Stunned!

I'm in a state of absolute shock. Our Arizona Cardinals beat...yes, pick yourself up off the computer board...beat the Pittsburg Steelers. There is a God!

Wednesday Musings

I've been working on my sermon for Sunday. We're in a series called, Get in the Game. It's built around our mission statement of following Jesus on the bold, daring, reckless adventure of bringing grace to the world. To be more honest, the series is based on Jesus' call to us to live missionally--to see our daily lives as moments in which we serve Jesus. This Sunday we're looking at The Great Commission--to make disciples of all nations--and how the Great Commandment--to love God and neighbors--helps us carry out the Great Commission. It's an exciting series in that living missionally, seeing our jobs/lives as sacred callings, is really where the rubber meets the road for Christians. It's a simple concept, really. But hard to live out in the moment by moment rhythm of life.

The upside of such a series is the thrill of seeing our lives through new lenses--to see how living in "Jesus' name" can re-focus and re-energize everything we do. The downside for me is that I'm not a real person. I live in the church world. I don't spend most of my work day in the "secular" marketplace, in the mission field, so to speak. So I'm learning along with our community of faith what this following Jesus Monday-Saturday really looks like.

It's been great biking weather the last few mornings! Finally!

The new TV season has started. So far we've checked out The Big Bang, Chuck, and Heroes. I really enjoyed all three. We got hooked on Heroes last year.

Sunday Musings

I just finished watching the AZ Cardinals. I dvr'd it and fast-forwarded through the game. I saw an entire 3 hour game in less than an hour. Only problem--just after the Cards tied the game the dvr shut off. With reckless optimism I ran to the computer to check out the final score, hoping I wouldn't see what I expected to see but saw it anyway: another loss. Should've been could've been with those guys!

Oh well--there's always next year.

Matters that Matter

I've always been a fan of BBC News. This past week I made a commitment to watch at least 30 minutes of the BBC World News regularly, daily if possible. It was an interesting experience this week. The BBC this week spent time leading with and focusing on the devastating flooding in Ghana and Kenya and what it's going to take to get those who live there food. Fox, CNN, and MSNBC? All of them led with the OJ Simpson story. It really left me speechless. A world away people are dying of starvation from flooding and disease and our news channels are obsessed with OJ's latest capers and Britney's latest meltdowns.

My point here isn't to stand up on a moral soapbox and call out the US for its shallowness. It's simply a reminder to me and perhaps to you, too, that there is a bigger world out there--a world beyond OJ, Britney, Paris Hilton, and Lindsey Lohan --a world desperate for the Kingdom of God's grace to break through. (By the way, I do understand that OJ and Britney, etc, need an in-breaking of God's grace, as well!)

As I sat in my massage chair in my upper middle class house in my upper middle class neighborhood watching one of our TVs (we have more than one), seeing the devastation in Ghana, I was moved, as I often am, to ask the question--What really matters? How can I live in such opulence and not somehow respond to the overwhelming need around me? To whom much is given, much is expected.

These aren't the ravings of guilt, but passionate mission questions.

To be honest, I'm not sure I know the answer at this point. But I do know one answer is not to do nothing.

More to come.

Kathy Griffin at the Emmy Awards

If you didn't watch the Emmy Awards on Sunday then perhaps you did not catch Emmy Award winner Kathy Griffin's acceptance speech in which she made some disparaging remarks about Jesus. The silence you hear from Hollywood goes back to my post of a few days ago, Questions. Why is it OK to speak of Jesus that way publicly with no uproar? You can bet that if she had said the same thing about Allah she'd have been blacklisted. Hollywood has no tolerance for the intolerant (see Mel Gibson, Isaiah Washington, Michael Richards, and Don Imus as prime examples) unless that intolerance is vented at Christians. And then, when Christians stand up and say anything about it, we are treated with contempt. It's Ok for "politically correct" groups to express outrage, but not Christians. We simply have to take it.

But Jesus is used to that. He took it on the cross. And he responded not with outrage, but forgiveness.

