http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog Steve Whitney, writing as a pastor, a former Silicon Valley computer guru, and a dad Sun, 17 Aug 2008 04:36:40 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The word pastor comes from our job as shepherds.  Of course, Jesus is the real shepherd, but we pastors try our best to represent him well as we seek to care for his flock.  Jesus taught us that he's the kind of shepherd who cares if a single sheep goes ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/175 Tomorrow is the fifth anniversary of my first day as pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church.  I can still clearly remember talking to the pastor nominating committee at my face-to-face interview with them back in 2003.  After they asked me their questions, I asked them a few, including what would you ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/171 I've got the stomach flu, and it has completely ruined my plans.  Sure, I should have been prepared when my son Johnny got it a few days ago, but I lived in denial.  I'll spare you the unplesant details, but the part of this that's interesting is that on Wednesday, ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/169 During my vacation this year, I had the good fortune of being able to spend a week at my grandmother's cabin at Donner Lake.  And this year, my aunt had left a kayak for us to use.  The previous night I had tried it out and taken my sons on ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/166 Eleanor and I were headed for a rare cup of coffee without the kids and during the five-minute drive, we encountered two different people who were angry over someone getting into the lane of traffic ahead of them.  Eleanor and I actually let a couple of people in and then ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/165 I believe I've blogged about this before, but lately in Northern California, we've had high heat and smoke everywhere from the many fires burning in our state.  This, along with high energy costs, leads to a new urgency to...  wait for it... keep the door closed! I don't want to cool the neighborhood!  ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/164 Lately, my son Joshua has had some trouble with drawing on the floor, walls, furniture, and windows with crayons.  We've always had an understanding that crayons are only to be used on paper, and he can answer the question, "Where do we used crayons?"  "On paper, Dad."  But temptation strikes, ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/159 When I was a kid, my dad had to make a rule that you could never take the last ice cube from the little ice bin on our freezer drawer without opening and refilling a fresh tray of ice.  So my sister and I always left exactly one cube.  Then ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/157 In response to my earlier post about the difficulty of making space in a smaller church, Becky made this suggestion: Have you thought of starting a new (small) church? I love the idea of small churches being so appealing that they multiply like bunnies. It's really a reasonable thing to think about ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/158 Yesterday afternoon, my kids were starting to get a little bit of cabin fever. It was hot, and the air had been smoky for most of the day, but by late afternoon, the air had cleared a bit and a cool breeze was blowing. "Why don't you go ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/154 I had a wonderful opportunity to address pastors and elders from small churches at the Presbyterian Church's biannual General Assembly on Monday.  I really do believe in the ministry of small churches.  By their definition, we are Trinity are now a medium-size church, but we're still a lot smaller than ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/153 The past couple of weeks, I've been troubled in my spirit...  Is that good Bible language for spiritually messed up? Our church has experienced a lot of growth lately and we're having growing pains.  That's partly because our building is way too small.  It was built in a time when a) ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/152 I don't like waiting at all. It's annoying. And then there's all that uncertainty. I preached about waiting for God on Sunday.  Then as I was feeling frustrated today about a couple of things, I happened to hear two different people on the car radio at two different times ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/150 Today was a historic day. I was trying to explain to my 5-year-old son why the nomination of Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate for President of the United States is such a big deal. He didn't get it. I had to explain to him that ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/151 We've landed on Mars! Check out news from the Phoenix Mars lander. http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/148 A recent study claims that kids in daycare have better immune systems than those with stay-at-home parents, possibly leading to a reduced likelihood of leukemia.  See the New York Times article here. This makes me feel a lot better about the various sicknesses that some of our church kids passed around ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/147 My wife woke me up for morning prayer this morning and I went back to sleep.  This was a bad choice because there's a lot going on in my life and the life of our church right now.   As a church grows, it can no longer connect everyone "automatically."  It's ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/146 I was just reading Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening devotional for this evening, and it referred to Job 22:21.  In the NRSV (New Revised Standard Version), it says, "Agree with God, and be at peace; in this way good will come to you."  In the NIV (New International Version), it says, ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/144 Last week, I attended a "round table" of sexual assault survivors and members of the clergy. The honesty of the six women who had survived sexual assault was extraordinary - and extremely difficult to hear. But the hardest part of what they had to say was the part about how ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/143 In Memoriam Oscar Myra Mendoza Whitney (Myra) 1994-2008 Last night (April 30), our long-haired miniature dachshund, Myra escaped from the back yard.  When we realized it late last night, I went searching for her in the neighborhood and after about 45 minutes, found her across Jefferson Blvd. (a busy, highway-like street with 4 lanes).  ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/141 I preached on sex, lust, and divorce on Sunday.  Blech! :-P I knew that I needed to do it, but I sure didn't like the idea of standing in front of a whole group of people and talking about sex.  Heck, I don't want to talk to a small group of ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/140 First a word of  introduction.  I had the great pleasure of attending the Bayside Church (of Granite Bay, CA) THRIVE 2008 conference.  It's nice that such a huge and wealthy church - that could easily hold a world-class conference just for its own leaders - invites leaders from other churches to come ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/139 Tired of the Homeland Security Threat Level or the fire danger level?  Try this.  My level of caffeination (is that a word?) is on the low side today.  Where's yours? HT: KC Wahe http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/138 About a year ago, I was at a ministry conference and someone I had been talking to the day before came up to me and said, "I have a message for you, Steve!" "Uh, OK..." I replied. "The message is that you're ministry is on hold until you ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/136 Johnny had a birthday party for some of his little friends last Saturday. We always struggle with the gift issue.  Eleanor wants to have a "no gifts" party, and I imagine what that would feel like for the kids.  They bring presents to all of their friends' parties.  