Monday, August 25, 2008

Coming Soon!

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Aug. 15, 2008



I learned the other day that a new Star Trek movie is in the works. I am a confirmed “Trekker,” so this is big news for me. I went on the Internet to learn as much about the new movie as I could. The last movie, “Star Trek: Nemesis,” was very disappointing. I hope the new movie will be much better.

Going online, I uncovered rumor after rumor about the new Star Trek movie. The variations on plot lines, casting, and release dates reminded me of one of my favorite “Star Trek-isms”: infinite diversity in infinite combinations (or IDIC). The movie is going to be about Jean Luc Picard; no, it’s going to be about Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. But wait! How can they even think about putting 70ish actors William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy back on the bridge of the Enterprise? Besides, didn’t Kirk get killed about 4 movies ago?

Well, its official: the movie is going to be about Kirk and co., but going back in time to BEFORE they came together on the original Enterprise on the original series – using all different actors in their 20s to fill the roles. Uh-oh, that could be troublesome for Star Trek purists like me.

The original Star Trek was produced in the late 1960s. Watching reruns or DVDs of those episodes, the aura of 1960s fashion and special effects make them incredibly cheesy by today’s standards. When Star Trek: Next Generation aired, creator and producer Gene Roddenberry wisely set that series about 70 years into the future from the original series. The then-current production techniques used for the series helped everything looked so much more “hi tech” than before, and yet the future setting protected the integrity of the original series.

After Roddenberry’s death, a different producer conceived “Enterprise” as a series set back in the earliest days of Starfleet – nearly 150 years BEFORE Captain Kirk took the bridge. But the Enterprise series was produced using 21st century production technology. As a result, it made Kirk’s time appear less technologically advanced and cheesier than ever.

Why does any of this matter, you ask? My response is that Star Trek has become more than casual entertainment for me. It is a metaphor for exploring core understandings of human nature, the implications of philosophical, political and religious understandings, and the role technology has in shaping those explorations. Star Trek lets us as the basic Why? What? and How? questions of life.

Amazingly, the Bible does the same thing. Scripture also asks those questions, but even better than Star Trek, it offers answers that have divine inspiration, authority and applicability to us! My Bible reading this week took me to the Old Testament book of Habakkuk. I haven’t read this prophet’s writings in a while, so it was startling stuff – almost like something brand new.

During his time, Jerusalem is filled with people who ignore God, including the king and all his court. The Babylonians have defeated the previous empires – the Assyrians and the Egyptians. And now Babylon is doing some “mopping up” by taking the little kingdoms, too. That means Judah and its capital Jerusalem.

Habakkuk asks God the basic “why?” question of all time: “Why do you tolerate wrong?” (Hab 1:3) He goes on to list the injustices that he sees all around him, and yet the wrong-doers are not punished. Then he asks again, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” (Hab 1:13)

Then God responds: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” (Hab 2:2-3)

God goes on to promise that all things will be made right; but things will get worse before they get better. But no matter how bad it gets, remember that God is still present, still prepared, and still will make things right. But God doesn’t give many details about the how or when. In short, God says this: “Have faith. Trust me.”

If you are like me, then sometimes trusting God is hard. Maybe the hardest thing any of us are ever asked to do. Just like the new Star Trek movie, God has something coming soon. I don’t have to trust that Paramount Pictures will do Star Trek right by me, but I do have to trust that God will do right – not by me, but by God’s own standard of holiness.

I pray that each of us will be able to proclaim along with Habakkuk (in Hab 3:17-18): “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my Savior.” It’s coming soon! God will not prove false. Wait for it! It will certainly come and will not delay.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Taking the Road Less Traveled


First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008


Did you ever study the famous Robert Frost poem written in 1920 called “The Road Not Taken”? It was part of my high school literature class. We had to find all kinds of deep meaning in the poem’s lines:

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Of course, the simple meaning is that each of us have choices before us that are equally inviting, and we should not regret the choices we make once we make them. A deeper meaning is that there are some choices that take us away from the majority, and those choices are often superior to “crowd think.” (But of course, don’t tell that to media producers. TV and movie executives would prefer to attract the masses with banality than make higher quality, but less lucrative offerings.)

