Are There No Sanctuaries Anymore?

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Dec. 14, 2007

I took my kids to see the latest Disney animated film several years ago. After decades of fairy tales and talking animals, Disney was taking on serious literature: The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Of course, “Hunchback” had some characteristically Disney characters, most notably the animated, singing gargoyles from the top of the cathedral who were Quasimodo’s only friends. But that film also had some of the most intensive scenes yet in a Disney animated movie.

One dramatic scene is when Quasimodo swooped down to save Esmerelda from the power-hungry cleric, Frollo. Standing at the doorstep to Notre Dame Cathedral, Quasi screamed “Sanctuary! Sanctuary!” Frollo’s soldiers dared not enter the Cathedral with arms to capture the beautiful gypsy girl. As long as Esmerelda stayed inside the church, she was safe from Frollo.

That was then. This is now. A gunman targets a church in Colorado Springs, killing and wounding several people in the parking lot. He throws smoke bombs into the main entrance of the church so that more people will crowd out of the smaller back entrance. But he’s there waiting for them with an assault rifle, two handguns and more than 1000 rounds of ammunition, according to the news reports I’ve read. If not for an armed security guard, I suspect that dozens of people would have been killed before police arrived.

We call the places in which we worship God “sanctuaries” because they are supposed to be special rooms where we can cast aside our cares and concentrate on our Creator. Every week, around 100 people come to my church’s sanctuary without considering their lives were at risk. Until now.

Clearly, there is no longer any sacred space in this world. For years, we heard about mosque bombings in Iraq, but they don’t upset us because they’re half a world away. Somehow though, Colorado is a whole lot closer – much more REAL to us. Suddenly, gong to church on Sunday takes on a different level of risk. But I think the connection between mosque bombings and church shooters is much more direct than most of us realize.

Whenever violence is directed towards a religious center, shrine or place of worship – no matter what religion is represented – all religions are damaged. Bombs in a Jewish synagogue and arson in a Hindu temple are also attacks against Christianity. The shooter in Colorado Springs “hated Christians,” but that hatred extended to people of all faiths.

I am not one of the “all roads lead to heaven, but just by different directions” people. Comparative religion studies show that the end goal of Christianity is not shared as an end goal of Buddhism, for example. But a common underpinning between Christianity and Buddhism is respect for others. Each faith has a form of Jesus’ golden rule found in Luke 6:31: “Do to others what you would have them do to you.” (The Buddhist version, by the way: “Hurt not others in ways that you would find hurtful.”)

Killing people in a house of worship is a grotesque violation of this common rule. Actually, I will go further than that: it is blasphemous! It is not just an attack on God’s creations, but an attack directly against God. Nothing can justify it. Not religious disagreements, not power struggles between warring factions, not encroachment designed to drive others out, not even grudges against a missionary group that deemed a person unsuitable for missionary work.

Evidently that was Matthew Murray’s motive. He had been rejected by Youth With a Mission, a Christian missionary training and deploying ministry several years earlier. I haven’t seen reports to detail why he was rejected; but after these actions, I wonder of “prone to violent outbursts” was written somewhere in his files.

Matthew Murray lost perspective and destroyed sanctuary. We can all agree to that. But what about closer to home? What about here in our own communities? Are we destroying sanctuary by skipping worship so that we can get to the malls? Are we blasphemous in the church when we keep looking at our watches to see what time it is? (After all, we gotta get to Bob Evans before the crowds) Are we attacking God by verbally disrespecting those with different faith systems than our own?

Yes, I acknowledge that there’s a big gap between church shootings and Sunday mall shopping. But both take away the sacred places that God intends for us to have. We are coming to one of the most sacred times of the Christian faith – celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Why not make one of your Christmas gifts be renewing the concept of sanctuary in your own life? In what ways can you become a more faithful adherent of the Golden Rule?

Be Prepared!

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Dec. 7, 2007

When I was in my later elementary years, my mother made a discovery that truly changed how we celebrated Christmas. She discovered Advent.

Advent, of course, is very old. Its origins date back to the early Christian church – somewhere during the 4^th century – as Christians remembered and celebrated events of Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection. The name originated from the Latin word “adventus”, which means “coming.” During Advent, Christians through the centuries prepared themselves for the coming of the Christ Child.

But some Christian traditions, including most Baptists, do not celebrate Advent or other special seasons. Since all of these special celebrations are found in the roots of Catholicism (which was the predominant church for most of Christian history until 500 years ago), many post-Reformation Christian groups chose to eliminate these practices in favor of a “simpler” worship.

My family’s Baptist history goes back many generations. In fact, my 3^rd-great grandfather is credited as being the first Baptist preacher to cross west of the Nueces River in Texas back in the 1840s. So when my mother discovered Advent, it really WAS a new thing for us!

Mom bought a special candle holder that held five candles: one central candle surrounded by four additional candles. The center candle is the “Christ” candle, and it is not lit until Christmas. The four surrounding candles represent the four Sundays before Christmas. As each Sunday is reached, an additional candle is lit. When Christmas arrives, all five candles are lit.

But celebrating Advent is more than just lighting candles each Sunday and Christmas. She also bought a family devotional that had suggested Scripture readings, meditations on those readings, prayers and songs. Our family made it a habit to gather around the kitchen table and have these “mini-worship” services together.

We read passages that prophesied the coming of the Messiah, such as Micah 5:2, 4-5 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times… He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace.”

We sang songs like “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus” – “Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free; from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee. Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art; dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.”

You will not find many references to that Bible text or song in our modern preparations for Christmas. In fact, in the rush for today’s Christmas, we are often neglectful of Jesus himself. Unfortunately, this was true 30 years ago, so my mom’s discovery of Advent was especially welcomed in our family. We wanted something to help us slow down, to help us remember the true meaning of Christmas, to help us be READY for Christmas!

And what does it mean to be ready for Christmas? Its not getting all the presents wrapped and under the tree before the family arrives from out of town. It isn’t getting the car loaded before taking the trip to Grandma’s. It isn’t even simply getting to a Christmas Eve worship service.

To get ready for Christmas, we need to recognize what’s really happening at Christmas: God is coming to earth! In this little baby, the Savior of the world enters the world. God becomes human and thus fulfills Micah’s prophecy: the one from old becomes the one who leads the flock into peace.

To put that into a 21^st century context, this little baby is born from a homeless, unwed mother who’s had to travel to pay taxes for governmental services she didn’t necessarily receive or want, in a town that didn’t have affordable (or even available) housing. Yet that little baby was also the Creator of the universe.

