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Christianity and Faith
Extended Family.
06.23.08 | Permalink | 9 Comments |As I was working with some long-time friends (and many new ones) this week to present our church drama, it occurred to me just how important my church family is to me. Some of these people I have been friends with for 20 years. I flipped through a photo album yesterday that reminded me just how much things have changed.
Setting aside the primary function of church for a moment, I feel inclined to comment on the benefits of simply being a member. I have changed jobs several times; I have moved from apartments to homes on the west side of town, and then to the east. I have met many great people outside of church, and have socialized with them from time to time, but the longest running social thread that I have is based on my church family. I cannot emphasize enough just how valuable this has been to me over the years. I think in the ever-changing, busy lives that people lead today, it is unusual to have friendships that last such a long time. People move away, they change jobs, or they simply grow apart with no common thread to keep them together.
I was recently talking to my wife about the benefits of having siblings. She talks about how important her relationships with her brothers are to her, and how she knows that no matter what, she can rely on them. Not to minimize the excellent relationship that I have with my parents, but as an only child, I think that I could have easily felt lacking in this area. However, as a member of a family that transcends where I work or where I live, it almost feels like the same thing. We were there when each other got married, and when marriages fell apart - including my first one. I have shared the happiness of new life events with this family - whether it be a new baby, a new house or a new car. I went into business with a close friend, and when we decided to dissolve the business to move on, we still knew that we would see each other every Sunday and find new projects to collaborate on in the future. Members of the family come and go, but the constantly evolving group always manages to exist. We may not talk much for months at a time - other than a simple handshake or a wave on Sunday morning, but then an event will arise or a project will present itself, and we just pick up where we left off.
We all have our personal lives to live, but just like actual family, these other relationships will be there when we need them. They are family whether we call every week or not. We share the same core values, and always keep that in common. We are happy to see each other succeed, and are there to help when each other stumbles.
We had a OneLife meeting at Gary and Laura’s house last night, and Ben led a discussion about faith. One of the things he talked about that really stuck with me is the concept that faith requires moving in a direction. It’s not about believing something and waiting for God to tell you what to do. It’s about doing your best to decide what seems right, and then relying on God to open doors (or make it obvious) if it is right. One of the examples he mentioned about faith really was very insightful. When you are at your lowest, and you don’t have any faith at all - move forward. Move in a direction that you believe will put you in a place where you can gain more faith or restore faith that you have lost. My immediate thought was this: when everything is crumbling around you, just go to church. Maybe you’re mad at God, and maybe you feel abandoned because you are not getting the answers you expect. But it occurred to me that these people that I call family have kept me close to God. No matter what was happening in my life, I had someone that would not abandon me or turn away from me. No matter where you are in life, that is a start.
To you out there that are a part of my ALC family, I love and appreciate all of you.
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Christianity and Faith
On the Mainline.
I went to church this morning expecting an entertaining group of musicians to put on a very progressive and polished “Yeah, yeah, we’re Christians; but we rock too!” stage show.
Now that may or may not sound like something you’re into (depending on how uptight you are), but I was mildly interested. The Clark Brothers - of recent Next Great American Band and American Idol fame - were in town, and I assumed that maybe they were passing through and had some time to kill — or maybe they owed Brother Jeff some money or something, and agreed to stop in to settle the debt. I mean, let’s face it, they are pretty famous now. They’ve been on TV in front of 30 million people.
Well, it turns out I was wrong.
I vaguely remember seeing the entire Freddy Clark family sing, play their instruments and minister at our church some 15 or more years ago, but I can’t really say that I’ve been keeping track of them since.
They played a total of four songs in the 9 am service, and they were just outstanding. Their version of “Jesus on the Mainline” (which they performed on “Idol”) was both classic and mainstream (in a White Stripes sorta way), and their other selections were equally powerful. They are fantastic musicians. But what impressed me the most after Ashley (above, center) delivered a simple but extremely moving message, was how involved all three of them were in ministering to our church at the end of service. The anointing on their lives and ministry is palpable.
Consider me impressed, fellas. Thanks for stopping by.
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Christianity and Faith
The Elephant in the Room.
04.28.08 | Permalink | 2 Comments |This post is in response to a question posed by my Pastor on his blog. It took me a long time to write (particularly since I lost the first draft to browser problems), so it’s going to count as an entry for me as well. The question he posed is this:
Do you see any elephants in the room?
I am wanting to do a little blog research. I need your help.
There are very few things as wearisome to a Pastor as the infighting in the kingdom of God over gray issues. Most God-fearing people can settle their theological and philosophical disputes on the black and white issues, but the gray issues become bloody battlegrounds of bias.
Mark Batterson, of National Community Church in Washington DC, blogged about some of these issues when he wrote:
“About four hundred years ago, a German theologian named Rupertus Meldenius, was frustrated with the infighting and backbiting in the church. And he said something so profound that it has passed the test of time.” He said:
In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.
