Sci-fi and the Essentials

As promised in my hamburger post, here are some thoughts I have about science fiction and Christians. Incidentally, per suggestion of a friend, I will be testing out what happens when the burger starts out as an oval. But back to science fiction. I love science fiction. I've become an avid reader of fantasy literature as well. Both genres have been considered suspect at best and absolutely sinful and evil at worst by many people who consider themselves very conservative Christians. My profile states that I hope to publish the next great sci-fi or fantasy novel. Like many others, I do not see how being on a Christian faith journey is incompatible with a love for these genres of literature.

I've tried to discern why this disparaging view exists in some people's mind. I can certainly understand some of the opposition by Christian groups. Some fantasy literature does border on promoting the occult, but not all. References to multiple gods also trouble some. Science fiction (or science in general) has a reputation for being totally naturalistic, humanistic, and altogether anti-God. But these wide sweeping generalizations wipe out examples of this literature that come nowhere close to exhibiting these characteristics. And even if they exist, should a good story be ignored and not seen as just that, a good story?


C.S. Lewis and The Chronicles of Narnia are always the exception. These books are allowed in, but none other. It has been said, however, that these books would have never been "accepted" if published for the first time in today's society. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings have enjoyed a recent admission to the list. The funny thing is neither author claimed to have inserted overtly Christian themes into these, at least not purposefully. I'll admit that's hard to argue when reading Lewis, but not so with Tolkien. Could it be that Christians are reading into these stories that which they want to see, so they can justify liking them?


Before we go down a postmodern path where truth is relative and we begin pondering who really determines what something is saying, let's come back to the science fiction antipathy. Why are Christians afraid of it? Does the possibility that life exists in other parts of the universe really contradict God so much, just because Genesis does not mention it? Is the notion, even without extraterrestrial life, that humans might explore and colonize the outer reaches of our galaxy and beyond, hundreds of thousands of years from now so great a challenge to the predominant view of the end time as many interpret the book of Revelations?


These thoughts should not be construed as an attack on interpretations that disagree with mine. I'm just curious as to why the disagreement can become some energized. What is it about sci-fi and fantasy that scares many Christians, beyond those things I mentioned above? By the way, I think this will eventually lead us down the postmodern path. What do you think?

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 funny shape of things

Last night I fell asleep thinking about science fiction, post modernity, and how people on a Christian faith journey should relate to these. I woke continuing that stream of consciousness. I really want to post some of those thoughts soon, but this morning another question begs to be answered. Why do my hamburger patties , which start out as nice perfect circles, take on an oval shape after they are cooked? This is a phenomenon I noticed a few weeks back. After grilling about twenty burgers for a cookout last night, this geometric and backyard culinary oddity snagged my attention again.

Applying the scientific method, I came up with several hypotheses. 1) It's the particular brand of pre-made patties. Perhaps they contain some sort of weird-you-don't-really-want-to-know ingredient that automatically conforms it to an oval when heated. 2) Maybe it's because I had the heat too high, causing rapid and uneven contraction, thus resulting in an oval. 3) Maybe the burgers have a mind of their own and they thought they were being prepared for a tailgating party. Assuming a football shape seemed appropriate. 4) Possibly, in conjunction with #1, there is a conspiracy and marketing relationship with the manufacturers of oval shaped buns. Once I realize that the burgers will always be this shape, I will begin searching for buns of a similar shape. 5) Again in conjunction with #1, these burgers are intentionally designed to assume this shape so that when placed on a round bun, there is a little extra place to accomodate condiment run-off. This assumes another possible partnership with the condiment industry. 6) If I try hard enough, I can probably blame the current adiministration, the opponents of the current administration, or even aliens.

Honestly, I don't know which of these thoughts is the most likely to be correct. I'm sure there are several more plausible explanations that I have not thought of yet. Humans have gone through this process for all of history. We have sought explanation and understanding for everything we experience. Mythologies are created, things considered scientific fact are established, and years later, we come into other data that debunks earlier myths and science.

I think the same thing happens in our faith journeys, at least in how we organize them socially and politically. The faith journey of Moses and its practices look strange next to Martin Luther's reformation or John Wesley's class meetings. Put the way we do church today alongside any other period of history and you get the same results. Even today, I am continually having conversations with people about whether the shape of church today even works anymore. Why does church look the way it does? What is the right way to practice our faith, individually and with others? Is there a better shape?