Perhaps we who follow him should follow that example, too.

It's probably asking too much of Hollywood to be consistent and side with anyone whose race, or sexual orientation, or religion is held up for ridicule, but one can always hope.

But for those of us who follow Jesus, cheek-turning seems to be making a return in the 21st Century.

Forgiveness or a Free Pass

This past week the NFL and NFL-loving sports fans were rocked by a scandal surrounding the 3-time Super Bowl Champs--the New England Patriots. Their coach, Bill Belichick, had authorized the illegal video taping of the opposing team. Belichick received a stiff fine and the team will lose a top draft pick next year. Clearly what he did was not only illegal, but unethical. (Sometimes something can be legal but unethical and even, at times, ethical but illegal). Belichick did very little to express any kind of remorse.

Last night the Patriots took on the San Diego Chargers in New England. Apparently, special mention was made of Coach Belichick before the home crowd to which the crowd responded with a long ovation. After the game the owner of the club apparently awarded the game ball to Belichick.

Let's face it. If it had been any other coach doing what Belichick did, if, say, the Chargers had been caught videotaping the Patriots, the Patriots fans would have demanded the coach's head on a platter. But since it was their own coach, all is forgiven. No harm, no foul.

It raises the question of what forgiveness really is. Forgiveness is not a free pass. Looking the other way is not forgiveness. Letting a person off the hook because "he's your guy" when you'd demand vengeance if someone else did the same thing is not forgiveness.

Forgiveness is transformational. Forgiveness digs deep into the wrong committed and seeks to remove it so that the wrong is not done again. Forgiveness seeks not simply to give people a free pass but to set them free so that they don't hurt themselves or others again. Jesus didn't say to the woman caught in adultery--hey, it's ok. You're only human. He said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more." The power of forgiveness gives us a fresh start and the power to live out that fresh start.

When a wrong has been done forgiveness gives us the power to apologize for it. It gives us the power to own up to the wrong and rectify it if possible.

A free pass does no one no good. It simply empowers them to continue on in their behavior because they got away with it. Forgiveness, on the other hand, cleanses and transforms us from the inside out so that we live, not as those who got away with something, but as those who have been truly, deeply, washed clean.

Real forgiveness comes only through a cross.

Humor?

Pastor-types like me (or is it like I?) tend to use our blogs to help let our congregations and other interested readers into our souls and hearts. These blogs give us a chance to talk about some of the things God seems to be stirring in our guts concerning our communities of faith. The result is that these blogs can sometimes be a bit heavy.

So, to lighten things up a bit, here's a story Dave Wahl shared with our men's group today (re-crafted to protected the innocent.)

Did you hear the one about the Pastor who committed to memorizing the capitals of all 50 states? He asked one of his church members to quiz him. So the parishioner said, "Rhode Island." To which the Pastor responded, "R and I."

What Does My Driving Say About Jesus?

I have a Community of Grace decal on the back of my car. I also have a personalized license plate that says, COGPSTR (Community of Grace Pastor for those of you who have a hard time, like I do, deciphering vanity plates). I really try to drive safely, but sometimes even I get a bit flustered with the traffic. And sometimes, when people irritate me, I may speed ahead of them and...no, I don't do that...I look at them and shake my head in disgust. Then, as I pull ahead of them, I suddenly realize what the back of my car says.

One of the big churches in our area has their logo plastered on what seems like a million cars. This is a great church, by the way, but they now have a reputation for some of the worst drivers in the Valley. There are so many of them, and the logo is so recognized, that a few bad drivers are creating a driving stigma for that congregation.

Yesterday I read a brief article by a pastor suggesting that we should remove Christian symbols from our cars. He says that in all the years he had such stickers and decals on his car not one non-Christian asked him about his faith.

I recognize that a Grace decal on any car instantly improves the car's value by about 10%. But what does my driving say about my church? My faith?

