Words from WW Blog

I’m amazed at obedient dogs!

I’m talking about the Golden Retriever who sits and waits until his master tells him to come. This morning as I was driving out of our subdivision there was a man with his beagle “having a moment” on the street corner. The beagle sat with his eyes on the master in front of him. I don’t know how long they stayed there. I didn’t want to sit and stare and their “moment together.”
Of course, there’s other canines that flunk the test. I don’t know if ADHD is a condition that some dogs have, but…man! They need to watch a few Rin Tin Tin episodes.
I haven’t written anything for a couple of weeks now. I’ve had other things to take care of, but it’s also been a “waiting time.”
I good friend of ours, who we dearly miss, used to balance a cookie on his dog’s nose, and tell “Chaps” to “Wait…wait…wait…okay!” I’ve been waiting and waiting, but there hasn’t been a cookie on my nose.
I’m not very talented in the “waiting department”, but waiting is part of the intimacy with our Lord. In our church right now there are a few ladies (My oldest daughter being one of them!) who are in a waiting period. It’s better known as pregnancy. The waiting allows the expectancy level to continue to rise. It includes uncomfortableness, anxiety, morning sickness, or “all-day sickness”, joy, preparation. Growth happens each day. From one ultra-sound to the next the expectant parents see the development of the child within.
It’s all waiting…until the birth experience to a new time.
There are many times in during that pregnancy that the mother wishes the tape could be fast-forwarded to the end; and yet, something would be lost in the richness of that “moment” is that took place.
Waiting…
Not many of us are good at it. Just wait for a moment behind someone who is sitting at a green light, but not moving. When that happens to me I start quivering, unless it’s someone on a cell phone oblivious to the world. Then, I get angry!
If I could interview anyone I might choose the 33 Chilean milers. I’d like to ask them if they experienced different stages of waiting, different thoughts and emotions as one day spread to a week, and a week spread to a month. Did “waiting” become like a companion with them? Did any of them come to a different place in their faith, even as they sat in the same place? What kind of faith-questioning moments did they deal with?
Some may say that God draws close to us in our waiting. I believe God is close to us whether we’re in the midst of a frenzied pace, or waiting in an underground tunnel. I’m coming to the point where I believe the waiting moments of life will either cause our heart to cry out to God more, or we’ll scream in protest as we turn away from Him.
Waiting will not leave us in the same place.

P.S. I’m going to go get my cookie now, God!

WORDS FROM W.W. September 20, 2010

I was reading an article recently that consisted of an interview with Alan Hirsch, regarded as being at the forefront of a movement in the thousands of congregations today called “missional churches” or “missional ministry.”
Hirsch makes the point that the church is declining in attendance and needs to find different ways to speak and new innovative forms of “church.” He writes that almost all churches in our country are “attractional” in their nature. In that form they are attracting 40% of the population. It doesn’t mean that 40% of the population is attending church; it just means that 40% will entertain the possibility of attending. That means that 60% of the population aren’t interested in the attractional form.
That’s hard for us who were raised in the church, and have been attending church our whole lives, to hear. Hirsch’s point is that it doesn’t matter whether a church is contemporary in it’s worship, offers a Saturday night service, serves gourmet coffee, and has a paid professionally staffed praise band. We’re drawing from the same percentage of the pie…the 40% piece. In essence, the church’s addiction for being attractive to our culture has made it, ironic as it sounds, more unattractive to many of the people who need to be introduced to Jesus the most.
In going back to Acts 2 in recent weeks, and looking at the beginnings of the first church, I’m struck by the fact that they were Christ-centered. That might sound like a simplistic statement, but it might also be what churches today are missing. We’ve focused so much on what the wrapping paper looks like that we’ve smothered the Christ-child on the inside. The early church was willing to risk being unattractive to the culture if that’s where God was leading them to go.
I agree with this statement that Hirsch makes:
“ I was trained in a formal liturgical tradition, where I got the impression that we were meant to be helping people make life decisions and telling them how to live their lives. It’s exhausting if you make decisions for everyone. I really sense God is saying, “You’re not meant to tell people how to live. That’s my job. Your job is to introduce people to Jesus and a true understanding of who Jesus is. You don’t have to control their lives.” And I find that incredibly liberating. When I play Holy Spirit, I usually do a very, very bad job.”
The Cross will never be known for its attractiveness, but it will always be a sign that points to a true understanding of Jesus. If we don’t wrap it up in that thin department store tissue-like paper that results in both hiding it and protecting it, but rather let it speak the truth it holds…our purpose, individually and collectively, will be fulfilled.

