Archive for the ‘Christianity’ category

Reflections of a Middle School Camp Pastor, Day 2

July 17, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W. July 17, 2012

Yesterday we climbed a mountain! Last night we struggled with the pain!
Not the pain in my knees, mind you, but rather the pain in the lives of middle school students. I had encouraged them to write down questions they had for God about something that troubled them. The responses gave me a view of the landscape of heartache and doubt that “recently-turned teenagers” deal with.
And, troubling as it sounds, a sense of cynicism towards the workings of God. They are troubled by, what they perceive, as God’s inactivity. Where was the Almighty when they felt picked on? Why did he create life and then allow someone close to them to die? Why pray if God is going to do what he wants to do anyway?
In essence, they are open to asking questions that my generation was afraid to ask, although we may have thought them! My generation got structure in Sunday School and youth group (which were good things). We dealt with “when, where, what, which, and how.” What we seldom dealt with, however, which the middle school group is willing to, is “why?” We had the Biblical numbers down…”forty this” and “twelve that”…but time seldom allowed us to get to the why.
Our Associate Pastor, when I had gone off to college was a guy named Jerry Heslinga. When I would come home on break, or for the summer, I would love to be involved in discussions or Bible studies with Jerry, because Jerry was not afraid to take the “why road.”
Now I gladly am leading…or perhaps being led…by these middle schoolers down that same road. It’s a pathway that does not guarantee answers, but encourages the searching.
Last night I was ready to launch into a presentation on Joseph’s journey from the pits to the heights, from the dungeon to exactly the place God wanted him to be in.
BUT…a few of the campers were dealing with something last night, a loss in their own lives, and I sensed that what I was to say could keep for another day. I turned to one of the counselors, a great young man about 22 named Bobby Cody. I said, “Bobby, come here.” He came to the front of our meeting area and I simply asked him “Tell us why you love Jesus?” For the next five to six minutes Bobby shared from his heart to a group of kids, who were focused on what he was saying.
Which describes something else about this coming-up generation. They aren’t afraid to ask why, but they also want to hear the truth, and about the Truth, as it is being experienced and lived out of someone’s life.

Reflections of a Middle School Camp Pastor, Day 1

July 16, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W. July 16, 2012

 

Less than twenty-four hours in to six days as pastor of our Region’s middle school camp, and I’ve already climbed a mountain! My knees are telling me it was a fourteenth, but actually it was only about two thousand feet from 8,000 to 10,000. I’ve been coaching my knees to stop the whining with words shaped like Motrin, and cold stares shaped like cold packs.
The mountain is called Soldier’s peak, and we climb it every year on the Monday of camp week. Today I used the experience to talk about the encouragement of the saints, the great cloud of witnesses that Hebrews 12:1-2 brings to our mind. Before the climb began I told the campers that some of them would scale it like squirrels climbing trees, but others would look at it as an impossible venture doomed to failure. I told them that it would take “all of us” to make sure that “all of us” finished…made it…stood as a group, a team, on top.
The summit included a mixture of reactions. Some stood at the top and encouraged. They applauded and high-fived the ones who struggled, but finally finished. One young lady from our church, told me “I feel like I accomplished something!” Her smile encircled the mouthful of orthodontic “gold.”
Others, lost interest in the late arrivers and became self-focused and absorbed with life as it revolved around “the universe of me.”
If it weren’t for coaches climbing with some of the young journeyers around the midway point of the trip, the summit would not have happened. If it weren’t for people willing to share a drink of water with a resting pursuer leaned up against a tree, some would have given up the cause. If it weren’t for the element of perseverance, several would have gone down the pathway of “What’s the use?”
Different people complete the journey in different ways. Slow starters, steady pacers, fast finishers…our group was diverse.
And we made it!
It’s a picture of the church, a group of journeyers, many who stay on course for the whole experience, and some who stay on course as long as they’re a part of it. Some are more self-sufficient, and can make the climb mostly alone without help. Others need constant encouragement just to make it another step…another day.
When I think of the church, quite honestly, I can probably make a longer list of minuses and shortcomings than the list of positives and strengths.
And yet the church is the band of brothers that seek to go the distance. It is the sisterhood of seeking that desires to go higher up even as it is dealing with the loose footing in the present.
I won’t share all of that with my middle schoolers, but I will reaffirm again and again tonight as we gather “Well done! Well done! Great job! You finished! You finished!”

