Archive for the ‘Freedom’ category
June 30, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. June 30, 2015
Back a few years ago (the 1990’s!) multitudes of people wore bracelets with the four initials branded into them that said “WWJD.” It stood for “What Would Jesus Do?” It was a question that reminded many followers of Jesus that what the Christ would do in various life situations might very well be different from what the majority was doing?
It’s interesting in reading the Wikipedia definition of “What Would Jesus Do?” In their view the definition was “a personal motto of Evangelical Christianity” to help adherents make decisions about moral beliefs.
It seems that when the label “Evangelical Christianity” is used these days you can almost hear a sneer or chuckle. Perhaps I’m overly sensitive, but I’d prefer to hear the words “followers of Jesus.”
And so the question now for Christ’s followers is “What Would Jesus Do…Still?” The one who is quick to answer “The same things he would have done in 1990” might need to stop and consider.
Was our concern for the environment as heightened in 1990 as it is today? Would Jesus recycle radically? Would he ride a bike to speaking engagements?
Would Jesus be more health conscious in his decision making now than twenty years ago? Would he eat organic and abstain from red meat?
Was our concern for human trafficking even on the radar in the mid-nineties? What would Jesus response be to the recent revelation of fish showing up in our supermarkets that had been caught by enslaved fisherman in Indonesia?
Would Jesus have any opinion about the increasing number of millionaires in our country while the poop get poorer?
The thing is “WWJD” is more relevant now, and urgent, than it was twenty years ago. Perhaps we need new bracelets that say “WWJDS?”
As time goes on, the understanding of how to answer that question gets more foggy. People who are self-absorbed and perfectly content to develop their own personal theologies will answer that question in increasingly bizarre ways. But, on the other hand, those who walk closely with Jesus will also sometimes error.
What would Jesus do…still? I believe the answers to that question draw upon the question and answers from one of those prophets from long ago, Micah, who asked the question”What does the Lord require of you?” Perhaps he paused for a few moments before writing an answer: “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
Perhaps that is a beginning to the pondered question. Sometimes we’re prone to write the ending before we have the beginning.
Categories: Bible, Christianity, Faith, Freedom, Grace, Jesus, love, Pastor, Prayer, Story, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: enslaved fisherman, evangelical Christianity, human trafficking, Micah 6:8, What Would Jesus Do?, WWJD
Comments: 2 Comments
June 27, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. June 27, 2015
Social media is awesome in so many ways! We can reconnect with people who we haven’t seen or heard from in years. We can see pictures of folk we’ve grown up with…and be able to see how old they look compared to us…compare the amount of gray, if you will, and the size of our waistlines!
And what can be awesome can also be awful! I’ve been amazed at the things that are said online that people wouldn’t dream of saying in person. There’s like an openness to be condescending since Herbie isn’t in the room with me!
People are much more bold online. Or maybe bold isn’t the right word! Maybe it’s more like “boldly insensitive!”
I find that the ability to listen online is an unrecognized but gracious gift. The patience to hold off on giving my two cents worth is invaluable! Some may say that if I hold off then the insensitively bold will dictate the pace of the race.
It seems like Proverbs has a few nuggets of listening gold that need to sink in a little bit.
“The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.” (Proverbs 10:14)
“Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.” (Proverbs 29:11)
People are quick to speak online and slow to listen. In the Letter of James in the New Testament he emphasizes the reverse of those two…being quick to listen and slow to speak. He adds a third…”being slow to become angry.”
So before you send that comment that dehumanizes the person you differ with…take your fingers off the keyboard for a few moments and watch a Youtube video of babies laughing or cats playing with dogs. It may be the wise thing to do in a world that is often immensely unwise and unkind.
Categories: Bible, children, Christianity, Freedom, Grace, Jesus, love, Pastor, Prayer, Story, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: belittling, Book of James, dehumanizing, disagreement, Facebook, foolish, insensitive, listen, listener, listening skills, online conversations, Proverbs, quick to listen, rage, slow to speak, social media, wisdom, wise
Comments: Be the first to comment
June 20, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. June 19, 2015
The sadness of nine people murdered in the midst of a church bible study gathering! Different people put different spins on the why and how. I guess these few words may very well be another opinion.
For me it comes down to a lot of different things, and yet just one standout observance. People who are whacked often are determined to do whatever it is that has invaded their hearts and minds. If it is to go into an African-American church and start shooting because of white supremacist beliefs…and he can’t see past the hatred, there isn’t much that can be done to unconvinced him.