Maybe burgers don't have to be round. Maybe some other things can be different too.

Chiggers, the Price of Gas, and Other Random Thoughts

For those of you curious, I've not had a chance to further test the Peanut Butter diet theory. I ran out of peanut butter, at least the reduced fat kind. Some people are amazed that I like the reduced fat kind better - I just think it tastes better. The other day I was able to identify why. The reduced fat (at least in the Peter Pan line) tastes sweeter. I checked the labels, and sure enough, the reduced fat has more sugar - 5 grams vs. 3 grams per equal sized serving. I guess that's a trade off.

Last week I went on a few different hikes with the boys. My youngest son wanted to go on a long hike. He had asked to go on a six mile hike in order to explore a pond I had recently discovered. I convinced him of a shorter one. When we got back to the car, we still had done over three miles. I was very proud of him. The next day I took my other son and his friends on a hike to one of their favorite spots in the woods. They had a great time, so I did too. Sunday night I discovered two chigger bites that are driving me crazy right now. I suppose that is the price you pay for being in the woods.

I filled my car up yesterday. I paid $3.42 a gallon at one of the discount warehouses. I couldn't believe it. While driving around town, I noticed the average price in our area is about $3.5o per gallon. I never thought I would see these kind of prices in my lifetime. And there does not seem to be any sign of the prices to reverse any time soon. It's appalling. In a separate conversation, a friend mentioned the government should get involved. He said all it takes is the word "regulation" and we'll see the prices go back down.

As I paid way too much to fill up my Toyota Corolla I thought about that conversation and debated the merits of that idea. I'm pretty conservative when it comes to my views on how involved the government needs to be in our lives. I'm usually a proponent of "let the market handle things". When I tried to apply that principle to the gas prices, I'm not entirely convinced that would work. It would take the consumers - us - resorting to buying less fuel, using less fuel, and making the personal sacrifices necessary to see it have any effect. As a society, we have already demonstrated that we are willing to pay whatever it costs in order to do what we want. How many of us have said as express our frustration over the prices, "But we've got to have it"? So, I began to think about that government regulation idea. Am I willing to make the tradeoff in order to have lower prices? Would regulation actually lower the price or result in something else?

This blog is supposed to be about our faith journeys. What kind of tradeoffs do we make in our faith journeys, positive and negative? What ones should we make? I don't have a well thought out response for that yet, but I do have some ideas.

Community is one of those tradeoffs. When we enter a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, i.e. become a Christian, begin a faith journey, etc., we become part of a larger group doing the same. The Bible calls it the Body of Christ. It's not always easy, convenient, or even desirable to be part of a larger body. It requires us to put our individual desires and preferences aside. We are called to look out to the interests of others, not just ourselves.

Some tradeoffs are artificial ones we create, thinking them necessary and required. In our efforts to become changed people and more like Jesus, we establish systems of rules that have to be observed when they have little to do with being like Jesus.

There are plenty others. What are some of the ones you think of? Am I off base with the two I've started with? Just a thought - what are yours?

In only 8 days . . .

. . . I ate an entire 28 ounce jar of Peter Pan reduced fat creamy peanut butter (no crunchy was available). During that same time period I also lost three and half pounds! My initial conclusion is that by eating a jar of peanut butter every week I can lose weight. I will test that hypothesis this week by eating a second jar. If I can show the same weight loss results, I plan to publish a diet book called The Peanut Butter Diet of course. If it works for me, it has to work for everyone. At least everyone will think it will.

Of course, these are all faulty assumptions. They are the kind of examples used to teach statistical concepts like correlations or expose snake oil medicine posing as real research. It's not much different in the church. Throughout human history, we have given in to the tendency to codify, to the exclusion of everything else, how God is to be experienced, how we are to dress, how God is to be worshipped, what type of music can be used, which elements are to be used in a worship service and in what order. In the name of some unofficial authority, we have even codified what happens in the private lives of people in terms of their relationship with God - you must pray this many times a day, read this much Scripture, etc. Many of these are a result of something that worked for an individual or maybe even a small group of individuals that we assumed to work for everyone.

