go to my friend divides house, where I am staying. Today the library was only open from 9am to 4pm. This really sucks in my case because I get the best work done when I'm in the library. So, at 4pm I got kicked out. I've been working at such a crazy pace that I decided to take a break and go for a drive.

I enjoy driving through the hills of Tennessee. It is always a joy to drive and look at all the different styles of houses and see the countryside. Sometimes it is a bit scary when you drive into a "deliverance" type area. There were none of those experiences today, thank goodness. So I drove, with the window down, since it was warm.

On my journey I ended up at Watagua Lake. It is a big inland lake stuck between a couple of mountains. It is very beautiful and very peaceful, except for a bit of road noise. So, along the way I pulled off the road and sat by the side of the lake. It was heavenly . . .

As I sat there and stared across the lake wondering about life, my thesis, and being away from my wife and daughter, I began to hear a rumbling in the distance. I looked to the left and saw a houseboat. I thought, that would be fun and cool. Out on the water for a couple of days at a time, just floating and taking in everything. I think that would be grand. Because of those thoughts I was not to distracted by the rumbling of the motor, which was loud for a boat.

After awhile they stopped. I could hear a couple of voices in the distance, but it was not bad at all. Then the music started. Picture the most peaceful waterfront you can picture with a tranquil hush coming from all over. Then jar that image and calm with some good old country music! And to add to the heinousness of their "crime", I could hearing one of the guys singing loudly in a drunken tone.

Needless to say, I quickly left my peacefulness and headed to the car. So much for spending some quiet time with nature. . . $%@! rednecks!