Whacked people are imbalanced and irrational. They come in all age groups and nationalities. How they arrived at such a state of weirdo-ism is on unexplainable. Dylann Roof didn’t just wake up in the morning and decide to kill nine people. He sent time allowing the seeds of racism to grow in his mind and soul. He was influenced by people who could use rhetoric to distort reality while motivating. He let an illusion what a hero is to infect his judgment. At some point he had made up his mind, but that point was after he had crossed the line of common sense and “whacked status.”
Unfortunately, we are getting used to the whacked doing news-numbing things. As the number of different ideologies increases the number of whacked jobs will increase as well. People become passionate for the right reasons…but also for the wrong reasons! A person who is passionate for the wrong reasons is often terrifying to the rest of us.
The tragedy is that there will be another person who is whacked sometime in the next few days, weeks, or months who determines to do something unthinkable…and despite our best efforts won’t be able to prevent it.
I’ve been on a college campus today and I’ve noticed the concrete posts in front of various buildings meant to hinder any vehicle that tries to get close. The college security is trying to the best of its abilities to deter a tragedy from happening, but sometimes determined whacked people keep looking until they find a way.
God help us!
Categories: Bible, children, Christianity, Community, Death, Faith, Freedom, love, Nation, Parenting, Pastor, Prayer, Story, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: Charleston, Determination, Dylann Roof, hate crimes, hatred, imbalanced, influence, irrational, murder, racism, terrorism, weirdo, whacked, whacko's
Comments: Be the first to comment
June 17, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. June 17, 2015
Currently, there are 16 people who have announced that they are candidates in the running for the 2016 Presidential race. Why so many?
Let me step back for a moment. Why would anyone want to be President? On most of the decisions half the country isn’t with you, and the half that are with you are at risk of jumping ship any moment…depending on how your decision affects them. Why would anyone want to be in that position?
Don’t get me wrong. There have been many good presidents in the history of our country, but most of the time they aren’t recognized for effective they were until years after they left office. Rarely has a president been recognized for right decisions while in office! that would mean that the rival party would have to give credit, and how would that look when the next election came around?
It still begs the question that is on my mind…why are there so many people running? The answers to that question range from practical to an inflated level of self-confidence. Some are running because they are getting their name out there for 2020. They don’t expect to win in 2016, but perhaps people will take notice of them for four years on down the road. My guess is that most of those reading this post will find it difficult to remember even half of the candidates who have declared, let alone the two others who have formed “exploratory committees.”
Some of the candidates will fall by the wayside in a few months when they realize that their is no steam in the engine. But others will stay the course too long because they either feel called to run, have never started something they didn’t finish, are being urged by their constituents to stay the course, or they are simply full of themselves.
Self-confidence needs to be a quality of the president, but not so self-assured to the point that the person doesn’t think their bodily discharges don’t stink…if you get my drift!
If I start believing I can personally fly, and keep telling myself that, at some point the reality of my earthboundness is going to come into play in a crashing sort of way.
What should we look for in a president? Some may crucify me for this, but I’m looking for just a few things. The wisdom of Solomon…the patience of Job…the strength of Joshua…the prayerfulness of Daniel…the ability to listen like David…the grace of Paul…the faith of Abraham…and the willingness to say “I’m wrong” like the prodigal son.
I know that I just listed eight men in those qualities, but gender if not an issue for me. the candidate I vote for will not be on the basis of a gender, although I know a lot of people would make their decision on that basis.
I simply go back to the question again: why would anyone want to be president?
“Somebody has to be” may be the best reason!
Categories: Bible, Christianity, Community, Faith, Freedom, Grace, Jesus, Nation, Pastor, Prayer, Story, Teamwork, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: 2016 Presidential Campaign, campaigning, Candidates, decision-making, Donald Trump, exploratory committee, good presidents, President, presidential campaign, presidential qualities, running for office, self-assurance, self-confidence
Comments: 3 Comments
June 16, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. June 16, 2015
I was fooled into believing that eating raw almonds was good for you. Healthy and nutritious and all that fifth grade healthy education stuff. It may be healthy after it gets past your teeth, but one of my molars is living proof that eating raw almonds has some negative side effects…like a fracture! Maybe next time I’ll put the almonds in a blender and puree’ them for about an hour!
So I spent part of this afternoon in a chair at my dentist with a bright light shining in my mouth. I like my dentist. She’s warm and personable, and even laughs at some of my humor…then she sticks the numbing needle in my gum!
Help me, Jesus!