Thinking like this requires that God be static. It is true that God is unchanging - he will always be all powerful, all knowing, all loving, perfectly good and just, full of grace and mercy, etc. But God is not static. God is dynamic. He is always doing a new thing. Instead of sending another Moses to liberate His people from Babylonian exile, he used the kings of Babylon themselves to not only set them free, but finance the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Jesus reminded us that new wine is not put into old wineskins.

God is creative and creativity results in new things. God gave us creative power. When two dynamic beings enter into a relationship, that relationship will naturally be dynamic. The trick for us is to remember that God is the head of the relationship so he will have final authority over any newness we try to bring to the relationship.

I want my faith journey to be dynamic. I want to be ready to experience the new things that God may have in store for me. I don't want to be afraid to step away from something old and familiar in order to do so. And I want the grace and wisdom to recognize when it works for me but not necessarily everyone else.

Kissing Up

I heard a cover version of a 60's hit while in a fast food resturant today. The song was It's in His Kiss. The key line in the song is "if you wanna know if he loves you so, it's in his kiss". I pondered the truth in those words while drying my hands. I don't know if you have ever been the recipient of an insincere kiss, but I have. I don't know if you have ever been the giver of an insincere kiss, but I have. What the songwriter says is true - you can tell if somebody loves you by his or her kiss. Everything else can be faked.

U2 sang a song about a kiss too - In the Name of Love. The song talks about Jesus, among others who were also known for their tremondous capacity to love, and it references the incident in the Garden of Gethsemane when Judas identified Jesus for the arresting soldiers by kissing him. After listening to that other song and contemplating its truthfulness, I began thinking about this kiss. Could Jesus tell by the kiss whether Judas really loved him? We already know that Jesus knew what Judas was going to do - he wasn't surprised at all. But, how did the kiss feel?

My thinking naturally moved to all of us and especially me. If I were to give Jesus a kiss today, would he know how much I loved him? Don't freak out as you read this. I don't like the "Jesus is my boyfriend" feeling that much of today's understanding of a faith journey sounds like. You know what I'm getting at. What would my kiss tell Jesus about my love for him? What would your kiss say?

Just a thought.

Just one more bite

WARNING: This post contains references to my obsession with peanut butter.

Tonight as I kept sneaking back to the pantry for another spoonful (yes, I doubled dipped, but it's also my own personal jar), I reminded myself that I'm supposed to be losing weight. Peanut butter is allowed on the program, but not a cup a day. It also reminded me that much of the weight loss struggle for anyone is controlling the appetite. Read the diet books, join one of the diet programs (Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, etc.) and one thing they work into their systems is keeping you from going hungry. This enables you to partially control the eating. Your goal then becomes to not give into impulse eating.

Here's where people well versed in the Bible will immediately recognize a reference. Some will scoff at how I'm using it though. With each successive spoonful of peanut butter I ate tonight, one thing and one thing alone was happening. I was thoroughly enjoying myself. The taste and texture was incredible. It was a true pleasure of the flesh. It was pure sensual enjoyment. I know some of the people who will be reading this and I already know the less than pure thoughts going through your minds. Don't leave them on my comment board!

Eating peanut butter (or your own favorite food), getting a buzz whether it be from nicotine, alcohol, or something harder, and yes even sexual pleasures are all things that require our self-discipline to control. I wanted more peanut butter. I can safely say that for about five minutes, I was consumed by peanut butter instead of me consuming it. Before you label me as demented, how many times have you done that with a bag of potato chips? You know can't eat just one!

As I ate that last spoonful tonight, I contemplated how I just wanted more. I evaluated my self-discipline. I also thought about the Holy Spirit and my relationship with God. Do I view the experiential aspect of my relationship with God the same way? Do I seek, do I crave more of the presence I feel in worship? Do I desire to know him more when I experience the breadth, height, and depth of his love? Or is that the area where I choose to exercise self-control and limit myself to how much of that I can have? Just a thought.

Why?