From The Fire, A New Kind of Community”

July 13, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W.                                                                        July 13, 2012

 

 

The fires here in Colorado Springs changed everything! In the midst of burned out homes, and neighborhood blocks that mysteriously now only have a third of the homes that were there a month ago, there has been the sprinklings of a new kind of community being born.

The community, however, is not new homes where charred remains lie. It’s not a new “development” with HOA fees, 30 year mortgages, and the sound of moving vans.

No…this new community is being born in the midst of newly created partnerships, shared resources, thousands and thousands of volunteers, prayer, tears, and a bonding together because of a tragedy that will, in some ways, change Colorado Springs from being a city filled with self-centered, personal agenda people to a community of people who are figuring out that the journey is to be made together.

Rich Blanchette, Annie Wamberg, and I went to the second meeting of the Waldo Canyon Long Term Recovery Group yesterday. We received an education in less than two and a half hours about disaster relief, available resources, what has been done already, but, most importantly, what is yet to be done. The “Yet To Be Done” is a long term journey that has the potential to solidify “community”.

Of course, it also has the potential to create a city of have’s and have-not’s. We are often people with limited attention spans. After the rest of the country returns to it’s routines, Colorado Springs will be dealing with clean-up, rebuilding, figuring out solutions of dilemmas that no one else cares about. What will build a city with character and caring is a citizen base that stays the course for the years that it will take to recover.

It was refreshing at yesterday’s meeting to see church representatives sitting beside denominational reps, who were sitting beside service organization people, who were sitting beside government agency reps. Catholics and Protestants working together, but also a representative from the Muslim community.

No political ads were voiced! No preference towards one denomination’s efforts! No “this is how we’re going to do it!” In fact, the sharing of past experiences from many of the participants was a guiding factor in helping this group figure out very carefully what our next step is.

On the sub-group that Rich and I are a part of called “Clean-up/Salvage/Trees/Mitigation” there are team members from Village Seven Presbyterian, First Baptist Church, Glen Eyrie (The Navigators), Mennonite Relief Effort, Salvation Army, the Director of Missions for the area Southern Baptist churches, and the two of us from Highland Park. The sharing of resources and the training of volunteers has already started. The Southern Baptist churches are sponsoring a training event in two weeks that will train volunteers in the task of “ash out” and “using a chain saw.” Other sub-groups were communicating opportunities and needs.

In essence, it demonstrated how a city can become a community. So many questions…so many situations…and we are prayerfully seeking the leading of the Holy Spirit for answers, wisdom, and new hope.

And God has prepared his church for such a time as this!

Free Faith

July 3, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W.                                                               July 3, 2012

Tomorrow we celebrate being in “The Land of the Free.” Hopefully, here in Colorado, it will be “free of any fireworks!” “Fire” is not a well-received word around these parts this summer!

In the Christian faith we talk about being set free to be. Familiar verses about freedom abound:

Then you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32b)

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24)

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the (free) gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:22-23; I added the word “free” in verse 23).

Being set free…being unchained…is a theme that keeps appearing over and over again in the Scriptures. It’s good news! It was really good news to all of the slaves that were a part of the Roman Empire. It was really good news to the African-American slaves of 18th century America. The gospel held hope and possibilities to those who were told there were no possibilities, no future outside of bondage.

What we often skip over is the price that was willingly paid to bring that freedom. American patriots fought for freedom. Jesus died on the cross to set us free. Followers of Jesus through the ages have laid down their lives to help keep oppression from gaining a stronghold.