I start talking like one of those characters that used to be on the “Fat Albert Show.” Every word seemed to have a “dubba” connected to it. My words don’t slur, they stumble!
Today I was in “the chair” for an hour and forty-five minutes! I go back in two weeks for my permanent crown. In the mean time it’s suggested that I eat tomato soup, strained oatmeal, and Ramen Noodles…minus the noodles! I’ll be thinner than Olive Oyl!
It makes me wonder what they did back in the day! Oh, that’s right! They had wooden teeth or something like that! that probably didn’t work too well with raw almonds either.
Experiences like these make you appreciate all the other teeth you have, which I do…and will!
It also will make me think twice before buying another five pound bag of raw almonds at Sam’s Club!
Categories: children, Freedom, Humor, Jesus, Story, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: dental crown, Dental visit, dental work, Dentists, Fat Albert, fractured molar, molar, permanent crown, Ramen Noodles, raw almonds, teeth
Comments: Be the first to comment
June 15, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. June 14, 2015
I’m convinced every Sunday afternoon that God knew what he was doing when he called for a day of rest. Of course, as a pastor “Sunday rest” is somewhat of a “qualified term.” Some Sundays I see a few people in their sanctuary seats who have gotten a head start on me…nap, that is!
When I get home Sunday afternoon I become a cranky old codger if I’m not allowed to lay my head on the pillow. Usually I take a book, open it to whatever page I’m on, and get anywhere from ten pages to two paragraphs read before I’m snoring like a kid with tonsil problems!
Some Sundays all I need is about 20 minutes. Other Sundays I’m dead to the world for a couple of hours.
Naps are gifts from God! Rest is undervalued by our culture. Some people rest at the wrong times…like at their place of employment, so they can be rested to be active after work. Some people treat rest like it’s poison ivy. Keep it away!
I don’t know if it’s my profession or my age…or both…but I am extremely thankful God created a Sunday afternoon 2 P.M. I was I still subject to parental discipline I might act out around that time so I could be disciplined with a time-out in my room.
We live in a tired world. A healthy life is like a swinging pendulum that goes back and forth between work and rest, or work and play. That’s right, play can be restful. One thing that my grandkids do is say to me “Granddad, tell us a story…using our feet!” They plop their two pairs of feet across my lap and giggle with glee as I make up a story that uses their toes as props. Those moments of storied play bring a chuckle to my spirit when I’m dealing with stress.
Restful play and playful rest. Very few people get to the end of a week and wish they could have worked more, but a lot of tired folk get to the end of a week and wish they could have relaxed more.
I’ve decided that Sunday afternoon naps are so good I usually do a sequel on Monday. Not as long, but re-energizing. I used to feel guilty about that. Not any more! Pardon the pun, but I’ve given the guilt a rest!
Categories: children, Christianity, Community, Freedom, Parenting, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: all work and no play, Job, napping, naps, playful rest, rest, restful play, storytelling, Sunday afternoon nap, thankful, Work, working
Comments: Be the first to comment
June 8, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. June 8, 2015
I’ve recently written quite a bit about loss…losing people close to me who have gone on to glory. Believe me! I don’t want to write about the process of grieving for the rest of my life, but I had two experiences yesterday that have profoundly affected me.
It began with “the missing!” A dear man and his wife, 94 and 91 in age, were missing from their usual spots in worship yesterday morning. Rex helps take the offering each Sunday morning and always squeezes my finger when I put my offering envelope in the plate. He looks at me and says “I’m praying for you”, and then he gives me a wink. It’s an important moment of the morning for me…but he wasn’t there.
He’s been battling a form of cancer, running a race against old age…and the age is catching up to him. He is a dear committed man of God and serving husband to his wife, Ann.
I called him Sunday afternoon and asked if I could bring our group of young men by to pray with him and his wife, Ann, that evening.
“Well…that would be great, Pastor Bill! Yes…I think that would be all right!”
So we went, six of us, spent time with them, heard about his “miracle malts” that his granddaughter was bringing to him that seemed to make him feel better, and then we stood with them in a circle and prayed.
Each one of us felt a bit of heartache knowing that this couple were in the midst of daily struggles to just keep going. The weariness of their bodies was now dictating what could be done and what had to be surrendered. Things that we took for granted were now only maybes for the two of them.
But we were also blessed by simply being with them, holding hands with them and praying, listening to their stories told with wit and humor. They were so thankful that we had come, but we were even more thankful that we had been there.
After we prayed and hugged on them for a while we got in our vehicles and headed down the street to the ice cream place, BJ’s Velvet Freeze, and we all ordered malts!