So be prepared … in all the ADVENT-ageous ways!

Christmas Lighs and Christmas Lite

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Nov. 30, 2007

“Dad, when are you going to get the lights up?”

It’s not even December and I’ve heard that question (or some variation of it) at least a dozen times. Hanging lights on the house, yard, trees, bushes seems to have become the new Christmas tradition in the last decade or so. If its an outside object, then you can hang lights on it. And if you don’t already have enough objects, the stores are happy to provide you with plywood cutouts, heavy-duty wire guides, even blow-up figurines of larger-than-life Santas, Mickey Mouses, and maybe Jesus in a manger.

One of the most effective light displays that I’ve seen is actually pretty simple. A person put a spotlight in the yard facing the side of the house where there were no windows. Then he put a small cut-out shape about a foot away from the light. The small shape cast a dramatic shadow against the wall. The shape I remember seeing was of a Wiseman pointing either towards the star or his destination.

My house, however, doesn’t have such a simple outdoor decorating theme. We have tried to outline the entire roofline in the large outdoor multi-colored lights. And because we prefer a very neat, finished look, each light is mounted into a plastic holder that slides under the roof shingle. Each light is spaced according to the total length of the roofline divided by the number of lights on that strand available. (Yes, I hate doing the math, too!)

It’s a lot of work to get our lights up and looking good. And for the last several years, I have not had very much time to get that work done. December always seemed to be a fast month for me; but now that I am serving as a pastor, the month goes by so fast that I barely blink before its gone! If I can’t even catch my breath, how can I get lights up?

“Honey, the lights still aren’t up. Are you going to do it this year?”

What makes the lights so important? Why should I make them a priority over the other things I must get done? (Like writing this article about Christmas lights…) I think there are several reasons. First of all, the lights are a gift back to the community. We all enjoy driving around to look at Christmas lights. Just take a look at the lines of cars going to Point Pleasant, if you doubt me. When the lights are up on our house, we are saying “Merry Christmas” to everyone who drives by.

Secondly, Christmas lights are a reminder of the Light of the World – Jesus Christ. Isaiah 9 says this: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned. … For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called, ‘Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’ Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.”

John’s gospel picks up on this theme in its opening verses: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”

Even with all of the millions of Christmas lights burning in thousands of displays, we still live in a dark world. So many times, we light up our houses, yards and trees without recognizing how much darkness remains within us. Every time we are rude, self-serving, impatient, abrupt, dishonest, and excessive, the darkness grows a little darker. But whenever we are loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled, the light of Christ shines a little brighter.

I may or may not get my Christmas lights up on my house before Christmas Day, but I pray that you will see the Christmas Light inside of me everyday. When people see you, do they see darkness or light? During this season of preparing for Christmas, focus your energies on being a Light for Christ. Otherwise, you may just be celebrating Christmas lite.

Black Friday and Christmas Red and Green

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Nov. 23, 2007

Happy “Black Friday”! Don’t know what that means? A few years ago, retailers figured out that the Day-after-Thanksgiving sales were what pushed them out of the “red” in losing money into the “black” of turning a profit for the year. So “Black Friday” became the symbolic turnaround required to be successful in retail sales.

Have you noticed that the after-Thanksgiving sales incentives keep getting bigger and bigger? I heard that Kohl’s is opening at 4 a.m. Friday with “door-buster” sales incentives to get consumers up and out of bed and into their stores.

But it’s not just after-Thanksgiving anymore. Some stores have started opening on Thanksgiving Day to try and boost their bottom line. Wal-Mart keeps its physical stores closed on Thanksgiving Day, but walmart.com is open for business 24x7, and its Thanksgiving Day sales have been greater than any other online retailer.

What’s driving this buying and selling frenzy? Christmas “green.” Somehow our culture has gradually bought into the idea that each year’s Christmas has to be bigger and better than last year’s Christmas in terms of quantity and cost of presents. Of course, retailers love this trend – and even drive it!

Have you seen the commercial where Mom and the kids are eager to open their store-branded wrapped gifts? Dad comes in and announces that they can open their gifts when they get back from seeing Grandma. Next, they’re in the car outside Grandma’s house; Grandma opens her door and beckons them inside. Instead, Mom rolls down the car window, waves and shouts, “Hi Grandma!” Then she turns to Dad and says, “OK, let’s go!” They drive away, presumably so they can open all that stuff.

I am not naming which store made that commercial because I don’t want to give them any additional name-brand publicity for what I consider to a horrific obscenity against Christmas! That commercial makes me see Christmas “red”! Whenever we cross the line from “what can I give?” to “what am I gonna get?”, we have violated the meaning of Christmas.

But I’m really not surprised that people don’t know the meaning of Christmas anymore. In fact, the word “Christmas” may be soon on the “endangered” list. Instead of “Merry Christmas!”, we are supposed to use the more politically correct “Happy Holidays!” “Seasons Greetings” instead of “Glory to God in the highest, and peace towards men on earth.”

Christmas is supposed to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, but many have turned it into a celebration of consumerism and gluttony – a gluttony of presents, food, drink, revelry, etc. Now don’t get me wrong! I love the celebrations associated with this season!! I think it is right and good to give gifts to one another, to gather with family and friends, and to enjoy good food and good times. But here’s the point: we do all of these things to share the love of God with one another – NOT to get stuff for ourselves.

Now before you get too comfortable in yourself, thinking that none of this applies to you, let me add these challenging questions: Do you have presents to give without an expectation of receiving? Have you made an anonymous gift sometime during the year other than Christmastime? Have you encouraged others towards generosity by your own example?

I can ask you those questions, because I also ask them of myself. And I, too, fall short. You see, God’s standards for generosity are much higher than our own standards. The Bible tells us what God’s standards are for giving: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever would believe in him would not die but live.” (John 3:16)

The excitement of Christmas red and green gives way to the red blood of a Cross. And God mysteriously but thoroughly uses that red to turn the black of our sin into the white of God’s righteousness. So as you scurry through stores, gather for holiday parties, and eat all those goodies, remember the real reason for this season and say a prayer of confession and thanksgiving to God for the Gift given to you.

Cooler Weather and Warmer Welcomes

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Nov. 9th, 2007.

We finally got the cooler weather that’s expected with the changing of seasons. Summer seemed to hang on far longer than most of us wanted. It certainly stayed hot too long for my tastes! Several times this summer, I commented on how much southeastern Ohio was feeling like the Texas summers I grew up with. And I moved away from Texas to get away from those summers!

