Heroscape saves the day!

Many of you know that I'm a bit of a boardgame fan. In fact, I have about 70 games in a closet in my basement at this very moment. Now before you go asking how I could justify spending thousands of dollars on silly games (avg. $20/game x 70 = $1,400) let me make it clear that nearly all of them have been purchased at garage sales for pennies on the dollar.
But that's all beside the point.

One of my favorite games (and used to be Keith's until he became a loser) is Heroscape. You can find out more about it here. I know it sounds rather geekish, like something you'd find being played by a bunch of middle-aged, balding men with no lives (and it is), but it's also a fun family game. Barb and Oscar and I have had a lot of fun playing it together since we got into it.

Well, here's the gist of the story: this afternoon while Oscar was at school, we were out running errands for Emmaus Road Church. While we were out, we stopped at a WalMart, and I just happened by the toy department and saw an expansion set for the game which we didn't have, so I bought it. It was one that Oscar had been asking about for a while.

Later, we picked up Oscar from school, and when we got home I let him open it. After opening it, he asked if we could get out the rest of the game and if he could play while I worked upstairs. So I headed down to the basement to get it, and lo and behold there was 1 1/2 inches of water on one half of the basement floor (we've had A LOT of rain the last few days). Very frustrating to say the least, especially since several boxes of my books were on that floor .

Plumbing Guy was called. He came over and brought the requisite equipment (including plumber's crack) and cleared the drain. Now the cleanup process begins.

Anyway, without our trusty old friend Heroscape, the water may have sat there for a while or may have even risen as more rain is expected. Fortunately, we'll never know.

Thank you Heroscape!

Write. Erase. Repeat.

Quick back story: About a month ago I began subbing for the Toledo Public School district. Although I've taken to it far more than I thought I would, there's one thing I've found particularly delightful . . . chalk!

Nothing in the classroom satisfies me like the dry, powdery, cool feel of a stick of chalk. And there is little that can compare to the pleasure of striking and dragging said stick across that black porcelain enamel wall (a.k.a. the chalkboard).

Write. Erase. Repeat. Sheer simplicity and genuis.

During a lecture, I've found that nothing drives home the point like a series of staccato strikes and scratches from my cylinder of calcium sulfate. In other words, chalk gets the job done: its stark white on black burns the image of isosceles traingles and object pronouns forever into the minds of those entrusted to my tutelage.

Further delight is to be had when the larger pieces of chalk shrink from use and are then able to be shaken in a loosely-clenched fist (imagine shaking a pair of dice). It's quickly become a habit that may be akin to the smoker who incessantly flicks the ashes off her cancer stick. The students that I've had for more than a couple of days have noticed and taken to my quirky proclivity. Last week a couple of them began emulating my behavior by picking up their own chalk bits and giving them the requisite shakes. Ah, there's nothing like molding young minds.

Alas, the elementary school at which I've spent most of my time teaching so far will move into a new building in 2010. I fear that my precious chalkboard and its accoutrement of chalk tidbits, dust, and felt erasers will go the way of the dinosaurs, and I'll be left with the annoyances of white boards. Then, fingers besmirched by dry-erase markers, I'll make my lonely way into the 21st century mourning the loss of one of humanity's greatest of inventions.

An Ode to Chalk:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,

and have not chalk, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

And though I though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries,

and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,and have not chalk, I am nothing . . .

And now abideth faith, hope, and chalk, these three; but the greatest of these is chalk.

Emmaus Road Church Remodel Photos

Some of you have asked how the Emmaus Road Church building is coming and if I would post some new pics, so here goes.

Things are progressing well, although they've slowed a bit since I've started substitute teaching with Toledo Public Schools full time. We've finally gotten to the point where a lot of the major work is finished--a lot of the stuff you don't really see or realize how much work has gone into it. So far, between our own work and the work of volunteers, we have close to 400 hours into the building.

Today, we just started priming and painting and that's when you really begin to see things coming together. I want to mention briefly the people and churches God has used to do His work at ERC: John and Kathy from ERC, Dan from the Alliance Church, 5 work teams from Lima Community Nazarene, and 3 work teams from Bedford (MI) Nazarene. We would never have been this far without all of you.

Below are a few photos of the not-yet-finished product.

