Advent Hope

The season of Advent is a time of darkness.

• A friend of mine struggles through infertility and the frustration that it brings.
• Larry, another friend of mine, has an adult son with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  A vibrant young man has his energy sapped.  They have traveled the country in search of effective treatments.
• My wife Shannon battles the ovarian cancer that has plagued her for the past eleven years.

As Christians, we’re free to admit the pain of this world.  Sometimes life hurts.  We acknowledge the darkness we experience.

The season of Advent is a time of hope.

• My friend and his wife prayed fervently for a child.  
• Larry and his family begged God for effective treatments.  
• Shannon and I pleaded for a cure.

For the past few weeks my daily Bible readings have spoken of hope to a people in despair.  “God has remembered God’s promises.”  “God has heard your prayer.”  “The Lord will come…”  “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it.”

And in this season of hope, against the backdrop of these profound promises:

• My friend and his wife remain without a new child.  Despite much effort, many procedures, and much expense, the reality of not having more children starts to sink in.  They have reached the end of the line.
• Larry’s son did not find successful treatments.  He passed away on Wednesday leaving a grieving family behind. 
• Shannon’s cancer has progressed in the past year, moving beyond the abdomen and into the lining of her lung.

The great promises of Advent can ring hollow in the midst of the pain of the world.  I thought God promised to hear our prayers! 

Perhaps we need to rethink the hope that comes in this Advent season.  We do not hope in a Santa Claus who will bring us what we ask for (if we’ve been good).  We hope in a God who lives among God’s people.  Advent is a season of waiting for God to come to us in Jesus.  This is a time of remembering that we are not alone, no matter what we endure.

• God walks with couples struggling with infertility.
• God wraps God’s loving arms around those grieving death.
• God journeys with those who live a life of chemotherapy.

We look forward to a day when Jesus will come again and bring an end to the suffering and pain we experience, but until then we simply live in hope.  This isn’t hope in a God who will wave a magic wand and ‘make it all better.’  We live in the hope of God with us in the midst of our daily struggles.

The light shines in the darkness.  That darkness seems pretty deep and impenetrable at times, but in a manger in Bethlehem, a little light begins to flicker.  Immanuel.  God with us.

I cling to that hope with my entire being.

White & Male: I've Received the Benefit of the Doubt

In my life I have generally received the benefit of the doubt.

My parents both received college degrees.  There was never a question that I would do the same. 

That’s not the case for a large percentage of the population.  Family history mattered.

In high school I decided one day that it would be fun to bring a cap gun to school (this was before the days of school shootings).  I shot teachers in the middle of class and they chuckled.  I shot other kids in the hall between classes and nobody cared, until a teacher that I didn’t know ‘busted’ me, confiscating the cap gun and sending me to the vice-principal.  I sat in his office waiting for the stern lecture and the consequences, but he just laughed and told me to take it home.  I learned that day that ‘good kids’ can get away with things that would get others in deep trouble.  Reputation mattered.

In seminary I was one of the very few members of my class to have interviewed and received a call to a congregation by the time I graduated.  Many of my female classmates had to wait much longer for a call.  Some were even offered part time positions.  I had the ‘correct’ chromosomes and faced no opposition or suspicion.  Nobody ever referred to me as the ‘male’ pastor, as if I carried the weight of an entire gender.   In the interview process I didn’t receive a single question about when I planned to start a family.  I was immediately accepted by my congregation (and congregations around).  Gender mattered.

Shortly after moving to my first congregation in Illinois I got pulled over for going 20 miles over the speed limit.    It was one of those tricky places at the edge of town where it feels like you’re in the country but the speed limit is still 35.  As soon as the lights went on behind me I knew that I would receive my first ticket.  To my surprise the officer gave me a warning and sent me on my way.  I later learned that the county dispatcher had told him that I was a pastor.  Most people would have received a ticket that day. I drove off with a clean record.  My profession mattered.

Not once have been stopped by the police for ‘suspicious behavior.’  I do not get stopped by the TSA in airports.  Apparently I don’t ‘look dangerous.’  When flying home from a conference in Denver this past summer we had to wait while Pastor Hassanally was pulled aside.  She shrugged it off as ‘they always stop someone with the name Hassanally.’  Having white skin (and a European name) matters. 

When I hear people of color teaching their children to expect the police to stop them…I cringe.  Why should skin color matter?  Apparently it does!  Arrest and incarceration rates among people of color are off the charts.  Just ask the people of Ferguson, MO.  Not everyone gets the benefit of the doubt. 