I really appreciate the four seasons. I enjoy the colors and crisp coolness of fall. I love a beautiful snowfall and cold temperatures (as long as it’s not snowing on Sunday and I can stay inside to admire the snow!). The new life of spring invigorates me, and I even enjoy a few hot days during summer.

What get’s me down is too much of any one season’s extremes. In Texas, I would experience as much as six weeks of 95+ to 100+ days in a row. Late July and most of August were almost unbearable in the heat. Now some folks will say, “It’s a dry heat,” but let me tell you – an oven’s dry heat too, and I wouldn’t want to live there either!

My first summer in Ohio was incredible. We moved north six years ago in early August. The high temperatures were hovering near 80, and lows were in the upper 50s. Back in Texas, they were in the middle of one of those 100+ stretches. I thanked God for letting me experience such beautiful weather my first week in Ohio – it was almost as if the weather itself was offering my family a special new-comer’s welcome!

Hospitality is a key part of every community and culture. When we welcome one another, we create lasting bonds. When hospitality is absent, distrust and isolation tears the community apart. The United Methodist Church has been running television ads lately trying to make people feel welcome. “Radical hospitality” is what they call it. To be radical means to take something to an extreme. Radical hospitality, then, is to go above and beyond expectations to make people feel welcome.

My first summer here was an experience of radical hospitality in terms of weather. I would love to give unlimited days of 70s for highs and 50s for lows. But that’s not within my control – or yours. So what can we do to offer radical hospitality to one another?

My first suggestion shouldn’t be radical, but our culture has changed so much in the past 30 years, that now it is radical: offer common courtesies like holding doors open for one another when going in and out of buildings, stores, schools, churches, etc. I recently ate lunch at Bob Evans. As I was leaving, a group of ladies were coming in. I held the door for them, and one woman out of the group said, “Thank-you. No one’s held the door for me for years!” It’s not much effort, but it really does help others to feel appreciated.

My second suggestion is a little more difficult: go out of your way to offer a random act of kindness to a stranger. For instance, you’re heading into Parkersburg from Belpre using the Memorial toll bridge. Pay the toll for the car behind you. Maybe you can afford a little more generosity – the next time you’re in the 5 items or less line in Wal-Mart, pick up the cost for the person behind you. (Now be careful – you may not be able to do that big-screen plasma TV).

My third suggestion is perhaps the most difficult – but also the most rewarding: become a friend to someone you don’t really know. This takes time, effort and intentionality. It means inviting them over for a meal, or to watch the Buckeyes on TV, or to play games, or (gasp!) to go to church together. Have conversations together – find out what the other person likes, his or her dreams in life, the hurts she or he’s experienced.

Jesus Christ showed us what radical hospitality can look like. Take a look at Luke 15:1-7 (actually the whole 15^th chapter is full of hospitality stories) when Jesus tells the story of the shepherd and the lost sheep. The shepherd had 100 sheep, but one was lost. The shepherd went out to find the one lost sheep, and eventually he did. When he found it, he rejoiced and brought it back to the rest of the flock. Then he threw a party to celebrate!

Sometimes we are the lost sheep; sometimes we are the shepherd who goes to find the sheep. I encourage you to enjoy this cooler weather and take advantage of it to go out and find someone who’s lost. Make them feel welcome. I promise you that there will be a party when you do! “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:7)

Saints and Sinners

Here's another "behind the times" post - this time from November 1: All Saints Day.


This Sunday, our church will honor the memories of loved ones who have died during the past two years. Their names will be read one at a time, and a bell will ring after each name is read. It’s a very solemn, but also joyful experience. We experience the grief of our losses – we miss these people tremendously! But we also celebrate that they have gone on to final victory – death has no sting for those who have faith in Jesus Christ!!

This celebration comes from the history of All Saints Day, which was November 1st. Some churches have special services on that day, no matter which day of the week November 1st falls. Our church celebrates All Saints Sunday on the next Sunday after November 1st. It is considered a “high holy day” along with other high holy days like Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. But the world in general, and many churches, pay less attention to this day that to the others – especially the “BIG” days of Christmas and Easter.

So what is All Saints Day and why is it considered “high” and “holy”? We have to reach all the way back to our early church history – back before the Reformation of the 16th century – to the times when people were martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ. In the early church under the Roman Empire, Christians were viewed with suspicion and hostility. Christian rituals were strange, their belief systems totally unlike the common worship of Roman deities. Rumors abounded that Christians were cannibals – they ate flesh and drank blood! They were immoral – engaging in “love feasts” where there was lots of kissing going on! They refused to worship the Emperer – making them enemies of the state!

So Christians were often rounded up and thrown in jails to make them recant their beliefs. Those who refused to recant were treated more harshly: they were brought into the “circuses” where they became lion food or were forced to fight against gladiators. Those early Christians were such firm pacifists that they refused to defend themselves. Death was the result. They became martyrs for their faith.

The Christian churches began celebrating the “birth days” of the martyrs – the day they were born into eternal life by leaving their earthly ones. They believed in Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:24-25: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

It didn’t take long for the number of martyrs to exceed the number of days in the year, and individual celebrations became impractical. A commemoration of “all martyrs” was held as early as 270 AD. Down through the centuries, the day became less about the martyrs – especially as the occasions of martyrdom decreased – and more about everyone who died in the faith.

This day points towards all Christian’s “birth day” of going to be with Christ. It reminds us that we are only visitors during this life; our true home is still on the other side of death. I think this is especially meaningful in areas with aging populations like southeastern Ohio. Demographically, Meigs County has a significant portion of its population older than 60. Just check the obituary section of this paper – there are nearly always multiple stories. Death is an undeniable part of life; but death does not have to be depressing! Death is NOT our ending, but our beginning!!

During life, all of us are sinners struggling to become saints. We face temptations of personal and communal greed, dishonesty and selfishness. We lose our tempers, we become unforgiving. In fact, without God’s help, the sinner cannot become a saint! But God chose to help – and continues to choose to help – all those who are willing to accept God’s help offered in Jesus Christ through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

So celebrate the high and holy activity of God in the lives of these who’ve gone before us. But don’t stop there! We also need to celebrate the ongoing transformation that God is doing in this life to make us ready for the next one. And if you aren’t aware of any changing happening in your life, then you are likely resisting the changes God is willing to make – changes that will make THIS life better. Go to church. Discover how God wants to use you to help others. Seek forgiveness – and offer it to others. You never know when the bell will ring for you.