Francis Chan on the Church

I hope these words from Francis Chan challenge you and make you think as they have me this week:

"Is there any logic in believing that God started His Church as a Spirit-filled, loving body with the intention that it would evolve into entertaining, hour-long services? Was he hoping that one day people would be attracted to the Church not because they care for one another, not because they are devoted to Him, not because the supernatural occurs in their midst, but because of good music and entertainment?"

If you'd like to read the rest you can find it here.

A Gift Not Ours

For four months now, we've been expecting our fourth child this July. However, two days ago, we miscarried the baby. Although it was very painful emotionally, we are very happy and blessed to have been able to bury the tiny, 13 week old baby on top of my dad's grave in Lima, Ohio.

Miscarriages are always hard, but for us, I think this one is even harder than the previous two which happened before we had kids, because now that we have other children, we know how precious kids are and what we're losing by losing a baby.

We chose not to name him (he was a boy) because we feel like he was never really given to us. Ultimately he's God's and God's to name, so we gave him back to God to care for and to name.

Finally, we've known God's peace through all of this. We know He cares, that He suffers as we do (probably more), and that He's with us though it all.

Godspeed, Mr. President

You can read President Barack Obama's inaugural address here.

R.I.P. Andrew Wyeth

I have a particular affinity for American Painters from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Winslow Homer (d. 1910), the ubiquitous Edward Hopper (d. 1967), Thomas Hart Benton (d. 1975), and the now late Andrew Wyeth have all captured my attention for various reasons: Homer for his ability to capture the ruggedness and beauty of New England and its people, Hopper for His use of color, choice of subject, and the underlying commentary of his works on isolationism within the American psyche, Benton for his unique fluid style and strong use of color in portraying American life particularly in the many murals he created (and also because He was a resident of Kansas City--his home, which is now a museum, was only a few blocks from where we lived), and finally Wyeth for his moody and stark realism and use of light, lines, and subject, particularly in the Helga pictures.

I hope you'll take some time to explore their world.

Sasquatch . . . Now You Know He's REAL!

Yet more evidence to confound the chorus of Bigfoot naysayers: Tenacious D (aka Jack Black and Kyle Gass) offer up the Sasquatch song. Check it out here.

Parental Advisory: They may (okay, do) use a couple of potty mouth words.

Design Your Own Church

A friend of mine recently challenged me to dig deeper into what it is that God's called us here to do--to give congitive flesh to the yearning that God's placed in my heart. Each of us hopes and waits for something, he said. That "something" doesn't look like everything else. Specifically, if I've heard him correctly, he's describing an expression and incarnation of faith that is authentic and genuine: we know it when we see it, and consequently we're drawn to it.

The Church, (and by "Church" I don't mean the Institution, but rather the Body of Christ, i.e. the life of the Holy Spirit lived out within those who call themselves Jesus' followers), is the nexus of this yearning hope and incarnate expression. It embodies (or ought to, at least) the Kingdom of God here on earth. Too often it (we) fall short. This "falling short" induces in many of us the yearning described above: we long for the fullness of salvation and relationship (with God and others) for which God created us.

When I say, "Design Your Own Church" I'm asking what does the Church that fully embodies the Kingdom of God look like for you. In these intial stages of exploration and definition I've simply come up with a list of words that at least hint at what I believe it is.

Trinitarian
Worshipful
Christ-centered
Mysterious
Explorative
Open
Belonging before you believe
Genuine
Authentic
Confessional
Healing
Devotional
Historical
Eucharistic
Celebrative
Imaginative
Spirit-inspired
Life-giving
Journeying
Safe
Fellowship
Hopeful
Inclusive
Forgiving
Beautiful
Relational
Comprehensive
Color-blind

What do you think?

Church Shopping Anyone?

My friend Joe Boggs has a good post, here, on the idea of the "vow of stability" in the Benedictine tradition contrasted with the phenomenon of church shopping, i.e., people jumping from one church to the next to find one that suits their "needs." I can see both sides of the issue, and I'm curious about your thoughts, but here is what I commented to him:

"Joe, that reminds me of Luther and Wesley who, although they revolutionized the churches they were a part of, never intended to leave them. Luther was forced out, and Wesley never actually did part with the Anglicans. It seems that a lot of the positive movements have been where people sought to stay but were forced out.

Still (and I'm curious about your thoughts), what to do when the very place where we're supposed to be in relationship and receive proper teaching and encouragement, ceases to be that place?