As I was watching the movie Hotel Rwanda Saturday night, the night before Easter, that was question that kept running through my mind - Why?
- Why would people act so violently and cruelly to their fellow man, trying to kill an entire people group?
- Why did the world turn their head to this violence and not intervene?
- Why would God give his only Son, why would Jesus willingly die and suffer so, for the human race that had become so capable of this? Why do this when we would all reject this act of love without his grace that somehow enables us to respond positively to it?

The only answer is love. God's love has to be immeasurable. There is no other reason. Logic cannot explain it. There is no rational understanding that can be applied. It truly is unfathomable. It is unbelievable. Yet it happened.

Though we are not told this in the movie, I guess that answers another why question. Why would someone like Paul Rusesabagina risked his life the way he did, without any support from those who could have and should have helped? It had to be God's love working in his life, whether he realized it or not. I do know that his wife kept fingering a cross she had hung around her neck the entire movie. This cross seemed to always be prominent when she was in the scene.

I guess the next question we all need to answer is why we do what we do, good or bad. Just a thought.

Mikhail Gorbachev Admits He's a Christian!!

Here's the story. Just goes to show you don't really know what is going on in people's lives from what you see on the outside.

Going Green

No, this isn't a late St. Patrick's Day post nor will it be extolling the virtues of driving a Prius, using cloth shopping bags, or reducing my carbon footprint. It would be more accurate to say I'm shooting for a more organic lifestyle. And for my second set of disclaimers, that doesn't mean I will be buying a pair of Birkenstocks and shopping only at Whole Foods.

I want my life to be more organic and less mechanistic. When I say organic, I mean life is fostered. Contrast this with a mechanistic approach where production is the important metric. Our society is largely a mechanistic society. You see it in economics, politics, sports, even in agriculture (smile!), family life and religion. The key metric by which success is determined is what has been produced. I'm not campaigning for an anticapitalist revolution. But I do believe that our post-industrial revolution mindset has crept into areas where it shouldn't be. Areas that are relationship based and more organic in nature.

Organic living fosters living in others. When my family relationships are healthy, my children, my spouse, and my extended family members grow. I'm not trying to force some type of production - compliance with a certain set of behaviors or specific responses to my actions. Those are mechanistic. If we're living organically, then I am fostering my children's development into healthy adults because of their growing, not because they give me the conditioned response.

Our spiritual lives are definitely meant to be organic. If you read the Bible, all the key imagery of healthy living occurs in an organic mindset. We were created and put in a garden, not a factory. God is the gardener and his people are a vineyard. Jesus taught about producing healthy fruit, not about making the best pots or furniture. When our relationship with him is organically healthy, then we grow. Others grow around us.

Instead, we have tried to make our faith journeys mechanistic. If I perform A, B, and C in my faith journey, I will produce characteristics X, Y, and Z. If our church will implement this procedure, we will see that result.

There's a lot more that needs to be said. I'll have to leave it to this for now. Just a thought.

More cheese, please

Sorry, but yesterday's quote by Chesterton has really set my mind to thinking. Mainly, whether or not he really said what Lowes Food claims he said. A quick Google of "chesterton cheese" directed me to a sonnet written by Chesterton in honor of a Stilton Cheese. You'll have to forgive my infatuation with this subject. I guess it makes me feel a little less strange to know that even men of Chesterton's stature could be motivated to write on such mundane topics.

Believe it or not, I can relate this to your faith journey. Not that there are any similarities between cheese and having a relationship with God. But there are similarities to the strange things that some of us become enthralled by, infatuated with, inspired to write about, etc. and what motivates similar energy outputs for our faith journeys. I think we can also stretch things a little more and say that faith is supposed to be real and ordinary at times, affecting every aspect of our lives, even the mundane and cheesy things.

Somehow, I think Chesterton is probably rolling over in his grave.

Interesting Quote

I was in the grocery store picking up a gallon milk tonight when I came across an interesting quote. There, on the wall above the refrigerated dairy section, specifically the cheese section, was a quote from one of the last century's most influential writers, G.K. Chesterton. To quote the wikipedia article, his diverse output included "journalism, philosophy, poetry, biography, Christian apologetics, fantasy, and detective fiction." Among the many great things he is credited with saying, perhaps this is his most memorable. There in the cheese section, I came across these words:

The poet have been mysteriously quiet on the subject of cheese.