My female colleagues talk about having to prove themselves to people in their congregations because of their gender.  A powerful male pastor is considered ‘assertive.’  A powerful female pastor is spoken of in much less complimentary ways.  Only in the past couple years have I seen a significant number of women become senior pastors in this area.    Not everyone gets the benefit of the doubt.

All through my life I have worked very hard to succeed.  I view life as a game to win, and I’ve done pretty well, but it’s easier to ‘win’ when the game is set up in your favor.  I’ve lived a life of privilege that a vast number of people in this country (and world) can only dream of. 

We live in a culture of systematic racism and sexism.  While we’re quick to condemn out-right racist or sexist comments, we’re much more comfortable living with a system that gives the benefit of the doubt to some and that forces others to have to prove themselves as worthy.   I’ve always received that benefit of the doubt.

The hard question is not, “Who is a racist?” or “Who discriminates on the basis of gender?”  Well intentioned people can find themselves playing out a societal narrative of discrimination.  The issues run deep, to the core of the fabric of society.

As a white male it can be easy to think that we live in a ‘post-racial’ and ‘post-gender’ society.  Nothing can be further from the truth.  It’s time for an honest conversation about race and gender in our nation.  The protests of recent weeks have displayed the deep pains of huge swaths of our culture.  People’s wounds cannot simply be ignored.  God's children suffer!

I don’t have amazing solutions to these troubles, but I do know that sweeping them under a rug and pretending that all is well is not acceptable.  

As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:27-28)

Falling Off the Cancer Roller Coaster

In February of 2004 my wife Shannon and I got on the ‘cancer’ roller coaster. The first plunge was deep and terrifying. Things quickly improved and we zoomed up to the heights of the expected remission.  A year later we hurtled down into another valley as the cancer returned.  Since that time the roller coaster ride has settled down a bit.  Some of the ‘ups’ have been great, with short times without any needed treatment.  Some of the ‘downs’ have been challenging, with chemotherapy that made life miserable.  Through it all I’ve remained seated with the lap bar firmly in place.  I’ve sensed God and others walking on this journey with me.  I looked to the future with hope.

Last month, in the midst of some tough news that the cancer had spread to the lining of her lung, we came home from her appointments with great expectations for a new and exciting drug.  This one is gene-targeted, which means it was chosen specifically to counteract a known defect in the DNA of her cancer cells.  This drug would surely zap the new tumors and bring us to a better place!  Again, in the midst of the ride, I remained seated with the lap bar firmly in place.  I’m not a fan of roller coasters, but I can tolerate them if needed.

This past week the lap bar let loose, throwing me from the comfort of the train.  After one month on this new drug her blood tumor count (CA-125) had tripled, bringing the numbers to heights not seen in a decade.  A CT scan revealed tumor growth that had occurred over the past five weeks.  The doctor overseeing this new and experimental drug took her off of it and sent her back to her main team to assess the next steps.  On Tuesday we saw the ovarian cancer folks, anticipating which new drug might show the most promise.  Instead, they put her right back on the same drug, explaining that ‘sometimes it takes a while to show effectiveness.’  Growing tumors…ineffective drugs…for the first time I felt a complete lack of control over the situation.  I didn’t feel that I had anything to grasp onto to bring me hope.  My fear of roller coasters came to fruition. 

This is where being a ‘futuristic’ guy can be pure hell.  I’m wired to plan ahead and dream about the possibilities the future holds (‘Futuristic’ is one of my traits from Strengthfinders…click here for a full description).  It’s what I love and do in my work every day.  Through these years of the roller coaster I’ve always held hope that the cancer would be held at bay indefinitely.  For one brief moment this past week that hope was ripped away.  Shannon holds great hope for this drug.  For a short time I didn’t.  My ‘futuristic’ brain went crazy on the ramifications of growing tumors and ineffective drugs.  While intellectually I knew that God walked with me, I sure didn’t feel it.  I felt alone on this journey, flying from the comfort of the roller coaster to fall to the depths of despair. 

Yet as I fell, hands reached out to pull me back onto the train.  Time and time again I heard, “I’m praying for you.”  I got to talk to my dad (who experienced his own journey when my mom passed away back in 1979).  I received wonderful supportive e-mails from my mom and siblings.  The staff I worked with surrounded me with hope and comfort (and allowed for a few tears).   I even received a ‘text bomb’ from assistants to the bishop from other synods (who were gathering for an annual retreat), with text after text of prayer and support.  I’m not alone.  God’s cloud of witnesses walks with me every step of the way.

