What is the church for?

Jesus didn’t launch the church for people with a common interest, but for people with a common problem. The problem? People did not know where they stood with God, they did not know how God felt about them. This is still the problem today.

Jesus came with a very personal message…to invite us to call God our heavenly Father and to answer the question “Where do I stand with God?” This is the common problem. And, the answer, his goal, is for us to have a personal relationship with God.

Out for a while

I am out of the country until the end of June. Blogs will resume then.

Who knows where this is from?

"...don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceaces to love, and in order to occupy and distract himself without love he gives way to passion and coarse pleasures, and sinks to bestiality in his vices, all from contiueal lying to other men and to himself."

This is a quote from Elder Zossina in the book???

Quite a powerful and accurate description of the path that leads towards darkeness. Hmmm

I love books

The writer Umberto Eco is the owner of a large personal library (containing thirty thousand books), and separates visitors into two categories:
…those who react with "Wow! Signore professore dottore Eco, what a library you have! How many of these books have you read?"
…and the others -- a very small minority -- who get the point that a private library is not an ego-boosting appendage but a research tool….

Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. The library should contain as much of what you do not know as your financial means allows you to put there. You will accumulate more knowledge and more books as you grow older, and the growing number of unread books on the shelves will look at you menacingly. Indeed, the more you know, the larger the rows of unread books. Let us call this collection of unread books an anti-library. (From the introduction to “The Black Swan,” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb)

Life is a gift

I am reminded again today that life is a gift, and that we often take it for granted. Things like: taking your children to school, kissing your wife goodbye, eating lunch with a friend, having a place to work at...even hearing the rain pound on the roof last night, are all gifts from God.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that God is present in the midst of all these things, and most of the time God gives us room to recognize his presence or to not recognize him. But, one things is for sure, life is a gift and God is present. Today, I invite you to look at it as the fathomless mystery life is and to look for God for in the moments of your day.

Indelible Ink, pt. 2

Last night, I read another chapter of Indelible Ink. This chapter was written by Charles Colson, special counsel to President Nixon, who spent time in prison and became a Christian and started Prison Fellowship.

Colson top three books that have shaped his faith are:
"Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis (who knows what the C. and the S. stand for?)
"Confessions" and "The City of God" by Augustine of Hippo (also known as St. Augustine)
"How should we then live?" by Francis Schaeffer

I find it very interesting to read about how books impact and shape people's lives. What books have shaped your life? If you haven't developed your own list, maybe you should.

Reading "Indelible Ink"

Yesterday, I was talking to a friend a mine, I'll call him Big C, and he asked me if I had started reading this book, Indelible Ink. I hadn't, so last night I read a chapter. Indelible Ink is a book where 22 Christian Leaders discuss books that have shaped their faith.

Last night, I read Calvin Miller's chapter. In it, he shares his top three: the complete works of Shakespeare, the complete works of T.S. Elliot, and Silence by Shusako Endo. Endo's book is a story of Martyrs in the Samurai Era of Japan. I am going to have to pick this one up. Miller said "The power of Jesuit believers captured my soul as no other novel has ever done." (Reminds me of the movie, The Mission)

Here's another thing that struck me, Miller says that over the last 50 years he has read 100-200 books a year or about 7000 books. I thought I was doing well with 10-15 a year. For some, Miller's avid reading can be disempowering, but for me, it increases my motivation to read more and watch TV less. Because, as Miller says books have the power to confront us, change us and make us wise.

Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty's crown will reopen July 4

I last visited NYC in 2003 after the 9/11 attacks. My whole focus during that visit was the World Trace Center site. But, before that, my favorite landmark in NYC was the Stautue of Liberty. I remember years ago climbing to the crown with my father, uncle and cousins. What a thrill!

Well, the Statue of Liberty’s crown was closed after the 9/11 attacks, and now, on July 4th of this eyar, it will be open to the public again. This decision reversed the policy of the Bush administration.

Under President George W. Bush, the Interior Department, which includes the National Park Service, had insisted that visitors could not be permitted because the crown, reachable only by a very narrow, 12-story spiral staircase with a low guardrail, which did not meet modern fire, building and safety codes (seemed OK to me).

So, if you have never had a chance to go and you have a chance, go, go , go...and enjoy one of our best landmarks.

an exodus

I was recently talking to a pastor friend of mine who is leaving pastoral ministry. He is not the first friend or colleague to do...and this got me thinking. Why? Why does this happen so often?

Last year, I read an article that said 1500 pastors leave the church each month. Some do so because of failure (moral, ethical, spiritual) but the vast majority do so because of stress. The article said that the main cause of stress by a two to one margin was the pressure for church growth.

Some pastors feel pressured to adopt a different model that might facililtate growth, even if it does not fit thier personality, capabilites, or values. This leads to depression or burn out. See, pastors feel guilty if thier churches are not showing numerical growth, and most feel they cannot talk to denomination al leaders about thier issues or exhausted spirits. And, most also feel that they cannot talk to other pastors in their denomination.

As I think about this, my desire is to try to discover ways to offer support. How about you? Who can you offer support to?

Chicken a la Carte - A short film about the hunger and poverty brought about by Globalization

Awesome introduction to Jesus

Local news

The New York Times reports:
Robert Redford, the actor and environmental superhero, is a vocal supporter of renewable power and sustainable growth — but it seems that doesn’t include a proposal for an ecofriendly housing development in his corner of the Napa Valley.

Books

I just picked up a book I am looking forward to starting soon. It's called Indelible Ink. This book was put together by someone who sat down with 22 prominent Christian leaders and asked them which books, other than the Bible, most shaped thier faith.

Some of the leaders in this book include: Joni Aereckson Tada, Charles Colson, Calvin Miller, Michael Card, Dallas Willard, J.I. Packer, Liz Curtis Higgs, John Stott, Josh McDowell, and Larry Crabb. It should be interesting to discover the different avenues God has used to grow these men. My guess is that I will see God in a new way by exploring their experiences with God.

Pluralism

I was watching a talk show on MSNBC. The topic was religion in a religiously diverse America. Around the table was a group of "religious leaders": A Christian pastor, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist, and a young man who practiced witchcraft and represented Wicca. And, it struck me...we live in a "Christian" nation? A nation so "Christian" that a Christian pastor can sit beside a witch and both to be considered representatives of a viable religious alternative.

Things have changed. The text that comes to mind is Acts 17:22, "Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said, 'Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious'."

That culture was so diverse, so pluralistic, that there was no one true God, but many gods to choose from. Looks to me like we are in the same place today.

Any thoughts?

'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

There is a hymn that has these lyrics:

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him
How I've proved him o'er and o'er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus
O for grace to trust him more...

The writer of this hymn(Louisa Stead) seems to find herself in the place that I believe many of us are in, a place of brokenness. She confesses that she needs to trust in Jesus and that only by grace is such reckless trust possible.

We've been told to trust in Jesus,to confess our sins, receive forgiveness, and become redeemed children of God. And yet, we worry about tomorrow... You are not alone, it is tough to trust, especially when you consider the world we live in(terrorism, the plummeting economies,crime, and all other distractions). Trusting in Jesus is probably the most difficult calling of a Christ-follower. And yet, we're given very little room in God's word to not trust in Jesus.

So, that's what I am going to pray for today... "Lord, increase my faith. Give me the grace to trust you more."