Thank you Mr. Chesterton for these provoking words and thank you Lowes Food for reminding us of his greatness.

Sacrifice

This past weekend was a fun one for the boys and me. We spent Friday and Saturday night on the USS Yorktown at Patriots Point in the Charleston Harbor of SC. It was part of an outing we took with their Cub Scout Pack. It was very, very cool. In addition to touring the Yorktown, we took tours of a submarine (USS Clamagore), a "tin can" destroyer (USS Laffey), a Coast Guard cutter (USCG Ingham), a replica of a naval support base during the Vietnam War, and Ft. Sumter. It was a lot to take in and we by no means got everything out of it that we could. The programming was supplemented by a showing of Tora! Tora! Tora! on Friday night.

One thing that really hit home with me (and I tried to convey to the boys) was the level of sacrifice that was given during WWII. We read about destroyers who steamed full speed ahead at the Japanese fleet, even though they were out of torpedos and other deadly ammo. They gave their ships and their lives for the rest of the fleet in order to give their comrades on other ships a fighting chance. We read about the forty plus submarines that were sunk in battle, taking all their crew down with them.

The sacrifice did not only happen on the warfront, although that is justifiably the most significant. We heard about how total annual plane production (civilian and military) went from 2100 in 1939 to over 100,000 in 1942 once we entered the war with Japan. After the original Yorktown was sunk at the Battle of Midway in 1942, it's replacement was built and commissioned in only six months. These kind of production marvels were only possible because of the material rationing and willingness of the American worker, male and female, to work long hard hours.

As I contemplated all these things on the ride home, I wondered what I would be willing to sacrifice for my country. Not just the esoteric, vague concept of "country", but the realization that my sacrifice was really for the millions of men, women, and children who live in my country. The sacrifice would be for millions of people who may not agree with many of the important ideals and views that I hold. My political leaders, perhaps even my commander in chief, may be members of that group with whom I disagree. I'm not sure if any of the men and women who gave sacrificially during these times ever thought about it in these terms or not. It may be best that they did not - it could certainly have been a cause to rethink one's actions.

I also could not help but frame these thoughts within the idea of my faith journey. What am I willing to sacrifice for my relationship with God? What am I willing to sacrifice for the sake of the faith journeys of others? I don't have any answers to those questions yet, and again, it might be for the best. It's probably best to go through life making sacrifices without counting the cost. The Gospel writer Luke might disagree with that notion. I'm still processing what it means for me. I'm also curious what it means to you. Anyone care to share?

Just a thought. I'm sure I'll have more soon.

Change

Life takes on a whole new spin for me now. Yesterday was my last day as pastor of New Life Wesleyan Church. Now, for the first time in over nine years, I am not pastoring a church. Even when I was working other places, I was still pastoring. It's a weird feeling. I'll take a few weeks off to take care of some transitional items and finish up some projects I've started before I enter the workforce. One of those will be finishing up one of the novels I've been working on.

A few people have asked what's next for me. I'll find a "real" job as some say. Eventually, I will be part of a group of people who are on a faith journey and want to start something new. I'm excited about all that lies ahead even though there are so many unanswered questions. I know that God will be with me every step of the way and he will provide. He's already proven himself faithful. Despite the uncertainty, the whole family feels good about where we are heading because we know God is going ahead of us.

It's what I've always dreamed about . . .

. . . .says about half of the people under the age of 21 who happen to be contestants on one of the star making reality tv shows (American Idol, America's Next Top Model, Girlicious, etc.). After hearing every single one of these people say this, the cynic in me had to say, "Is it really?" and "You've only been dreaming and thinking a handful of years. Is it really that major, yet?" Is it possible to be 18 and say that phrase with any real meaning?

Just to confirm that I know what you are thinking, let me see if I can read your mind. You think I'm a harsh, bitter person who has no compassion whatsoever and all I do is see how I can stomp on the ambitions and dreams of others. But I'm really not. You should be ashamed of yourself for accusing me of such things (smile!). Just because the cynical side of me may want to think those things doesn't mean I believe them. I think that when an 18 year old person says, "This is what I have always dreamed about" that it is probably true. Chances are he or she has been watching whatever show they happen to be on since season 1. It's all they've ever known. Who among us never wanted to be someone famous?

