Baggage

Drew (our oldest) and I hiked about 12 or 14 miles on the Appalachian trail this summer.  I can't wait till we can hit the trail again!  Was it easy, no.  It was humbling.  I thought we could go 30 +  miles in three days & two nights.  Drew thought it though before we left for the trail-head & mentioned we should try out two days & one night our first go-around, he was right.

It's amazing how heavy your backpack gets when you pack for one overnight camping trip...  My pack felt like it was about 70 pounds.  Still, as heavy as that pack was, it was a liberating experience knowing you could carry everything you needed for your survival.  

In our family's recent move across the subdivision, I joked that a house fire wouldn't have hurt my feelings.  Obviously not the kind of house fire where anyone was hurt; just the type of house fire that would've removed the responsibility of packing, loading, moving, unloading & unpacking... 

Before you misunderstand me, we aren't hoarders or pack-rats.  Nor are we people who have a lot-of-lot stuff.  Also, let me add, Tammy impressed me with what she was able to pare down &  pack away for an upcoming yardsale.   

I have a new philosophy on possessions.  My new view is that I'd like to pare my possessions down to what would fit into my backpack.  No joke.  

I recently shared my new stance with a longtime mentor of mine, a dear friend Ted Matthews.  Ted pointed out how that might seem nice, but with having a family comes the responsibility of caring for them, and that requires stuff/things.  I guess Ted is right, but I still would like to be able to only own what I can carry on my back.

This is not one of those emotional rants where you are challenged to "prioritize" your possessions and share what you'd put into your backpack, like at some Summer camp devo, or Youth retreat.  I've seen those talks, I'm not going down that path.  

This also is not a guilt trip, i.e., sermonizing post, where I tell you how the Bible is full of passages (which you could read them) which lay out the truth we brought nothing into the world & we'll take nothing out of it either.  You know the old cliche about how there are no U-hauls heading into the cemetery...  Keyword, cliche. 

Finally, this post isn't some "spiritual" superiority complex where I say I want to be more like Jesus than you are.  After all, He had nowhere "to lay His head..."  This is self-centered talk here!  This is what I really want for me, I'm not pushing this off on anyone.

No, this feeling I have about wishing I could pare my junk down to what I can fit into my backpack is something that I can't shake.  Since we spent a few weeks packing, then a solid week/week and a half, trudging our stuff to our new place, and then all the getting settled in..., I really think having a bunch of stuff is overrated.  

Tonight while I was reading a historical account about one of the most successful inter-generational families, I thought to myself -- what in my life would change if I were independently wealthy, or were a millionaire?  How would I live or act differently?  I may be naive, but I can't think of much changing.  I'd still want to be with and eat dinner with my family every single day.  I'd still want to read voraciously....  I'd still want to invest my life in helping people know God.  Sure having wealth would ease some stress, and maybe make it possible to do some traveling.  But I'm guessing 99% of my existence would be about the same.  

I don't sit around wishing I could accumulate more stuff. Instead, lately I think to myself daily, maybe hobos aren't as dumb as we think they are?

It's been about 6 months since I've blogged.  A lot has gone on in our lives since I've transitioned out of the NE church.  The Lord blessed our family with a great summer together.  If you've followed any of our FB or Twitter posts, you know we hit the beach, went to D.C. for a couple of days, relaxed, Klay and I drove to AR and visited Drew & Laura once, and every week we've grilled a lot, a lot.  Want to hear something funny?  About two years ago I asked the church for a Sabbatical, at the time I didn't get it, so I'm thanking God for the sabbatical I did get this year...

Life has felt disoriented over the last several months, as you might expect.  Not working, moving, trying to find our way, wondering what God is teaching us in all of this, you name it.  Many good friends, from near & far, have come along side us in our pain and have offered much needed encouragement.  I've had a lot of heartfelt phone calls from friends out of state, and several meals with good friends in town.  I'm looking at life differently than I did one year ago, even six months ago.  Many blessings have given us glimmers of hope, and we've seen God's hand in weird ways we wouldn't have normally thought about, too.  Some people have distanced themselves, while other people have drawn closer.  I don't really expect anyone to understand how we feel, but it's true, you do find out who your real friends are.