WORDS FROM W.W. September 16, 2010
There is a time when we seem to seek the focused attention of God.
It has been said that God wants our attention, and that he may put something in our life to get it. I don’t totally agree with that. Sometimes in the Bible it happened that way…like with Paul’s Damascus Road experience, or numerous prophecies from Old Testament prophets (like a bleached-out Jonah).
But sometimes we use that “line” as a way of keeping us “in line.”
I think more often than not we experience a crisis moment that has us seeking the attention of God. It’s that moment in the ER when a loved one is wavering between life and death. It’s the journey in a car through an icy winter storm. It’s the point in the month when there is nothing left in the check book, but there are still “past due” notices in a pile on the desk.
It’s a math test!
It’s the birth point of a new child.
It’s the parents of a teenager who has not come home one night.
It’s the scene of an elderly uncle who has suddenly slumped over in his chair.
It’s the call from someone related to you, and it’s originating from the police station.
It’s the denial of a follower of Christ that there really is a God.
It’s the long trip back home in response to a dying grandparent, and the urgency of making it back to say one last goodbye, and “I love you.”
This moment of focused prayer came center stage for me today as our oldest daughter, Kecia, eighteen weeks pregnant, had to go to the emergency room after an unfortunate series of events occurred at her grade school. She spent many anxious and emotional moments lying on a gurney waiting to hear that the baby was okay.
For me it was moments filled with focused prayer. “God, let’s get focused on this child!”
Thank God, he isn’t ADD. God doesn’t need me to tell him to focus more. He’s focused all the time on each one of his created. He understands the finger nail biting habits of anxious parents and grandparents. He knows the situation before we even realize it.
Bad things sometimes do happen. That’s not because God is off playing Play Station 3 for a few hours, and as a result the whole universe is in chaos. Bad things happen because Eden disappeared a long time ago. Bad things happen because evil is alive and often seems to be prospering.
Too often we end up judging God (ironic as that sounds) on the basis of which way the weigh scale is tipping…experiencing happiness or experiencing sadness. When it seems that the negative is winning we wonder what God is doing!
Bud God desires the best for us, and he desires a life that is filled with joy and peace…and even happiness. If I believed in a God who desired less than that I would become increasingly cynical and suspicious…and, over time, bitter.
As Carol and I waited with our daughter today I knew that God knew every detail, and I thanked him for it!

WORDS FROM W.W. September 9, 2010
This week has seen a Florida pastor make national news with the threat of his church burning copies of the Quran on September 11. He backed off of that today, but the damage has been done…another blow has been received…another hit to the image…of what Christians are all about and what the church stands for.
I realize that the media is quick to look for a front page story that makes people shake their heads in disbelief. That’s the communications culture we live in. Herbie can post a YouTube video of a senator caught picking his nose. Text messaging is now used by thieves to successfully pull off a heist. Everything is quickly communicated these days, which also means “the story” really has be to a bizarre story.
“Lunacy” is what comes from Florida, but lest we think that is an isolated example, it also comes out of Kansas with the Westboro Baptist Church protesters. And lest we think that is just another isolated example from the middle point of the nation remember that a pro-lifer recently murdered a physician who performed abortions, and the pro-life advocate killed him in church. I’ve had a few sermons that should have been put to rest, but no one has ever died in the midst of a Sunday worship service.
In other words, our culture has seen too many media-blitzed examples of Christians and churches doing incredibly bizarre acts in the name of Christ.
And now there’s the other side!
In the Thursday, September 09, 2010 edition of the Colorado Springs Gazette there is a story about a group of a dozen churches on the south-side of Colorado Springs that plan to raise $125,000 to operate the Meadows Park Community Center in 2011. Because of budget cuts the city has been actively looking for partners to help them keep community centers open, which provide multiple services to the people who live around them. The dozen churches are all in close proximity to the community center. It’s a match made in heaven! It’s the people of God coming together in service and action, and, best of all, their funds!
But another community organization that has the same vision for the community center is opposing the churches help.
Here’s where it gets interesting…and disturbing!
The President of the Community Partnership Project, Eric Phillips, says that the churches being involved in the community center will keep people who need the services of the center the most away because of the “stigma” that churches carry. Phillips goes on to say, “There’s nothing wrong with churches. They are doing their best. But that stigma might have stuck with them.”
Lunacy and stigmatized. On one hand the actions of a few get planted on every Christian’s forehead; and on the other the offer to help, to make a positive difference, gets viewed with suspicion.
It’s easy for us to stay uninvolved, ineffective, uncaring, and apathetic…in the middle!
Which is exactly where the Deceiver wants us to contentedly stay!

