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Crystal Seasons and Silver Linings

March 13, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W.                                                                March 13, 2012

I freely confess upfront that I’ve always been suspicious and uneasy with “church on TV.” I was raised, grew up in, and have pastored in situations that have conveyed and believed in the importance of the local church. My vision, therefore, has been tinted by my experience.

Most of us in the calling of “pastor” have looked with an eye of concern about the mega-churches, and yet longed to pastor one. We have had a bit of disdain towards huge ministries, and yet lusted over their Sunday morning slickness.

Just being honest! To put it in a different context, it’s similar to dreaming of playing for the Colorado Rockies, but being on the roster of a team in the local “50 and Over” league.

So the recent plight of the Crystal Cathedral has given me pause to reflect, repent, and be grieved. Robert Schuller’s magnificent building, built in 1961 at a cost of $3 million dollars, has been the scene of architectural beauty and excellent TV “churching.” In recent times, however, it has fallen on tough financial times and in February was sold to the Roman Catholic Diocese for $57.5 million dollars. The Crystal Cathedral congregation has three years to find a new meeting place. In the mean times, however, there is the lingering pathway of debris that keeps flowing out of the situation. Hurt feelings, financial woes,  a divided congregation over issues like “traditional music, choirs, and worship service order” has further splintered the church.

It is at this point that many of the sharpest critics of the Crystal Cathedral, “The Hour of Power” telecast, and Robert Schuller, start or more boldly point their wagging finger. There is a strong smell of glee that is in the air.

For me there is more sadness, because I know how so many people were ministered to by “The Hour of Power” when, perhaps, they weren’t able to attend worship at their local church. The elderly who went through times of illness and being home-bound could turn on the TV on Sunday morning and see Schuller’s smiling face and hear his encouraging words.

In our fast-paced world it conveys to us the quickness of change. Fifty years may seem like a long time, but it is simply a few moments in the span of time. How easily movements come and go! How fickle are the interests and passions of our culture! As Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.”

What “our season” is should point to the One who created the seasons! Recently when I watched the snow piling up against our house I thought to myself, “Thank God the snow will not make a permanent “lean-to” against our home!” It had come, but it would also go. Brief and delightful, is you were a child wanting to build a snow fort; gone and forgotten as the ability to go for a walk in short sleeves arrives.

“The Hour of Power” inspired and ministered to many people. There should be no joy in its disappearance.

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“Being A Team”

March 6, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W.                                                                 March 6, 2012

The 8th Grade boy’s basketball team I coach played in a tournament last weekend that involved the middle school teams on the north side of our city. They finished second in the tournament, after a heartbreaking defeat in the winner’s bracket final of a desperation 30 footer that swished the net at the buzzer.

Result: Loss 51-50!

Finishing second, however, meant that the team qualified for the all-city tournament in a couple of weeks.

Personal Comment: I’m not big on the all-city tournament. First of all, I don’t think it’s that important to find out who the best middle school team is in the area; and second different school districts have different criteria for who is able to be on their team.

BUT I met with the parents of the boys after our Monday night game to discuss the situation. I laid out the positives and the negatives of being a part of the tournament. Two of the parents said that their sons were committed to other things on the Saturday that the final games of the tournament would be played. Another mom and dad said that their family would be away the whole weekend. Parents of the remaining eight players were affirming of the team still participating. They felt the team had earned the opportunity, and it would have them play against good competition, regardless of the outcome.

I then went into the locker room, where I had told the team to wait, and presented the situation to them. It was their choice.

They recognized the absence of the three teammates for the event, and they said this to me: “Coach, we don’t want to be in it. We’re a team, and since some of our teammates can’t be there, we don’t want to participate. We’re a team!”

I said that was fine, and then I had them follow me out, where I told the parents that their sons were unanimous in their decision not to go.

I could tell that several of the parents were deeply touched at the high value that the boys had placed on being a team. They recognized that “TEAM” (with no “i”) had been given greater value to their sons than winning a basketball game.

It’s has been a successful season for this team, but the highlight for me was that moment when they went against what is so often preached in our culture- winning and losing- and stayed committed to one another!

And that is awesome!

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Leap of Faith

February 29, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W.                                                                    February 29, 2012

It’s February 29, that unusual day that hits us once every four years to set the universe time table back in order. You see, our year is actually 364 and ¼ days, so February 29 comes around to enable us to leap back to order.

