Justice Sunday
When I heard about “Justice Sunday” I didn’t know what to think. Frankly I am tired of talking about this whole issue. I wish I could get more Christians to understand my point of view. If you’ve been reading my blog since the old days, you no doubt have read more than one post on faith in politics. I lost all of the posts from my old blosxom blog, but I still have some from the Blogger days. Maybe someday I’ll move them over.While I am just too tired to put my thoughts on this matter into writing one more time, I wanted to post a link to this article by Jim Wallis. I don’t agree with Wallis on every issue, but I think he’s right on with this.
I have no objection to Christian leaders expressing their faith in the public arena – it’s a good thing that I do all the time. The question is not whether to do so, but how. As I heard more and more about “Justice Sunday,” it felt to me like it was crossing an important line – saying that a political issue was a test of faith.–Jim Wallis
Couldn’t agree more, Jim!
What Must I do?
I’ve really been thinking about the pastor’s messages from the last two Sundays.I realized today that Mom’s conversion is a testimony to the things I’ve been thinking about.When I was very young we moved to Atlantic City so Dad could get to work without a car. Not long after we moved just outside the city. I’m not sure if we had a car by then, but that is not important right now. Anyway, Brian was very young and Mom knew she wanted to have him baptized. She looked in the phone book for a church. She had two “needs” at that time. One, she wanted a Methodist church. Two, she wanted a church with air conditioning. She found such a place and went to visit.The pastor’s message was exactly what she needed to hear. Paul was in prison. An earthquake came and Paul was released. A prison guard asked Paul, “What must I do to be saved?” The pastor pointed out that Sunday morning that this guard may not have been asking how to be “saved,” but rather how to be saved from the earthquake. BUT, the answer is the same either way. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.”It doesn’t matter what we think we need. We need Jesus.
The People Business
This Sunday’s message was about “the people business.” Pastor shared with us that most people leave a church for some reason related to social interactions in the church. The simple fact is that if people don’t like the people in a church, they leave.As the message began I was very uncomfortable. I have been in church my whole life. Dad and Mom were both very active in ministry and the administration of our church. When I was seventeen we moved to a new church. I fell in love with the pastor’s daughter and we were married when I was twenty-two. As a result of my background I have a different perspective on church. I’d like to think I wouldn’t leave a church because of the people. To me church is much more than just the people.As the message progressed I began to see how this message related to our message from last week about making disciples. Many people do not know what they really need, but they know what they want. They come to church looking for it. If we give them what they are looking for (without crossing certain boundaries, of course) we will have the opportunity to give them what they need.
Hunting vs. Fishing
I wanted to pick up my discussion of pastor’s message from Sunday.If I had left church and had only learned about “as you go,†I would have learned a lot. There was more to the message though, and it reminded me of Dad even more.Pastor talked about the Bilical model for making disciples – fishing. Most people try to make disciples by hunting instead. People naturally fight against being hunted just like animals do.Think about the difference between hunting and fishing. When one hunts, he hides and tries to catch the animal by surprise. When one fishes, he offers the fish bait. As the fish “bites,†he tries to catch the fish.Now I realize that all analogies break down and obviously the fish is not happy with the ultimate outcome of being caught in the throat with a hook, but we should learn something from the difference.My parents have always been a great example to me of good fishing. There were many people who were introduced to the gospel as a result of my parents goings. They were both also involved in normal “ministries†of the church but the real work of the great commission was done by fishing. When I was in college we called this “meeting people where they were.†People have real needs. People want to know that they matter. If we can help people meet the needs in their lives, we can reach them with the real message.Pastor even pointed out a couple of websites to help us learn how to integrate faith in the workplace. How 21st century of him.