WORDS FROM W.W. September 5, 2010

Dear Friends,
Last Sunday’s celebrating of “No Church Free Sunday” was so well received that we’ve decided to do it again this Sunday. It’s not every week that we hit on a ‘smokin’ hot new idea, but this one lit it up. We received many text message comments from our faithful congregation members encouraging us to do it again. We know that not having the worship service or any classes at the church building last Sunday morning freed a lot of people up to go about doing all kinds of fun things with no guilt strings attached.
And boy, did we learn some things! Here’s a few of the learnings from last week that will help make this Sunday even better.
Offering- If you drop your financial gift off in the mailbox by Monday morning it will arrive at the church by Wednesday. Plus, a lot of you took to heart the additional ways you can give.
• Adding $10- You can sleep as late as you want.
• An Extra $20- Tailgate late morning before the 1:00 abseball or football game.
• Add $15- Enjoy the breakfast buffet at Golden Corral. Stay as long as you want and go back as many times as you desire.
• Add $10- Look at the cover of your bible for a minute and correctly be able to say that “you’ve been in the word.”
• Add $20- Take in the NASCAR cable channel all morning long.
• An Extra $30- Go right from your PJ’s to swimwear as soon as you wake up.
• Adding $100- You can do whatever you want!
Music- Depending on your music preference, here are YouTube videos to spiritually inspire you at home.
• Contemporary Christian- “Bring The Rain” by Mercy Me
• Country Gospel- “There Will Be Peace In the Valley” by Tennessee Ernie Ford
• Christian Heavy Metal- “In God We Trust” by Stryper
• Favorite Hymns- “Great Is They Faithfulness” sung by D.W. Crooner
• Black Gospel- “He’s an On-Time God” by sung by Dottie Peoples
• Christian Rap- Not sure it has a title, but check out Lordside Gangster
• Chanting- “Music for Paradise, Music for the Soul by Stift Heiligenkreuz
All you have to do is go to YouTube and type in the name of the song, and “Praise the Lord”, there it is. No having to listen to someone else’s style of music. And if you like the video you can even have it sung again just for you.
Donuts and Coffee- Starbucks has great mini-donuts, four for $1.95, but, hey!…they’ve got tomake a profit. And the coffee is fresh brewed by paid baristas!
No Volunteers Needed- In not using our building there’s no need for ushers, nursery workers, sound techs, flower arrangers, a praise team, greeters, communion servers, children’s workers, youth leaders, class teachers…whew!…just think of all the manpower hours we’re saving!
Children’s Story- Pop in a Veggie Tales DVD. You can even sit on your couch with your pre-schooler and watch it…or not!
Scripture Reading- The Bible on CD’s is all you need…and think about it…the person reading the scripture will say all of those hard to pronounce biblical names correctly. No more embarrassing moments as the pastor stumbles over “Eliehoenai” and “Shephatiah”.
Create Your Own Sermon- Most people check out when our pastor starts talking anyway, so we suggest putting on ear phones and enjoying twenty to thirty minutes of silence.
Greeting One Another- See Starbucks suggestion above. Take donuts and coffee and sit down at a table.
Now…some might say we’re getting away from Hebrews 10:25 which talks about “…not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing…”, but everybody needs a Sunday off, right?
If you feel the need to be in the building this week, we’re having bingo on Friday night. Bring a friend and get half off your card!