Babies who are born on February 29 are called “leapers.” It’s a name of limited distinction. They can celebrate their birthday backwards (February 28) or forwards (March 1).

What about the exercising of our faith? What about a leap of faith? What might happen if the people of God took on a new nickname?

“Leapers!”

One extra letter away from “lepers”, but perhaps just as uncomfortable for our culture to understand and deal with.

A leaper would jump with a belief in a faith landing. A leaper would step into the unknown, because of the calling of God, and in obedience to that call.

Abraham was a leaper! I love that verse in Hebrews 11. “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went even though he did not know where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8)

Abraham leaped with faith.

A leaper today is one who doesn’t wait for the statistical analysis to begin a new venture. A leaper, as with Abraham, receives “a call.”

What is the church’s calling? The leap of faith that is put before any church is unachievable without the calling, leading, blessing, and empowering of God. It is not up to us to make it happen. It is up to us to trust and obey.

When I was in college I had some hops. Five foot eight when I stretched, I touched the rim with my hand. I high-jumped my height in track. I could get up! Now I’m a “used to!” My leaping abaility has long since left me. The only time I touch the rim is when I’m on a ladder, or I’m playing with my grandson’s basketball and four-foot high hoop. I used to be able to leap!

The church is filled with people who used to be able to leap! Our faith hops have mostly left us.

What could a people who become known as leapers do in obedience to the calling of God?

Faith leapers have been called, and are called, to prevent thousands of people each day from starving to death.

Faith leapers have been called, and are called, to mentor and be advocates for hundreds of thousands of kids and youth at risk.

Faith leapers have been called, and are called, to pray for and over their communities and schools.

Faith leapers have been called, and are called, to work towards creating a community that is safe- safe from abusive behavior, demeaning images, degrading conduct, and parasitical elements of crime.

Faith leapers have been called, and are called to dream big, dream of what could happen if there is a leap…of faith!

Can you envision a conversation between two people who have met someone who believes that God does…really does make a difference? As they are reflecting back on the person of faith, one of the people says to the other, “Yes, he’s a leaper!”

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Crazy With the Mennonites

February 15, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W. February 15, 2012
Last Sunday was our neighborhood pastors pulpit exchange Sunday. Five churches in our neighborhood exchange pastors. You can call it “Pastor Swap” if you want to! We’ve done it for six years on a Sunday in either January or February. We’ve threatened to do it more often!
“If you all don’t shape up we’re going to call in the Baptist pastor, and you know how long his sermons are!”
This year was my second time to visit Beth-El Mennonite Church, and we had a great time! Correction! I had a great time. I can’t speak for them. My Mennonite seminary professor, Dr. David Augsburger, would have made sure I was not assuming something that might not be true.
Okay! Some of them told me they had a good time! Of course, what do you say to the visiting pastor of another church after the service? “Thank God, we won’t have to see you for another four years!”
The great thing about pulpit exchange Sunday is that you get reminded that there are other people who are invested in the Kingdom, not just your own congregation. You also see some things happening that can be done in your own congregation. You have people praying for you that desire for you to be used for the Kingdom of God.
You find out that there are people at Beth-El who watch the insides of their eyelids just like there are in your own congregation. You find that they sing the same kind of songs, and that they have people with the same kind of bad coffee breath at the end of the fellowship time as your own congregation does.
You learn that they have people with a wide assortment of clothing attire just like us- from blue jeans to out-of-date three-piece suits; from women’s slacks to prom dresses (Okay, maybe a step more rational than a prom dress).
You learn that they have someone who is a little slow on getting the next song slide up just like we do.
You learn that they have people who love Jesus just like our church does; and that they also have people who are wondering about Jesus just like we do.
It’s nice to know that the whole world hasn’t been put on the shoulders of one church, even though we sometimes live like we’re the only place of worship in town.
Looked my time there! In fact, some Sunday I’m just going to take off from preaching at Highland Park Baptist and I’m just going to go back to Beth-El to worship with the people. It’s something that pastors don’t do very often. We sometimes think that “no one can bring Jesus like we can.”
Jesus has been “brought” many times. Now it may be more about him being “sought.”

