We put a Hostess Twinkie in my middle school time capsule. Many of us expected the Twinkie to survive with few ill effects. Apparently there are natural ingredients in a Twinkie because this is what we found when the time capsule came out of the ground:
Fresh Twinkie (left) vs. 20-year-old Twinkie (right)
Romans 10:8-15
“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Good mission statement? There are lots of ways to preach and send. Literally preaching is surely important. So is showing love in other ways. It’s hard to contemplate the Good News when your family’s hungry.
You can’t send without showing confidence in people’s gifts. And of course, no one can be sent unless they’re willing to reorder their life enough to make the time/energy.
My friend Eric gave me a copy of C. H. Spurgeon’s Faith’s Checkbook, and I’ve been using it as a daily devotion lately. Today I happened to peek ahead at the July 10th entry and thought this was worth sharing. (It’s in the public domain so copy away!) You can find more at www.eternallifeministries.org/fcb_toc.htm In the meantime, meditate on this:
Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof. (Psalm 102:13-14)
Yes, our prayers for the church will be heard. The set time is come. We love the prayer meetings, and the Sunday school, and all the services of the Lord’s house. We are bound in heart to all the people of God and can truly say,
There’s not a lamb in all thy flock
I would disdain to feed
There’s not a foe before whose face
I’d fear thy cause to plead.
If this is the general feeling, we shall soon enjoy times of refreshing horn the presence of the Lord. Our assemblies will be filled, saints will be revived, and sinners will be converted. This can only come of the Lord’s mercy; but it will come, and we are called upon to expect it. The time, the set time, is come. Let us bestir ourselves. Let us love every stone of our Zion, even though it may be fallen down. Let us treasure up the least truth, the least ordinance, the least believer, even though some may despise them as only so much dust. When we favor Zion, God is about to favor her. When we take pleasure in the Lord’s work, the Lord Himself will take pleasure in it.
Sorry vegetarians, I have to agree with J&D’s – “Everything should taste like bacon.”
My kids are crazy. Really, they are. Apparently, they’ve been domesticated to the point that they no longer have any kind of survival instincts.
We had the opportunity to spend a couple of days in Santa Cruz with Eleanor’s family, and someone in the group wanted to check out the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. After getting everyone settled and feeding them, we made the short (by adult standards) walk to the beach. By now it was evening, and the Boardwalk was really crowded, so we decided to walk along the shore. The kids kicked off their shoes and walked through the water as it washed up on the beach. Everyone was having a good time. But the kids started getting more and more energized. They dared to run farther out. They cared less and less about getting wet. Eventually, they tore off their shirts and started wading in the cold water as it was getting dark. We expected them to come to their senses at any moment. We thought they’d notice how cold they were and come back out seeking warmth. But it didn’t happen because, as I mentioned earlier, my children have no common sense.
As parents, we tried to stop them. We knew that they didn’t have spare clothes. We knew that we had to walk a mile to get back to the house. We knew that what the kids found so fun right now was going to make them miserable very soon! But now it was done. The die was cast.
We (the parents) started talking about how to help our children. Eventually, we decided that I would run back to the house, grab the minivan, drive back to the beach, and pick up the wet kids so they didn’t have to make the walk back in cold wet clothes. You see, we love our senseless children and are willing to do completely unreasonable things to ensure their well-being – even when the problem is one of their own creation.
As I was huffing and puffing on the run back up the hill, I thought about my own life and my relationship with God, which is a lot like my relationship with my children. God loves me extravagantly and – even though I frequently seem to have no common sense – continues to go to unreasonable lengths to ensure my well-being.
In fact, as I was trekking up that hill, I realized that I didn’t know the house number of the place I was trying to find. I knew what street it was one, and I would know it from sight, but it wasaloooong street, and the kids were waiting for me. I heard, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own insight. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight.” (Proverbs 3:5) I turned left and found the house with the minivan waiting right out front. Even as I as working to care for my children, there was another pair of arms underneath, holding both them and me.