I'm back to working concrete for the time being.  With the economy still limping along and the weather turning, well you can figure that one out.  I'm thankful for a job and hope for the best.  Nervous?  Somewhat.  It's a little bit surreal, working construction after about a 17 year break from it...

In many ways, after the experiences of the last few years, my adrenal glands and my sanity needed a breather.  So I'm thankful for the past few months.  Now, I'm looking around and I feel kind of like Mel Gibson's character in the Road Warrior after his wreak, mixed with Tom Hank's character in Cast Away.  I'm not sure where I am in the plot of Cast Away right now, I'm certainly past the plane crash, but I don't know if I'm past the scene where he knocks out his tooth with the ice-skate, or if he's back in civilization already?  I think I'm learning about myself, that's always a good thing.  I know my prayers have changed, and I appreciate the small things more.  I don't take a lot for granted these days.  I miss my old life, sometimes, but I don't want to go back, not one little bit.

Why haven't I blogged?  Honestly, my mind pretty much shut down over the last few months.  I lost a lot of creativity.  Well, let me rephrase that, I haven't felt creative.  My mind, emotionally & intellectually kind of went into hibernation.  This year, the rhythmic centering I usually experience preparing lessons, sermons, articles, etc. has all been shifted.   I'm just now lately feeling like I have a voice, or have something worthwhile to say, or an interest to write.    My mind has felt starved.  My spirit felt flat.  Now, I'm feeling the tingling sensation bears certainly must feel when it's time to wake up and feed themselves.  It's almost midnight here, my alarm clock is set for 5:55 a.m., and I probably should be in bed now.   

Time to ride

Earlier this month I took my old Trek to the bike shop for repairs, $140 later I was good to go... I forgot how much I enjoy the greenbelt, a trail here in Kingsport - the trailhead pictured above. I throughly enjoy the pleasing smells of honeysuckles, fresh cut grass and nature this time of year. The occasional sighting of a turkey or a deer crossing the trail, and the rare appearance of a red-tailed hawk along Reedy creek catching a little lunch, keeps the trail interesting.

I gave up riding a couple of years ago when we stated back at the gym. I didn't feel like I had time to ride & workout. This week I have to choose between the gym or the trail, but next week I'll have a little more time on my hands to do both.

I admit, looking around my 1/2 packed office, it's a little strange knowing & not knowing what our future holds. For those of our friends who haven't heard, we are making a transition in ministries. This Sunday concludes my responsibilities at NE, what's next is still unknown.

What will I do with my summer? As I prayerfully send out resumes and hang out my fleece, I will get caught up on some much needed rest. I admit, I feel like I've run a marathon and then jumped on a treadmill. So, I look at a little time off as a gift from God.

Drew is coming in for a visit, he and I will hike the Appalachian trail for a few days; I'm super excited about that. Tammy & I plan to take the little guys to DC sometime this summer. Maybe Zach & I can play chess more often too.

I have a couple of writing projects I've neglected that I hope to revive; in fact I plan to dedicate however much time to writing as I'd normally would preparing sermons and classes. I have a few books to catch up on in my free-reading time as well.

Time to sleep, write, pray, exercise/ride, be with family... oh yeah, and wait.

Is it really the end of the world...?

I have been inspired to address an issue by friends who are believers, and by some friends who aren’t. Thank you to all of my friends who have generated discussions based on the destructive crackpot Harold Camping, whether in person, or on FB.

In case you still haven’t heard, Camping has predicted the “Rapture” will happen on May 21st 2011, and the end of the world is then to follow in October 2011. Harold Camping obviously is a false prophet and has ignored Jesus Himself: “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mark 13:32 ESV)

Quickly let me address two problems in Harold’s predictions (I don’t have a lot of time if he’s right. Just kidding) 1st of all, the Rapture is a misnomer. There is no “rapture” in the Bible as Camping and others have described. The Latin word for “caught up” in I Thess 4, “rapio” is where we get the English word Rapture; rapio is from the Greek, “harpazo.” There is no Biblical notion of believers being caught up, while the rest of the world suffers in a temporary probation awaiting the final destruction. When we are “caught up” in I Thess 4, that is the end of time.