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The Method or The Essence”

January 20, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W.                                                             January 19, 2012

In looking at the past one hundred years or so of the church there are several emphases, or movements, that have been trumpeted, and “seminared.” I remember in the 70’s and early 80’s that there would be a “Sunday School Convention” held each year in the Detroit area that was huge. The virtues of Sunday Schools and the different tools and curriculum to make them dynamic were featured, and thousands of pastors, teachers, and church leaders flocked to the convention center to hear the latest methods of successful Christian education.

In the 80’s there was also the Church Growth movement which told us, myself included, secrets and guidelines for growing our churches. We ate it up, and started creating strategies to attract people who looked like we did, or was it that we looked like them. Either way we looked alike!

Our region’s Executive Minister (in other words, the head guy, the Baptist bishop), Steve Van Ostran, was talking about these movements to a group of us recently.

As I thought more about it, it dawned on me that we seem to buy into the method, but not the essence. The essence of the Gospel is Jesus, but we sometimes seem to think he isn’t enough. We need some tricks or clever gimmicks to make him more relevant, or more urban, or more suburban, or rural, or wherever it is that we live. A relevant Jesus, we seem to say, needs our polishing and waxing.

And so we look for the next method. What might it be? A Starbucks Coffee kiosk in the foyer? (Anyone who knows me knows that I would go for this!) A celebrity in our pulpit that will attract a huge crowd? A free ice cream day for Senior Citizen’s? The latest and greatest social networking tool?

The method isn’t bad…unless it scoots Jesus out of the picture. We are good at scooting!

I’ve “scooted” down that road a few times! In my library and file cabinets are remnants of a multitude of “method” conferences I’ve attended over the years. Being a User-friendly Church! How to Grow Your Church Through Small Groups. Effective Marketing for the Church! Servant Evangelism! Effective Community Events to Grow Your Church. Worship that Attracts!

I’m “method-proficient”!

I’m like an old Chevy, however, when it comes to being Jesus-dependent. I do a lot of sputtering, stalling, and making noise as I inch down the road.

I believe that Jesus is the essence. I just need to live the way I believe. I don’t believe that would be simply another method. I believe that would be a walk. It seems that it would go right along with something Jesus said. “I am the Way and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

I don’t believe we need a seminar on that statement, but someone will probably create one.

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Rethinking Membership

January 17, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W. January 17, 2012

The past year in college football has been about as predictable as the European financial community. The only sure thing is that someone from the SEC will be in the BCS Championship game. Other than that…
For instance, TCU announced that it was leaving the Mountain West Conference to join the Big East Conference, but then reneged on that decision when Texas A&M left the Big 12 to join the before mentioned SEC, which left a spot open for TCU…which years ago used to be in the Southwest Conference, which pretty much is what today’s Big 12 Conference is comprised of. Meanwhile Boise State decided to leave the Mountain West in football to join the Big East, because whenever you think of the East, doesn’t Idaho automatically come to your mind? Worse than Boise is the fact that San Diego State, which I believe is on the West Coast, is also joining the Big East in football only.
If you looked back at who was in what league two years ago and compared it to who will be a member of what league next fall, you’ll be amazed.
Schools are influenced more by money and TV guarantees than they are by loyalty.
Thus the changing attitudes about what it means to be a member of something. Sam’s Club will treat you royally…until your membership expires. Try to walk into Costco without a membership and it’s like going through airport security procedures.
I’m a member of the YMCA…no matter whether I choose to go and workout or not. I’m a member of AARP, because…oh, wait! That’s right, I didn’t renew, and they remind me every month with something in the mail. I’m a member of my high school basketball official’s association, even though it means I have to attend even more meetings. (If you didn’t figure it out already, I already attend way more meetings than a person should have to. Some weeks I have more meetings than encounters with God! I’m not bitter though.) I’m a Priority Club member, which simply means that if I need a hotel reservation at a Staybridge Suites I can get about $10 off a night of the otherwise ridiculously high priced lodging rate.
I’m a member of the American Baptist Minister’s Council, which reminds me that my 2012 dues haven’t been paid yet. No wonder I got some stern looks from a few of my pastor friends…who are current in their dues!
The point I’m trying to get around to is that there are so many institutions that treat membership like a Monopoly “Get Out of Jail Free Card.” It gets used only when it benefits me. In like manner, people treat membership like generic Jell-O. If it doesn’t get used it didn’t really cost me anything, and the better brand is on sale this week. Switch!
It seems that Jesus talked about being a follower. Not all of the questions were answered by him when he invited a various assortment of people to follow. Not all who followed in the midst of the initial excitement continued (John 6:60). Not all who followed were consistent in their following. Some followed, denied, and then followed again.
It seems that the church is about followers of Jesus partnering together for the journey we’re in the midst of, and what is ahead. The church is a rowing team that sometimes has to crash into the waves, and sometimes goes with the flow of the tide.
A marriage is a partnership, not a membership. An athletic team that is realizing its potential is a partnership, not a membership. A mission cause is supported and powered by partners, not members. The community of believers, known as the Body of Christ, is a partnership. It demands. It supports. It depends. It encourages.
Think about that when you watch San Diego State and Boise State playing in the Big East title game next December.