I think it's wonderful they actually get a chance to pursue such a dream. Take American Idol for instance. For those four contestants that will not get enough votes to continue this week, they can say what few others can say. "I sang on national tv. I was a contestant on American Idol. I got to meet Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest." Ok, not everything about the experience is all that great, but you get my point.

As we get older, our dreams often change. Sometimes they don't change but we modify them to fit our situation. Some folks might call it settling for something else. Others might call it seizing the opportunity in front of you. We eventually begin approaching and passing the dreaded midlife crisis. Then we begin to say, "Did my life amount to anything?"

I was reflecting on the dreams I had when I was 18 to 24 years old. I don't remember necessarily having any other than being rich without any plan on how to get there. Now that I have a family, my dreams are less about making my mark on the world and more about making my mark on my boys. I'm also more concerned about leaving an impression on the people within my immediate sphere of influence instead of everybody on the sphere we call earth.

What do we dream about when it comes to our faith? I've written about goals for our faith journeys before. Dreams are different than goals, at least I think so. Goals are things we can usually accomplish, even if they require help from others. Dreams have that loftier, more visionary and impossible feel to them. What are your spiritual dreams? If you faith journey could look like anything, what would it look like? How about sharing it with me - I'd really like to know.

Peanut Butter, the Super Bowl, and other important thoughts concerning our faith

I know I'm a couple of days late, but the New England Patriots dream of a perfect season capped with a Super Bowl win was shattered. I honestly thought they would pull it off. Of course, a record of 18-1 is nothing to throw sticks at. Unless the one loss is the big one. I bet if the Patriots could trade one of the regular season wins for a win this past Sunday, they'd take it. I'd take it. Who wants to win all those games and lose the championship?

I've been indulging on peanut butter again. After the big salmonella scare last year, Peter Pan peanut butter returned to the shelves a few months back. I had eaten virtually no peanut butter during my favorite brand's absence from the shelves. The regular stuff returned back in August, but I prefer the taste of the reduced fat stuff. That has finally returned. I have resumed my daily indulgence of spoonfuls of the wonderfully delicious stuff since my wife brought home a jar of Peter Pan reduced fat creamy. However, as good as that is, I cannot wait for the crunchy version to come out. Then I will be as close to heaven as I can get while here on earth.

Both of these thoughts are extremely relevant to our faith journeys. Specifically they have to do with the return of Jesus. That's right. In case you didn't know it, Jesus is coming back. He did not remain dead after he was crucified. He was raised to life by the power of the Holy Spirit on the Sunday morning after his death on Friday afternoon. A little more than a month and half later, he ascended back to heaven with the promise he would return to earth one day to get all his followers.

What's the Super Bowl and Peter Pan reduced fat crunchy peanut butter got to do with that? I'm glad you asked. Why would I want to live a perfect life, only to mess it up at the very end and miss my chance to go to heaven when Jesus returns. The Apostle Paul urged his readers to run the race so it could be won and they could receive the crown of eternal life. The Patriots were a great team this year. But they won't be remembered for winning it all. They'll be remembered for losing the big one when it counted.

And what about my peanut butter? I am waiting anxiously and excitedly for the return of my favorite brand. I know it will return if I'm patient. This other stuff is pretty good so far, but I want the whole package. I anxiously await the return of Jesus. I can't wait. Things are good right now, but they will be so much better when he returns. Why even be on a faith journey if it's not about waiting for his return?

Just a thought, a creamy, peanut buttery thought. Ummmmm.

Things I Never Tire Of

Snowflakes and mittens, warm cozy kittens . . . Oops, I'm sorry. Those are a few of my favorite things. Last week I made mention of how I never tire of reading the Bible. I asked readers to comment on those things they never tire of. No one commented. Maybe I seemed holier than thou by my statement on reading the Bible. I hope not. It's nothing I'm ashamed of saying. Several times last week as I was doing some pretty intense study I was reminded of how much I enjoy studying the Bible. I had lunch today with a friend whose job duties have taken him out of the pulpit and he commented on how much he missed the opportunity to do that kind of study each week.

Well, I promised to give my thoughts on why I enjoy reading the Bible so much. So here they are. WARNING: some may be tongue in cheek so withhold any harsh judgments on that basis.