Saw this on a walk yesterday. Poor Rudolph!
Reindeer Roadkill
Hello again! Apparently my last blog post didn’t come across the way I had hoped. A number of people in the church asked me to let them in on the process of the sabbatical, but what I had to say appears to have caused some anxiety. Maybe a little too raw? Anyway, since I’m a bit farther along in my sabbatical process now so I figure it’s time for another installment.
We had to make an emergency trip to Southern California to visit one of Eleanor’s relatives who got a cancer diagnosis. That in itself could easily have been more stressful, but the discontinuity it provided to me was helpful. What happened initially was that the kids were still in school so once day I was working and the next I was on sabbatical, but there was no marker to help my brain shift gears. It just felt like a long “day off.” Then last week I got sick, which didn’t help either.
Getting away – even though it was two days of travel and one day of visiting – was good for me. Then yesterday, which started terrible, ended up being a great unprogrammed day for our family. We did some cleaning, some playing, went for a long walk, and went to dinner together
Also, I feel the prayers of the congregation. I believe that this sabbatical is a critical learning time for me. I need to learn to let go and find a new way to be pastor (I’ll blog on that soon), and I believe there’s a spiritual battle around it. Someone leaked to me that the congregation is praying for me with a new dedication, and I believe that is a big part of the shift I’m experiencing. Thank you! The intensity of the anxiety is waning, and I’m feeling a lot more comfort and confidence in God’s love, grace, and power. (Remember, “Greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city.”)
Two things in closing:
1) I believe that “Let It Go” a song by a band called Tenth Avenue North will be my theme song for the summer. If you want to hear it, there are lots of uploaded YouTube versions. I’ve embedded a live version below (not the more polished studio version, which is also great):
2) Even though you can see my Twitter updates on Facebook, I’m finding it helpful not to visit Facebook. There isn’t a way to put a “vacation message” on there the way you can on email. I just want you to know I’m not ignoring you – I just can’t see the Facebook comments people may be making.
Eleanor and I miss you all! It’s strange not to see you. One thing I know for sure is that it will be good to see you at the end of the summer.
Your brother in Christ,
Steve
I’m now two weeks into a 14-week sabbatical from my job as pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church of West Sacramento. But I’m not “relaxed and happy.” In fact, I’ve dreaded running into church members and having to answer, “How’s the sabbatical going?”
The church is going to a lot of trouble to make this possible, and it’s intended as a blessing to me and my family. I am grateful for it.
The catch is that I’ve been seriously burned out for over a year now. And I’ve been anxious both about the church’s finances and my own. Meanwhile, we’ve faced crisis after crisis. I’m so far overdrawn on energy that I really hope 14 weeks will be enough to catch up.
I had expected to spend a couple of weeks resting, catching up on sleep, and letting things drain out of my head. But I’m still feeling pretty anxious. A pastor friend of mine pointed out that it’s hard to relax when you don’t know if the church is going broke. That’s for sure! There’s a big even going on today, and I keep trying not to be anxious by giving it to God in prayer. And then there was also a lot of organizational change just getting started when I left. It could go two ways. If people step up and claim their calling – taking on the church’s mission as their own – it will be a joy to return. I’ll still need to drastically change the way I function as pastor, but it will be a great place to be. If people don’t do that, and I come back to a mess – or worse, to apathy – it’ll be hard to return to the pastor role.
I’m pretty clear that God doesn’t want me to try to carry the church’s mission or to try to make the people of the church claim it. But the mission is so important to me and the vision so clear that it’s hard to let things fail. This summer, I’m getting practice in that.
In fact, a bunch of things in my personal life have fallen through already in these two weeks. I’ve had to do my best to hand them over to God.
The timing of my sabbatical seems to be designed for the church to work on its assignment and me on mine. I hope we both get an A because that will mean that the church will claim its calling and bring the light of Christ to a community that desperately needs it. It will also mean that I, having learned to let go, will be healthier and more able to focus on what I’m called to do, rather than on logistics and administration. Of course, it’s highly unlikely that either of us will be finished with our assignments by September, but God-willing, we’ll both make enough progress to give us hope and some good momentum in the right direction.