This morning I read my daily Bible verses and heard words of hope from Revelation.  I needed those.  Once again (for this moment at least), I am seated with the lap bar firmly in place.  Shannon and I have been through this before.  Experimental drugs hold great promise and she has a history of responding well to them.  

This roller coaster ride is not yet finished.  There will be many more ups and downs on this journey.  I know I will need people’s hands holding me firm when I feel the lap bar breaking loose.  Some days will be filled with great hope.  Others will overflow with tears.  In the midst of it all, I am not alone.   Please help me remember that!

Welcome to Church?

Two weeks ago today I did an amazing job of making people feel welcomed and cared for!  I planned ahead to make sure everything was in place.  I had candy bowl full of Dum Dums to give to kids (research has shown that young children prefer pure sugar to chocolate, so I strove to meet that need).   Lights blazed in the darkness by my front door, welcoming young and old to come and feast on the treats I had to offer.  At first they came one by one, but soon large groups of children flocked up my driveway, receiving a hearty smile, a kind word, and (of course) candy.   They came to me and received a warm welcome.  I had a couple kids come back a second time.  I had candy for kids.  They came and received it.  Apparently I was doing something right!   

This morning I attempted to do the same thing.  Once again, I planned ahead to make sure everything was in place.  This time I have those little candy pumpkins, the ones made 100% from sugar.  I have the lights on, welcoming young and old to come and feast on the treats I have to offer.  To this point the doorbell has remained quiet.  Not a single child has come for my candy.  I’m standing here ready to give them the full welcome treatment, but something seems to have gone wrong.  I have candy for kids.  Nobody is coming.  What am I doing wrong?  Perhaps they like Dum Dums more than candy pumpkins.  Perhaps my outdoor light isn’t bright enough.  Perhaps my grand welcoming from a couple weeks ago wasn’t as great as I had hoped. 

Or…perhaps it’s not Halloween anymore and kids aren’t going to simply show up on my doorstep.  If I want to hand out candy, perhaps I need to step out the front door and find children out in the community who would like candy.  I suspect that the police would track me down if I simply got in the car and drove around, stopping when I saw kids to give them something.   If I’m actually going to give this candy away, I’ll need to go build some relationships of trust so I’m not just ‘the creepy guy with candy.’

In the past couple weeks I have read several poignant blog articles about the ways that congregations are (or are not) welcoming to visitors.  These posts, like this one from Thom S. Rainer, challenge congregations to do a better job of making people feel welcome.  Most congregations call themselves ‘friendly,’ but the experience of visitors often shows a different reality.  Congregation members are friendly to each other based on long standing relationships and assume that  their ‘friendliness’ rubs off on new people walking in the door. Often it doesn't.  People come to worship for the first time and feel brushed aside and ignored.  Many come looking for a loving community and only find a ‘family’ that has no idea what to do with ‘outsiders.’  Many words are written to aid congregations in figuring out helpful ways of making visitors feel welcome and at home.   

I fully agree that congregations need to wrap their minds around the issue of welcome.  We want to do everything in our power to connect people to a community of faith!  I have heard of ‘secret shopper’ type programs where people will visit a congregation for the sole purpose of reporting their experience of welcome.  This helps communities of faith to more effectively look in the mirror and understand how their actions invite (or drive away) those who visit.

But finding ways of welcoming those who walk in the door feels a little like my standing at the front door this morning.  There was a day when visitors flocked to churches.  Whenever someone moved to town they ‘shopped’ around to find a new church home.  It was expected.  It was like Halloween: turn on the lights, open the doors, and people come.  The biggest worry was how to make them feel welcome.

It’s not Halloween anymore!  Fewer and fewer people are actively looking for a congregation.  The reputation of Christian churches has taken a hit over the past few decades.  We can have the most wonderful, welcoming congregation, but nobody will know it if they don’t walk in the front door.  We’re left standing with some tremendous Halloween candy and nobody to give it to.

If we want to invite people to know this wonderful God that we worship, perhaps we need to step out the front door and find people out in the community.  It won’t work to simply get in the car and drive around, proclaiming Jesus whenever we see people walking by.   If we’re actually going to share this faith, we’ll need to go build some relationships of trust so we’re not just ‘the creepy folks with Bibles.’ 

