Pass the bacon

I think bacon is God's way of saying, "I'm still here, and I love you. Everything's gonna be alright."

It's never the right time, but there's never been a better time

As I've continued to reflect on the journey that has brought us to this point in our lives and the life of Emmaus Road Church, I've become convinced of the following statement:

It's never the right time, because it's always the right time

A simple illustration to explain: As the Allied forces prepared for the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the element of surprise was their greatest weapon. Although they amassed hundreds of ships and thousands of well-trained soldiers, it was only a minuscule number compared to what would eventually be needed to break out of the beaches of Normandy and eventually liberate continental Europe.

The point is this, had they waited until they had every last ship, tank, cannon, soldier, and bullet they thought they'd need, they would never have landed and the outcome of the war would have been vastly different.

There are times in our lives, and I believe they are many, when God calls us to some great and difficult task. We sense it in our hearts and perhaps even long to respond, but the fear that we're underprepared holds us back. "I don't have the right training." "Who will go with me?" "How will I provided for, and how will I provide for my family?" Such questions, while legitimate, can become the antithesis to walking by faith.

I've recently met two women who have stepped out beyond the need for answers to these questions to the front lines of faith. They're an inspiration to me to continue in what God's called us to at ERC. They've chosen to walk at the edge of faith where only God knows the way ahead and He must come through for them.

From time to time, young married couples will ask Barb and I "When is the right time to have children?" I simply tell them that there's never a "right" time--there's nothing you can ever do to fully prepare yourself for the wonderful challenge of parenting; choosing to have children is something you step into knowing that it's a decision you have to grow into.

Following God's calling, obeying His voice, joining Him in reclaiming the earth for Him requires us to recognize that although it's never the "right" time, according to our standard of how things ought to work, there's never a better time than the present.

Now is the time!

Sucker for infomercials

Over the course of 13 years of marriage, Barb and I have picked up a few items directly from informercials or after they've shown up in stores (don't mock, I know more than one of you own a George Foreman Grill). So, if you're brave enough to admit it, I was wondering what items others of you have purchased and whether they've been crap or actually decent.

Here's my list:

My first purchase (I was in high school) of an infomercial product was the famous "Soloflex". You know, it looked less like a machine and more like a work of art. I didn't, however, buy it from tv, but snagged it (w/attachments) for $350 from an ad in the paper. It was sturdy enough and well designed, but I never liked the feel of pushing and pulling the rubber band weights. Used it more for chinups and dips than anything else. Sold it 10 years later for $200. I'd give it a grade of C.

"Sweepa" picked up at Ohio State Fair in late 90's. Still have it, and it actually works like it says. Grade: B+

"Salsa Master" also picked up at the Ohio State Fair. Makes a great fresh salsa. Also chops nuts well and cleans up quickly. We don't use it much though. Grade: B-

"Walk Fit" shoe inserts. After paying hundreds of dollars to a podiatrist and purchasing expensive inserts from his office that did nothing, I decided to try out these babies. Ordered about 7 years ago off of TV from a hotel room in Effingham, IL (funny name--say it aloud). Still wearing them today. A+

When we lived in Kansas City, one of our homes had Brown Recluse spiders, aka Fiddlebacks. Not something you want around unless you like huge, festering lesions on your skin when they bite you. So we tried the plug in pest repellers, which we bought at a store, to get rid of them. These absolutely did not work. Grade: F

"Magic Bullet" ordered directly from television (bad idea). Good product--we've used it a lot. Great for protien/milkshakes, smoothies, grinding coffee and chopping nuts and hard candy. Juicer does not work well at all. Grade: B

"Tempur-Pedic" mattress. Okay, no, we didn't spend $1500+ on a mattress, but we were convinced we wanted to try out the "memory foam". So, when it was time for a new mattress, we bought a really firm one, and then I found a foam supplier online and ordered a 3" memory foam mattress "topper" with a similar viscosity (that's important, fyi) as a Tempur-Pedic mattress for about $200. Truth be told, it is very comfortable (although hot) and I'm guessing the Tempur-Pedic would be great. I don't think you really sleep any better though. Grade: C because of cost.

The "Swivel Sweeper". So, if you have hardwoods or any other hard-surface flooring AND you have young children, you probably should run out and buy one of these now. This thing cleans up crumbs like the LAPD cleans up a crime scene. Parents purchased our first one from a box retailer. The second one we picked up new for $5 at a garage sale. The only down sides are that it's not as great as it says at working on carpets--not bad, but not great--and it's not as durable as you would hope for $35 new. Both are now defunct, and we're using the "Sweepa" again. Grade: B because of durability.

A year and a half ago, I was up late watching the 50-year-old Tony Horton doing the kinds of pushups and chin ups I could only dream about at 33. Ordering the P-90X DVD series wasn't far behind. Learned my lesson, though, and bought it off of ebay for cheaper and without all the hassles of S+H. The workouts are for real and the videos are great quality, but alas, I've yet to complete the 90 day routine. Grade: A+

Here are a few items I don't, and probably won't ever have, but would like if I could afford it.

#1 Fein Multimaster--Always need more tools, especially cool ones.