2ndly, Harold is exactly the type of problem that critics of Christianity need to make their point: We have problems. We are a jumbled mess. We get things wrong. I personally have no problem admitting we need help. But, why would I want to give people ammunition to find fault, unnecessarily, by making claims that are obviously false? Jesus died for imperfect people, which I openly admit to being. Harold Camping, a laughingstock & rightly so, has just made our task of sharing the Gospel harder.

Christians backbite-in-fight, ect-ect, judge each other, gossip, in general embarrass each other, and probably disappoint God too. A vast majority of the New Testament was written addressing the dysfunction Christians get embroiled in... period. When Church leaders today molest children, and when believers act hateful to other believers over political party affiliations, is it any wonder why there are so many people skeptical of our faith? Before you panic as a believer, the list of our failings go on-and-on, and non-believers are intelligent -- they know all-too-well about the skeletons in our closet, even if we turn a blind-eye to them... As Paul once wrote, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called...” (Ephesians 4:1 ESV)

My answer to this debacle is that people need to look to Jesus, not at His followers. But there’s the rub; the way the world sees Jesus is through those of us who call on His name. This paradox is humbling: Jesus is perfect and I’m clearly not, yet the only way people see Jesus is through His Body of Believers... I want to scream at the top of my lungs “Don’t judge Jesus by us, His followers!” but I know it doesn’t work that way. As true as it is that we need to point people to Jesus, until we in the Church “convert” people to Jesus and quit trying to convert them to our version of Jesus, this problem isn’t going away.

Led by the Truth

A challenging question that we sometimes would rather shy away from is How do we form our own convictions? The root of the question stems from the notion that we either find evidence to support what we already believe is true, or we allow truth to transform our opinions.

I can think of three areas in life where this true:

• Origins
• Ethics
• Relationships

Where do we come from answers where we are going. If we came from cosmic dust, then to dust shall we return. Why you believe what you do believe about the two alternatives (Natural or Supernatural origins) might simply be based on accepting what you were told.

Ethics, that idea of fairness of treating others appropriately, of doing what is right or ethical is also based on what we were taught. I doubt too many Germans in the 1930’s were for genocide all on their own, but there’s the prime example of “tell people the lie long enough” and it becomes acceptable and the conscience of many becomes seared.

Relationships, as in the family, are deeply imprinted on us from an early age. Think of the TV show on TLC, “Sister wives” where there’s a polygamist family trying weekly (weakly?) to let the rest of the world see how great that choice works for them. Where did they come up with the idea that a husband could have multiple wives, while the rest of the country deems that act illegal? The family on the show was taught that, while the rest of America was taught something different. IS marriage simply situational, or relativistic?

These three examples are interesting to me, but not nearly as important to me as how our people approach the Bible. Do we as believers turn to a passage to support what we’ve always been taught? Or, are we willing to go where the facts within the Text lead us?

One way we can safeguard against “proof texting” is to not randomly pick and choose what we’ll keep and what we’ll disregard from a particular verse. Sounds fairly elementary, I know. An important first step here is to ask yourself, How many of my beliefs have I personally thought through?

While it is helpful to let Scripture interpret Scripture and refuse to build a doctrine out of one verse, it’s also helpful to let the entirety of Scripture build a cumulative case for our beliefs. Having said this, this doesn’t happen at the cost of turning a blind eye to what the passage clearly says, even when it’s unsettling. This comes home when you ask: Where would the Restoration Movement be if the people of the day, back in the 1800’s, simply acquiesced to the common held beliefs, ones that were held for centuries?

Without giving an example, lest anyone misunderstand my goal here of promoting any certain doctrinal slant, I’m simply going offer the suggestion: Read through a book of the Bible. As you see certain views you’ve held surfacing, compare the consistency of your belief with the content of the passage. Are there parts of, say, one verse you say “amen” to, while overlooking what the author says in the very same breath, i.e., same sentence?

IF you think about it, within most of the doctrinal squabbles Christians have, there’s a verse or a passage that has been championed, but that very set of Scriptures has parts some folks will choose to ignore while others will highlight a certain phrase to the neglect of another segment. There are no easy answers to some of the challenging passages you’ll come across. If, on the other hand, you see never see any passages that challenge you, then this post probably isn’t for you...