Perhaps the ‘welcome’ doesn’t start at the front door of a church building.  Perhaps the true ‘welcome’ to someone comes in a neighborhood, at work, or at the gym as we build relationships with people.  We show the love of God to the world, not to manipulate people into attending our churches, but out of genuine concern for the other.  As the song goes, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”   Through these relationships we are then free to be truly welcoming and inviting.  It opens the door to deep conversation, where we not only share our experience of faith, but where we take the time to listen to others’ experiences. 

Perhaps the true ‘welcome’ to someone comes as we provide meals to the hungry, shelter for the homeless, comfort for the grieving, hope to the despairing, or community to those feeling alone.  All these things tend to happen outside church walls.

It’s not Halloween anymore.  How might the Spirit lead you outside the walls of your church building to welcome people where they are?

A Little 'MacGyver' in the Church

If only we had…then we could…

If only our church had a youth director.  Then we could attract families with kids.

If only we had a bigger building.  Then we could expand our ministry.

If only we had more young families.  Then we could have an exciting congregation.

If only we had a better location for our congregation.  Then our congregation would grow.

If only we had committed Sunday School teachers.  Then kids would start coming again.

It’s an easy game to play.  Here are the rules:

·         Look at other ‘successful’ congregations

·         See what they have that your congregation does not

·         Assume that if you had that ‘one thing’ then your congregation would also be ‘successful’

·         Grumble when you can’t find that ‘one thing’

·         Fall into despair

At the heart of this game is a very disturbing assumption: God has not given us enough.  Really?  Do we truly want to believe that the God of the heavens and the earth willingly withholds the ‘one thing’ that can lead to our congregation’s ability to proclaim the Gospel and change the world? 

I’d like to propose a different game based on one of the great heroes of 1980’s television: MacGyver!

MacGyver would never play the ‘If only’ game.  Not once did he give up and say, “If only I had

something, then I’d be OK.”  In episode after episode he used random things laying around to get the job done. 

·         Car won’t start?  Take the spring from a ballpoint pen to replace a spring in the engine…and off you go!

·         Trapped by the bad guys?  Take a soccer ball, newspaper, cotton balls, and olive oil to make a hot air balloon to signal those on the outside.

·         Locked in a freezer room?  Use the light bulb to melt some ice, pour the water into the door lock, and wait for the water to expand while freezing, snapping the lock.

While it never looked like it in the moment, MacGyver ALWAYS had enough.  He had a gift for looking at the things around him and figuring out how to combine them to do really cool things.  MacGyver always had what was needed to help him accomplish what heeded to do. 

The writers of MacGyver ensured that the right things were in the right places so he could bring them together in effective ways.  Do we dare think that God does the same thing? 

One story we see in all four Gospels is the feeding of the 5000.  In the Gospel of John, Jesus asks his disciples, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”  Philip knows the ‘If only’ game well.  “Jesus, six months’ wages would not buy enough for each of them to get a little.”  Philip knows reality.  They don’t have enough.

Andrew, on the other hand, notices what they do have, kind of like MacGyver.  “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish.”  This is where things get exciting.  When you take a few loaves and fish and add the power of God you get enough.  In fact, you get more than enough.  They collected twelve baskets of left-overs. 

What if we truly believed that God has already given us enough to do what God calls us to do? What if your congregation played ‘MacGyver’ and not ‘If only?’

·         Not enough kids for a 5^th grade Sunday School class?  Take a grandma rooted in the faith, a local restaurant, and time after school and you get relationship and faith building over ice cream sundaes.

·         No organist?  Take four high school band members and someone with the ability to transpose music and you have accompaniment for worship.

This list could go on and on.  As we look at what we have and creatively (like MacGyver) figure out how they might fit together, all sorts of things can happen.   We will recognize that God has given us enough.

Luther Snow has a different name for the ‘MacGyver’ game.  He calls it ‘Asset Mapping.’  It’s a different way to approach challenges in a congregation.  Asset-based thinking builds on the idea that God has given us everything we need to accomplish what we're called to accomplish.  

With God, there is always enough.  It’s time to play ‘MacGyver.’  It’s an awesome, faith filled game!

When have you seen seemingly random assets come together to do great things?  

Letter to a Street Preacher

Dear Rochester Street Preacher,

I noticed you last week.  As I drove through downtown Rochester there you were on the corner of Broadway and 2^nd, just you and your little sound system.  It didn’t look like you were having much success.  Nobody came within a block of you, yet you stubbornly kept at it.  Thankfully I couldn’t hear a word you were saying (I had my music playing at a ‘proper’ volume which drowned out even your loud rants), but I know exactly what you were saying.  You were quoting all sorts of verses from the King James version of the Bible (as if that’s the only translation that God allows).  You were telling people that they needed to repent or they would go to hell. 