WORDS FROM W.W. August 30, 2010
In different venues and in different ways God has been hammering me- okay, how about “vividly teaching me”- about the ongoing need to return to the basics. I teach my basketball players that principle all the time. No matter what level of basketball you are playing at- junior high, high school, college, professional- there is always a need to work on the basics.”
When God reminds me of that in my personal life, my devotional life, my prayer life, and my life as a pastor it is a mixture of “stinging news” and “A…ha” moments. We tend to think we can say farewell to the basics, because we’ve matured and grown.
It seems that the bible is filled with examples of people who had to advance back to the basics. The Israelites had to learn some basic lessons over and over and over again. They seemed to be habitual forgetters about the basic truth that God is the Provider. When they whined about not having meat in their 40 year journey, God radared a flock of quail upon them. God reminded them so much of the fact that he provides that he told them that the quail would start coming out of their nostrils and thay they would loathe it (Numbers 12:20). The journey to the Promised Land was filled with getting back to the basics.
And Jesus’ disciples often had those “children’s story” moments as well. I love the story of the disciple’s discussion about who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and Jesus takes them back to “Dick, Jane, and Sally’s primer lesson” on “the first shall be last, and the last shall be first…” (Mark 9:35)
Yesterday I was invited to attend an assembly at the middle school I’ve coached at for the past 8 years. The assembly was a presentation of “Rachel’s Challenge”, originating out of the shooting death of Rachel Scott at Columbine High 11 years ago. The students were attentive and engaged in the presentation, and I walked away realizing that “Rachel’s Challenge” is built upon five very basic principles that everyone knows, but forget to follow. Here they are:
• Look for the best in others- Eliminate prejudice.
• Dare to dream- Set goals
• Choose positive influences- Input determines output.
• Kind words and actions= huge results
• Start a chain reaction with family and friends.
Basic principles. They were presented with video and in a variety of ways, but they still came back to basic foundational truths. Not one of us would look at any one of those principles and disagree with any of them, but we are negligent quite often in living by them…even though we know how they important they are.
The people of God have a way of getting so ahead of themselves that we resemble the Leaning Tower of Pisa- always in danger of tipping over.
Moving forward always requires that there is firm footing on the foundation. We never grow past that, and, in fact, growth and health is intimately connected to it.

WORDS FROM W.W. August 22, 2010
Back in June I issued a challenge to the children at our summer day camp to collect a certain amount of money for mission concerns around the world. If they achieved the goal I would get a Mohawk haircut. They did and I “was done!” About five days later Phil, my barber, took the rest of the Mohawk off. Having just “stubble” on top of my head wasn’t a bad thing for the summer months. I didn’t have to worry about my hair being messed up in the morning- it wasn’t there!
Now…two months later I’m looking like a Chia Pet with my hair sticking out and up. It’s still not long enough to use a comb on (I can’t even remember where my comb is!). Half the time I think I look like Dr. Emmett J. Brown (Christopher Lloyd) in Back To The Future. The other half of the time I think I’m sporting a hairstyle that is cool! I can’t think of another word to describe “happening!”
As it is growing back out, however, I’ve noticed something. There’s more gray! I was hoping it was the lighting, but it’s not. It’s gray, as gray as a Fall day in Michigan!
There are two ways of looking at it. The first is the realization that gray is not a phase that comes and goes. My hair isn’t going to turn back to brown…unless I help it.
It’s gray to stay!
The second way of looking at it is that scripture says some good things about “grayness.” I like this one. “Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life.” (Proverbs 16:31)
“Righteous, brother!” I feel really hip in using that word.
I never really thought about gray hair being a crown. I’m not sure what that says about bald-headed guys.
Then there’s Proverbs 20:29. “The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old.” I’m going to use that verse the next time someone asks me to help them move. “See the hair. Ask someone who still has strength.”
I should feel flattered by my increasing grayness, but gray is used to describe so many unimpressive things. Like a lot of unclear decisions, it’s a gray area. A day that few people care about is one with gray skies. Being color-blind, gray is very confusing and frustrating to me, because I can’t tell if it’s green, off-white, or even pink. Gray is non-committal. It gives me no authentic sense of what it really is.
And yet when it comes to hair, the Bible makes it sound desired and honored. It makes the gray-haired person feel appreciated. It’s funny how we try to hide our gray when it starts appearing, like it’s a bad case of teenage acne. Companies makes millions of dollars helping people hide their gray. I wonder what would happen is all the “gray-away” products were suddenly recalled for a few months. Would we be shocked at how we really look?
I’m going to go with the flow on this one. Carol says I look distinguished. If I could just grow some stubble on my face Brett Favre and I could almost be mistaken for twins.