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Keeping The Columns

January 12, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W. January 11, 2012

When I was back in Ohio recently I went to a basketball game at my old high school. It’s the first time I had stepped foot inside my alma mater since 1975.
But I can’t really say it was going back to my old high school…because my old high school was torn down four or five years ago, and a new high school was built on the spot. (You know you’re getting old when you begin a lot of conversations with the words “There used to be…”! Like “There used to be a hospital there where that Walmart is” or “There used to be 15 cents hamburgers served in this restaurant!”)
So, in terms of going back and reliving the good old days of high school, I can’t really do that, because it’s a different building. I’m sure the lunchroom ladies still wear hairnets, and the bathrooms are still disgusting, but the brick and mortar smell of newness.
Except that when they were getting state funding to build the new high school there was a group of alumni in the area who couldn’t stand to see ALL of the old school leveled. It just wouldn’t be the same (which is true since the old school was built about the time Moby Dick was a minnow). So the alumni, and perhaps the school district, spent an extra million dollars to keep the front entrance and columns of the old school building intact as the rest of the school was being demolished. Going by the school after the demolition was an interesting scene. It looked like a war zone with a few columns standing in the midst of it.
It made me think about when we ask God to do a rebuilding and renewal project in our life. We want the newness…new wine…if you will…but there’s a part of the old life that we want to remain intact.
“Lord, do a mighty work within my life, but leave the columns alone!”
“Lord, I’m tired of the staleness, but leave the pantry items alone.”
“Lord, renew my spirit, but leave my Friday nights out of it!”
How difficult it is for each one of us to let God do a complete renewal and restart in our lives! How difficult it is for renewal to break out within the Body of Christ, because we want to hold on to the columns! To the point that we’re willing to let it cost us even more. To the point that we consider “the columns” more sacred than surrendering to the Savior.

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Sectioning Off the Church

January 5, 2012

WORDS FROM W.W. January 5, 2012

I was recently traveling in another state and I drove by a church that introduced itself with a list. The list read something like this:
-Independent
-Fundamental
-Traditional
-King James Version
-Soul-winning

The list was so long I barely had time to read it all as I passed by. Honestly, I know very little about this church. It could be a wonderful group of God’s people serving in vital ways in their community, but I always wonder why churches seem to section themselves off before anyone even comes through the doors. It is more about attracting our target audience, or keeping the riff-raff out?
My guess is that it is a combination. There is a pull within a church to have people we are comfortable with,
and look like us,
and think like us,
and won’t cause any problems,
and talk the same language,
and drink the same kind of coffee,
and wear the same kind of clothes…
to be a part of us.
There I go with the list again!
To someone who is seeking answers for their messed up lives, and they’ve heard about the Jesus who gives new life and new purpose…a list of a church’s non-negotiables on the “All are welcome” marquee is confusing at best, and, more likely, a turn-off.
Someday we will realize that people are increasingly afraid of the gospel because they think they will be turned into being like many of the people they know that are “church people.”
Harsh statement, and although it’s not meant to be a blanket statement for everyone, there is more truth in it then “People of The Way” care to admit.
What would a church or a community of faith look like if the sign out front read like this:
-Grace Extended
-Mercy Expended
-Forgiveness Experienced
-Peace Expected
-Hope Expanded

Perhaps it is just me, but I might pull over and slowly pull in.
Instead of sectioning off the church, perhaps we should be about seeking the Savior.

