Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ category
July 26, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. July 26, 2015
This morning in worship I told the story of Legion from the Gospel of Mark. I was led to do two things this morning that I hoped the congregation caught. So often we tell the story from the view of outside eyes and distant ears. We minimize its relevance to our lives by speaking about it as if we are in the balcony.
So this morning I told the story and brought the congregation into it by referring to them as the people of Gerasena where the demon-possessed man was from. I came at it from the perspective of the congregation being the ones who drove off the man to the tombs. We went through the life stages. I admit that I envisioned the man’s childhood…the beginning signs of a troubled mind and spirit, the increasing tension in the city whenever he was around people, the heartbreak of his parents in knowing they couldn’t make him better. I led us through the story carefully, drawing in the emotions that we felt as Legion became more apparent.
The second thing I did was use the pronoun “we” instead of “you.” In fact, I only used “you” once and that was towards the end of the story in asking the worshipers “You remember, don’t you?”
I did not preach at, but rather included myself as one of the Gerasenes. I was simply the one who was re-telling the story about us.
I’m sure if I looked back through my old sermon manuscripts I would be embarrassed by the number of times I preached to “them”, heaping accusations and a John the Baptist call to repent! In my elderly state I’m acutely aware of my need for the grace of God in the midst of my blunders and shortcomings.
And so I preach more and more about us.
I don’t know if those who journeyed with me this morning noticed the different perspective of things. I was not driven from the sanctuary like the man was driven from the town. I noticed, however, that some of the usual slumbering saints had their eyes open throughout.
That in itself is somewhat of a miracle!
Categories: Bible, children, Christianity, Community, Death, Faith, Grace, Jesus, Parenting, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: congregation, demons, Legion, Mark 5, Preaching, preaching the Word, Story, storytelling
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July 24, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. July 24, 2015
My wife, Carol, and I returned this week from an Alaskan cruise. We marveled at the glaciers that were “calving”- the breaking off of chunks of ice that fall into the waters below. The sound is like thunder…ice thunder! We were awed by the train ride up White Pass. One picture that I took could be on a postcard, or, for me, a jigsaw puzzle!
But we didn’t see any moose! Several times on our excursion trips the guide or bus driver would tell us to keep our eyes peeled for moose and bear because these were the spots that they liked to frequent.
No moose on the loose…no bear for us to stare!
It wasn’t that they weren’t out there, just not in visual range. Frankly, the last moose I saw was in Colorado Springs within an echo of the downtown area!
Sometimes my spiritual eyes are on the same focus point as my moose sightings. I think that I need to travel a far distance from home to experience something of God, when the truth is God-sightings are within an echo of where I am.
Yesterday a dear lady from our church shared a wonderful story with me about a God-moment she unexpectedly had that was confusing in the midst of it, but an amazing God-story at the end of it. I believe the effect of it is that she will be on the lookout with spiritual binoculars for where God will show up next.
A close friend of mine who is dealing with a life-threatening illness had experienced the orchestration of God in numerous ways all through this past month.
It is almost always our lack of looking that blinds us from what we could possibly see. And our tendency is simply not to be looking right where we are…believing that the workings of God must be more glorious and obvious in another location…on a cruise ship…on the other side where the grass is greener.
I missed moose in Alaska. It wasn’t meant to be, but I did see whales and salmons swimming upstream.
If we simply look for God to be seen in one specific way we will rob ourselves of the opportunities he chooses to show himself!
Categories: Bible, Christianity, Faith, Jesus, Pastor, Prayer, Story, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: Alaska, Alaskan cruise, bears, glacier calving, God-moments, God-sightings, moose, moose sightings
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July 10, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. July 10, 2015
Dear Parental Units,
Just kidding, Mom and Step-dad! I want you to know that I love you…I really do! My week at camp is almost over, and I’ve made some great new friends. My counselor has been incredible as she has allowed me to ask her hard questions, but she’s also been there to listen to my confusion.
I’ve learned a lot about faith and trusting this week. This morning we got up WAY TOO EARLY and climbed to the top of the peak behind our camp. I didn’t like the getting up early part, and there were a few times during our climb that I wasn’t sure I’d be able “to get up!”…but I made it And a big reason I was able to make it was because of the support and encouragement of everyone else who was climbing with me. When my thigh muscles were about to explode I got a pat on the back from my counselor and a hand from another counselor helping me make the next really big step.
It made me realize how important it is to have “solid friends.” I say solid because some of my friends back home stand on shaky ground, and they are more like the wind that blows in and out of my life.
When I come back home on Saturday could I ask something of you? I’ve decided to become a follower of Jesus this week. That’s probably something you were hoping for, but I hope you understand that it doesn’t mean I’m going to be all perfect and always doing the right thing. I’m going to mess up royally, and I’m not going to suddenly understand high school calculus just because I’m following Jesus!