To wit: Barb and I have visited nearly 20 different churches since we've been here in Toledo. The reality is that there are maybe 2 or 3 that we might consider staying at if God hadn't called us here to do something different. Most of it is because the communities seem more focused on themselves than on others. But there's also the felt lack of depth in worship, fellowship, and teaching. We want to be someplace where it's obvious that God's Spirit is moving and has freedom to blow where He listeth. Sadly, our experience, and the experience of many is that there aren't many places like that.

That doesn't mean the church has to be big either. We were a part of two churches in K.C. (Trinity, a.k.a. Rainbow Blvd., and Jacob's Well) that fit the bill above. Trinity was ~100 and Jacob's Well was ~450. Lima Community Nazarene in Ohio reminds me of a large church (2200) that's trying hard to do the right thing and be outwardly focused.

All that to say, I believe there's a time to stay and a time to go. Probably people leave too quickly, but sometimes they may stay too long. Not everyone has the spiritual disposition to endure years of dryness and antipathy. And if on would argue that a person should work on their own spiritual life in spite of what's going on in their church, then that discounts the primarily relational character of the Christian faith--we're never meant to live it out in isolation and with no support.

I'll end with this: If we believe that the Church is as important as we say it is--for fellowship, encouragement, spiritual teaching, service, etc.--then we need to take into account what to do when a particular church fails to provide any or even all of them."

What are you thoughts?

Where Were You Born?

Most of you were probably born in a hospital. A few might have been born at home. Maybe one of you was born roadside in the backseat of a car. Probably none of you was born in an animal's food trough. But that's where the Son of God first rested His head on our earth.

As we talked about this last night at our weekly Bible study, I was moved by the brilliance of God's plan. Consider this:

• Mary and Joseph had to travel roughly 100 miles to reach Bethlehem from Nazareth. It was at least a 3 day journey. Had not Caesar called for a census, they most likely wouldn't have traveled to Bethlehem thus leaving the prophecy in Micah 5:2-5 unfulfilled.


• The Hebrew name Bethlehem literally means "House of Bread ." Jesus, who said of himself, "I am the Bread of Life," (John 6:48-51) is born in Bethlehem--the House of Bread.


• Because of the census, the inn of Bethlehem was full. Mary found herself giving birth to the Son of God in a barn, surrounded by animals many of which were destined to become sacrifices for the sins of the people or to provide food. Jesus, the final sacrifice for human sinfulness, and the Bread of Life itself, entered the world amongst the very animals which had served in His place for so long!

If you haven't ever done so, I'd encourage you to spend some time this year really digging into the accounts of the birth of Jesus. Centuries of God's history converged on that little town in Judea in a way that's beyond imagination. There's so much there that will build your faith in God's intervention through Jesus Christ on our behalf. You won't be disappointed.

I Want to Be Honest About This Church Planting Thing

This morning at one of the churches we've visited before, a woman asked me how things were going with ERC (Emmaus Road Church). I answered her as I do nearly everyone who asks. I tell the good stories about the people we've met, about the dreams we have, about how God seems to be opening doors for us. And all of that is true, and I think people need to hear that encouragement.

But the reality is, I wonder if I'm misleading them into thinking that planting a church is easy, that things just fall into your lap, that there's little hard labor and sorrow and loneliness and disappointment and uncertainty involved. That it's something you can do in your spare time when you feel like it. That it doesn't shake you to your foundation. That, at the end of many weeks I resonate with the exasperation of Charlie Brown when he exclaims, "Good grief!"

If I'm honest with you, I will tell you that I don't have a "game plan." That I don't really know what I'm doing. That I've questioned myself and God more times than I can count. That I've looked at other churches with a mixture of envy and despair (both envying and despairing at the same exact things). That I've been laid bare and found wanting on too many occasions. That my best attempts at anything seem about as effective as stopping a hurricane with an umbrella.

I say all of this because, as those who believe in the reality of God's love manifested in Christ, I owe it to you not to put a varnish over the very real scuff marks and gouges in the wood of this thing for fear you could get the wrong idea about following God. It's not easy. We're fools if we ever think it will be.

And yet, as difficult as it is, there is good news in all of this: At least I don't have to fake desperation for God anymore.

On Gratitude

I've been reading Brennan Manning's book "Ruthless Trust" lately. Time after time, he reminds me of what God is graciously doing in my life at the present moment--and for that ,Manning's been a good companion as of late.