Pray for us both!
On my way,
Steve
I’m currently reading Steve Parrar’s Battle Ready: Prepare to Be Used by God (thanks Gary and Nancy), and there’s a chapter on “increased hardship.” He refers to Exodus 5, and I felt the need to blog a bit when I read it.
The people of Israel had been mistreated in Egypt for some time. And when God told Moses that he was planning to free the people, Moses and Aaron went to Pharoah to ask to be allowed to worship God in the wilderness for three days. Not only does Pharaoh refuse the request, but he stops providing straw for the people to use to make the bricks that are daily demanded of them – with no reduction in their required quota. Because of Moses request, the people are worse off than they were before. And at the end of the chapter (and the end of his rope), Moses says to God, “O LORD, why have you mistreated this people? Why did you ever send me? Since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has mistreated this people, and you have done nothing at all to deliver your people.” (Exodus 5:22-23)
I have felt that way as a pastor. I really believe that God led me to become the pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church, but the events of the last 18 months have exhausted me. We’ve had constant budget problems, a number of different crises, too many deaths (including a young girl with her unborn child), and a breakdown in the church structures. When God raised up someone to help with the organization, she and her husband had to move to Houston, and we’re struggling on that too…
God, what are you doing?!? Why did you call me and build up all kinds of wonderful things just to leave me feeling helpless and the church in jeopardy???
Of course Trinity is only at Exodus 5. There are a lot more chapters in Exodus (it goes up to 40!) The story of the exodus doesn’t even become an exodus until chapter 13. If it ended before 13, we’d have to call it “The Book of Bricks and Plagues.” And who would want to read that?
I’ve asked God that question before… Why did you send me here only to pull out one support after another? The only answer I’m getting is “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). While that may not the most satisfying answer. (I’d prefer to timeline and a list of the ways God plans to provide for all of the manifold needs I can see before the church and me.) But ”be still and know that I am God” is the most helpful answer.
And specific resources or provision could end up inadequate for the problems that are ahead. The promise that God is God is sufficient for any eventuality. The trick is to remember that and let it sink in deep enough to conquer anxiety and doubt.
I’ve been having some difficulty with that part lately, but in the past few days, God has sent no fewer than four friends with messages that promise God’s provisions – often with special meaning to me that they could not have known. One friend sent a PowerPoint presentation with music in the background. The melody was the song I used in my senior sermon in seminary and the candidate video I sent to Trinity before they called me to be their pastor. Our music director chose a new song and told me “I thought about you when I chose this – it’s for you.” The song included that verse from Psalm 46 – “Be still and know that I am God.” The secret message was that when my wife was praying for me the night before, she asked that I would know whatever I need to know. What I heard in my head was “Be still and know that I am God.”
God’s promise is good. I can’t say that I’m suddenly relaxed, but it’s clear to me that God is making a way forward. The journey the people of Israel began on that fateful day in Exodus 5 may have started with worse hardships than before, but it ended with them entering a new land – prepared in advance for them by a God who loved them. It will be really interesting to see where our journey leads.
“No pain, no gain” isn’t exactly how I would put it, but I do find that some of my most important learning and spiritual growth have come when times are tough. Supporting a family in their grief makes my own faith stronger. Walking through the dark valley with others helps me to appreciate the light on the other side. Paul calls us to “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2), and I find that everything God asks us to do has a benefit for the giver as well as the recipient.
So in the nearly 40 memorial services I’ve done as pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church, I have been blessed. And yet the heaviness builds up over time. Though God was with him, Elijah eventually ran away.
The coolest thing about that story is that when Elijah went to run away, God sent an angel to make him a nice meal for the trip. “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” (1 Kings 19:7). And then, after Elijah had rested, God called him back. Not in an earthquake or a fire or a storm but in a quiet, gentle, loving voice.