Beggars and Choosers

I'm quite a bit behind in posting my articles for the Daily Sentinel. This article first appeared back on the last Friday of October. It was a lot more timely near Halloween than Thanksgiving and Christmas. But oh well, enjoy anyway.....


Last night was “Trick-or-Treat” Night here and in other communities in the County. Hundreds of children took to the streets dressed up in costumes and went from door-to-door expecting to receive candy. “Trick or Treat!” they shouted. Adults smiled, admired their costumes and threw a couple of fun-sized chocolate bars or sugary sweets into their bags. Then the kids raced off to the next house to repeat the ritual. Again and again. Until they come home at the end of the evening with bags almost as heavy as they are!

What fun! Begging for candy – and getting it!! During their quest, kids don’t care what kind of candy they receive. The fun is in the pursuit of a full bag – it’s only later that they become choosy at what they actually eat. (Actually, it may be the parents who are choosy as to what they actually eat!)

My wife and I would always go through the candy after our kids came home from trick-or-treat night. Part of the sorting, obviously, was to make sure the candy was safe to eat. I haven’t heard as much lately, but when I was growing up, there were all kinds of stories of unsafe and dangerous items being planted in the candy to hurt or poisoned unsuspecting children. Rumors of razor blades embedded in apples and popcorn balls meant the end of homemade or healthy treats. Now we’re left with prepackaged candy, none of which is really good for us.

But beyond making sure the candy is safe, we also separate out the chocolate from the sugary stuff. You see, I am very choosy when it comes to the candy that I consume! What I want is chocolate with nuts, such as Snickers, Mr. Goodbar, or Reece’s. My kids on the other hand, like Smarties, Tootsie Pops, and SourTarts, as well as chocolate. But they don’t like nuts!

I think all this begging and choosing about candy is similar to what we do when it comes to Jesus Christ. We come to Jesus as beggars. We have nothing of value to give him. Even if I have all the wealth of the world, I cannot buy a relationship with Christ. God doesn’t care about what I have, God cares about who I am. So the only way to have a relationship is to come as a beggar, begging for forgiveness and a fresh start in life.

And just as on trick-or-treat nights are bags are filled with candy, so are our lives filled with Jesus Christ when we come to him. Often in the euphoria of that new relationship, we don’t care what Jesus is doing in us. We’re just excited that now we have found something of true value. But then something strange happens. We start to become choosy about what Jesus wants to do with us. Some things about us, we are ready for him to change; but other places are definitely off-limits!

When pastors start to touch on those off limit places, they get accused of “meddlin’,” and people don’t like it. Sometimes pastors are meddling in things, but more often than not they are simply preaching the uncomfortable truth that we cannot choose to ignore without eternal consequences. We cannot say, “I’ll take Jesus – hold the nuts!” We either get all of Jesus, or none of Jesus.

In Luke chapter 9, Jesus said to a man, “follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “no one who puts his hand to the plow looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Jesus was not trying to be unreasonable with these men, but he was insisting that they follow him without reservation. He makes the same demands upon us today. We can beg for forgiveness and ask for salvation, but we cannot be choosy as to how God responds. You can trust that when you say “trick-or-treat” to Jesus, there will be no tricks – just treats!

What's Your Net Worth?

Not too long ago, I attended a special seminar on retirement planning. One of the exercises was to calculate my net worth. In simple terms, I added up the dollar value of everything I own, and then subtracted the amount of money I owe. The result wasn’t pretty. In fact, it was downright negative. I mean, literally in the negative! I owed more to others than what I owned. That meant even if I sold everything I had, it wouldn’t be enough to pay my debts.

Perhaps you’re in a similar situation. Recent statistics put family credit card debt averages at $8000. Even more disturbing, 36% of those who owed $10,000 or more on their credit cards earned less than $50,000 per year. That kind of debt is nearly impossible to pay off – which is why bankruptcy filings continue to rise.

Those of us who work for a living aren’t doing a very good job of saving for the days when we are no longer working. More than half of all employees in the US have less than $25,000 in total savings and investments. Count me in that half.

All this money stuff gives me a headache. When I look at where I am financially compared to where society tells me I ought to be, I get depressed. I’m simply not worth very much in the world’s eyes. Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley don’t come knocking on my door. Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Michael Dell don’t return my phone calls.

Every day we are bombarded with dual messages: you’re not good enough; but buy this or that and you’ll be better. Drug companies tell us we need their pills. Car companies tell us we need their cars. Beer and soda companies tell us we need to drink their products. Even churches have gotten into the advertising action. Come to OUR church and you’ll feel LOTS better!

The simple truth is that all the advertising messages we receive fall short of the truth – even the church ones. That’s because we cannot become good enough no matter what we do, or what we buy, or where we go to church. I’ve heard some people say that the denomination one attends is determined by economics. Poorer people tend to be Pentecostal or Church of God. Middle class people tend to be Baptist or Methodist. Richer people tend to be Lutheran, Presbyterian or Episcopalian. As if God designed churches based on net incomes. YUCK!

My net worth may not be much in the world’s eyes, and my church may not be one where lots of rich people attend, but I know that in God’s eyes – we are worth so much!! And so are you!! God doesn’t look at our checkbooks before deciding whether or not to care about us. God doesn’t care whether our cash value is negative or positive. Whether we’re in debt to our eyeballs or overflowing with cash, God sees us as who God made us to be. And God also sees how short we fall from what we were made to be.

The real net worth that God cares about is how much progress we’ve made through Him to become what we were made to be. Each day is a new deposit from God to you – to be invested in become more forgiving, more discerning, more generous. The bottom line in God’s eyes: how much are you becoming like Jesus Christ?

Jesus tells a parable to Peter in Matthew 18:21-35 about the servant who owed the king a tremendous, un-payable debt. The servant begged the king for more time to pay. The king, knowing full well the servant could never pay the debt, nevertheless cancelled the debt and sent the servant away as a free man. The servant, however, went and grabbed a fellow servant by the throat and demanded instant payment on a paltry debt. The second servant didn’t have the money to pay back the debt and so begged for more time to pay (just what the first servant had done with the king). But the first servant wasn’t as forgiving as the king – he sent his fellow servant to debtor’s prison.

Even though the first servant had an instant financial windfall from the king’s forgiveness, he had no net value in the king’s eyes. When the king heard about how the servant had treated his fellow servant, the debt was reinstated and the servant was sent away for forever – to pay a debt he could never repay.