Is it fair ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/134 Last Sunday, many things went wrong in worship at Trinity. Now we're not one of those churches were everything is polished and perfect, but even we are not accustomed to the sheer number of small things that went wrong, from people being out sick to sound system glitches to bulletin information ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/133 Eleanor and I were having a conversation over lunch and the topic of the church came up.  I said something about the church not being my church.  Well my son Johnny said, "It is your church, daddy," "No Johnny," I replied, "It's Jesus' church.  And he's my boss." Without skipping a beat, ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/132 OK, I'm not a big Nintendo Wii player, but why are people so disturbed by this image of Jesus? Check out a blog entry about Mission Bay Community Church's attempt to reach people by using the culture. The blog post by "Ryan" at the Two Small Coins blog does ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/129 You've heard about Botox - the toxin (poison!) that people use to minimize the appearance of wrinkles - to look younger. Well, there's a new twist. A recent study in rats shows that the toxin that people inject into their foreheads may travel to the brain, damaging the brain stem!  ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/126 Today is the 40th anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. I think everyone in this country owes him a debt of gratitude for raising the consciousness of a nation that has always prided itself on being the land of the free. Well, it's not over.  ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/125 Jim Edwards, one of the speakers at the West Coast Presbyterian Pastors' Conference this week, spent some time this morning talking about various virtues and about how we can make a decision to act in ways that we might not feel yet.  An example for me might be to help ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/124 At our conference today, Jim Edwards has been speaking on a list of Greek words he's selected from the New Testament in its original language. One of them is a word "proserchomai" (since I don't have a Greek font), which is the word for people approaching God. He ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/123 I'm sitting here in a huge group of Presbyterian Church pastors, and I'm struck by how real these people are! If you've heard me preach or have come to my Bible studies, you know that being real is a biggie for me. I think that one of the biggest problems ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/122 OK, I may be exaggerating a bit, but this is how a lot of bad sci-fi movies start out.  A 12-foot tall, 3400 pound robot with 11-foot arms "rose like Frankenstein" to be installed at the International Space Station.  Watch out, guys!  In space, no one can hear you scream. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2008-03-15-space-shuttle_N.htm http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/121 I was just holding my 6-week-old daughter in my arms.  It was actually a pretty special moment.  She was almost smiling as she gazed into Daddy's eyes.  But then she started to get sleepy.  And she hadn't had her pink eye drops yet.  So I held little Lydia as her ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/120 OK.  There are no guns in this post, but it sounded much cooler with them. I have found the easiest way to get the abs you've always dreamed of, and you're in on the ground floor.  Introducing, Cold and Flu AbsTM Yes, all you need to get that sixpack you've always wanted ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/119 "Can I have some apple juice?" my son Joshua asked. "Sure," I responded. "DAD, HE ALREADY ASKED MOM AND SHE SAID NO!" my older son Johnny yelled. Yes, Joshua has discovered the fine art of continuing to ask until you get the answer you want.  Dave Barney, a system software director I worked ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/118 Our daughter Lydia arrived in an unexpected way (surprise!)  When we arrived at the hopsital for the scheduled c-section - a bit disappointed - we learned that Eleanor was far enough along that they could induce labor after all.  (We thought that was impossible because she had had a previous ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/116 If you've been reading the blog for a while, you know that this is the time of year when I get worried about the church finances.  Our church is a transformation congregation that hasn't completely arrived yet.  Each year, the financial needs grow faster than our financial resources.  Sure, our ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/114 Well, baby Lydia is due in two days. We are really looking forward to seeing her, and we'd love it if Eleanor would go into labor right now. Also, we're buying a house and I'd love to start getting it ready to move into. There's just too ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/113 We've got a baby coming and day now and are also planning to move into a new house.  It's gotten much harder to do simple things, like preparing sermons and remembering what I'm supposed to do each day.  There's just so much on my mind and so much to do.  Read ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/112 Just when you think you've seen it all, a Virgin Mary USB flash drive with glowing red LED "heart." See for yourself (if you haven't just eaten).  Blech. http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/111 "Come to Jesus" are powerful words.  But often they're powerfully negative.  Do you know the expression "come to Jesus meeting"?  When someone is way off track and needs to be straightened out, a supervisor or colleague will often say that they need to have a "come to Jesus meeting."  Presumably ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/110 OK, so I had an old E*Trade account from my computer industry days.  It still had $126 in it, and E*Trade started charging me a fee of $40/quarter for the privilege of possibly doing business with them in the future.  So I decided to close my account and transfer the ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/109 Wooooo! Lately, I've been doing a decent job of doing some light weight training on a semi-regular basis (boy, that sentence don't claim a lot, does it?)  Anyway, every so often, I bump up my weights, and I can really "feel the burn" as my muscles work harder than they're accustomed ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/107  Mark 15:15 says, "Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified." Last spring another pastor said that he had a word for me: "God has your ministry on hold until you can stop worryign about what other people think."  ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/106 I'm on my way home from the Presbyterian Church's Evangelism Conference.  It's clear to me that evangelism has really changed since the days when you could follow a script or hand people a booklet and they would make a decision to be a Christian.  These days it's all about having ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/105 The Bible's book of Revelation is a tough nut to crack. To figure out what it meant to its readers, you have to understand all kinds of allusions, several literary genres, and a ton of historical context. I will not be doing that today :-) Instead I'm looking at a popular ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/104 A dream that was in the making for some time came true this week.  Our kids' choir sang the national anthem at a Sacramento River Cats game!  They did really well.  Click below to see and hear them: Get the Flash ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/103 Lately, as my kids have been getting bigger, I've noticed that t least one of them seems to be doing something I have an objection to almost all of the time. Johnny's throwing a ball up to the ceiling and Joshua's jumping off of a chair, or somebody's pulling ... http://www.steve-whitney.com/blog/archives/102