1) I'm a pastor - I have to enjoy it
2) I'm a pastor, so I have learned to enjoy it
3) I'm a pastor, so I have developed the skills that help me enjoy it.
4) As a Christian, I had to read it so it grew on me
5) It's actually good stuff. You have violence, daring heroics, supernatural happenings, romance, and enough soap opera type material to fill a full season of The Jerry Springer Show (seriously!).
6) It really is applicable to my everyday life. Really, it is.

There is an element of truth in every reason above. The average person reading this may not think that all of these reasons would fit their lives. I'd argue that they would. Everyone can learn to enjoy it. Everyone can learn the "skills". If you read it, it will eventually grow on you. Coincidentally, after posting last week, I had a conversation that very same day with someone who made mention they don't enjoy the reading part all that much. Ideally they would like to, but they do not believe they will ever come to the same point as I. We'll see if that remains true. That person is actually putting in considerable effort.

There's nothing particularly insightful about this post. But it some serious thoughts about our faith journeys. Somewhere on our journeys, reading the Bible has to become part of it. No one has to become a Ph.D quality Bible scholar overnight. Any growth is growth. Give it a shot. I think you will find you also will never tire of it.

"These are a few of my favorite things"

Segregation anyone?

Today is the day our government has set for us as a country to officially honor the life and work of a true civil rights hero - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Not everyone is excited about such an observance. Personally, I wonder how much farther he could have led us if his life had not be tragically taken in Memphis on April 4, 1968.

I hate segregation. Always have. Yet I'm always amazed at the human creature's propensity to segregate itself. I used to teach high school math in Charlotte, NC. When you looked at a map of the city, it was amazing at how well we had segregated ourselves into black and white halves of the city. That would have remained true even if you had taken out all of the sections of public and low income housing that were "intentionally controlled" to "keep them in their place". Because we black and white folk decided to segregate ourselves, kids were taking one hour bus rides in order to ensure diversity in the student population.

You see it on a global scale as well. No matter how hard we work to destroy societal, economic, or even civic barriers to integration, the human creature will always retreat to its fall back position - self-imposed segregation. We really prefer to be with people like ourselves. It's not always race that decides that affinity. It might be economics, political ideology, or religion. The more areas you can find in common, the more likely you are to become a group, maybe even a closed group.

Today I was part of a discussion with some fellow pastors and denominational leaders about this issue of segregation. No, we didn't discuss Dr. King. We didn't talk about Sunday morning being the most segregated hour of the week either. We discussed things like church membership. How closed or sectarian should something like that be? There are a lot of good opinions on all sides of that issue.

It should be noted that segregation is not always a bad thing. I don't really want to sit on a plane full of TB patients if I can help it. Some would argue that some type of segregation in the church is appropriate. Of course, we don't call it that. We call it membership. What should be the appropriate requirements for membership? Is it appropriate to have another set of requirements for those in leadership?

If you read this blog and have never posted, this is one I'd like to have your thoughts on. Don't give the popular answer or the one you think I'm looking for. Don't worry about whether or not it's right "biblically". I'm curious about your thoughts. That's what this blog is all about - thoughts that influence our faith journeys. And just to make you feel better, I'll turn on the anonymous commenting just for this post.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Some of you may have been wondering where I've been, although that's highly unlikely. It's been three weeks since I last posted. I haven't been on vacation that long, although that would be nice. I've just been busy doing other things like teaching my boys how to skin and gut a squirrel, doing some offline writing for a change, trying to earn all 99 gold bricks on Lego Star Wars II, and just thinking about important things like purpose. I've been pondering the state of the church today and how to make it most effective at fulfilling its purpose. I've been thinking about my own purpose in life as a husband and father, and as a pastor.

I also been thinking about the Bible. The title of this post has double meaning. It asks the question that only my mother cares about. It's also the title of the George Clooney film released in December 2000. I love that movie and everything about it. The soundtrack is great and has some wonderful bluegrass music. I love how it is the most creative interpretation of Homer's Odyssey I have ever encountered. This is a great contemporary representation that stays true to the original story. I think that speaks volumes about the timelessness of the themes in the original epic.