I’m getting ready to take a sabbatical this summer. I’ll be away from my vocational ministry – particularly church administration! – for three months. My expectation is that in my time on Mount Horeb will be restorative and surprising. I look forward to rediscovering my passion for ministry and for preaching.
The tough stuff builds up. And sometimes a rest is necessary. And through it all, God is good. God knows what I need – even when it’s to run away for a bit. I’m sure there will be plenty of ministry to do when I get back.
I don’t know if this is happening everywhere in the United States, but here in California, I’ve seen a huge increase of collaborative roadside memorials in the past few years. Do you know the phenomenon I’m describing? People go to the place where someone has lost their life – usually in a car accident – and arrange balloons, pictures, candles, flowers, personal items, teddy bears, etc. Here’s a picture of one in West Sacramento, CA:
People make these as a way to express their grief and feel like they’re doing something about their loss. The church used to provide a place for that. We used to be the place where people gathered to express their loss and comfort each other. A memorial service followed by a reception used to be the place where people would find meaning and hope in a senseless loss – where people could share their pain, share their stories,comfort one another, and offer support. If we wanted a lasting memorial to a person, we would donate to the church’s memorial fund and our loved one’s name would be recorded where future generations could read it.
But where do you go if you don’t have a community like that? How do you find hope if you don’t have the hope of the gospel? Where do you go to share stories?
I think that these roadside memorials are a sign of spiritual hunger – of people’s search for meaning and longing for more in life. We’re desperately trying to create it for ourselves.
I wonder how the church might respond. I wonder if there’s a way for us to meet that need again the way we once did. I wonder if we could make ourselves available for memorial services or even places to memorialize someone in a more permanent way. How could we let people know that we’re there for them in their time of crisis?
What are your ideas?
I have to admit it. For years, people have talked to me about the importance of morning prayer, of starting out each day by dedicating it – and myself – to God. I have tried a bunch of times to do it too. But I find it hard.
Here’s the deal. I’m not a morning person at all. I don’t like getting up any earlier than I have to. I don’t think very clearly in the morning either. I’ve tried prayer journals and devotional books. They’re OK, but I still need a lot of discipline and a measure of focus. I’ve tried the “read the Bible in 365 days” plan too. It’s great, but my brain doesn’t want to digest that much so early in the morning.
I’ve used devotional books too, including My Utmost for His Highest (Oswald Chambers), Morning and Evening (Charles Spurgeon) and These Days (various authors). They’re inspirational, but there’s not a lot of Bible or prayer in there – mostly reflection.
What I really need is a prayer leader – my own private prayer service each morning. So here’s what I’m doing. Each morning, I’m praying along with a “morning prayer” podcast. It’s based on the Episcopal Church’s daily office book so it had a Psalm and two Bible readings along with a prayer of confession, a creed, a chance to pray for others, the Lord’s Prayer and a blessing. It’s also set to music – just the thing for me. As a good Presbyterian, I pause during the prayer of confession to get a little extra confessing time. I usually pause during the intercession time too.
It takes me 15-20 minutes for that. On the good days I can pray and read more as I feel led. On the bad days, at least I’ve started with prayer!
There are several audio resources available for prayer time with a computer or MP3 player. Try them and see what works best for you:
Listen or subscribe to the Morning Prayer podcast from the Episcopal Church in Garrett County: www.episcopalchurchingarrettcounty.org/churchonthewebpage.htm
For a reading and reflection Monday through Friday, check out www.pray-as-you-go.org
For a weekly dose of scripture, prayer, music and contemplation, try the Taizé podcast www.taize.fr/podcast
There’s also an audiobook version of Eugene Peterson’s The Message that divides the Bible up into daily doses (with a day off for reflection and catch-up each week): www.amazon.com/Daily-Message-Complete-Bible/dp/1598594575
I hope one of these will help my fellow morning-prayer-challenged night people out there as much as this has helped me. May God bless you on your journey!