Right before I had gone to be blessed by this pair of ninety somethings I became aware of another kind of heartache. I young lady I had coached for three years in basketball died. Twenty years old, full of potential and primed for life…suddenly gone. I was numbed by the news. On the wall behind me in my study is a team picture from her freshman year where she is standing just behind my right shoulder, in the midst of her teammates, looking happy and almost giggly. That was one of the sweetest, most fun groups of girls I’ve ever coached. They finished 13-5 and beat an undefeated Doherty team in the last game of the regular season…a group of Doherty girls that had not lost since they started playing together in 6th grade.
And this young lady was a vital part of the team, but more than that, she was just a delight to coach that year.
And now her light had faded out!
That same sense of heartache that I experienced as I sat with Rex and Ann I also experienced as I processed the news of the death of this young woman, but this time it was tagged together with helplessness. I wished I could have said something to her to change the course of her ship, to let the wind be in her sails again. I wish I could go back to her freshman year and be blessed once again by the giggling and the solidity of those relationships amongst teammates. I wish I could rewind and know that I could say one thing that I hadn’t said before that would result in June 5, 2015 being different…being a day of celebration and fulfilled promise instead of grief and deep, deep sorrow!
A strange day of lives that have been long, purposeful, and fulfilling…and a life that had barely started…and I can’t stop thinking about it!
Categories: children, Christianity, Community, Death, Faith, Freedom, Grace, Humor, Jesus, love, marriage, Parenting, Pastor, Story, Teamwork, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: age, basketball coach, being blessed, blessed, coaching, coping, grief, grieving, heartache, helpless, loss, malts, ninety year olds, Old age, praying, sudden death
Comments: Be the first to comment
June 5, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. June 5, 2015
Recently I watched a DVD that brought to the surface the breakdown of a community in a major metropolitan area of our nation. The deterioration didn’t happen overnight, but rather over a period of twenty years or so. One of the fractures that rose to the surface was the breakdown in the family system. Absentee fathers…parents not investing into their kids lives, sometimes because they were working two jobs to make ends meet…gangs moving into the area to fill the void in young men’s lives that needed some kind of family.
Another fracture was caused by people becoming more concerned with themselves than those who lived in their community. A hint of self-preservation gradually grew to become the odor of selfish ambition. Suspicions grew about people’s agendas. Gang activity resulted in residents being protective of the few things they had. “My brother’s keeper” became non-existent as people felt community concern for their well-being decreased.
Survival defined the environment instead of living life.
The DVD showed how the community was gradually saved…emotionally, economically, relationally, and spiritually…but it was a long journey on a pothole-filled road. It showed one church’s commitment to the high school in that community that changed the lives of students, their families, but also volunteers from the church. A community was resurrected!
And it all came back to that denying oneself to build a safe community for others. What a concept!
Jesus once said some pretty challenging words. He said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23, NIV)
A little while later after he had experienced death and then resurrection he told is disciples to go into all the world making disciples of all nations, baptizing, and teaching them. It seems that following Jesus is about the person stepping off the throne, risking oneself, and loving others. Building community involves some people who are willing to pick up some crosses.
This afternoon I went by the elementary school close to our church that we partner with. The principal had approached me a couple of weeks ago about getting together and strategizing about our partnership next year. Today we set up the appointment and I gave her that DVD to watch before we meet.
It takes more than a community to raise a child. It takes people who would rather share half of their sandwich at lunchtime with a hungry kid than eating the whole thing. It takes vision to see the imbalance and ears to hear the impoverished. It takes a hand to comfort and feet to go the distance.
And, quite honestly, not many people are willing to be that!
Categories: Bible, children, Christianity, Community, Faith, Freedom, Grace, Jesus, love, Nation, Parenting, Pastor, Story, Teamwork, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: building community, church-school partnership, community concern, denying oneself, gang activity, helping one another, loving others, Mission, self-centered, self-focused, selfish, selfish ambition, survival
Comments: Be the first to comment
June 2, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. June 2, 2015
Last week I swung by my insurance agent’s office to get a recommendation on a roofing company to call. As I pulled into the parking lot something was different. The two story building next door to theirs was no longer there.
I mean…gone! A dirt-covered empty lot!
It’s interesting when you become accustomed to something being there…and then it isn’t…you are taken back a little bit! In fact, my insurance agent’s one story building suddenly seemed to look smaller because of the vast empty space that now shadowed it to the east.