The Bible is like that. Many people in my church are trying to read through the entire Bible this year. Some have shared with me how much better they understand its parts as they read it as a whole. Others have shared how amazing it is that stories and sermons written two to four thousand years ago can be so applicable to today's life.

During my fight with insomnia last night, I began to think about how I never tire of reading the same stuff in the Bible. Right now I'm studying a couple of different books in the Bible that I have pretty thoroughly studied several times before. I am amazed that I am seeing new things this time around. I am also struck by the fact that I never get bored with reading these same stories over and over again. I can probably count on one hand (maybe two hands) the number of other books besides the Bible for which I feel the same way.

I've got some thoughts as to why that paragraph is true. I promise I won't wait three weeks to post them. Before I do, I'd like to hear from you what things you never tire of and why. I'd like to hear why you think the Bible's that way for me.

And just in case you are wondering, I have 60 of the gold bricks. If I'm unable to sleep tonight, I'm going to turn on the PS2 and earn another one!

Seeking part 2

Last week while showing off my light sabre, I made mention of the assurance that if one was truly seeking a genuine Christian faith journey, it would be found. This week I'd like to go back to that same theme. Traditionally, the Sunday after Christmas is a day to focus on the Wise Men and their part in the Christmas story. Here are some thoughts I shared with my church on Christmas Eve about the Wise Men. Sorry for recycling, but I am on vacation . . . .

Two thousand years ago, a group of learned scholars set out from a country somewhere in the East, probably in the vicinity of ancient Babylon. To best of our estimates based on what we know about history, current scholars estimate that they found what they were looking for approximately two years later. I am talking about the Magi, the Wise Men, who followed a star looking for a king. At the end of their search, they found the child Jesus. I wonder if they ever wondered whether they would find what they were looking for or not.

We do not know with certainty a whole lot about the Magi. Throughout the centuries we have speculated and created a whole set of stories around them. At some point we began calling them the Three Wise Men because there were three gifts. Along the way, someone even gave them names. In modern representations, we have even insured the diversity of their representation as we typically portray them as one man of Asian descent, another of African, and the third of European. They have been worked into our traditional television Christmas specials like The Little Drummer Boy and in historical epics like Ben Hur. But all this is merely speculation.

There are some things we do know about the Magi that can help guide us in our search today. We know they were searching for a king. The child whose birth we celebrate at Christmas came so that he might be our king. He came so that we might give our allegiance to him and let him rule over us in love. This king is not harsh, demanding, or despotic in anyway. He is not absorbed by his power or position. In fact he gave up his position and power so that he might dwell with us. He is the kind of king that all of us would want to serve.

We know that in their search for this king, the Magi got a little off track. They began looking for this king in the obvious place – Jerusalem. When they began to inquire on the whereabouts of this new king, they learned he was probably in lowly Bethlehem. It may not have made sense to them, but they went on anyway. They would not give up the search no matter how long it took.

We know that these Magi were guided by a great light – a star. Even when they got off track and began to look in the unlikely places for the king, the star confirmed when they got back on the right track and went ahead of them, guiding the way. We know that they found what they were looking for. They found this king to be and presented him with precious gifts, worthy of a king.

Tonight as we ponder and celebrate the birth of Jesus, what are we looking for? Are we really looking for a king or are we looking for something that will give us warm fuzzies and make us feel good about what may still be a fractured relationship with our God? I can assure you that the same thing that drew the Magi to Jesus is the same thing that draws us. We call it many things – guilt, unfulfillment, emptiness, desperation. But it all comes down to looking for a great light to shine in our darkness. A great light drew the Magi and guided the Magi. A great light draws us to him, the one who would be our king if we would let him.

Like the Magi, we may get off track in our search for him. We might be looking where we think he should be instead of where he really is. But if we trust in the light he has given us and follow that light, we will find him. You might think you will never find him but I promise you that you will. He came so that he might be found. He has not hidden himself. He has given us a great light so that we might know where he is. You cannot hide in the light.

At Christmas we celebrate his birth. We celebrate the light he brought into the world and the light he shines into our lives. We celebrate the light that guides us in our search for him and the light that continues to guide us into paths with him. We celebrate the unlikely king, found in the unlikely places. We celebrate because he will be found.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!