I wanted to pass along something from the book in light of it being Thanksgiving and all. Here's a quotation from Henri Nouwen that Manning includes in the chapter, "The Way of Gratefulness." Maybe as a way of saying thanks, you might pick up a copy of Manning's book, read it, then express to God how grateful you are for the life He's giving you.

"To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives--the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections--that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for. Let's not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God."

Happy Thankgiving.

Let's just be real for a moment . . .

. . . some days are better than others.

Our Next President--Barack Obama

For me, this day, this night, was a demonstration of all that is good about America. It was about loving our neighbor, about seeking something higher than our own self-interests, about the reality that God has created all of us brothers and sisters. The speeches by both McCain and Obama gave testimony to and called us forward into a future where we are not identified by our differences but rather known for our charity and unity.

I believe this brings us much closer to the intent for this nation of our country's forefathers. More importantly, I believe it brings us that much closer to the message of Christ and God's intent for us as His beloved creation. Of course my hope for our country and indeed our world rests firmly upon God and His mercy in Christ, but my heart cries out "Yes!" when I catch a glimpse, as I did tonight, be it ever so faint, of the image of God in humanity--of people of all colors and ages, incomes and cultures, hoping and pledging to sacrifice for each other and a better tomorrow.

I know Barack Obama will not be able to fix everything. I know I will disagree fundamentally with him on certain, if not many, issues. But I believe, and want to believe, that He will bring an end to the hatred and fear and partisanship that have divided us from one another and prohibited us from accomplishing great things. And that gives me great hope.

Hear me clearly, Christ is our Lord and King. We ought not put our complete trust in any other but Him. Nevertheless, we live in a world that needs good men and women who will call us to live for something greater than ourselves. Perhaps Barack Obama will be one of them.

May God give him wisdom and grace--and may he listen and lead justly.

Corey Threedux

Okay, so threedux isn't a work, but redux is, and I couldn't think of a word for a third repeat (other than threepeat--but that's not in the same literary category as redux), so I concocted threedux. Add it to your dictionaries folks.

You may remember a young man named Corey I met and wrote about a while back. If not, you'll find it detailed here. He's a guy I have no reason really to have a connection with other than the fact that God keeps bringing us together. We don't live near each other. We're not close in age. We don't have similar occupations. And yet, as I said in that earlier post, "God is in the details."

If you read my earlier post, you'll see that I hadn't seen Corey for several months. Again, no real reason I should have. But two days ago at the Old Orchard Elementary School movie night Barb and I stuck around afterwards to help clean up and also to meet new people. One of the people I met was Fay. She had a son in school there, but she lives in Dayton, OH. She comes up regularly to be with him. She just happened to have some family members with her. She introduced me to them and one of them happened to be her cousin Corey!

I don't know what you think about the fact that God keeps bringing us together. In a city of 300,000 people what are the odds that he would be at my son's elementary school with his cousin and nephew? (It's only a school of about 200 kids, 217 to be exact.) I was able to make a good connection with him that night--even exchanging contact info and me helping him with some job info.

I say this all the time, but when you put yourself in position where God can use you, when you open yourself up to the world outside of your comfort zone, God will do amazing things like connecting you with the people He wants you to connect with--even when it's one out of three hundred thousand.

I Was a Bookfair Chairperson

So, I'm chairing the Scholastic bookfair at Oscar's elementary school. I know--that's not really me. Anyone who knows me knows I'm about as organized as a pile of leaves. Still, we felt like it was something we should do to help out at the school and to make connections with teachers, students, and their families. It's not really an area of strength for me, but we believe the opportunity was given to us for a reason. Let me explain.

Last week, Barb and I went to a seminar at Mount Vernon Nazarene University put on by the Gallup Organization called StrengthsFinder. Backed by 30 years of research and development, it consists of a battery of 180 questions that lead you to the discovery of your strengths. Some of them may be obvious to you, others may not. There are 34 different ones and you receive a personalized list ranking them from most dominant to least. At this seminar, we received our top 5. Just in case you're curious, mine were: Adaptability, Ideation, Input, Intellection, and Connectedness. That doesn't tell you much, but you can look them up if you're a stalker and really want to know.

