NCCAT Reflections 2

One of the themes that was reiterated continually during my workshop on web 2.0 resources for the classroom was "Use it for yourself before you try to implement these in the classroom."  It can be very daunting to try and implement some of these tools.  You might even get worse results by trying to use them before you're ready.  Read here for some thoughts I've posted for teachers in these regards.

During my time at this workshop, I began to think about this in terms of our spiritual lives.  I phrased that theme this way - "learn, use, apply".  When we begin our faith journeys, our entire lives should be affected and changed.  Granted, that takes time to see the full effects, but it should happen.  The Holy Spirit enters our lives, begins to fill us, helps us learn what it means to be a follower of Christ, and we are hopefully using and applying them to our everyday lives, not just our church lives.

I can't help but think how many of us are like the teachers I reference in the above post, trying to apply or live something out that we don't really use.  I want Christ's influence on my life to be THE factor in all I do, not just some second nature.   Learn, use, & apply - that's a faith journey.

Ponderings on change

Insomnia, leg cramps, and a host of minor inconveniences kept my body from sleep at the early stages of this morning. Eventually, I gave up the fight and lay in bed pondering the larger host of thoughts running through my mind. They all seem to have a common theme - change, specifically change in the church. Among the various subpoints that garnered my mental energy this morning are the basic questions that we all ask, the what, when, where, why, and how of change in the church.

Several stories ran through my mind. I thought about Martin Luther and the history making change he initiated in the 15th century. I don't know if this is an actual event from Luther's life, but a particular scene from the movie Luther has always moved me (from what I know of that time in history, it is probably factual). In this scene, a young Martin Luther is serving as a monk, devoting his time to God in monastery. He was plagued with all sorts of spiritual and personal issues. His abbott decided that formal education and seminary would be a good path for Luther. The abbott asks Luther in this scene, "Have you ever read the New Testament?" I was floored - here is a religious monk devoting himself to God and reading the New Testament was not a given?! One of the most important changes wrought by the Protestant Reformation was the placing of Scripture back in the hands of the people.

Another story that filtered through my memory was an illustration I heard a fellow pastor use once. It's a story of pastor who came to a church and wanted to change the arrangement of the platform to make things look and work together better. It was obvious to him that the organ needed to be beside the piano, so he moved it across the stage. That first Sunday people were shocked. Within two weeks he was asked to leave and the organ put back into its original spot. A couple of years later, he was attending a meeting of other pastors at that same of church. He noticed the organ had been moved beside the piano. He asked the current pastor, "How did you do that? When I moved it, they fired me!" The other pastor replied, "I heard about that. Like you, it was obvious to me it needed to be moved, so I just moved it a few inches a week until I got it where it needed to be."

For someone like me who tends to be maverick in my doings, the most important thoughts I had fell into the "Why?" category. Why do we want to see change? Is it because things no longer work in their current state? Is it to satisfy a personal whim or preference? Is it because we are bored? Is it because we are genuinely inspired and motivated by something greater than ourselves? Is it because we have all been created with our own creative spark and for some of us, if we do not exercise and nurture that spark, we'll go crazy?

The Year of . . .

I hereby declare 2006 the year of change. I know, I'm about 365 days behind. But it is so much easier to look back and see what happened instead of trying to guess at what might happen in the future.

Looking back on 2006, our family went through several changes, most of them related to one particular circumstance. We moved to a new city, a new house, a new church, and a new job. The kids even got two new schools - we decided to homeschool right before Christmas. We initiated other changes that will hopefully make our family life together much more fun, loving, enjoyable, and even productive.

All of us changed in some way. The boys lost some teeth and got new ones. They're a little bit taller, a little bit more mature, and a lot smarter. I'm a little bit heavier, despite my goal to run a marathon. I'm hopefully a little bit wiser. I even love life a little more.

The old cliche says that the only thing that is constant is change. Every year is the year of change. Not all changes are welcome ones, but everyone changes in some way every year. Those people who do not change are usually the least alive. They are usually the least amount of fun to be around. The ones who absolutely refuse to allow room for any change are even less fun. And I think it's because their spirit is slowly dying.

My faith journey changed. I still serve the same God. I still have the same type of commitment to spiritual living. I'm still heading in the same direction. Everything is the same, but I'm closer to my final desitination. Even though I may not feel any different, I'd bet I'm somehow stronger spiritually. Change will do that for you.

Change can send you the other way. Change can cause you to change direction in your faith journey. You will be closer to the end of your time, but you may actually father away from your desired end. Some event can happen to cause you to abandon your faith journey. Those aren't good changes.

So what'll you do? If change is indeed inevitable, let's be prepared for it and make it good changes. Instead of complaining about the lemons, make lemonade. It's your choice. You know, I think I'll choose to make 2007 the year of change also. I can't lose - it's a sure bet. Just a Thought.