WORDS FROM W.W. August 12, 2010
“Just Above The ‘E’!”
I remember traveling in my Civic up to Casper, Wyoming, about a year ago. My little car gets pretty good gas mileage, but it was getting dangerously close to touching the top of the “E” on the gas gauge. The caution light that is shaped like a gas pump was intensifying. Casper was still about 15 miles away. I prayed that car into a Diamond Shamrock station at the first Casper exit. The fuel tank coughed at me when I opened the fuel cap.
There are many days in our life that are lived just above the “E”. We’re pretty sure how much has gone out of our tank, but we’re uncertain as to how much is left in the tank. We’re just trying to get to the next point, the next moment, the next day. We can super-spiritualize it with how through Christ all things are possible, and how God is the Lord of the impossible, but we often try to tippy-toe around the scriptures that talk about Sabbath rest, and even Jesus getting off by himself for some quiet time.
And I’m guilty as charged! My 22 year old baby said to me last week, “Dad, you work too much!” And I’m trying to do better. I could give all kinds of excuses, but the bottom line is she’s right. I live a lot of my life just above the “E”.
The other factor is that each one of us is different. When we were driving up to British Columbia on our mission trip, the Odyssey van that was pulling a trailer had to be refueled a lot more often than the other vehicle. It was pulling a lot heavier load. The descent to the “E” didn’t take very long.
Each one of us is different as well. When we’re pulling a heavy load in our life it’s a time period when we get to the drained point more quickly. Those “loads” could be family stresses, job difficulties, school deadlines, sicknesses of people close to us, people placing more and more demands and/or expectation on us. The “E” arrives “early.”
Other people have an “E” that could more easily stand for “endurance”. They go like a compact car for longer distances, longer periods of time. Long after others have had to pull to the side, they are like the “Eveready Bunny”- still going. They may not be able to carry heavy loads, but they can steadily proceed with a lighter load. At some time, however, they too come to the point where they are just above the “E”.
Each of us need people in our lives who “encourage” us when we’re reaching the out-of-gas point. Encouragement can sometimes mean “exit here” before it’s too late; and encouragement can sometimes mean “excellence” is taking place.
Just above the “E” is a danger zone where unwise decisions can be made. I was talking to someone recently who was experiencing another “E”- exhausted. I used another “E”- encouraged- to advise him not to make any major decisions for a certain length of time. In other words, pull to the side and pray before going on your way. Although, as my daughter has painfully pointed out, I work too much I’ve learned to recognize when I’m just above the “E”, and hold off on proceeding carelessly.
The same could be said about congregations and ministry teams. Do we recognize our most vulnerable, and often irrational, times, and pull to the side for a while? Do we allow our churches to have periods of rest when moving forward at that moment could bring us to the brink of destructive behavior? Do we recognize that God doesn’t always give us a green light?
Just above the E.”

