Praying for our friends in Rwanda

I received the following email from Pastor John in Rwanda. It's a jarring reminder to pray for our brothers and sisters there:

1. Our fellow Pastor, Evariste Mugabo's young brother who grew up and
lived in Tanzania, was attacked by bandits and killed. The same bandits stole
his 35 cows and threw him into the bush in Tanzania where he lived
with his family.
2. Earlier, his mother in law died unexpectedly-she was not sick.
We're still shocked!

3. Same week his brother died, Evariste's mother who had been sick
for long time was dead.
4. Last month, his church's wall was destroyed by the storm.
Yesterday, I came back from his home to pray with him..but do not know
why this happened to Mugabo. However, Evariste's situation, takes me
back to Joab's story.

What I like about this time of year...

Hot chocolate with soymilk and a touch of peppermint

Peppermint ice cream

Christmas Lights

Going for evening walks with Jan and the dogs enjoying the decorated homes

Weekend worship experiences

Our annual trip to Disneyland (this year for my 50th Birthday! We missed Disney last year so it will be good to get back).

Christmas Eve services

Hanging with my kids and wife on Christmas day

Christmas music all the time (especially anything by the voices of Christmas--BJ Thomas, Barry Manilow, Bing, Frank, Dean, Johnny Mathis, Perry Como, Andy Williams, Lise Hopson)

Wearing warmer clothes

Cool morning bike rides

Scrooge--the 1970 musical version featuring Albert Finney

Perceptions

On Sunday, between worship services, I was sitting with a couple of our singers and my wife, Jan. We were talking about making the time for exercise. That led to a discussion about busyness.

My wife made a rather surprising statement. She said I'm busier now as a Senior Pastor than I was when I was "just" an associate. It was surprising because I feel like I'm not nearly as busy as I was before. Or maybe I don't feel as stressed. I loved being an associate, but I was a part of a very large church with lots of meetings all day long. In this new church experience, it's far more relational--hanging out with people talking about faith. Lots of meetings, I guess, but a different kind of meeting. Obviously I have busy seasons but overall, I feel good about my pace of life and work.

It's all a matter of perception. But, if my wife says I'm busier, I'd better listen. Because her perception is always right.

Cardinals Woes

I've been an avid supporter of the Arizona Cardinals since they moved here in 1988. In fact, before their first game, I interviewed then Cardinal Ron Wolfley (now the color man for Cardinals broadcasts) at one of our Joy worship experiences.

20 years of cheering for mediocrity, to say the least.

Last year, I was so disgusted with the team that I gave up my season tickets.

After today, I am so disgusted that I will not watch any more Cardinals games this season.

Perhaps we need a break from each other. Hopefully we can make amends next season. After false hopes for 20 years, why not make it 21!

Nostalgia

Maybe it's because I'm turning 50 in a few weeks, but lately I've been feeling rather nostalgic. For example, on Thursday Jan was watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and I heard the announcers mention Up with People. It took me back to grade school when we learned songs in music class from Up With People, songs like What Color is God's Skin?. So I hit e-bay to see if I could find any old Up With People albums. I bought three! I then looked up the Colwell Brothers, the three guys who started the old version of Up With People. I found a brand new book written about them. I didn't buy it. :)

Recently I dreamt about the house I grew up in in Minneapolis. Christmas itself always takes me back to my growing up years.

I guess as I get ready for the second half of my life I'm taking time to remember and give thanks for the first half.

Things I'm Thankful For

* My wife, Jan. Over 28 years of marriage plus 5 years of dating. And we still really love each other and like each other!

* My daughter, Alycia. She's our passionate, hard-headed, save-the-world first born who has truly taught me tons!

* Our son, Mike. Our creative musician and now video game design student who's a great guy with a big heart.

* Mike's wife, Amber. Like his dad, Mike married way over his head.

* Our dogs Santi (Beagle) and Saba (Dauchshund). I love my kids almost as I love my dogs.

* The great heritage of faith that I've been nurtured in--an amazing family tree of faith-filled Christians. And faithful congregations who poured their lives into mission for guys like me.

* My immediate family, brothers, sisters, their families, my dad (and the memories of my mom).

* Community Church of Joy--the first church I ever served. It was a great 22 years.

* Community of Grace--my new family of faith. It has been a profound almost 3 years.

* Jesus, whose grace never ceases to move me.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Sunday Musings

It's been an interesting couple of days.

Jan has been babysitting our Grand-doggies, Billie and Darla. Their parents, Mike and Amber, don't live too far from us so Jan and I have shared some meals together. But at night, I've been alone with our dogs.

At midnight, Friday, the phone rang. I didn't comprehend what was happening until the call went to voice mail. As I tried to wake up and check out who had called, my cell rang. I answered and my daughter said, "I'm OK!" Her parked car had been hit by a drunk driver, a 19 year old kid with an expired permit, who, it turns out, had stolen the car from a friend. We spent over an hour trying to figure out how to deal with the insurance company, who turned out to be not all that helpful! Apparently insurance companies don't think people have accidents on the weekends or after business hours!