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No Shoes In the Mall

December 24, 2011

WORDS FROM W.W. December 24, 2011

It was a strange scene, hundreds of people standing outside the mall at a quarter to twelve midnight. Perhaps a celebrity was showing up, or the line to see Santa was so long that people were still waiting hours after the mall had closed.
But a closer look indicated that it was neither of those. The new retro Air Jordan athletic shoes were going on sale. I don’t remember there being lines back in the early seventies for “Chuck Taylor’s” when they went on sale, although I do remember wearing them until they were literally in shreds. No wonder we couldn’t jump in those days! We didn’t have any rubber left on the bottom of our shoes!
The scene was chaos as doors opened, got busted off their hinges and crowds of people ran frantically into the shoe store, only to have most of them be disappointed with the news “No shoes in the Mall!”

Even the fortunate ones who did get the precious pairs included very few people who actually needed a pair of shoes. Comments could be heard:

“I’m putting my pair on eBay for double the price!”

“I’m going to hold on to my pair for a couple of years and then make a mint off of them!”

“I’m just going to keep mine in the box, wrap it up in protective plastic wrap, and watch the value go up. Believe me! No one is going to take down the value of these shoes by actually wearing them!”
What to do? A crisis had emerged. Johnny Junior’s quest for a college scholarship and a lucrative professional contract someday was in jeopardy because there were no AJ’s to be had. Parents explained the repercussions of this shortage to store innkeepers, but to no avail. The only advice they received was “You might try the clearance rack over there. I think we have some old black high-top Converses. They aren’t as flashy, but they still fit feet.”
Some parents became adamant about the store producing more shoes, while others just walked away with downcast expressions. But one young boy found the clearance rack, noticed a brand spanking new pair of old Chuck Taylor’s and shouted out “I found my shoes!”
While others trampled on one another, pushed, punched, and pepper-sprayed, he walked out of the mall with his mom and dad, content, excited, and ready to lace them up!

Categories: children, Christianity, Christmas, Faith, love, Parenting, Story, Uncategorized, Youth
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Cluttered Signs

December 21, 2011

WORDS FROM W.W. December 20, 2011

I had one of those “kairos moments” this morning. It was at Children’s Hospital in Denver, but the site doesn’t matter. It was the circumstances. After prayer in the family I went down to get a cup of coffee, and told them that I would meet them in the waiting area. After coming back from the coffee shop and situating myself on a comfy couch with my java, Lee (the dad) summoned me to a sitting area in the main hallway where he had already taken up residence.
I picked up my cup and coat and went out to where he was. A couple of minutes later the receptionist from inside the w3aiting area came out and said to Lee, “Your pastor must be directionally challenged.”
I looked confused (but it WAS early!). And then she said “You didn’t read the signs.”
“What signs?”
“The ones that say no food or drink in the waiting area where you were first sitting.”
“What signs?”
She led me over to the waiting room area, pointed to the sign standing in front of us, and said “This one!” And then she walked a few feet further and said “And that one on the wall…and then there’s that one that was right above your head where you were sitting.”
“Ohhhh!”
I hadn’t seen them.
But the thing about the signs (this is not an excuse, mind you!) is that each of them said so much that they didn’t say anything. That is, there were so many words on the sign that they looked cluttered, and therefore…ignored…at least by me.
The receptionist was very nice and was giving me some good-intended teasing. Lee, on the other hand, will be looking for the right moment to share about his pastor’s illiteracy.
What it made me think of was the brilliance of God’s revelation in ONE star over Bethlehem, instead of a cluttering of signs that would have brought either confusion or sighted people who were blind.
The Magi studied stars, but God understood the importance of one star. A thousand stars over Bethlehem would have made the event about the heavens instead of a newborn king. One star created a focal point, a comprehension of the importance, a recognition of the place.
The signs in the waiting area might have been seen by me if there was a picture of a “cup” with the words “Don’t even think about it!” written underneath.
It’s interesting that when Jesus was in the midst of the scribes and Pharisees they were always asking him for a sign, but they couldn’t read the very sign that God had placed in front of them. It’s also interesting to me that the wise men traveled a long, long distance because of the one star, but Herod, just a few miles away couldn’t see it.
Personally, there are times when my life when it is so cluttered that I wouldn’t notice a star even if it crash landed in my hot tub. We are in danger at times of missing the simplest, most evident sign of God, because of our obsession with ourselves.
Look for the sign! Beware of the receptionist!

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