#2 Snuggie (just kidding)

#3 Chef Tony's "Miracle Blades"--Can you say "rock and chop!"?

So, what do you have, and how's it working out?

Rewind

Watched Paolo Nutini on "Austin City Limits" the other night. Can't stop listening to his songs. Here's "Rewind." You're welcome.

Things you may not want to do as a pastor #237

Tonight some good friends of ours invited us to join them for a night out. So, after the babysitter arrived, we met them at Blue Pacific Grill for dinner and then went on to the Funny Bone comedy club at Fat Fish Blue to catch some live stand up comedy.

We had a great time with our friends, but I learned something of great value tonight, and it's this:

"Pastoral Tip #237"--For future reference, it's probably best NOT to invite a neighbor or friend to a comedy club as a way of building a relationship with them--unless incessant profanity and vulgarity are elements of your approach to witnessing.

A word to the wise.

Dumbest movie of all time?

Recently, while on vacation, I witnessed an abomination to our collective intelligence. Actually, I didn't even see the whole thing, but I saw enough of "Happy Feet" to secure it's place as one of the dumbest movies I've ever seen.

Imagine a break-dancing, hip hop-imbued version of Michael Flatley from "Lord of the Dance", except he's not Michael Flatley but a stupid penguin, and you get the idea.

Please, do yourself a favor and don't watch it.

GPS: Reorient Yourself

A couple of weeks ago I began the journey of reading through the entire Bible in 90 days. Here's a link with the schedule if you're interested.

While reading through the books of Exodus and Numbers, I was struck by the sheer amount of rituals and sacrifices and holy days and feasts and . . . well all of the myriad things that God called the Israelites to follow. Some of it sounds confusing, even bizarre, to our modern ears, but it must have had a purpose. What possibly could be the reason behind such an all-encompassing list of rituals and regulations?

As I prayed and asked God to help me understand, slowly I began to see what a radically tranformative way of life this must have been. God's purpose in calling and creating the Israelites as His people was to demonstrate to the world how best to live in relationship to God and with others. They were to be the nation through whom all nations would be blessed. And so, as they participated in the worship patterns laid out for them by God through Moses, their entire way of thinking, believing, and being was transformed.

Like a mountaineer alone in the vast wilderness of Alaska taking a GPS reading to locate her precise position, each time the Israelites gathered for worship, each time they kept the feasts and performed the sacrifices, they reoriented themselves according to God's loving direction.

The insight gained into Israel's worship also gave me insight into our worship and this question:

What lies behind our modern-day rituals, liturgies, and celebrations? Is it not the desire to reorient ourselves to the Kingdom of God, to the Way of the Cross, to life in the Holy Spirit?

Lord, let it be so.

(S)he who has ears . . .

I've offered this thought for reflection before here. But reading Brennan Manning's book "The Furious Longing of God" last night brought me to the same idea in a slightly different way. It's worth reprinting Manning's words here.

"How is it then that we've come to imagine that Christianity consists primarily in what we do for God? How has this come to be the good news of Jesus? Is the kingdom that He proclaimed to be nothing more than a community of men and women who go to church on Sunday, take an annual spiritual retreat, read their Bibles every now and then, vigorously oppose abortion, don't watch x-rated movies, never use vulgar language, smile a lot, hold doors open for people, root for the favorite team, and get along with everybody? Is that why Jesus went through the bleak and bloody horror of Calvary? Is that why He emerged in shattering glory from the tomb? Is that why He poured out His Holy Spirit on the church? To make nicer men and women with better morals?"

"The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creations. Not to make people with better morals, but to create a community of prophets and professional lovers, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love. This, my friends, is what it really means to be a Christian. Our religion never begins with what we do for God. It always starts with what God has done for us, the great and wondrous things that God dreamed of and achieved for us in Jesus Christ."

Leviticus 19:27--Is this what they had in mind?

This is flat out awesome: The World Beard and Mustache Championships.

Enjoy.

Btw, Leviticus 19:27, "Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard."

Church Signs Gone Wrong

I read a church sign today that said this:

"Before you hurt someone, think about God's love"

Ummm, okay.

It's not me

Recently I heard the pastor of a church living on the edge say this to pastors:

"Don't take credit for when the numbers are up, because if you do, you'll be tempted to take the blame when the numbers are down."

Please don't hear me falling into the numbers game, but tonight we had 24 people at Emmaus Road Church. That's 4 more than we had at Easter (20) a few weeks ago when 8 of those people were my family members--and four people who are there every other week were gone tonight. I'm blown away (but I shouldn't be) at what God's been up to since Easter this year.

What's even more exciting is that we had an awesome time of worship, prayer, and listening to God's word together followed by most of the folks coming over to our house for ice cream and cake afterward. I can see community starting to grow among those who were there, and I'm so thankful that I'm beginning to see that it's not me doing it, but God's Spirit at work bringing to fruition His kingdom right there on Central Avenue.

We've got a long way to go, I'm sure. But I wanted to thank God publicly for what I've been privileged to see Him doing tonight and this entire year.