It’s easy to forget that and quickly embrace a “free faith.” Let me explain! As I sit typing these words I’m listening to music on “Spotify.” I recently saw that it would take a person 85 years of listening to music on Spotify twenty-four hours a day to hear all the music that is currently on it. I’m currently listening to the David Crowder Band, mixed in with some NeedtoBreathe. You may be unimpressed! Okay! I can switch to Coldplay or U2, if that helps! The point is that I can listen to whatever music I want at whatever time I desire…for free! Every four to five songs Spotify inserts about a 15 second commercial, and I also could upgrade to Premium for ten bucks a month, but since I haven’t it is a free service.

In fact, if you surf the internet you’ll notice that there are a multitude of free things. I can go to Starbucks today and pick up this week’s free “app” and “free song.” As a result of those things my iPhone has Scrabble on it, an episode of Planet Earth, and an Paul McCartney song. I don’t even have to buy anything at Starbucks- just walk in, get this week’s offer, which is on a card, and then download the app with the code on the back of the card.

I can go to Costco and get free lunch…in several bite-size portions!

“Free” is becoming the expected. When something becomes the expected it can lose any sense of cost that brought it to this point. Perhaps that’s why a lot of people “walk lightly” with the Lord, because Jesus’ atoning death has come to the point with them where they have taken it for granted. It has become the expected. I can hear some even muttering “It’s what he should have done!”

Free”has come to mean free of pain, free of obligation, free to ignore, free to exploit.

We used to say “You get what you pay for.” That is becoming an out-dated term, because more and more is being offered free…and there is value!

The implications of this are important, and somewhat sobering, for the church. To “tithe” is a concept that looks to become increasingly “weird.” If so many free offers are a part of my life then giving a tithe to the Lord will stand out in its unusualness.

Of course, first-century Christians stood out in their unusualness. To hear of people in the first church making sure that everyone’s needs were being met was…different! To have the Macedonian Christians (2 Corinthians 8) sending “mission funds” to help the people in Jerusalem confounded a lot of folk.

As I freely listen to Building 429 sing “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made” on Spotify, I recognize following Jesus will have increasing costs attached to it. How the church responds to that in Spirit-led ways that proclaim the story of redemption will, I strongly believe, re-shape the Body of Christ into being more missional, incarnational, and perhaps more focused on being set free to be the people of God!

Adjusting to Speed Bumps

June 29, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W.                                                                     June 29, 2012

The fires here in Colorado Springs have been devastating to so many people, and the ripple effect of business impact will be felt soon also as businesses on the west side of the city in evacuated areas try to recoup their losses from days of being closed.

It has been amazing to see the reactions of community members, outpouring support and supplies. On the other side, it has been amazing to see that two arrests have been made of people looting an evacuated home. The thieves had “meth” on them as they were trying to steal some items to sell to get more “meth.”

Awesome citizens, those two!

It has also been interesting to view how different people have reacted in different ways. Some have been thankful for the sacrifice and willingness to be in harm’s way of the 1,000+ firefighters. Some have expressed thankfulness for human lives being saved, even in the midst of so many homes destroyed. Some have lashed out in anger at whoever might be a possible target. Some are experiencing guilt even in the midst of their discoveries of homes untouched. There’s the relief of residences still being there, but guilt because neighbors have lost everything that was in their homes.

People have questioned why God didn’t do more, or why God allowed something like this to happen? I mean, shouldn’t God have provided a hedge of protection around the neighborhoods impacted? There is a sense with some people that the Creator should provide “perfect nature”- sunny and 70 degrees, with rain only in the middle of the night when we’re sleeping so our activity schedule doesn’t get impacted, a slight breeze that feels good…and a white picket fence.

But perhaps we should see an event such as the fires as the time to rethink, refocus, reprioritize, and re-thank!