But this thing I need to ask you…would you help me in this faith walk? Maybe that sounds weird, but it’s kind of like that climb this morning. I need your support and encouragement to keep going…a helping hand when I’m having those moments when I’m about to tip backwards. I know you go to church and help out in different ways, and I appreciate that more now than I did before this week at camp.
But…I’m sorry to start so many sentences with but…but I need to know that your faith in Jesus is real! I’m not saying it isn’t…but I need you to tell me every once in a while that it is…that it isn’t just something we do because we’ve done it that way for so long.
Even though I like my space from time to time from you, I need you to lead me, to help me deal with my questions about why God does certain things…what happens when I pray and when I don’t pray…help me figure out what God wants me to do in life, what my purpose is?
I hope I’m making sense. My counselor isn’t even making me write this. I’m doing this on my own! If Jesus was thinking of me when he went to the cross I want to try to think a good bit more about them in these coming days.
Thanks for being my mom and step-dad! I know you don’t have perfect lives, but I know you love me deeply…and you paid for me to come to camp!
Can’t wait to see you!
Your daughter!
Categories: Bible, children, Christianity, Community, Faith, Humor, Jesus, Parenting, Story, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: church camp, Conversion, Encouragement, help, mentoring, senior high church camp, Transformation
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July 9, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. July 9, 2015
Dear Mom and Dad,
Camp is a lot of fun! I wish it wouldn’t be ending on Saturday, but I know you miss me and want me to come home…and I’m okay with that! I’ll probably sleep about twenty-four hours straight because I’m really tired. Our counselor, Mr. Bob, snores at night so it’s hard to get much sleep. He’s nice, though! Yesterday I forgot to bring my money to Canteen…that’s the camp name for “7-11!” It’s got all those things that you don’t want me to eat or drink right before dinner…except Slurpies! Anyway, he bought me a Creamsicle and we talked about my favorite subject in school…gym class…and what the best part of camp has been. Last night when Mr. Bob snored like there’s no tomorrow I was more okay with it.
The food here isn’t as good as the food you fix at home, Mom! But the good thing is that I think your food will taste even better after I get home…even your meatloaf!
I’ve made a new best friend. His name is Jimmy. He is from the big city and had darker skin then me. I was talking to him about our farm, and can you believe this…he’s never even been on a farm, and has only seen pictures of pigs! He didn’t even know that bacon comes from pigs in a round-about way. He lives in a really tall apartment building that has twenty floors, and he’s on the seventeenth floor! I can’t imagine that! I asked him what happens if someone falls out of the window, and he said that they have windows that don’t open! That is some kind of craziness right there! He’s a really nice boy the same age as me. Sometime I hope he can come visit us on the farm and see a real pig.
You would like this! Everyday after lunch we have to take a nap. They call it “FOYB!” that means “flat on your back!” I’m okay with it since Mr. Bob’s snoring cuts out some of our sleep time during the night. For some reason he never seems to snore during FOYB!
A couple of days ago I got to go down a zip line! That was so much fun! They make you wear this helmet and this thing that kind of looks like a women’s girdle I think, but then you go down this cable really fast! I think we should put one up in the barn after I get home. Dad, you wouldn’t have to go down the ladder from the hay loft anymore. You could get down a lot faster and that way get your work done faster! I’ll help!
The pastor here this week is really cool. He’s not even old, like all the pastors I’ve ever met in my life. He was talking to us about trusting in Jesus. I had never heard it put exactly the way he said it. Let me try to explain it to you: Jesus loves me even though I don’t always do the right thing or make the right choice. That was pretty cool! So Mom, even though I don’t always clean my room, or remember to clean it, Jesus still loves me! Can you believe that?
Last night we were sitting around the campfire singing songs that I’m still learning the words for, and the camp pastor said that if anyone would live Jesus to live within their heart all that needed to happen was reciting this prayer that he prayed. I don’t exactly remember how the prayer went, but I said it. I don’t exactly understand how Jesus came into my heart, but I started crying into my sweater sleeve. I told Mr. Bob about it right before lights out and he said that I needed to talk to you and our pastor after I get back home.
I’d better stop writing so I can get this letter in the mail. There was one girl who was interested in me, but I told her I was too young to date. She was disappointed, so I tried to be nice. So I said, “Maybe next year at camp!” I will need you to help me figure out what to say to her at camp next year.
Your Son,
Joey Smith
Categories: Bible, children, Christianity, Faith, Grace, Humor, Jesus, love, Parenting, Story, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: camp, church camp, FOYB, gospel, invitation, Salvation
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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
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June 30, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. June 29, 2015
People say I’m not old, but I bet if I went to a swing dance party no one under fifty would be hoping I’d ask them for a dance. I’m married anyway, and I’m not sure what “swing dance” means. “Swing” is something my four year old granddaughter asks me to give her a push with.