I know your type and frankly you drive me crazy.  It’s because of people like you that we Christians get a bad name.  You don’t have a word to say about God’s grace.  You spew your words of hate and damnation, turning a loving God into some sort of monster to be feared.  You have no use for building relationships. The people who walk by you are just objects to be preached at.  You won’t listen to them or their backgrounds.  You put people in a box labeled ‘sinner’ and condemn them for it.    Do you forget that the people you’re yelling at are God’s children too?

Jerks like you are unloving, intolerant of those who disagree with you, and 100% convinced that your interpretation of Scripture is the correct one. 

Oh wait.   Pot…meet kettle! 

See what I did there?  I ream you for your lack of relationships, but I didn’t even turn down my music to hear what you had to say.  I put you in a box called ‘street preacher’ and condemned you for it.  I call you unloving, but I looked down on you from the moment I saw you.   I call you intolerant, but I dismiss your faith perspective out of hand.  Perhaps I’m the one 100% convinced that my interpretation of Scripture is the correct one.

Mr. Street Preacher, it sounds like I forgot that you too are a child of God.  You too have a story of faith.  You too follow Jesus.   I made you into a caricature of yourself just so I could self-righteously condemn you.   

Last Sunday evening I was on that same corner in Rochester, this time walking to hear Jay Bakker speak (a shout out to the Sandbox Cooperative for bringing him in).  Jay is the son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.  Yes, that Jim Bakker, the one who went to prison in the 1980’s for bilking his congregation for millions.  I’ve railed against ‘people like that’ who fail so completely.  They make the church look bad!

Jay now serves as a pastor at Revolution Church in the Twin Cities and he travels extensively to talk about grace.  It’s a message I love to hear, but it sounds like I need to hear it more.  When Jay talked about Jim Bakker, it wasn’t as some evil church dude.  He talked about his dad, a man of faith who worked to instill faith in his son. 

Mr. Street Preacher, I did the same thing to Jim Bakker that I did to you.  I turned him into a caricature of himself so I could feel justified in attacking him with impunity.  I forgot that he too is a beloved child of God.

Ironic, isn’t it?  In my zeal to proclaim the love and acceptance that God has for God’s world  I self-righteously condemn those who I feel ‘get in the way’ of that message.  It’s funny how we who insist on ‘tolerance and acceptance’ are quick to shun and condemn those that they feel are intolerant. 

Mr. Street Preacher, I’ll likely never have a chance to have a conversation with you.  Forgive me for so quickly condemning you.  God loves you unconditionally.  It appears that I have some work to do before I can do the same.

Your brother in Christ,

Pete

Facing Reality

On one morning back in February of 2004 my family’s life changed forever.  My wife Shannon felt a couple lumps by her hip and decided to go have it looked at.  I took her to our local clinic (which just so happens to be Mayo Clinic) and at first they assumed that she had a hernia , ordering a scan to verify it.  The next day, after the scan, we were quickly called back to the clinic with a diagnosis that we didn't want to hear: ovarian cancer!

We had moved to Minnesota only a couple months before.  We had a son in kindergarten and a growing business to tend to.  I was just getting started at a congregation that still worshiped in a gym.  We didn't have time for cancer…but we had no choice!  Our reality changed that day and we quickly acted to do something about it.  Surgery and some nasty chemo followed and we thought we were on the road to ‘normal’ life again.  Things looked good…until the cancer returned in six months.  More surgery…more chemo…more hope that it would all just go away.   It didn't.  We finally had to admit to a new reality: a reality that included ovarian cancer and chemotherapy for the foreseeable future.  We could have pretended that the cancer didn't exist.  We could have just gone on with life as if nothing had changed, but that would have allowed the cancer to spread unchecked.

 

For these 10 years we've been blessed to have Dr. Prema Petthambaram in charge.  Cancer is a slippery thing.  Shannon would go on a new chemo and it would work fabulously…for a while.  Eventually the cancer would mutate  just enough to avoid the drug.  Her cancer counts would go up.  The tumors would grow.  Dr. Peethambaram knew this cycle well and always had another type of chemo up her sleeve.    Sometimes we were thrilled to get off a drug because the side effects were nasty and hard to live with.  At other times it was really hard to abandon a treatment that had gone well.  It was easy to think, “It worked great for the past six months…it should still work.  Don’t stop!”  Dr. Peethambaram would explain the changes in the tumors and we knew full well that we had to move on to something new.  After each round of chemo the game changed, forcing us to something new.  Going back to an old chemo was not an option.  We had to move forward to something new.