Francis Chan at Exponential 2009

Francis Chan spoke at Exponential 2009 conference for new churches. He gave a powerful testimony, challenge, and encouragement to those of us participating in the conference. I thought many others may find it as challenging as I did.

Here it is.

Last night at Emmaus Road Church we talked about the passage from Luke's gospel 24:13-35 where Jesus appeared to the two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus after the Resurrection. The amazing thing is that even though the disciples had already heard reports of the resurrection, they were still lost and confused (v. 17). It wasn't until they actually experienced the resurrected Christ and their eyes were opened that they were transformed.

So many in our world, even in the Church, have yet to really experience the resurrected Christ--and to have their eyes opened. Our vision for Emmaus Road Church is to be a place, a people, a church, where people com into a life-transforming experience with Jesus Christ--where their eyes are opened to the reality that He is there, and has been there with them all along.

I believe we're beginning to make strides in that direction and that people are starting to catch the vision. Every week since Easter we've had one or two new faces at ERC. I think it's only a matter of time before things begin to snowball. What an encouragement to finally begin seeing something happen.

One more thing, pray for me as I perform my uncle's funeral this week. He and my aunt were there for my family when my father was killed in a car accident. I pray that I can bring some of Christ's hope and peace to them now.

Coincidence? I think not!

Most skeptics, when they offer their objections to the existence of Sasquatch, point to the dearth of actual photographic evidence. They couldn't be more mistaken.

To the contrary, there actually exists a great deal of photographic evidence. In fact, said evidence is observable in both large cities and small towns all across this great land of ours. Not only is this evidence easily observable, but it also points to the reality that Sasquatch has clandestinely infiltrated one of the highest government agencies in America.

I took a few minutes to gather some of this indisputable evidence into one place (my blog) for your consideration. I defy anyone to observe with an objective eye the following photographic attestations and still contend with any semblance of integrity that incontrovertible photographic evidence for the presence of Sasquatch is not obvious all across the United States (and Canada).

EXHIBIT A

EXHIBIT B

1967 Patterson-Gimiln Film Frame 352

EXHIBIT C

SASQUATCH, WE KNOW YOUR LEGEND'S REAL!

What if . . . ?

This will be quick because I'm subbing in 15 minutes at Oscar's school, but I wanted to offer something to think and meditate on.

I just got back from the Exponential conference in Orlando. Nearly 3,000 church planters from around the country. If you know me, you know I don't say this about very many things, but it was life-changing. If they ever put the messages from the plenary speakers online, I will post them in a future entry for you to hear.

To sum up and combine the challenges from two of the speakers, Craig Groeschel and Francis Chan, I offer this question:

What if we stopped living out of our preconceptions about what life in Christ really is and instead started living out what Scripture reveals it to be? Imagine how radically that would alter our churches and our personal lives.

Well, what if?

Christianity's Hollow Side

Being Good Friday, today we remember with humility and thanksgiving, the crucifixion of incarnate Love on the Cross. With His life, death, resurrection, and ascension nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ reconciled us to the Father for eternity (here's a great blog post by a friend of mine, Joe Boggs, on the Resurrection). Praise be His name!

One would think that in light of an act so infinitely powerful and grace-filled that we would never come to the subject I'm reflecting on today, but, sadly, we have. I'm talking about the sentimentalization of our faith in Christ.

Recently I was reading a humorous article in Newsweek titled, "Murder on Music Row: Taylor Swift? Songs about cute Little Kids? What happened to Country music?" You can find it here. The writer wonders where the gritty, hard-scrabble, down-and-out country music of yore has gone and wandered off to. At one point he asks: "How did we get to this strange, alien land where there's a country-awards show that honors pop-music teeny-boppers and a lot of the songs aren't really country by even the stretchiest definition?"

Where am I going with all of this? Well, a couple days after reading the article, I was sitting in a church service on Sunday morning listening to the "special" music for the day (why do we even have "special" music in church anyway--talent showcase? Or lack-of-talent showcase, as the case may be?), and I got to thinking about how the song was so indicative of the state of Christianity in America today. The song (I can't remember the title) was about a child's view of the crucifixion, and it really played up the emotional, tear-jerker side of the whole thing. And I thought to myself, this is a huge part of our problem; we've gutted Christianity of its real meaning. We've reduced our faith to nothing more than sentimentalism.

Is it any wonder that the Church is in steep decline in the Western world when all we have to offer it is a Hallmark version of the Crucifixion? Would you give up your comfortable way of living, turn the other cheek, walk the second mile, give the shirt off your back, even surrender your life for a religious faith that proffers you little more than a sports figurine of Jesus? (More websites talking about Christian kitsch, here, here, and here.

Several years ago, I asked myself the question one Sunday morning, "Is this all that Jesus died for? So we could get together for an hour once a week and half-sing a few songs and decide where to eat lunch during the sermon?" (I copied a quote from Francis Chan on this same subject a couple of months ago here.)

I don't know what this all means or even what the answer is (though I think Alan Hirsch is on to something in The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church. Check it out here.), but I'm willing to journey toward finding out. I'm ready to get past the sentimentalization of Christ and Christianity and find out once again what's worth giving my life to.

Are you?

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.