So a lot of people humor me with sympathetic looks attached to words like, “Ohhh…you’re not old!”
Actually I’m two-thirds gone! And that’s if I live to 92!
So now I’m in the muttering stages of my life. I mutter to myself! I mutter questions to myself that don’t need to be answered.
Why can’t the newspaper delivery person hit the driveway with the morning toss? How can they hit the pile of snow that’s about three feet wide with the paper, but miss the thirty foot stretch of concrete? Of course, the yearly renewal notice comes in May…after I’ve forgotten about those frustrations!
Why do people pay fifty bucks to get dirty running a 5K race? Back in college we went out in front of the dorm and played football in the mud…for free! Why do people pay fifty dollars to get color thrown on them? I can lay down on the deck and have my grandchildren use me for a marking board…once again, for free!
Why does my bedtime seem to get earlier and earlier…and yet as soon as I lay my head on the pillow I’m wide awake?
Why do people in sporty cars with tinted windows think other cars are like orange cones on a race course? Strictly there to weave in and out of!
Why does my next door neighbor’s barbecuing smell so tantalizing, but I can’t seem to make any kind of meat smell good? Why doesn’t my next-door neighbor realize how unfair his cooking aromas are for the rest of us?
Why do people rush to get on a plane? If I’m sitting in 22A does it matter if I get on the plane in the first batch or the last? Speaking of planes, why can’t we have the little bags of pretzels again? Why do the airlines give coffee in 6 ounce cups but Coke in a 12 ounce can? What’s up with that?
Why are my toes so ugly? My feet look like they went through six hours of prep and make-up for a horror movie! It looks like I have painted toenails distributed unequally amongst my ten toes.
Why do my ears look like they have crabgrass growing out of them? Good Lord! I’m thinking about sprinkling them with Weed-B-Gone!
Why do dogs seem to think 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. are appropriate times to start barking? That causes me to mutter to myself while I’m still lying in bed…still trying to sleep! But, of course, that 6 a.m. bark alarm wakes up my bladder…and it ain’t going back to sleep!
Oh! And here’s one more that I’m still muttering about! I got one of those print-out coupons at King Soopers that said I could get a free…I say it again…free Starbucks “Refreshers” drink that comes in a can. So I went looking for my free can…and guess what? They don’t have it! The store employee who was very gracious and kind wasn’t even sure they carried it! Wait a minute! I have a coupon for a free one, but they don’t carry it!
Would that cause you to mutter to yourself?
Categories: Death, Humor, Story, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: airline seating, barbecue smell, cynical, laughter, muttering, Old age, old men, pretzels, questions
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June 28, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. June 28, 2015
Baptism in the Baptist church is a celebration that drenches the soul! It isn’t an invitation to a funeral, but rather an expression of the deep flowing grace of God, the life-giving story of the gospel visualized in a person standing in the midst of the waters.
This morning was an awesome experience in the sharing of people’s faith journeys. Four adults…some new to the faith, and others who have journeyed with Jesus for a while, entered our “church tub” and testified of their faith.
The event was punctuated by the fact that other people were involved in the baptisms. In our congregation when someone gets baptized I encourage them to ask someone who has been instrumental in their faith journey to be the one who dips them into the waters.
The first woman to be baptized was helped into the water tank by her husband. She had been serving faithfully for the past several years in our congregation. We just assumed that she had been baptized…but sometimes assumptions get the best of us! As her spouse asked her if she knew Jesus in a personal way I could hear a slight emotional crack in his voice. He looked into her eyes with love and compassion, and she back at him with the same loving gratitude. As he lowered her into the waters I was there to give physical assistance…since both of them are into their sixth decade. Wait a minute! So am I! After she came back up to her feet, husband and wife embraced…and more than a few tears were being shed by those watching!
The second woman was baptized by her in-laws…mother in-law and sister-in-law. They had walked with her through moments of loss and births of children. They didn’t turn their backs on her when she expressed doubts about faith. In the background, although not in the baptistry, was her grandmother-in-law who had been praying for this day to happen for the past several years. What a story of walking with someone in doubts and discoveries!
Finally a husband and wife came to be baptized. They asked me to be the one who took them back into that expression of the death and resurrection of Christ. The husband and I play basketball together. We trash talk each other on the court…in Christian love! But in this moment I fought back the tears of joy of seeing two lives wanting to serve the Lord. Parents of three young children they have been through some difficult times, times of searching and asking tough questions, and times of trying to figure out this thing called “walking in faith.”
Four faith journeys coming together for a few moments of mass celebration. I don’t know if anyone will remember a word I said that morning in the sermon, but there were four messages of transformation visualized that no one will forget!