After further review, I think I'll get a new vanity plate, remove the decal, and put on one of the decals from that big church down the street. :)

Wrestling with the Church--part 4: Keeping It Simple

I'm currently reading an excellent book (at least it's excellent so far) entitled, Simple Church by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger. The premise of the book is that life is getting to be so complex that people are longing for simple. Look at eloan.com, for example. Their new slogan is: Radically Simple. My wife gets a magazine called Real Simple. The authors point to the "simple" philosophy behind such successes as Southwest Airlines, Google, and iPod, to name a few.

Rainer and Geiger did extensive research and found that vital congregations keep their mission simple--not a lot of programs and clutter but a very simple process for helping people grow as disciples of Jesus. Struggling churches tend to be overwhelmed through being over-programmed. Each program asks for a little bit more time for an already overly busy person and the result is that people surrender and give up.

Keep it simple, keep it significant, and keep it fun is our mantra. Rather than being a program-heavy church, we want to be a mean, lean, movement of people following Jesus on the bold, daring, reckless adventure of bringing grace to the world. We don't need lots of church programming. We're already busy doing what Jesus has called us to do--working, raising families, building friendships and marriages, volunteering in the community. The mission of Grace is to equip and train us to live our lives with intention--seeing our lives as sacred missions and our jobs as sacred callings, touch points between God's grace and the world around us.

Reflections on 9/11

6 years today ago I was out for a run (today--I went out for a bike ride). At that time I normally tuned into the Today Show before and after my run but for some reason did not that day. As I was doing my post-run stretch Jan mentioned the news about the Twin Towers. From that moment on, like the rest of the world, I was glued to the TV screen watching the horrors of the terrorist attack. (One of our more immediate concerns was the safety of our daughter who was in Sienna, Italy at the time.)

Tuesdays were staff days at Community Church of Joy but I figured everyone would be running late that day due to the news. Turns out, I was the only one late. I walked into the staff meeting as it was just about to begin and everyone was already there, in a circle, ready to pray for our country.

After that it was a flurry of activity trying to pull together a prayer service for the next evening. We invited the Mayors of Glendale and Peoria to join us, which they graciously did.

On the following weekend Pastor Walt Kallestad, Paul Sorensen, and I shared the message. We tried to help process what 9/11 meant in terms of faith (to capacity crowds like most other churches that weekend). Two things we wanted to say clearly: 1) God did not cause 9/11 regardless of what the terrorists said and regardless of what at least one Christian leader said. Jesus came to give life, not death. 9/11 was a result of human-beings polluted and possessed by evil. 2) God, as God always does, brings life after death. What evil meant for harm, God can use for his good purposes. 6 years later the evil of 9/11 continues to try to spread death and God continues to transform that death into life.

There has been a lot of pain and upheaval as a result of 9/11, to say the least and obvious. But God will have the final word, and that word will be life.

Sunday Musings

I just got home from the Installation Service for Al Cassel as he was officially installed as the Pastor of Peace Lutheran Church. He's a great guy and I'm looking forward to our continued partnership with Peace and American Lutheran as we look to start new mission centers in our area. Brian and I were dressed up in our robes (albs) and looked pretty good, if I may say so.

Great start for our revamped Grace Adventure Club today. Our kids started their four-week interactive look at the Crossing of the Red Sea. Good buzz from kids and their teachers. And a great response to our request for volunteers. Our children and youth are two top priorities this fall.

I am so disappointed with the Philadelphia Eagles...losing to the Green Bay Packers! I could care less about the Eagles but I'm passionate about any team playing the Packers. So the Eagles were, for one day, one of my favorite teams. At least the Vikes won. And the Cardinals are still undefeated this late into the season!

Questions

Things I started thinking about while listening to Public Radio:

1) Why is so much of religion today seemingly shaped by such violence and hatred? From the terrorism of extremist Islamics to the judgmentalism of extremist Christian fundamentalists, why all the hatred when these people supposedly serve a loving God?

2) Why all the media attention on only the extremist fundamentalists? Why not more stories about religious people doing good in the name of their religion? My guess is that there are far more acts of grace shared each day by religious people than acts of terror.