But last week I discovered a new application of this poem: my daughter just got her driver’s license. You better believe that I’m encouraging her to take the roads less traveled as she gets used to being behind the wheel! Most kids her age have already had their driver’s licenses for as much as three years, but we took the less travelled route and didn’t pursue the license until she truly needed to have it. Truth is, in Racine, she could get everywhere she needed to go by walking or riding her bike. Now that we’re somewhere else, the car is much more necessary.

Along with the driver’s license comes the need for insurance. I was prepared for our insurance costs to go up, but I’m glad I was sitting down when I heard the first quote! Adding our newly licensed driver more than doubled our monthly premium. That’s rough!! So I didn’t stop at my first quote, I shopped around. I took the other path and didn’t stop until I found an insurance carrier who would raise our premiums by only $23 per month. You better believe I won’t be going back to that first way!

But all these roads and choices and costs brought me back to how we respond to God. What choices do we make when it comes to God? Are all choices equally valid? Can we go back and try again if the path turns out to be a dead end?

Of course, the answers depend on the particular faith perspective of the persons making them. A Buddhist, for example, would say “yes” to the “trying again” question; that’s the whole point of reincarnation. A Christian might also say “yes” to that question, but mean something very different. For a Christian, “trying again” refers to the forgiveness we receive from God every time we confess our bad decisions to God. But once this life is over, there is no going back; your time is up.

I know there is much popular appeal to the idea that all religions are simply different paths to the same destination. After all, we reason, who are we to judge a person’s faith? Isn’t that up to God? Well, yes it is. And that’s precisely the point at which the argument breaks down. God DID choose one path. And that path was promised to a man named Abraham, passed through a reluctant leader named Moses, travelled on through a poet/shepherd/warrior/king named David, was challenged, amplified, and renewed through prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah, and finally was completed through Jesus Christ – God Incarnate.

All of this was God’s choice, not ours. That’s why Jesus made the exclusivist claim in John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Were it not for Jesus Christ, no one could get to God. His choices in life, his death, and his resurrection all paved the way, bridged the chasm, opened the door to an eternal relationship with God. Once done, there was no going back to any other way.

I encourage you to get on the road with God – no matter what anyone else thinks about that decision. I promise that you will find the road that makes all the difference!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Where is it?!

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, August 1, 2008


The movers pulled out of the driveway after unloading all of our belongings into the new parsonage. I went back inside the house to be confronted by over 400 boxes, furniture that needed placement, and a kitchen still being remodeled. Things were a mess!

Looking through the chaos, it was tempting to simply throw my hands up in frustration. How did we ever accumulate all of this stuff in the first place? Didn’t we give a whole bunch of stuff away BEFORE we moved? And where do we begin to make sense of it all now that we’re here?

I started in the bedroom. I need a functional bed, a dresser, and a closet. But wait, where are those bed slats for supporting the box springs? Where are those screws to attach the rails to the headboard? Where are the felt pads to go on the feet of the dresser so the legs don’t scratch the hardwood floor?

OK, let’s try the bathroom. I need a working shower, toilet and sink. What happened to the screws for the shower curtain rod? Where did I put that razor and shaving cream?

Hmmm, maybe the kitchen? Nope. The refrigerator needs to go in the spot where the wall was torn out, and several more cabinets are being replaced. There’s no room to put the plates, glasses and pots – even if I could find them!

Alright, then, I’ll take my books over to my new office at the church. There aren’t enough book cases in the office, so let’s take some from the house. My son dutifully assists in shifting 20 boxes and three book cases from the house to the church. I start unpacking the books. But where are the shelves? I can’t stand it anymore!!

We looked everywhere for those shelves. I thought maybe they’d gotten lost in the garage. I searched through the tools, trashcans and other boxes. No shelves. I went down to the basement; maybe the movers put the shelves down there. Lots of buckets, lots of boxes, some shelves – but not THE shelves. I was ready to give up. They were lost and I was not about to find them.

Every time I turned around, something seemed to be missing. “Where is it?” almost became a hypnotic mantra. I mumbled as I wandered through the house, “Where is it? Where’s it? Wheresit? Wherst? Wherrrrrrr!!!