We have turned “issues into elephants”! We love to skirt around the issues. The church bells ring with criticism and gossip because of the “elephant”. The “world” cuts us out of the equation because we don’t care enough about their “real needs” to put down our battle axes.
Would you take a second to comment on this question: What “elephants in the church” would you like to see us speak about during an upcoming series? What are the real issues that intrude on our divine purpose? I am not sure what my timetable will be on doing this series, but hopefully sometime soon.
This should be interesting.
Let me first say that I don’t think we have “elephants in the room” of any significance at ALC. Pastor Hennigan’s ability to be direct without having to defend every little decision is a credit to him and his leadership. While there are things that aren’t discussed over the pulpit, I don’t sense an apprehension to discuss them, but rather an ability on his part to keep the focus on things that matter. This is a tricky balance, but I think his attitude and approachability make that possible.
I could get into some of the specific things that I think are issues that might traditionally be considered “elephants in the room”, but I am going to respond to the question in broader terms for now. I grew up in the UPC, and when I think back to how much time and energy I’ve wasted wondering if this rule was right, or whether that person was still saved, it kind of makes me sick. These things were, by and large, the defining characteristics of my belief system for a long time. We had the “whole truth”, and no one else did - in part because of the way we dressed. The arrogance of that is mind-boggling.
As is human nature, we have a tendency to lose sight of how to prioritize certain things. We tend to make much out of characteristics that are tangible, because it’s easier to recognize and evaluate. We look at hair, dresses, beards, jewelry - because they are all so easy to see and identify. It is easy to measure a person by these benchmarks since you can’t see what’s in their hearts. I believe that what were originally set up as holiness guidelines have become the defining characteristic of our movement. I don’t know that I agree that the organization has lost its defining purpose, but I believe that the purpose frequently gets lost behind the procedure. If you look back on the founding members of the UPC, you would be surprised to see women in earrings and men with beards. The fact that most of us don’t know that is a testament to how things become distorted over time.
One thing that I think happens frequently is that we confuse church law and God’s law. I think the church often sets rules to protect their members in a broad sense, though the rules themselves may not be Biblical. I don’t think this is a bad thing — until it starts being taught as if it is Biblical. Every organization has a right to have bylaws. If you don’t agree with them, you don’t have to be a part of that organization. For instance, I can’t find anything (conclusively) in the Bible that says that consumption of alcohol is wrong. There is much debate about whether “wine” in the Bible was fermented or not, or whether is was sometimes, and other times not. I see a great deal about drunkenness, drinking in moderation, not defiling your body, etc. Here is a link to an interesting analysis of the issue if you’re interested (http://www.tektonics.org/lp/nowine.html). But how does an organization legislate something like that? You can’t say, “you can drink, but only in moderation.” Moderation is defined differently by everyone. So, in order to protect people, it makes sense to play it safe. Just don’t. You’ll be better off not subjecting yourself to a temptation to abuse alcohol. I think that is very valid. BUT - it may not be biblical, thus it’s organizational. The problem comes when we lose sight of that, and begin to attempt to judge others’ salvation based on our organization’s guidelines.
My hope is that we at ALC always keep sight of this difference.
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Christianity and Faith
Bible Quizzing.
It’s been a long time since I had to memorize lots of text. It requires a system. A process.
For 10 years I was in Bible Quizzing. I think back to the memorization we were asked to do, and it’s hard to imagine now. That first year, as an 8-year-old, I had to memorize entire chapters of the Bible - a good portion of the book of John, as a matter of fact - word for word. We had to know where each verse was located, and we had to be able to access and quote them quickly.
Here’s a photo taken fairly late in my quizzing career.
Bible Quizzing is not for everyone. It takes a lot of commitment, and it is a heavy load to add to school work. But, I learned a lot of valuable skills from quizzing, and it helped me tranform from a shy little kid into someone confident enough to speak in front of hundreds of people. To this day, I am still unusually comfortable speaking in front of an audience.
I also learned a process for memorization. I learned about short-term vs long-term memory. And now it’s time to apply that process to memorizing the 100+ lines I have in this year’s drama.
Let’s hope I’m not too rusty.
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Christianity and Faith
Origin.
Enjoying our visit to my in-laws’ in Cedar Park. Marcella and Claire are at some festival located at the new church grounds down here. So, I decided to camp out at a nearby Starbucks for a while. It’s not that I’m anti-social or anything, but Claire and I went to some playgrounds this morning, so I’m taking a break.
Been thinking more about this blog, and I realized that I actually have quite a few things that I want to write about. A little about religion, some politics, and just some general observations. Maybe this will be more than just a method to practice my writing. Maybe I’ll regret making my friends and family aware of this blog, and maybe I won’t. Not sure yet. I’m going to try to be honest without worrying about offending anyone. We’ll see how that works out.
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