In our lives there are certain moments that stand out from the rest- the birth of our first child, our wedding, our first touchdown, the death of a grandparent, a car accident, a fire. Moments can be joy-filled or grief-stricken, but moments such as these have the potential to slow us down for a moment.

They are like speed bumps that need a different pace to them, a cautionary approach. Most of us want the smooth road, like Interstate 80 through Nebraska, where we can race along at top speeds…and yet we complain because Nebraska doesn’t have that much scenery along the highway to make us “ooo and ahh!”

The speed bumps in our lives cause us to ponder “why”, “what now”, and “where to?”

Here in our city there are also different kinds of speed bumps. There are speed bumps that are like road ripples, and then there are speed bumps that will damage your car is you try to stay at the usual driving speed. In other words, some require more consideration than others.

The fire is a huge bump that will require much consideration, and yet, since I believe in the Lord of the Impossible, I believe that something life-transforming in positive ways can come out of it.

Moving God

June 28, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W.                                                                             June 28, 2012

 

 

This week Colorado has been on fire!

About a dozen fires in different parts of the state. For me, it became too real when my wife, youngest daughter, and I stood on a hillside a couple of blocks from our house and watched the fires that were raging on the other side of the city, less then ten miles away.

One naysayer used the fires to proclaim that God was raining down fire on godlessness. It seems that blanket statements like that are often uttered with conviction…and little forethought. If God was raining fire down on us, why just the west side of the city? Does that mean that there is a higher level of spirituality on the east side?

We frown on such prophetic indictments, because they seem to be voiced as if they are the very words of God.

And yet, most of us…all of us…at one time or another have scratched our heads over why God didn’t move like a mighty wind in answering our prayers.

The struggle of prayer, as well as the adventure of prayer, is trying to get in rhythm with the movement of God, instead of determining how God should move. Fires ravaging homes drive us to our knees in prayerfully moving God to action. Many times his answer is right in step with our request; or perhaps our request is right in step with what he is about.

Our motives for praying often overshadow our belief in what God is capable of doing. It’s hard to trust God enough to not give him advice. It’s difficult to not light the runway of where we want him to land.

Some might ask the question, therefore, “Why even pray?” The answer is tucked inside the question, but worded a little differently.

Why DO you pray? Is it to avoid problems and crises? Is it to seek what God would have you be about? Is it to instruct the Instructor?

Recently I passed a church that had a sign out front promoting a new series that was beginning. The sign said “How to pray and get results!” It sounded like a class on how to get rich quick. Think about it! The word “pray” could have been replaced by a number of other words and still had the same objective.

Switch it with “invest”. Put in “sell on eBay”. Or “how to parent your kids and get results.”

Regardless of what you insert for “pray” it still falls into the line of trying to get something that I don’t have, or be somebody that I’m not.

When we approach prayer like that God becomes like a customer to impress so we can finish a sell. Perhaps that’s where a lot of us are in our relationship with him, trying to finish a sell.

Karen Klein Grace

June 22, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W.                                                                        June 22, 2012

 

 

What would you do if you had been sitting on a school bus and been mercilessly teased by some classmates about your height, or your weight, or your stuttering problem, or some other personal difficulty that had a way of making you feel like half of a person? Some of us went through experiences like that…eighth graders tormenting the new sixth grader on the bus…obnoxious varsity athletes saying inappropriate things to an introverted young lady…bullies making fun of the math whiz…sometimes the school bus was the worst part of the school day.

Most of us, however, were infuriated at the completely different level by the viral video of a 68 year old, hard-of-hearing, grandmother of eight lady named Karen Klein. A school bus monitor in New York, she was tormented worse than the worst belittling of any political campaign commercial by four middle school male students. A fifth student videoed the torture on his cell phone, and then posted it.

The story hit the major news telecasts, and a fund was started to send Karen Klein on a vacation. The fund has raised over $450,000. Obviously the incident touched two nerves- one of outrage and the other of generosity.