As you go,
Very often I sit in church and think of how nice it would be to discuss the message with Dad. He would have loved today’s message.He and I used to have this discussion about missionaries. It was a mystery to him that so much talk in the church revolved around overseas missions when so many here at home were in as mush need here at home. Several years ago Terri and I raised support to take a couple of short-term missions trips overseas and Dad was always very supportive. He understood how valuable the experience was for us and the teenagers who went with us, but he still made a very good case for spending more time and money helping people here at home.Today pastor Richard taught from Matthew 28:18-19. His message challenged everything I understood about these verses. I grew up listening to Kieth Green singing “Jesus commands us to GO” and preachers explaining that Jesus would not return until we reached all of the unreached peoples of the world. I don’t really want to debate either of these points, but today I realized that the Scripture says “as you go,” and this gives me a whole new perspective on things.Missions opportunities are all around. I am called to be in a certain place and work in a certain place and do certain things. I go to work. I teach. I take care of my family. I go to my son’s baseball games and my daughter’s soccer games. As I do these things I should “make disciples.” The focus should be on making disciples and not on going.
Game Ball
I mentioned in an earlier post that Billy is playing on the Jr. High baseball team. Not only is he in 6th grade, but he is young for a sixth grader. Most players on the team are 13, 14 and 15. Even some of the sixth graders are 13. Billy is 11! He loves baseball and he wants to play.Today’s game was a little better than the first. We discovered another eighth grader that can pitch reasonably well. Today was his first time and he pitched the 3rd, 4th and 5th innings. He struck out 4 of the first six batters he faced, struck out 3 batters each inning for a total of nine. Looks promising.We lost 16 to 1 but the team learned a lot.The highlight of the afternoon for us was when Billy was awarded a game ball for his “brave performance behind the plate.” Not only did Billy volunteer to catch the fifth inning (he’s never attempted this before), but in the bottom half of the fifth, he was facing a full count with two outs and a man on third. He was hit by a pitch in the chest. He was hurt badly but he will be okay. Anyway, he kept the inning alive and our man on third was able to score on the next play.On the day he had a walk and was hit by a pitch. For the season he is 0 for 1 with an OBP of 667. Not bad, keep up the good work!
The Meaning of Life
“See, this is the meaning of life,” I said to Becky. Becky was enjoying playing in the yard and watching Billy and I have our almost daily catch.”What is?” she said.”Throwing the baseball around in the spring.”"No it’s not, Dad!”"Well, what is?”"Praising God is the meaning of life.”Thanks Becky for once again teaching your dad a lesson about life!
Billy’s First Game
Billy had his first game for the middle school baseball team. He is the youngest one on the team, but he did very well. He made a nice play in center field that impressed the coach (and everyone else). Tough game. We lost 23 to 3, but the 6th graders are still learning.
Big Birthday
Today is Terri’s big day!She is taking a half day, so I will cut out of work early. We’re planning on a visit to Bugaboo so the moose will sing to her. Loads of fun.
Vacation Pics
Had a wonderful vacation. We returned home on April 2nd. I wanted to post pictures as soon after as possible, but my plans were de-railed by the flurry at work. You can see a few pics on my photo blog and more by visiting Billy’s webpage. If you want a larger collection, call us for the password to see these.
Visit with Dad
On Saturday I had a chance to visit Dad’s grave. It was my first opportunity to see the stone. It is very nice. You did a good job, Mom!After my visit I was at my brother’s home for the rest of my nephews birthday party. As the kids were preparing for bed, we discussed the The DaVinci code. My brother read it first and forced his wife and me and Terri to read it. We talked about how much Dad would have not liked the book but how nice it would have been to discuss with him the contents of it. He would have loved that discussion. Having discussions like that without him is hard for me.I miss Dad very much. This week has been hard. My wife’s birthday is just around the corner. She and Dad were very close and she keeps remarking how much harder this is than she imagined it would be. I know my birthday in January was the toughest day yet for me.Just today I almost picked up the phone to call him again. I had a simple question about cooking. People have warned me about this but I can’t believe how my mind plays tricks on me like that!
Moved to WordPress
Well, I’ve done it.I moved to WordPress. I like it a lot. I still like Blogger and use it for some other sites, but I like this a lot more.
I’m Back
I know I’ve been gone a while.I figured today was an appropriate day to pick back up for several reasons, not the least of which is the start of the Mets 2005 season.A lot has happened since my last post. I will try to catch you up little by little. For now, check out my photo blog to see some pics from our vacation last week.
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