Your net worth and mine should be based on God’s economy: how much can you forgive and give away? Not how much can you gain. We all fall short, but God forgives and restores us when we come to Him. I pray that you become wealthy by God’s standards!!

Mixing Religion and Politics

Did you watch the Republican presidential debate last week? Were you aware they were even having a debate? I didn’t watch it. I’m not even sure which night they debated.


I haven’t watched any of the several Democratic debates, either. I don’t want to get embroiled in presidential politics so early. But the media and the candidates certainly want me embroiled! It’s been non-stop Hillary v. Obama; Giuliani v. Romney. Is Fred Thompson in or not? Will Gore step in at the last minute and take it away?

I voted for President Bush both times; but he made a better governor of Texas than president of the United States (I used to live in Texas, so I had him as governor). I most often have voted Republican; but while we had years of Republican control of the White House and Congress, they did little of what I thought they had been elected to do. So I am ready to tune out politicians. Special interests and my interests are not resonating with one another.

One part of this campaign season has interested me. Religion has gone mainstream. Faith and politics had been like mixing oil and water – ever since John F. Kennedy silenced critics of his Catholicism in 1960. But after Bush’s re-election in 2004, faith and politics have become inseparable.

Mitt Romney is questioned about his Mormonism. Hillary Clinton and President Bush are both United Methodists. Barak Obama grew up in Muslim-dominated Indonesia, but is a member of the United Church of Christ. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is an ordained Baptist minister. John McCain seems to vacillate between his Episcopal origins and current participation in an Arizona Baptist church.

I cannot recall knowing so much about a candidate’s religious affiliation – especially at this stage of the election process. So how much good has come from this knowledge? I’m not sure. While I know more about their affiliations, I am less clear about how those affiliations affect their behaviors.

I believe that one’s religious faith is core to who that person is and how that person behaves – or at least is SHOULD be. Political candidates are not the only folk who can be questioned about their faith and practice. All of us can and should be questioned – even if we only ask the question internally.

Politics – in its most simple definition – is the intersection of philosophy and action in a public setting. We have politics no matter where we go. Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there also.” (Matt 18:20). That gathering of two or three (or more) is political. Jesus belongs in politics! Especially for those who claim to follow him!

When I finally decide to decide on a presidential candidate – how that person’s faith is lived through his or her politics will be crucial to my decision. But the presidential race is not the only race where religion and politics should mix. It should mix in the politics of my local church, in my local community, even in my local family! Who I am religiously should be reflected in who I am politically.

We make political decisions all them time – most often without realizing it. Did you ever drive through a stop sign? That was a political action. At that moment, you put your interests ahead of society’s interests. Society wants a safe driving experience for everyone. You wanted to get to your destination a little more quickly. You agreed to accept the risk of an accident (or traffic violation) in exchange for time.

Voting for political candidates involves the same principle. What do you put as priority – your interests or society’s interests? Where are they the same interests? Jesus tells us to always put others first – even at the risk of losing our lives as a result. “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matt 16:25-6)

My friends, Jesus is mixing politics with religion. Shouldn’t you?

I’m not a fax machine, but I can still receive!

My column in the local paper went through a "hiatus" as my column was lost in the shuffle for several weeks. I have made it my policy to not post online until after the print version has been distributed. Then things got very busy for me and I did not get this article posted for another week beyond its first published date. So without further adieu, here is the article that was first published Oct 5, 2007 in The Daily Sentinel:


I have a love-hate relationship with technology. I am old enough to remember what life was like before personal computers, fax machines, cell phones and the internet. But I’m young enough that I have used those technologies for almost my entire working life. They do so much for me: make communications easier; send information long distances instantly; store and retrieve data. But then things can go wrong. Sometimes the technology just seems SO DUMB!

Take for instance, the fax machine. It seems simple: I want to send a copy of a document from here to somewhere else. I have the phone number for the fax machine there. I put my paper into the sheet feeder (making sure I put it in the right direction!) and dial the number. I even remember to hit the green “start” button so that when the two fax machines connect, my document will start feeding automatically. I hear the numbers “dialed;” I hear the “sqeeeee-grshhhhhhh-sqeeeee-diiiiiit” that tells me the fax machines are talking to one another. I see the document start to go through the feeder. Success! I walk away to take care of something else.

An hour later, I come back and discover my document is stuck two-thirds of the way down into the feeder, slightly askew. I gently tug on the paper. It doesn’t move. I tug harder. It moves a little bit, but doesn’t come loose. I tug a little harder. The paper rips into two pieces. What’s left in the machine is now sticking out about one-sixteenth of an inch – nowhere near enough for me to grab it with my fingers!

So now I have a ruined document. I have no idea how much of it made it to the other end. And I have to break my machine apart to gather then other end of the paper. By the time I am done, that fax machine will never send another document again.

So why did it do that? What caused the paper to jam? Why isn’t the machine smart enough to holler “help!” when things started going wrong? Was it feeling neglected because I walked away? Did it decide to “get back” at me for not baby-sitting the entire fax-sending process?

It’s amazing how much we put human emotion and expectations on mechanical things. Social scientists call that “anthropomorphism” – an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics. Well, I say we’re only human and so we can only understand things when we try to humanize them.

I believe God created us with this tendency. In fact, I think it may be one of the greatest gifts God gave us. Genesis 1:27 says this: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

To coin a phrase, God “deifi-morphed” humanity – gave us something that allows us to recognize the divine in non-divine things. Now there are some people who have twisted that around to make it go the other way: humanity created God in its own image. But I don’t think so.

We have “made up” a lot of things about God. We often try to superimpose our definitions of what it means to be god-like upon God. And we often reject God because God refuses to conform to our nice little tidy definitions and expectations of what God should be.

But God did something more than just make humans in God’s image. God “anthropomorphed” into humanity’s image. The apostle Paul explained it this way: “Jesus Christ, who being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore, God also exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phillipians 2:6-11)

I am so grateful that God created me with something divine so that I could recognize when God became something human!

I can project all kinds of human qualities on that fax machine, but it will never succeed in receiving them – and I will never become more fax-like in order to save it from destroying my documents. Maybe that difference between my actions and God’s action explains why I have a love-hate relationship with technology, while God only has a love relationship with humanity. When the fax machine doesn’t do what I want it to do, I end up breaking it and throwing it into the garbage. Thank God that when I don’t do what God wants, I don’t become garbage! And neither do you!!

Why not take a moment right now and thank God for being willing to fix you no matter how badly you are broken? God’s sending love from heaven to earth. To you. Will you receive it?