On a recent coffee run I saw a sign at a local restaurant located near a major freeway. “No Public Restroom (Customers Only),” it read.
The sign was posted on the front door where everyone would see it – in fact, that and the hours were the only things posted there. It reminded me of a church I interviewed with years ago. The church was having trouble reaching out to younger people, but when teens started hanging around outside the church so they had posted “no skateboarding” signs all over. “They chip the steps,” I was told. “Couldn’t you put a concrete repair line item in the budget and welcome them in?” I asked. Needless to say, I was not invited to pastor that church.
Isn’t there a way that the restaurant with the “no public restroom” sign could use the traffic to their advantage?
I’ve written previously about some issues we face again and again in the church I pastor. One of them is a concern about the cost of food and drinks after worship. “Can’t they eat at home?” some ask. “What’s wrong with asking for a small donation for food – for those who really want to eat?”
We’ve found that when we don’t charge for things like coffee, snacks, paperback Bibles, devotional books and sermon CDs, people feel welcomed and loved. And they come back! Our family grows and our financial needs are met.
Some time ago, I visited another restaurant – a Round Table Pizza – when I was on the freeway with a child whose bladder was about to explode. They had a sign that said, “Our restrooms are for everyone. If you’re not a customer on this visit, we hope that one day you will be.”
I saw the Super Bowl ad for a free grand slam breakfast at Denny’s on February 3rd. And I was planning to take the family. Only each Denny’s we visited had a line around the block. Apparently, Denny’s served 2 million breakfasts that morning. They estimate that they got $50 million worth of free (positive) publicity for an event that cost them $5 million. (See the USA Today article on the event.)
When we’re planning an event at the church, someone will almost always say, “What if we advertise it and 5000 people come? We won’t be able to handle it!” My usual response is that “It hasn’t happened yet, even when we want to invite the whole community.”
Denny’s took a risk. A big, expensive risk. Would anyone come? Would any of them come back? What if too many people came and left mad? What if they got bad press?
The way I see it, they couldn’t lose. Either a) People would come and enjoy a good breakfast, learning where Denny’s was and what it offered or b) too many would show up making it a big media event – showing priceless images of people lining up around the block to eat at Denny’s. Either way you win, right? It was a gutsy move, and they hit a grand slam. (Sorry, I couldn’t help it.) I didn’t get a breakfast, but I wasn’t angry – it wasn’t Denny’s fault!
Usually in the church, we play it safe. That means when we accomplish out goals, not much happens. What if we tried to be like Denny’s? After all, our “CEO” rewards those who step out in faith!
I’m about halfway through a three-week vacation from my position as pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church. After 5-1/2 years as pastor with no more than two weeks off at any one time (except to have kids!), I started to feel tired, and it was taking more and more to recover. I later learned that psychologists have a name for that concept: “resiliency.”
It’s kind of like some rechargeable batteries – they become less and less able to hold a charge over time. More charging and less powering. I was like that – less able to deal with adversity, less able to recharge, less able to think creatively. I think the real answer will be a sabbatical in 2010, but for now, I’m taking a break, looking at new habits that will help me to be healthy and effective.
I don’t want to be like a worn out laptop battery, and I’m not planning on allowing myself to get so worn down that I can’t do my job.
If you’ve lost your resiliency – especially if you’re a pastor – it’s worth the effort to recover that ability. For me this vacation is different than any other I’ve had. My focus this time isn’t on escaping from my work but on allowing God to renew me, restore me, and transform me.
Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29) Jesus clearly states that one can wear his yoke andfind rest for one’s soul. That’s all I’m looking for. 
I’ll let you know how it goes!
I’ve noticed a big difference between the assumptions my 6-year-old son makes and the ones I made at the same age. I used to assume that everyone went to some kind of church. Johnny is surprised to learn that someone goes to church. He realizes that he lives in a post-Christian world.
I hadn’t realized this until my wife was radio “channel surfing” this morning. She came across a Christian radio station and they mentioned “the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“Is that a CD mom?” he asked.