I asked Michelle, one of my agents, what was going on next door. She said they were going to build some other structure in the coming year on that spot. And then she made this statement:
“You wouldn’t believe it, but it took them less than a day to tear down the building that was there!”
Less than a day!
Six to eight months to build…less than a day to tear it all down!
A reputation is built over a long period of time, but it can be destroyed quickly.
As I think about that, a photo book of faces flashes through my mind of people who have been evidence of that statement. Well-respected, intelligent, esteemed for their leadership, recognized and followed…and then a weakened moment, or a hidden flaw that suddenly was exposed, or a conversation that went viral…and the structure came tumbling down.
It goes without saying that we all fall and stumble. The lives that we build are filled with pockets of errors…some more like chips of the plaster, but others that threaten the stability of tomorrow.
Writing a blog post about building and destroying won’t solve our tendency to screw up our blessedness, but maybe it will be a wake up moment for someone who is teetering on the edge of the cliff.
What is evident about the empty lot by the insurance office is just that! The emptiness of it…where just a few weeks ago there was life being lived, decisions being made, a structure to protect from the uncertain weather elements…and now having to start over from the ground up.
May today be a day of building just one more solid brick on to the firm foundation…a day where we are solid in our thoughts and actions, anchored even deeper to the Foundation!
Categories: Bible, Christianity, Faith, Freedom, Grace, Jesus, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: building, building a reputation, collapses, crashes, destruction, failures, honesty, integrity, mistakes, moral failure, shortcomings, sin
Comments: Be the first to comment
May 28, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. May 28, 2015
Jerk. A four letter word that I find myself saying more frequently these days. The way I use it almost never is connected to some kind of meat, like chicken or beef, but is, however, almost always related to a meathead!
Jerk-hood for many people is not a sickness. It’s a persistent condition, like bad breath or B.O. It travels around with them like a dust storm announcing Pig Pen’s presence.
The “Big Boy” truck that weaves in and out of traffic like he’s a Duke of Hazzard…the forty-something man who charges out of the grocery door without regard for the pregnant lady coming in with two pre-schoolers in tow…any of the Real Housewives of Anywhere, USA…jerk-hood is gaining new members more rapidly than gray hairs on my head!
It’s puzzling to me! Why do more and more people act like “Biff Tannen” from Back to the Future. Do they realize it? Oblivious?
It’s interesting that jerk-hood stands out like a sore thumb compared to sainthood! Saints don’t go around wearing their good deeds and compassionate hearts on their sleeves. Jerks stand out like a leisure suit at a GQ Fashion Show!
So what’s going on? Is this a phase, a momentary trend? For one we’re more and more self-focused. We’ve even given it a name…”selfies!” We’re very much about ourselves. We’ve bought into it, and now believe it. It’s blurred the lines of what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. We’re not as sure these days.
Jerk-hood has even entered our churches. Most of the time we wrap it in Christ-like language, but it’s still there. Some weeks a person has to look real, real deep to find any fruit of the Spirit in the congregation. Part of Joel’s Osteen’s popularity has been the blurring of theology. It’s mixed up even more than a DQ Blizzard, spinning together some God talk with mostly self-talk. The message sounds appealing…and it makes me happy…which is what it’s all about! Jerks for Jesus…has a certain ring to it!
What Jesus said is a little disturbing to the jerk clan. He said “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24) Those words might not sell well to the sixty-something woman who just displayed her middle finger for me to see as she turned in front of me.
Lives are based on the mountain of momentary decisions that display our true selves. What is right, what is Christ-like, what is encouraging and positively impactful…often get buried in the last chapter of a person’s unwritten life of destructive behavior and disturbing words.
Some might miss this point, but it really is the evidence of the evil one’s intense interest in each of our lives. If I can have a few “f bombs” thrown my way it can take me off my commitment to doing random acts of kindness. If the hamburger I order at Wendy’s looks like it was put together by my four year old granddaughter it will take me into those darker moments of bitterness and disgust that will cause me to treat someone or several people with disdain and no value.
It’s a hard thing, and a spreading fog of fallen humanity, and I recognize that my membership card for jerk-hood gets displayed quite often.
Thank God that he even loves jerks as much as the saints!
Categories: Bible, Christianity, Community, Freedom, Grace, Humor, Jesus, Pastor, Story, Teamwork, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: Back to the Future, being a jerk, Biff Tannen, denying yourself, distorted theology, DQ Blizzard, Jerk, jerks, Joel Osteen, Luke 9:23-24, people being jerks, sainthood, Saints, taking up the cross, theology
Comments: Be the first to comment
Words from WW Blog 