Balancing Emotion and Reason

Originally published in The Daily Sentinel on Friday, September 14, 2007.


This month marks a major anniversary – one that EVERYONE should remember! I’ll give you a hint: This is the 20th anniversary. Remember 1987?

Still not sure? I’ll give another clue: television. Now I’m SURE you remember! …No? Alright, this month marks the 20th anniversary of the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” premier.

Can you believe we’ve been watching the adventures of Captain Picard, Commander Riker, Lt. Commander Data, and the rest for 20 years?! (Of course, you realize that Captain Kirk, Commander Spock and Dr. McCoy are 40 years in the past….)

I admit it: I am a die-hard “Trekker.” I grew up on the original series and I waited with breathless anticipation for the debut of “Next Gen.” In some ways, the first show was terrific; disappointing in others. Over time, however, the Next Gen characters became much more “real” than the original series’ cast.

Data, in particular, fascinates me. He was in some ways the antithesis of Spock. Spock experienced emotions but suppressed them in favor of cold logic. Data was the epitome of cold logic – but his greatest desire was to be human.

Humans are a complex blending of cold logical reasoning and hot-blooded emotionalism. Letting either of them take over and chaos results. The second half of the 20th century was characterized by the philosophy of “if it feels good, do it.” But the rampant sexuality, drug abuse, and irresponsibility paved the way for two generations of broken homes, broken hearts and broken lives.

Doing what feels good can be great – but only if it’s done within the context of responsible reason. For some people, abusing others emotionally, verbally and physically feels good. But that certainly doesn’t make their behavior right! Others feel good when they take advantage of those less intelligent, less powerful, or less fortunate. Greed and oppression are emotions – but they aren’t good ones.

On the other hand, simple logic can also be dangerous. It seems logical to hurt someone else before that person hurts you. We can rationalize our behaviors to the point that care, concern and love are lost. When we lose our compassion, we have lost a core component of what God has given us.

I am convinced that God’s grace is experienced with both logic and emotion. Becoming a believer in Jesus Christ is both an intellectual acceptance of Jesus’ death, resurrection and return, and an emotional response to that acceptance. Paul says it well in Romans 8:

“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace…

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

The Holy Spirit witnesses to our spirits: “You belong to God!” WOW!! That’s powerful stuff! I can’t help but get emotional when I take time to really think about that. Thinking and feeling are both part of the Christian experience. So if you’ve “lost that lovin’ feeling” towards God, maybe you haven’t been thinking about him enough. If all you’re doing is thinking about God and not doing anything for God, then your emotional well has probably run dry.


So the lesson I’ve learned from Star Trek is this: Don’t try to be Spock. Don’t try to be Data. Just be the person God created YOU to be! Balanced between emotions and reason.

Going Away, Going Home

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Sept. 8, 2007

Two weeks ago, my wife and I took our oldest child to college. She’s attending a school in northeastern Ohio; it’s about three hours from home. Many people have asked me how I’m doing with her being so far away – and I think they’re expecting me to talk about how much I miss her and wish she were closer.

But I don’t miss her. Well… let me say it differently: I am not wasting away because she isn’t around us so much anymore. Please don’t get me wrong. I love my daughter deeply, but part of that love is recognizing that I must let her go. If I try to keep her closer to home, that’s not necessarily the best thing for her – and it’s not the best thing for me. Both of us need space if we are going to make this transition successful.

I haven’t seen the movie, “Failure to Launch,” but the idea of adult children living at home with their parents doesn’t seem funny to me. Thinking back 20-something years, I couldn’t imagine wanting to live at home with my parents! Now that I’m the parent, I don’t want my kids living with me when they become adults. That is the time for all of us to move on to the next stage in our lives.

There’s a whole world out there waiting for my daughter. College provides the bridge between adolescence and adulthood, and I want her to cross that bridge successfully. Right now, she plans on becoming an English teacher – maybe even a college English professor. But she also enjoys other interests, and I wouldn’t be surprised if during the next four years she takes up one of them as her vocational interest.

She is tremendously excited about her future, and I share that excitement. I’m thrilled for her, and I look forward to seeing how God will use her. So while I certainly miss her, I do not want her back with me fulltime.

Jesus and his disciples experienced this letting go process, too. After all their time together, the disciples did not want to see Jesus go away from them. In fact, the idea was so unimaginable, that they ignored all his prophecies regarding his pending death. At one point, Peter even told him point-blank: “This will never happen!”

Jesus wasn’t dissuaded by their arguments or their ignorance. He went through crucifixion and into resurrection. He told them, “I tell you the truth; It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:7-8 NIV)

The Counselor Jesus told them about is the Holy Spirit. Jesus went away in order for the Spirit to come. Jesus could only be present physically with a few people at a time; the Holy Spirit is will all Christians simultaneously. Thank God that Jesus went away and the Holy Spirit came – for it is the witness of the Holy Spirit with your spirit that makes you a child of God! (See Romans 8)

Going away was difficult for Jesus, but he did it so that we could all someday be going home to be with him forever. My daughter’s going away is less difficult because I look to Jesus’ example, and I know that we are all going home to a REAL home together.

Having said all this, I recognize that there are situations in which parents and children do need to live together as adults. And those who are in those situations, please do not take this as a criticism against you. There are degrees of independence and healthy separation that are unique to each of us. So I ask you to allow the going away to happen according to God’s best – knowing that God’s best will let you go home.

"Suess-eptible" Lessons on Handling Conflict

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007


The River City Players present “Seussical—The Musical” this weekend. I play a supporting character, General Gengus Khan Schmitz, who runs a military school for young Who children. (That's NOT me in the photo ...)

General Schmitz is an interesting person. He’s full of military pomp and bluster. He likes to put on a grand marching show. But he doesn’t really know the darker side of war. For him, war is an opportunity for glory – until he encounters young Jojo.

Jojo is a new recruit to the school, just before the Butter War breaks out. Jojo objects to the war’s rationale: “Sir, This war makes no sense. Just one Think and you’d quit. Spreading butter up or down doesn’t matter one bit!”

Indeed, the whole reason to go to war on Who is to get rid of those “bibulous butter-side downers!” It doesn’t take much imagination to read through the lines of the play and recognize the moral point on display: war fought over insignificant differences between people is just plain stupid!