“No. It’s on the radio.”
“Yeah, but is it the iPod playing over the radio?”
“No, it’s really on the radio. It’s a Christian radio station.”
“It’s about time!” Johnny replied.
My kids have an innate awareness that this isn’t a Christian world in a way that I never did. It will be interesting to see how that affects the way he sees being a follower of Jesus along the way. He’ll probably help me learn to be a pastor in a post-Christian world too.
The annual Presbyterian Church “Bible Content Exam” happened again today. And as of this evening, my web tool for studying the Bible – mainly for people taking that test, has been used 163440 times! I never would have imagined that 9 years ago. It’s very cool that I get to help so many people learn God’s word and also get a step closer to ordination.
I have the week off from church so we were planning to worship at another church as we generally do. but t his week, Lydia is sick with some kind of stomach flu. Rather than leave Eleanor and Lydia at home alone, we decided to have “home church” today.
I put on some recorded hymns as we ate breakfast. As the boys and I worked on cleaning up the kitchen, the hymn “Come, Labor On” came on. Now I’ve always wished that that hymn had a better tune. It sounds like a funeral song, but the words are great. They speak of our response to God’s grace. We had already heard “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” with its line,
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all
That’s true, and I really feel it. I personally feel the call to service my Lord with my whole being. That’s where “Come, Labor On” comes in.
Come, labor on. Who dares stand idle, on the harvest plain While all around him waves the golden grain? And to each servant does the Master say, “Go work today.” Come, labor on! Claim the high calling angels cannot share; To young and old the Gospel gladness bear; Redeem the time; its hours too swiftly fly. The night draws nigh. Come, labor on! Away with gloomy doubts and faithless fear! No arm so weak but may do service here: Through feeble agents, may we all fulfill God's righteous will. Come, labor on! No time for rest, till glows the western sky, Till the long shadows o’er our pathway lie, And a glad sound comes with the setting sun, “Well done, well done!”
Taken the wrong way, this hymn might sound like we have to earn the love of God. But that’s not what it means at all. God’s love for us and self-giving for us in Jesus Christ is secure. Now, God has chosen to use us to do his work. And serving in God’s fields, bringing Good News and joy to others is generally pleasant work. Also, there’s nothing like the feeling that God is pleased with you – “Well done! Well done!”
It always puzzles me when others I meet don’t feel the same desire to serve the Lord. If you don’t know him, I get it. But when Christians say that they’re through serving God or too busy to serve, or it’s not a priority, it confuses me. I can understand saying, “I really want to serve God, but I can’t figure out how to do it with the kids and the job, etc.” That I understand. Sometimes, people need permission to rest a bit! Or a different way to serve that they haven’t considered yet. The song has a word for that too: “No arm so weak but may do service here.” Anyone who desires to serve God can do so.
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.
Looks like I kicked the blogging habit. Let’s see if I can get back into it. I’ve been learning a whole lot in the last few months. More soon, God willing!
People talk a lot about breaking bad habits, but keeping good habits can be just as hard – sometimes harder.
I know this because I just did my old weight program at the gym for the first time in just about a year. Now I could make plenty of excuses. I stopped last year because I got sick a few times in a row (thanks to kids and preschool). Then I had to work at the preschool during one of my two times available for the gym. And then we had a baby.
But those aren’t the real reasons. I just got out of the habit. It happens. I used to have the same problem with church (now I’m pretty motivated to be there You’re in a good groove and then something happens to interrupt the routine. Even if it’s a really good thing to do – maybe especially when it’s a really good thing to do – it’s hard to get back into the routine. And the time just gets away from you.
I’ve finally come to a point where I need to get my exercise so I believe I’ll do it. I guess that’s the secret. You really have to internalize the desire to achieve a goal or to have something good in you life in order to make the effort again and again.
So I faced it. I dealt with the ground I’ve lost in a year. And I’m ready to go back!
Do you have any good habits that have gotten away from you? Let me know…
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