Categories: children, Christianity, Community, Death, Faith, Grace, Jesus, love, marriage, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: Baptism, baptizing, Celebration, demonstration of faith, immersion, profession of faith, water baptism
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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
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June 26, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. June 26, 2015
My good friend, Steve Wamberg, and I were sharing over coffee this morning about our grandkids. Steve has a four month old and my quiver is almost full with three. Grandparenting is exciting, and an excellent source for new sermon material.
Steve made the revealing statement that Facebook has become an excellent way of checking in to see how the grandkids are doing. Everyday…multiple times…my daughter and his son post pictures, videos, updated news, Christmas gift lists, and if all the grandkids are healthy that day on their Facebook pages. It’s like we can watch our grandkids grow up without being helicopter grandparents.
This morning I watched my newest grandchild, Corin Grace Hodges, talking to a stuffed animal that was dangling in front of her face. Last Sunday when she was dedicated in our morning worship service a posted picture on Facebook showed the displeasure of Corin’s big sister, Reagan, as I was saying the dedication prayer. Reagan likes to pray, and she was borderline pouting that I was leading it instead of her.
I’ve watched my grandson Jesse’s mugging of another boy in the midst of a Buddy Basketball game from last season. Jesse might tell you that he got all ball, which he did! The problem is he also got both arms and a couple of ribs with it!
Steve and I see Facebook grandparenting as being almost like a monitor camera in our grandkids’ lives that we can look in on. “What’s Jesse up to, I wonder?” Click…oh he’s reading Charlotte’s Web! Awesome!”
Understand that Facebook grandparenting will never replace face-to-face and sitting-on-lap grandparenting, but it does keep us in the loop without being a pest.
In a couple of weeks I’ll be baptizing Jesse on a Sunday morning. I’m sure it will hit Facebook within ninety minutes of the event…and I’ll watch it and watch it. But even more awesome is the fact that our families in Illinois, Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, and Kentucky will be able to view it. call it Facebook “Uncle-ing” and “Aunt-ing” and other family relative terms.
And just so you know…Reagan said the prayer before lunch last Sunday. She was quick on the draw and left me in the dust. She’s a sly one! I have Facebook videos to attest to it!
Categories: children, Christianity, Community, Humor, Jesus, love, Parenting, Pastor, Prayer, Story, Teamwork, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: baby, Facebook, family pictures, family videos, grandchild, grandchildren, grandparenting, grandparents, helicopter parenting, praying
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June 25, 2015
WORDS FROM W.W. June 25, 2015
Somewhere in eastern Kansas (Lawrence) a young lady with very short blonde hair has her feet up in the air right now. Allison Perrine is bicycling, along with about 30 other college-aged young adults, four thousand miles across the country, from Baltimore to San Francisco, in seventy days.
I’ve been following her journey as it has progressed. Carol and I supported it financially a few months ago when she was in the midst of trying to raise $4,000. Today I noticed she was $83 away from having raised $22,000. The funds aren’t being used for late-night runs to Sonic or daily living expenses. Allison is raising funds for young adult cancer awareness, patient navigation, and support groups.
Today would have been the 48th birthday for Allison’s mom, Becky. Becky passed away from cancer in October of 2011. Becky was my secretary for the last few years of my pastorate at First Baptist Church in Mason, Michigan. Allison was a quiet little blonde-haired girl who always looked terrified by me. Perhaps since my last name was Wolfe she thought I was big and bad. These days Allison is not quiet any more, but she is also anything but timid. Her mom has been the inspiration behind her journey, and she has persevered through a lot of obstacles.
In eight days (July 3) Carol and I get to meet up with Allison in Fort Morgan, Colorado. We are excited to see the girl who has grown up into being an exceptional young lady. I’m sure I’ll have tears banging on my eyes to get out as I see the image of her mom shining through her.
Before she started on this journey, Allison got her beautiful long hair shaved off to help in another way. I’ve noticed from the pictures on her daily blog post that it’s grown back to being just a little longer than stubble.
Many of us are traumatized by the tragedies that jolt our lives. We give up, looked stunned, and choose isolation. Allison chose to keep on keeping on. She chose to persevere. On her mom’s birthday she wrote the address of her mom’s favorite bible verse on her leg…Joshua 1:9, which says “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
If you would like to follow Allison’s blog you can go to:
Www.4kforcancer.org/profiles/Allison-Perrine/
Categories: Bible, children, Christianity, Community, Death, Faith, Jesus, love, Parenting, Pastor, Story, Teamwork, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: Allison Perrine, bicycling, bicycling across the country, cancer, cancer awareness, courage, honoring parents, Joshua 1:9, perseverance
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Words from WW Blog 