Karen Klein’s sense of forgiveness and grace has risen to the surface in the midst of this. Whereas, many of us might be mentally constructing some gallows, she has voiced her hope that no criminal charges be issued. Perhaps the most appropriate discipline, she suggests, would be a one year ban on riding the school bus. The school district is weighing what the consequences should be for the students involved.

The situation has raised to the surface something that doesn’t get talked about very often, and that is, generational discomfort and disrespect. Too often there are inappropriate words and actions said or done b y adults towards the youngest generations. Hang around a mall long enough and you’ll hear some adult griping about sagging pants, ear-ringed guys, or inappropriately dressed young ladies. But, on the other side, watch a young adult who gets stuck behind a senior citizen driving five miles under the speed limit and the reaction is unbelievable impatience.

“Karen Klein grace” is an element that someone should write a book about. A grace that forgives, and encourages caring for one another even after mistreatment has occurred. A grace that is open to hearing what is going on in the other person’s life, even though I have a physical hearing problem. It’s a grace that has been through the flames (Her son committed suicide ten years ago.), and knows the depths a life might fall to, but the hope that a life can also rise back to.

It’s interesting that this story broke the week after I preached about the passage in James 3:1-12, about the power and potential of our words. It’s a reminder of the damage they can cause, or the joy they can help create.

I’m sure that as Karen Klein journeys with her grand-kids to Disney World on a vacation that has been given to her, there will be a degree of sadness. To realize that the Magic Kingdom experience is because of the troubling words of a few adolescents will not be forgotten by her.

I pray that her sense of being a grace-filled and gracious person will remain as clear within her heart and life.

 

Perfection In An Imperfect World

June 21, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W.                                                                      June 21, 2012

 

 

Sports analysts are amusing. They break down situations, and assess blame as quickly as it takes to order and receive a Beach Club sandwich at Jimmy John’s. If Lebron makes an incredible shot it gets lost in the occurrence of a missed free throw thirty seconds later. If Russell Westbrook scores 45 points, it gets forgotten in the scrutiny of an ill-advised foul with thirteen seconds left in the game. If an official misses a foul call, there is a rush to make instant replay a part of every moment and every movement of the game.

There is a thirst for perfection in a game that is determined by bad decisions. But more than that, there is a sense of being insulted by the allowance of faults.

TV sports analysis shows are created out of this sense of being offended. Listen to what the guys in suits say. If Jesus had played basketball they would have even been upset at his perfect shooting form and never missing a foul shot. I’m sure the conversation would drift to something like “His team needs him to step up in more ways than just never missing a shot.”

Perfection means coming to a point of satisfaction, and sports analysts are never satisfied. They are like a food critic in a restaurant. Perfect food can never happen, because there was a water spot on my fork!

We desire to live lives that are error-free, but there always seems to be a sense that we’re falling short of that…because we are! There is also that sense of seeing the faults in the beauty. Most of us are critical people who see a tear in one of the petals of a flower instead of the flower itself.

Churches that pursue perfect worship services may miss the presence of the One they are worshipping. The perfect sermon may be sanitized of any whisperings of the Lord. The perfect VBS might miss the fact that one little boy is struggling with a stuttering problem that has started as a result of other crises in his life.

The imperfections of our lives need love and grace, and often simply a listening ear.

In the mean time we will continue to hear hyper-critical commentators and fans gone ballistic because someone missed a running left-hand hook shot. It will be made to sound like the world has been thrown off of its axis, and the end is near.

When you hear that “blast” just take a deep breath…hold it…and think of the perfection that is a part of the next exhale.

Baptized With Hail

June 7, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W.                                                                  June 7, 2012

Our church got baptized last night…in several places…none of which involved the baptismal pool! A hail storm hit the area…and hit it again…and again! It was a non-stop hail experience for about an hour and a half. Storm drains couldn’t keep up. Cars got stranded and flooded. At our building there was a few places where the outpouring was evident. Our resistance to being baptized was broken. We succumbed to the waters! We broke under the pressure of the heavenly tears!