While I think there's a lot of good that is going to come from seeing pastors and congregations use this (think: spiritual gifts test tailored more toward personal talents and strengths), I also had to think about the Apostle Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "But [God] said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

In looking at my strengths, there are certainly some things that lend themselves to church planting--Adaptability, Connectedness (seeing things as having a purpose; understanding that all of us are created for Someone greater than ourselves)--but the others aren't quite so strong. In fact, I would think that strengths like the Achiever, Maximizer, Developer, Activator would all be more suited to what we're doing here in Toledo. Then I remembered Paul's words that in our weakness, Christ becomes our strength.

I often tell people that part of the reason I'm planting Emmaus Road is for my own salvation. I NEEDED to be in a place where my faith was challenged on a daily basis, where I was counting on Christ's strength instead of trusting in mine. I came to the point where just going through the motions and playing at being the church were leading me to a place where my Christian walk was dying. The disjunction between what I believed Christ died for and what I was experiencing was too great. It was time for a change.

In stepping out of our comfort zone, taking a leap of faith to a city where we knew noone and had no prospects, doing something we've never done before or even been trained to do, we have come to a place of complete dependence on God and His power through Christ and the Holy Spirit.

I prayed this morning, as I've prayed many times in the last 6 months, that God would do what He wants to do here. That He would fulfill in us what He's designed for us. I have to believe that the many literal "signs and wonders" that we've witnessed are testimony that He's at work in ways more awesome than we can imagine. I also prayed that I would be open and diserning enough to see exactly what it is He's calling us to do. That I would follow each day His direction. That I would work alongside Him rather than being an obstacle to Him.

So, if God wants to be in charge of the Old Orchard Elementary Bookfair, then so be it. Even with my weakness, I'm in.

17 years in 2 minutes

Here's something to pass a couple of minutes. Watch a man age 17 years in 2 minutes here. Not something you see everyday.

Emmaus Road Church Building Photos

Thought some of you might like to see the building Emmaus Road Church is going to be leasing soon. It sits on a busy street corner of Central Avenue. It's not a lot to look at yet (inside), and there's a lot of work to do, but we're excited about how God's going to use us and that building to reach our neighborhood and our community.

Jesus Loves McDonalds

The reason they call them the Golden Arches must be because Jesus works there a lot.

This is the weirdest thing, but I've had 3 significant spiritual encounters at the McDonald's on Monroe and Talmadge since we've been in Toledo. Let me share.

The first one was a week or two after we'd been here. We had a good conversation with a father there, which turned to spiritual matters after a while. Although I've not heard from the gentleman we spoke with that day, I believe it was not a fruitless discussion.

The second encounter was a rather roundabout one. One day, I was to catch a ride with a friend down at the rescue mission to go to a conference together. Well, his secretary told us both different times, so I missed him and was stranded. I ended up walking back toward home. About a fourth of the way I decided to catch a bus. I had a fiver in my pocket and thought I was set. When I boarded the bus, they only took exact change--$1 please. I was about to get off the bus when they young guy behind me offered to pay my fare. (It was a real lesson in humility for this middle-aged white dude from the innerurbs to have his $1 bus fare paid for by a kid from the hood.) We sat next to one another on the bus--he wasn't really talkative, but I thanked him and asked him where he worked. Bingo. McDonalds on the corner of Monroe and Talmadge. Two weeks later, I saw Corey sitting outside of his apartment building as I was driving downtown with the fam. We pulled a uey, and I jumped out, gave him a couple of bucks and told him he had offered me grace, and I wished to do the same. I shared with him briefly that we're starting a church and gave him an info card. I haven't heard from him since, but God's in the details.

Numero three: Today, Barb had a meeting with the Old Orchard Mom's group at our house, so I took the kids out for dinner at--drum roll, please--McDonalds on the corner of Monroe and Talmadge. While we're sitting there, I strike up a conversation with a couple of women who were there with their kids. Shortly after we start talking, one of them says, "Pastor Andy?" It was Nicole, a young mother of a student at Oscar's school with whom I had spoken and invited to our Bible study a couple of weeks ago, but hadn't seen her since. I hadn't recognized her at first because of her new weave, but the three of us struck up a conversation like we were old friends while our kids rampaged on the jungle gym. It ended with not only Nicole, but her sister planning on joining us this coming Sunday evening. You tell me, what are the chances?

I'm not sure what it is about that place, but Jesus seems to love hooking me up with people there, so I guess I'll keep going back. The food's not half-bad anyway. (did I just say that?)