WORDS FROM W.W. August 8, 2010

I’m still recovering, but it’s good.
Just a few days ago a team of five adults and five students returned from a mission trip to Rock Nest Ranch in northern British Columbia.
Two thousand miles up and two thousand miles back. The time at the camp was incredible, but the three days on the trip home were rewarding as well. I love conversing with students, especially after we get to that “comfortable” stage with one another. You know that you’ve reached that point when they start mimicking you in your presence, or razz you about your propensity to walk towards any Starbucks you encounter…even when it means running across six lanes of traffic and jumping a fence.
Young people are mostly misunderstood by adults. Part of that is how networked they are to text messaging, Facebook, cell phones, and iPods. It is not unusual to see two students sitting together sharing a set of ear buds with one another (each person having one ear plugged in) listening to a song of an iPod. But part of their being misunderstood is our tendency as adults to not be with them long enough to hear them.
Three days in a van will give you that opportunity…several times!
I find that with a lot of young people, to use a Young Life phrase, you have to earn the right to be heard. That takes time and risk. Even after risking investment in a listening relationship with them there will be setbacks and stepping back.
It seems to me that young people need to know that you’re willing to laugh with them, to authentically enjoy them, and to allow them into your world. Most of us find it hard to carve out the time to allow that to happen.
It was not an accident that Jesus spent three years with his disciples, investing in them, laughing with the, exhorting them, and even shaking his head in disbelief of them. Read the gospels again. The disciples said some off-the-wall things.
Send some time with a group of students in a van for three days and you will hear some off-the-wall things said. It’s part of the spiritual growth experience.
The best youth leaders aren’t necessarily the ones who look like them, but rather the ones who will ride the storms with them, as well as the roller coasters; the ones who will sit down with them with a cone of ice cream and lick away for a while, but also cry with them when they share about the tragedy in a friend’s life.
Kyle, Asher, Erin, Umar, and Ayah allowed me to be share a few days with them. It was awesome…even through Montana and Wyoming, even when I made noises in the middle of the night (Well, maybe just awesome for me on that one!), even when we were all tired, even when I gingerly tip-toed into the lake and they called me a wimp.
Thanks for touching my heart.
Starbucks, anyone?

WORDS FROM W.W. July 23, 2010
“Ready For The Overflow?”

It was inevitable. We scheduled a church outing to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox baseball game this past Tuesday night. Every time we schedule a group from our church to go to a game it rains…or hails…or sleets…or is miserably cold…or all of the aforementioned!
Tuesday night was destined…it was summoned…it was mandated to be rained on. When I say “rained on” I’m being kind. It was “baptized”, and I’m not talking about “in the spirit!”
There was so much rain I passed four arcs being built on my drive home (Just kidding!).
There was so much rain that the sold out baseball game had almost no one there when it actually (I can’t believe it!) did start two hours late. We sat there for two hours watching the grounds crew squeegee the field, and then left 10 minutes before the game started. (What can I say? It was about my bedtime!)
The next day I discovered another place that had been baptized- the church fellowship hall! There was so much water that flowed down the ramps to the entry way by our fellowship hall that the drain couldn’t dispel it fast enough. There was debris residue about two inches high on the outside doors.
Let the waters flow!
“Showers of blessing, showers of blessing we need. Mercy drops round us are falling, but for the showers we plead.”
Could it be…Could it be…that God doesn’t shower us with blessings because we’re not equipped, ready, or able to handle the volume?
Please, put the water cannon down.
Think about it. What could your church adequately handle right now? How many people are ready and able to disciple and mentor another person who is new to the faith?
For example, our church’s day camp maxed out at 53 kids this summer. That’s all we could adequately and effectively handle with the staff and classes we had. We had to turn several kids away, because we couldn’t handle any more. If we would have taken more, to borrow a phrase used earlier, we would have been flooded!
But we were able to effectively minister to the 53!
Most of the time we long for our congregations to have a kind of “church utopia” where everything is perfect and awesome. The parking lot is crowded, and the baptistery is continually being used. The media send reporters to catch some of the spirit, and people are lining up to experience the moving of the Lord.
We have a picture of the vision, but are seldom ready for it. Disciples need someone able to disciple. Prayer ministry needs prayer warriors. Widows and orphans need people of mercy and compassion.
Could it be that God has a better idea of “how effective our drainage system is” than we do? Could it be he knows what we can currently handle, and what we would end up just soaking the carpet with?
My friend, Greg Davis, went to his family’s farm last weekend for “harvest”. Harvesting the wheat. His grandfather has more sophisticated farm machinery then he used to. The combine is bigger, so it takes less time. The mission is still the same- harvest the wheat- but the way its completed is a little different.
But it still doesn’t magically happen! Someone still needs to run the machinery and gather the harvest. It’s more effective how they get it done, and they get it done.
Could it be that God knows how ready we are, and effective we, to gather in the blessings? Dry periods may have more to say about our readiness than the quality of the harvest.