Where am I going with all of this? When you hold up a Bible verse for examination, and you compare what is written with what you’ve accepted or applied, if and when these two aren’t always seamless, that’s when it’s healthy to confess to yourself, and perhaps others, there’s an inconsistency. Don’t worry, the whole tapestry won’t come unwoven. It’s not heretical to think you have room for growth in your understading; it’s healthier to submit to the Written Word than it is to suppress It.

To have ownership of your faith, sometimes you’ll need to form your own conclusions and not simply accept the Emperor’s new Clothes.... Therefore, as the inconsistencies arise, verbalize, I’m not practicing part of this verse, but I endorse part of it... I say we need to become comfortable acknowledging our inconsistencies, because until we admit them, we can’t work though them to correct them, or better yet, be corrected by them.

Why Changing your keyboard takes over 100 years...

“But now, O LORD, you are our Father;

we are the clay, and you are our potter;

we are all the work of your hand.” (Isa 64:8)

Have you ever wondered why your keyboard is in the order of: QWERTYUIOP?
Urban legend has it, when typewriters were first invented, typists could type faster than the machines could function. As people typed, the linkage connecting letters to keys would jam-up something terrible. So, the manufactures figured out a way to slow down, purposefully slow down the typist. How? They mixed up the order of the letters in such a way that people would be forced to slow down as they typed. I don’t know if that was true or not, I wasn’t around in the 1870’s. So, with all of the technical-advances in the last 100 + years, why hasn’t someone changed the layout on the keyboard? Good question, since it would be beneficial. Look at your Blackberry or touch screen keyboard on your I-pad and then ask that again... I guess change is harder than we think?

There are plenty more stories like QWERTY that are traceable, like the Ferguson Breach rifle that could’ve changed the outcome of the Revolutionary war. Thankfully, the British decided not to transition from their slower musket-loaders to the Ferguson; they had access to the more efficient weapon but were unwilling to retrain their troops. Or, remember how the Swiss hesitated to switch over to Quartz movement in their watches, but the Japanese jumped on the use of Quartz movement and quickly cornered the market, a market previously dominated by the Swiss for centuries.

How we travel has changed too. After all, who wants to travel by boat anymore now that we have the Jet airplane? I don’t know, ask the Cruise ship industry. A flight might be convenient, but people still enjoy a Cruise ship, or even a train ride today. Once, boat and train travel were slow and dangerous, and today they are considered luxurious. Remember what Solomon wrote: “What has been is what will be,and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

While we all struggle with personal changes, we need to remember that change might feel like a loss at the time, but it does not create a void; change creates a choice. Sure, you may write an email to a friend across the country, but I promise a handwritten note will carry more weight, have more meaning or significance. Really? Yes. Ever wonder why your Grandmother doesn’t just text you a Christmas greeting, or your aunt send you a birthday text? We still value the handwritten note over any other correspondence, even in an electronic age. I guess we could say there’s room for multiple forms of communication...?

Jesus wants to transform us, not replace us with robots or pet dogs; He wants us to become what we are not. He wants us to replace hypocrisy with empathy so we can have authentic relationships, that’s why He says get the log out of your eye. He wants us to bear fruit and reject apathy, that’s why He says if we love Him we’ll obey Him. He wants us to have hearts that love unconditionally, that’s why He says “By this” all men will know you are my disciples.... if you have love one for another. HE wants us to change who’s will we submit to... That’s why He says, “when you fed the least of these” because He wants us to change our view on who the universe revolves around... This type of change is daily: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” (II Cor 4:16)

Jesus wants to change you, doubtful? Just wait till the Resurrection when in the blink of an eye we are all... Well here’s how Paul puts it in I Cor 15:52, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.”

BTW: Pictured here, above, are several books from my personal library, notice what they are stacked on...

Do you see...?

I read a story that Italian folklorists share, a story on how we see reality. It goes something like this: There were three stonecutters working in the heat of the day. When the first one was asked what it was he was doing he answered: I am chipping these stones to make them fit just right. The second stonecutter responded: I am earning my wages. And the third stonecutter replied: I am building a cathedral.

Amazingly, those three stonecutters in the story were working side-by-side, yet saw something different. I guess people could compare this to the parable of the six blind men who all explain an elephant in six different ways, i.e., "It's a rope." "No, it's a tree-trunk..." ect.

Sometimes, it would seem, we need to take a second look, or even a third look.