I stood helplessly as the Baptism Blob flowed into our fellowship hall entryway like it was an invited guest.

Lord, can’t you send the rain in a more regulated manner?”

I got a water pitcher to help stem the tide, but, guess what! A 32 ounce water pitcher doesn’t do much against a wave. It’s like trying to protect yourself from the windstorm by holding a maple tree leaf in front of you.

Lord, where’s the handle of the faucet? Righty tighty…lefty loosey! Right! Right! Right!”

If it is possible for the Baptist Church to get baptized, isn’t it also possible for the people who come in contact with the ministry partners of the Baptist Church to be baptized. Do we have a picture of people flooding to be baptized, because they’ve met, experienced, and accepted the Savior who is also Lord?

Can we pray for the day that the proclamation of the gospel will be so intense that like those who encountered Peter in Acts 2, we will have people saying “What shall we do?”

And Peter replied “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” (Acts 2:38)

Would we welcome such a spiritual awakening? Or would we tend to say, “Listen! Some of you are going to have to come back later! There’s too many of you who want to know who Jesus is!” Please pick a number!”

Our cynicism of such a scene ever happening smacks of our belief in a God who sprinkles, but never pours. Our doubts grow out of a religious experience that tends to be void of God-moments and seasoned with a drizzle of spirituality.

Like my helplessness over uncontrolled rain waters, may we surrender to the showers of the Spirit!

Hybrid Faith

May 25, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W. May 25, 2012

 

I’ve driven a Civic Hybrid for the last few years. It’s a unique car. One young man, who is funnier than all get out always tells me, “Pastor Bill isn’t part of the problem. He’s part of the solution!”
Environmentally speaking.
People ask me how a hybrid car works and I tell them, “I don’t know.” It somehow switches back and forth from battery to gas and back again. I just drive it, and thank God every time I stop to put gas in it and see the other vehicles there consuming the family food allowance for the week.
So, as far as I understand it, the hybrid car combines those two forms of powering the car in some safe way that keeps it from exploding. And, as you may have noticed, more auto makers are churning out more hybrid models. A hybrid is becoming mainstream, not just some weird looking Prius that looks like someone cut the back end off with a buzz saw! By the way, a Prius is simply an AMC Gremlin with a new hairdo! If you don’t know what a Gremlin was…Google it!
Hybrid mainstreaming.
There is a mainstreaming happening in the faith arena also of “hybrid faith.” Hybrid faith is a combination of different beliefs and opinions and comfortable ideas that define a person’s faith journey. It’s spicy Italian food with twelves different herbs and spices- a pinch of this, a dab of that!
Hybrid faith is fueled by truth…as the person views it. If I’m a negative-minded person I might blend more Old Testament judgment into how I journey. If I’m more works-oriented I might blend in more of my beliefs from Rotarian community service. If I’m contemplative I might mix a little of the “Desert Fathers” in with some Transcendental Meditation and Buddhist prayer.
In other words, what powers my life gets determined by…me!
The result is that each individual is driving the vehicle for their faith. Absolute truth is what I determine it is.
Just as hybrid cars are getting a foothold now in auto sales, hybrid faith is getting a larger share of the market in the faith community. A Biblical faith is about as easy to find as an Oldsmobile.
Granted interpretation of Scripture needs some grace and flexibility. God is neither Democrat nor Republican, but you would never know it in talking to some believers. Whether one drinks alcohol or abstains from it can be supported with different opinions in different places for different reasons. What is worship is defined by one person one way and another person in a completely different way.
That is what makes hybrid faith a slippery critter to lasso. Defining it is difficult to do because, whether we want to confess it not, our picture of what it is includes our own faith journey experience. It becomes a “snipe” that is hunted, but never really found. The difference is that hybrid faith is there, and growing like the exhaust smoke trailing a ’66’ Chrysler Newport.