3) Why is it ok in all kinds of public venues from TV to radio to public speeches to inter-office banter to use the name Jesus or Christ or God as an expletive but if someone where to use Allah that way, as in Allah d--- it, that person would be ostracized/condemned for racial intolerance?

4) My close personal friend BJ Thomas asks a couple of rather provocative questions in a song he wrote years ago called, Back Against the Wall. The questions: I wonder why the pure in heart have to have a judgment day? I wonder what the Lord has made that he plans to throw away?

This Week's Bible Reading

During my devotional time today I was reading through for the third day our Bible reading for this week--Mark 7:31-36, where some people brought a deaf mute to Jesus and begged Jesus to heal him. After Jesus did so, the people were so amazed and overwhelmed that they couldn't help but tell others about Jesus, even though Jesus told them to keep quiet.

As I read through the passage today I was thinking about what this might be saying to Community of Grace. A few questions emerged:

1) Who are we bringing to Jesus?
2) What people in need are we bringing to Jesus, begging him to help them?
3) Are we so overwhelmed and amazed by Jesus that we can't stop talking about him?

Grace and Charter Schools

The Arizona Republic has been doing a series of not-so-flattering articles on Charter Schools in Arizona, with regard to some financial abuses. Since Grace will be hosting a Charter School on our new campus I thought I should say something in response.

Instead I'll let Keith, one of our board members, and a recently retired public school principal and board member of the new charter school chime in: (From an email he sent to me):

"The essential issue is that the 'root' problem is not the failure of an externally imposed governmental process...but an individual's lack of morality, ethics, grace, etc. When grace-filled moral characteristics are in place, systems, organizations, and/or society in general 'works.' When things/people/organizations 'work' it's not worthy of news media coverage. Things that work as intended don't generate viewers/readers sufficient to generate advertising. On essential question for Grace therefore is, will Pinnacle Peak Community School be governed by principled, moral, and grace-filled leaders? Knowing the answer to that is what matters."

In answer to his question--the school board is already made up of such people. We are in good hands.

Labor Day Eve Musings

Last night my wife Jan cooked up a delicious Turkey dinner. A few months ago we had to throw out one of our frozen turkeys as it was beyond its shelf life. So, instead of wasting another bird, we decided to have a Thanksgiving Day meal on Labor Day weekend. And wow was it good. Turkey that fell off the bone. Mashed potatoes and gravy. Stuffing. Corn. Beans in chicken broth. Cranberries. Orange Jello. Yams (yuck!). If I seemed a bit sleepy during my own sermon this morning, you now know why. I stuffed myself last night.

I'm not a Phoenix Mercury fan but good on 'em for making the finals. With our history of championship teams, we'll take what we can get.

Speaking of championship teams, the D-Backs are certainly not making it easy on themselves to get into the playoffs.

For those of you who are fans of my close, personal friend, BJ Thomas, you'll be happy to know that his first studio album in over 7 years will be released later this month.

Summer Musings

As summer comes to an end, at least in terms of how we organize our lives, a few thoughts:

It's been hot! I think I have been here for all 32+ days of 110 degrees or above. I think I've been here for almost every heat record Phoenix has set. Oi!

For some reason I found it challenging this summer to keep up my exercise rhythm and my devotions rhythm. I didn't skip them, but I didn't get them in as consistently as I do normally. And I could feel the difference. It was good this week to finally get in a full week of exercise and devotions.

It was a good summer in terms of ministry. Our attendance held pretty strong and we are coming out of the summer in good financial shape. Thank God for the strong winter/spring giving we had as summer giving took a pretty significant dip. But we're still on budget. Many churches use the rest of the year to catch up from summer slumps. We're fortunate to enter the fall spot on.

I'm excited about what Jesus has in store for us this fall including our new Grace Adventure Club for the kids, a new commitment to our youth, and a months-long emphasis in worship and in our clusters on what it means to follow Jesus Monday-Saturday in our every day lives.

And hopefully, sometime before Christmas, a few cooler days.