Last night, after dropping Jan off for the evening, I ran to three different stores to find 40 watt energy efficient, environment-friendly lightbulbs for my son's house.

Today, after worship, and lunch with Jan, I headed home to witness a miracle in the making--The AZ Cardinals are actually 500 this late in the season. I think today they officially won more games than last year. Wow.

But I admit to being worn out. It's a lot of work emptying the dishwasher and putting dirty plates in it. It's a lot of work kind-of making the bed, taking the dogs for a walk, making them eggs for breakfast, and preaching at two services. It will be good to have Jan back home tonight.

Um....

When I did some research on presenting a successful blog I read again and again about the importance of creating a new post at least once a day to keep readers coming back.

I haven't written anything since Saturday. Because I really have nothing churning or interesting that absolutely needs to get out. (Some may suggest I've yet to write anything interesting, but that's another post).

So, I'm submitting this post to say I have nothing really interesting to write. Thanks for checking in!

In Defense of God

The other night I was meeting with some guys from Grace. Our conversation turned to the Westboro Baptist Church, the church recently ordered to pay $11 million dollars for picketing the funeral of a fallen US soldier. The church has been routinely disrupting such funerals, claiming that our soldiers are dying because the US is tolerant of homosexuality. In other words, they claim God is punishing us for such tolerance by killing our soldiers. At each funeral they picketed they carried vicious signs, saying that God hates the US and that God hates homosexuals.

We talked about how frustrated we as followers of Jesus are that churches like Westboro Baptist and their hate-filled “Gospel” are often the face of Christianity presented in the media.

It reminded us of the attacks the world has experienced at the hands of Islamic extremists. Many have wondered where the outrage is from Muslim moderates; why they don’t publicly denounce this abuse of Islam. Come to find out, many moderate Muslims have tried to voice their total rejection of Islamic extremists, but the press isn’t all that interested in carrying their story. The press tends to focus on extremism, be it Islamic extremism, Christian extremism, political extremism, and the like, because apparently, that’s what captures the attention of most of us who check in with the news. Extremism sells, so to speak.

So let me use this blog, on behalf of my particular community of faith, to say that Westboro Baptist Church does not reflect the face of Christianity as we understand and practice it. God does not hate the US. God does not hate homosexuals. God does not hate anyone. The face of Christianity is the face of God, in the person of Jesus, laying it on the line for us, out of a passionate love for each of us, on a cross.

Homosexuality is, to understate the obvious, a divisive issue in our country. Churches struggle with loving the person on the one hand yet wrestling with whether or not homosexual behavior is appropriate. Politicians wrestle with the issue from a civil rights perspective—can gays and lesbians marry or not?

In the midst of the struggle, what I can say with certainty is that Westboro’s vision of a hate-filled God is not anywhere in line with the God of the cross. The God of the cross always meets life, good and bad, hope-filled and sin-full, with transformative grace.

Perhaps another way of saying it is that God meets extreme hatred with extreme grace. In my mind, that’s news that will sell.

I'm Published!

I'm excited to announce that, after years of a dry spell, I am once again published. Yesterday I received our latest copy of IN BRITAIN magazine. The magazine highlights different places to visit in Britain. It's a great looking magazine!

In the letters to the editors section was a letter by yours truly, in which I wrote about the great trip we had to Scotland and the Cotswolds for Jan's 50th birthday last year. The entire trip grew out of ideas from IN BRITAIN magazine. So I wrote to thank them. They included a picture that Jan took (her first published picture!) and...and...hang on...we were the Editor's Pick letter! So we receive a lovely prize.

Published...in an international magazine no less! It's good to be back in the game. Who knows what's next? Perhaps a letter to USA Today! It's great to know that at 50 I still have something to say that people want to publish and read! :)

Sunday Musings

Does anyone still think I'm a fool for not renewing my Arizona Cardinals season tickets?

I presided over a funeral this afternoon. As I listened to the family talk about what a great father Chet was, I wondered a bit about what family and friends would say about me. Could be I'm thinking about turning 50 next month. But probably more than that it's the question most of us ask at some point in our lives. Am I making a difference? Do I matter in the scheme of things? And for a person of faith, has my faith made an impact?

I hope these don't sound like the morbid musings of a mid-lifer. They were actually good questions as I reflected on my life for a few brief moments as we were reflecting on the life of someone who had just passed away.

We've been re-introducing some of the great hymns/Gospel songs of the church during worship lately--offering them in updated musical styles. Some of those old hymns really hold up in terms of lyrics, and, with a tweak here and there, sound pretty good after all these years. But it's time to get back to some kickin' music again.

Movie Recommendation

Trust me on this one. Go see Lars and the Real Girl!

For those of you who like thrillers, you might want to check out Michael Clayton (rough language warning!).