Jesus told a story – several stories, actually – about lost and found situations. In Luke 15, Jesus tells about the shepherd who goes out to look for his lost sheep, the woman who lost her coin, and the father who lost his son. These are some of my favorite stories in the whole Bible. I think they are especially important today in our “here today/gone tomorrow” culture. There are things important enough to look for when they’re lost, to hold on to beyond the moment, to cherish and celebrate when they are found.

The woman who lost her coin had this to say: “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin!”

Jesus said this: “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

I eventually found all the missing screws, bed slats, toiletries, etc. and made progress in turning the house into a home. I even found the missing book shelves. They were in the church! During the moving process, the shelves had been taken out of the book case and set aside. They were set aside because one of them had slid out of place and slammed directly onto my son’s finger! In the midst of helping him deal with his pain, we put the shelves against the wall in the hallway and forgot about them. And I walked right by them at least a dozen times before they finally came to my attention.

I was so excited to see those shelves! Hooray!

But my joy is nothing compared to God’s joy when we find God. How often do we pass right by the most obvious signs and indications of God’s presence? How long are we going to ignore Him? What does it take for us to stop trying to lose ourselves in everything else but God? Have you lost your joy in the Lord? Are you looking for a peace that passes understanding?

Where is it?! Right here! In the church!!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Going, But Not Gone

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday July 18, 2008


By now, much of Meigs County – at least those who follow the goings-on in our United Methodist Churches – know that my family and I are moving. We left on Tuesday for my new appointment at the Grace United Methodist Church in Perrysburg, Ohio.

Perrysburg is a south-side suburb of Toledo, thus I went from one corner of the state to the other. So far in my six years in Ohio, our family has lived in the Columbus area, Springfield, Troy (near Dayton), and Racine. That’s just about every major section of the West Ohio United Methodist Conference. Yes, Methodists are known for moving their pastors around, but I may be the extreme example of that!

For some people, the idea of moving gives then such a severe case of shudders that they avoid even thinking about it—much less actually doing it! One member of my congregation told me he wasn’t moving until he had to go six-feet underground and the address marker said “Rest in Peace.” Perhaps you feel the same.

I, however, get excited about new places. During the spring of my junior year in high school, Dad had a job offer that would cause our family to move from where we had lived for the past 10 years. My parents called me in for a discussion; they wanted to get my reactions and thoughts about the move before making their final decision. Although it meant spending my senior year in a new high school, I surprised them by saying I was in favor of the move!

Moving gives people a chance to re-introduce themselves, to establish new relationships, and create new impressions of themselves in others. Moving also helps us to learn more things about ourselves that we might not have learned without the stresses of the new places, people and circumstances.

It’s certainly been true for me. After a decade growing up in Canyon, I was deemed unexceptional by my peers. I wasn’t considered one of the most intelligent, most athletic, most musical, most klutzy, most nerdy, most funny — or most of anything. I simply was part of the “furniture.” But after moving to Duncanville, I got a chance to change that reputation (or lack of reputation). I became a lot more visible through my musical abilities, and by the time the “Senior Most’s” voting took place, I was a finalist for “Most musical boy.” That would not have happened in Canyon!

With every move, I also leave a part of myself behind. In Canyon, I left behind my best friend. And even though I haven’t seen him in more than a decade, I still think of him as one of my best friends. Moving from Racine, I will leave behind strong relationships with many friends. During my last Communion service, I called each person by name as they came forward to receive the bread and cup of Christ. Several times, I had to hold back the tears as I said, “Bob, the body of Christ broken or you. Mary Ann, the body of Christ broken for you. Christ’s body broken for you, Roger….”

The poignancy of the moment with each member of our church family is something that I will cherish forever. I am reminded of the words of thanksgiving and praise that the Apostle Paul wrote to the many people in the different churches he helped establish during the first century:

“I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge—because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.”
(1 Corinthians 1:4-6)

“We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you.”
(1 Thessalonians 1:2-4)

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 1:3-6)


Paul and I have several things in common—our constant moving from place to place as God leads, the joy experienced by getting to know people who love Jesus Christ, opportunities for sharing Jesus’ love with others so that they become part of the family, and trusting that God will continue the good work started even though we are no longer there.