Indeed, most of our conflicts with one another are over small, insignificant things. When I provide pre-marital counseling to couples, we talk about how each of them puts toothpaste on a toothbrush. Are you one who flattens the tube from the bottom, or do you squeeze from the middle? Those who flatten from the bottom view middle-squeezers as illogical. (Don’t you know you can’t get the toothpaste from the bottom of the tube if you’ve squeezed out the middle?) Those who squeeze from the middle think bottom-flatteners are obsessive-compulsive over the tiniest details. (Don’t you have more important things to think about?)

Toothpaste. Butter. Oh, easily we can get our tempers tantrummed! So where do we draw the line between the silly and the serious? When does something become something worth fighting for?

We want the line to be easily drawn, but the dilemma is that there is no line to easily differentiate between the two. Even Jesus’ life offers us a range of responses. The most famous “fight scene” in the gospels is when Jesus cleared the Temple in Jerusalem of the moneychangers and sacrificial animal sellers. He overturned tables, dumped and broke cages holding the birds, goats, lambs, etc. He screamed, “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers!” (Matt 21:12-13)

However, Jesus refused to fight when the soldiers came to arrest him in the middle of the night. Peter swung a sword at one of the men, cutting off the man’s ear. “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” (Matt 26:52)

Jesus offered no resistance all the way to the cross. He accepted the mocking, the spitting, the beating, and the climactic agony of crucifixion.

So why did Jesus react strongly against the money changers but no one else? Perhaps because he knew there was no redeeming value to what was going on in the temple. Worship had become a matter of economic exchange where the Temple grew rich by exploiting the people. Jesus’ violence was a necessary correction to a system gone terribly wrong.

The violence done to Jesus, however, was God’s mysterious way of correcting an even more terrible wrong – humanity’s choice for sin. Jesus didn’t resist arrest and the cross because he knew it was the path to resurrection. Not just his resurrection – but the opportunity for resurrection for all of us!

Fighting over whether one butters bread up or down is silly. Dr. Seuss helps us recognize that we must be very careful choosing what causes are worth fighting for. Jesus Christ does more. He helps us recognize that some things are fought for in very surprising ways. I pray that you will be surprised by Jesus and take the right approach to handling all conflict that comes your way.

"Michael Vick Makes Me Sick"

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday Aug. 24, 2007

I caught a few minutes of a talk radio show this week. Its funny how at night, AM radio can do strange things. I somehow managed to get a station from Boston, and the topic of conversation was the Michael Vick dog fighting case.

Michael Vick is the star quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. Over the last several years, the Falcons have become contenders in the NFL – largely because of Vick’s athleticism and leadership on the field. Now his off-the-field behavior has put him under the microscope. Reports of dog death by drowning, electrocution and other morbid, violent behaviors have surfaced in recent weeks. He entered a plea agreement with federal prosecutors for dog fighting conspiracy after his co-defendants agreed to testify against him.

“Michael Vick makes me sick!” said the caller. She couldn’t believe how cruel Vick’s behavior had been towards his dogs. In this caller’s opinion, Vick has done something unforgivable; he should be banned from every playing professional football again.

The call raised two moral questions in my mind. First, what are the boundaries of acceptable, or at least tolerable, behavior? Second, what are the consequences for those whose behavior crosses the line?

Vick clearly crossed the legal line, and the commonly accepted moral line. But what consequences should he face? Is what he’s done truly unforgivable?

The Bible tells us that there is only one unforgivable sin: “I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” (Matthew 12:31-32 NIV)

Ever since Jesus said this, there’s been ongoing debate on what “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” really is. But it would be very difficult to argue that what Vick did is blaspheming the Holy Spirit – however severe his cruelty against the animals, no matter how much money he won or lost betting on the dogs.

Sports columnist Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post recently wrote this about Vick:

If he says what arrogant athletes in trouble usually say, that this is behind him and it's time to move on, his penitence will be insufficient. He'd better take the approach, and publicly, that his god isn't finished with him yet and there's a better man at the end of this regrettable process than at the beginning. Vick, clearly a man used to taking what he wants without fear of consequence, had better start begging quite literally for mercy and forgiveness. In public. Every chance he gets.

Sounds to me like Wilbon wants Vick to have a “born-again” experience. Or at least to put on a “born-again” act. When Christians talk about being “born again,” they are describing the change God makes in a person from the inside out. This isn’t something that we do – it’s something God does in us. I’m not sure if that’s what Wilbon means.

I pray that Vick WILL have a legitimate “born-again” experience. I haven’t followed his career; I know nothing about him except what I’ve read in recent weeks. From that, it sure seems he needs to be born again. If he simply pretends the experience, then I think he’s doing something much worse than animal cruelty. If he spends the rest of his life pretending, then he HAS blasphemed against the Holy Spirit.

In the meantime, we Christians should pray for him. We should also forgive him. But forgiveness doesn’t mean sin’s consequences aren’t felt during this life. Forgiven Christians still face the consequences of their sins in this age (earthly life), but they are spared the consequences in the next age (eternal life).

Remember that the next time you’re ready to condemn. Remember that the next time you’re the one who crossed the line. Michael Vick doesn’t make me sick – just sad.

Sharing Fair-ey Tales

Fair week is special. Adults get a break from the routine; kids get a chance at rides and prizes. Families get together and camp out in the RV. Some come to show off their skills in various events, others come to gawk at what’s been entered in the events. Some come to sell their wares, some to raise money for charitable or school groups; others come to buy the best tacos-in-a-bag or freshest lemonade in the area.

I grew up in the Texas Panhandle, and our big fair was the Tri-State Fair. Folks would come from Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico to enter their 4-H projects, domestic and fine arts, baking, canning, etc. Up-and-coming musical acts and a few acts a bit past their prime would make appearances during Fair Week. The Midway would be crowded with games, rides, food booths, and displays. It might have been a little bigger than the Meigs County Fair, but it certainly wasn’t any better.

As a teenager, I worked in a booth sponsored by our local ministerial association. It was pretty simple actually. We didn’t ask for money, and we didn’t throw out lots of literature. We just did one thing: passed out cups of ice-cold water.

Although the fair wasn’t until mid-September, temperatures in the upper 90s were common. And there’s nothing like some refreshing, ice-cold water in the midst of a scorcher!

Why cups of cold water? You’ll find the answer in Matthew 10:42: “If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciples, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” (NIV)

A cup of cold water isn’t much; but Jesus used this example to show how even small things matter in the kingdom of heaven. Often we are tempted to think that our actions and attitudes simply do not mean much in the grand scheme of things. After all, compared to the impact of the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, my throwing out an empty soda can from my car on Route 124 is nothing! When North Korea wants to make nuclear weapons to threaten South Korea, my angry words against my wife mean nothing, right?