God is present in Meigs County, and that will continue to be true – no matter what pastors may come and go. God has given me the privilege of participating in His work for a season here with you, and I am forever changed by what I have experienced here. Thank you, Racine United Methodist Church, Meigs Cooperative Parish, Southern Equal Opportunity Ministry, River City Players, Southern Local Schools, and too many individuals to list here, for allowing me to be part of your lives—your disappointments and fears, and your hopes and dreams.

Thank you also, Daily Sentinel, for the opportunity to share through this column. It is one of my favorite ministries, and the feedback I have received from across the community has been tremendous. And I am especially thankful that I can continue writing this from my new home and have it appear in the Sentinel in the future! After all, I’m going, but not gone!

Friday, August 1, 2008

A Birthday Present to America: More Faith, Less Politics

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, July 4, 2008. Getting closer to catching up!


The other day, a columnist in the paper complained about the amount of attention being paid to the religious faiths of the various candidates for president. He wanted less religion and more politics. And I think he expected to get great shouts of “AMEN!”

He might have that reaction from some people, I am not one of them. I want our candidates to be driven more by faith and less by politics. Right now, it’s almost as if the candidates are putting a religious veneer over a thoroughly secular political mindset.

Our politicians remind me of the “jewelry” I used to get out of the nickel-vending machine when I went with Dad to get my hair cut. The barber’s shop had four or five little machines that held all kinds of goodies in little plastic cocoons. You put in your nickel, turned the crank, and out popped your prize!

I once got a golden ring. I was so proud of that ring; I showed it off to everyone. “Look, Mom! See what I got at the barber shop! It’s so beautiful; I’m always going to wear it!”

That night, as I got ready for bed, I looked again at my “beautiful” golden ring. But there was something wrong! All around the ring, my finger had turned green! It was even green on the two fingers on either side of my ring finger. “Mom!” I screamed. “I’m being poisoned by my ring!”

Of course, what really happened was my golden ring was actually cheap metal and the greening had to do with the veneer rubbing off and the “real stuff” showing through.

In many ways, I think our presumptive presidential candidates are showing some "green" in their faith.

John McCain eagerly sought the endorsement of certain religious leaders, thinking that they would add to his credibility as a presidential wanna-be. John Hagee was one such leader. He is pastor of a mega-church in San Antonio, Texas, and his television and radio ministries reach thousands more people across the country. McCain looked at Hagee and said, “Wow, there’s someone whose endorsement I could really use.”

McCain’s pursuit of Hagee’s endorsement was not religious – it was political. I suspect McCain had no idea what theologies Hagee believed in or preached. That was detail stuff that didn’t matter. Except it did. Once the veneer of the Hagee endorsement wore off, Hagee’s extreme theologies of God, Israel and end times were so off-putting to mainstream Americans that McCain disassociated himself from the Hagee endorsement.

Less religion and more politics? I don’t think so!

On the other side of the political parties, Barak Obama has not done much better. At a recent campaign appearance in Detroit, Muslim supporters were snubbed and two women wearing traditional Muslim headscarves were banned from sitting behind the candidate to prevent them being photographed or televised with Obama. Why? Because of the persistent Internet rumor that Obama is secretly a Muslim and terrorist sympathizer.

The Obama campaign has gone out of its way to keep Obama’s image from being “sullied” by Muslim supporters – that’s a political decision, not a religious one!

Obama has intentionally expressed his religious views in many venues. He claims to be a Christian who emphasizes the social justice portion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s the part of Jesus’ message that proclaims good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, and release from oppression to the oppressed (see Luke 4:14-21). It’s one of the few scriptural claims that Jesus made himself. Yet, Obama’s politically driven lifestyle oppressed two women because of their differing faith. Actually, because of their differing attire.

I am disappointed in both candidates. Let me see your REAL FAITH rather than your REAL POLITICS. People are desperate for REAL CHANGE in this country – and so far, what I’ve seen is more of the same ol’ same ol’. Wouldn’t it be nice if either candidate would truly live his faith? Let me really see what God is doing in your life, and maybe that will be all the politics I need to make an informed voting decision come November.

Today, marks the birth of our nation through the declaration of independence from Britain. I cannot think of a better birthday gift for our country than politicians who put their faith first, their families second, and their nation third. With the right priorities, we can make a difference.