Wrong! My actions and attitudes do affect others, just as much as those “bigger things.” A kind deed gets bigger as its repeated, spreading goodness far beyond ourselves. And bad things also get multiplied — to the point that they become global threats.

A cup of cold water shared in Jesus’ name doesn’t seem like much – but it is! It’s how God takes something insignificant and inexpensive and makes it intimate and invaluable. The MasterCard marketing folks would tell us it’s “priceless.”

So what about you? What Fair-ey tales can you tell? In what ways have you expressed and received the hospitality that should mark every disciple of Jesus Christ?

An ice-cold cup of water, doesn’t that sound good?

How Does a Garden Grow?

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Aug. 10, 2007

Drive around this area during the summer and you’ll see garden after garden – in backyards, side yards, and even a few front yards. My wife and I joined the gardening movement last summer. We prepped an area back behind the parsonage and planted lettuce, spinach, summer squash, zucchini, and butternut squash.

Garrison Keillor (of A Prairie Home Companion) tells the story about people locking their cars in Lake Wobegon starting in late July and early August. Not because they’re afraid their cars will be stolen, but to protect themselves from a more sinister danger. It seems Ralph went to the hardware store to pick up a box of nails and forgot to lock the car. During the six minutes that he was in the store, someone discovered the back seat was unlocked and filled the entire car with green zucchini!

That’s the way I felt about all the butternut squash from last year’s garden. There was too much!!! So we were smart this year; we didn’t plant ANY butternut squash. But, lo and behold, three different butternut squash plants “volunteered” themselves to this year’s garden. Once again, my butternut runneth over!!

The growing garden made me think about spiritual growth. What makes a Christian grow? Jesus told several stories about the kingdom of God being like seeds planted in a field: “A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain – first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26-29).

The growth, said Jesus, happens all by itself. That means it must be God’s work to make it grow! I can prep the soil, plant the seeds, add water when needed, but the growing part – the hardest part – happens without me doing anything.

It’s the same for Christians. We can read Scripture, pray, give generously and sacrificially, worship with others, help others in need – all those things we know that we should be doing. But all of our work is in vain without God doing the divine part – growing us into becoming more like Jesus Christ. That’s what salvation is to me – growing to be so much like Jesus that there’s no room for sinful Kerry anymore.

The Apostle Paul said salvation is a process – running a race to “win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14) We are intended to be growing, running, never standing still or accepting the status quo. If you feel dead, when was the last time you opened yourself to the Giver of Life? If your personal life is so full of weeds – bad relationships, bad habits, unforgiveness, bitterness – when was the last time you allowed God to prune away the junk?

Yes, this is a busy season. The garden must be harvested. Meigs County Fair is next week. School’s just another couple of weeks away. But don’t forget God’s part of your life. If you’ve taken a break from worshipping on Sunday (or Saturday or any other day of the week), then get back to church! If you’ve not read your Bible, prayed, or told someone else how much God loves them – get busy!! God’s got a lot of growing in you to do!

Bridging the Gap

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Aug. 3, 2007

Last week my four-year-old niece, Cassandra, came to visit us for the week. It was my most intense experience with a preschooler in over a decade. How quickly we forget the way things were “back then!”

For example, I’d forgotten about the importance of the bedtime rituals. My youngest daughter (now a teenager) occasionally still comes to me for goodnight hugs and kisses, but otherwise it’s each one to his or her own. I don’t even define when its bedtime anymore. Cassandra, however, has an elaborate ritual with a series of steps that must be followed in exact order at the appropriate time. Otherwise, she will not relax and go to sleep.

The first night was pretty easy. Cassandra still had the excitement of coming to visit us. The second night, all the newness had worn off and she fully realized Mommy and Daddy were not around. Homesickness set in, and I experienced a four-year-old’s expression of angst. It wasn’t very pretty.

We also had to dig out all the old Disney movies on VHS tapes that hadn’t been watched in ages. Otherwise, our house had very little in the way of easy entertainment options.

“Remember when we had so many toys that we had to convert the dining room into a playroom?” I asked my wife. “What happened to them?”

“They’re long gone dear – all except a few keepsake toys packed away in plastic buckets in the basement.”

That’s when it struck me. I’ve been “gapped” by the progress of time; I am no longer the parent of young children. Without my realizing it, a whole generation is already coming up behind me. And I’m not particularly well equipped to handle them.

I wonder if that happened to Jesus. The gospel of Luke tells us about the time people were bringing their children to Jesus, just so he could touch them. “When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.’” (Luke 18:15-16)

The disciples seemed ill equipped to handle the kids. Probably some of them were crying. I would guess a few of the infants and toddlers had soiled bottoms and didn’t smell very good (after all, there were no Pampers back then). As travelers, the disciples certainly didn’t have a lot of toys on hand to keep the children entertained. So it was easier to get rid of the problem by dismissing them, driving the children away.

But that’s not how Jesus wanted the children treated. He called for them, gathered them into his arms and loved them, stinky bottoms and all.

Are we embracing children in our churches today? I am blessed to have several families with young children in my church. Yes, they sometimes cry in the middle of my sermon. But that’s OK by me. I like to think of them as just breaking a little more of the kingdom of heaven into the room.

Unfortunately, we have all heard horror stories about the unwelcome environments some churches have created towards children. Sometimes it’s a subconscious thing. We just get so used to doing things our way that we forget there are other ways that might possibly be even better.

After the second night with Cassandra, bedtime went very well. I’m eternally grateful to my two daughters who took on a lot of the bedtime management tasks. My youngest daughter, in particular, seemed to enjoy being the “big sis” for once.

By the end of the week, Cassandra had adjusted to us, and we had adjusted to her. We each learned things about ourselves and one another during the week. Cassandra discovered she could be a little more independent, that she could read a letter from her parents all by herself, and that she really could eat corn directly from the cob!

I learned a valuable lesson in hospitality. I discovered some of the little ways that I can make others feel welcome even when I don’t have the ideal environment for them. I also learned how much my own habits can get in the way of hospitality.

“Let the children come,” said Jesus. And you are God’s child no matter how old or young you are. Jesus Christ bridged the gap between you and God. This weekend, go to the church of your choice and both welcome the children and experience being welcomed as a child of God.

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Interesting article from another person dealing with this issue: http://worshipconnection.cokesbury.com/content.aspx?dyn=1367