Have I felt anger and frustration in the midst of all this?  Definitely!  Do I have anyone to blame?  Nope!  It’s not Shannon’s fault that she has cancer.  It’s not her surgeon’s fault that they couldn’t get all of it.  It’s not her oncologist’s fault that they don’t have a miracle drug to make it all better.  Sometimes things in life just stink.  It’s just reality.

Time and time again we've had to admit that we could not live in the past.  We could not go back to a time that we liked better.  We've had to face the reality of each day with a cancer that drives us forward.  It’s a reality we would never have chosen, but sometimes in life we don’t get to choose.  Our role has been to take stock of the situation and find the best way forward.    We are in God’s hands.

The same can be said of Gods church.

We look back to days when our Sunday Schools burst at the seams…when the building barely held all the people coming for worship…when new people to town sought out a local congregation and enthusiastically signed up for membership.  Some remember the days when the church held great power in society.  Sunday morning was a time for worship…and worship only.  Nobody would dare schedule another event to ‘compete’ with worship! 

Life had changed, hasn’t it?  Church membership is in decline in EVERY denomination in this country.  The Sunday School movement has lost steam with numbers plummeting in nearly every congregation.  Church’s no longer have a monopoly on Sunday mornings.  Youth sports and a myriad of other events have moved into those time slots.  Worship attendance is down across the board. 

How do we respond to these changes?  Too often congregations get into the ‘blame game.’   Perhaps it’s the pastor…or a Sunday School Superintendent…or a youth leader.  People say, “If they were just doing their job then things would be like they used to be” and “if we just did things the way we did 50 (or 5) years ago then we’d be in good shape.”   That fails to take the massive societal shifts into account.  It’s like telling a cancer cell, “You really SHOULD respond well to this chemo drug” and blaming the doctor for not having control over cancer.    Wishing doesn't make it happen.  Society has changed (like it or not).  Some of the things that the church did effectively in the past no longer have the same impact.   

God calls us to live in the reality of this day.  The ‘church game’ has changed.  God provides many good leaders who look to the future with great hope and wonderful creativity.  When the ‘old chemo’ quits working, Shannon moves on to something different.  When the ‘old ways’ become less effective, it’s time to find new models of ways to reach out with the Good News of Jesus.  I’m seeing this happen in congregations all over the place: from House Churches in Rochester to a nine week confirmation program in Eyota, from Wednesday night worship and activities to faith formation happening with whole families, from on-line financial giving to congregations with lay leaders and not pastors.  It’s an exciting time of experimentation…and the Holy Spirit leads those experiments! 

Time and time again we have to admit that we cannot live in the past.  We can’t go back to a time that we liked better.  We have to face the reality of each day with a God that drives us forward.  It’s a reality we probably would never have chosen, but sometimes in life we don’t get to choose.  Our role is to take stock of the situation and find the best way forward.    We are in God’s hands.

God has not abandoned Shannon or me in our journey with cancer.  God will not abandon God’s church in our journey in a changing world. 

Welcome to the new reality.  May God raise up leaders in God’s church to carry us into this new and constantly changing world.

Victory!

I play to win.

In some families a game of Monopoly can go on for days.  People play cautiously, holding back money lest they land on someone else’s hotel and have to pay a huge amount.  They only build houses or hotels once they are sure that they have a large enough sum to cover all contingencies.

My family can usually crank through a game in about an hour.  As soon as any of us receive enough money, we’re purchasing houses and hotels.  We are the ultimate risk takers.  If someone lands on our property we’re all set to win.   In Monopoly, playing with caution makes you miss out on opportunities.  What’s the point of owning Boardwalk if you don’t have anything built on it?    We play to win, and if that means that there is some risk involved we’re more than ready to face that fact.  Better to risk and have a chance to win than to play with caution and die a slow death.

I like to win, not only in Monopoly, but in all of life.

One of my earliest memories of faith is bathed in victory: God’s victory.  My mother passed away when I was eight years old.  Edee suffered from lupus, which meant that her body rejected her kidneys as if they were transplants.   I don’t have many memories of her.   I vaguely remember visiting her in the hospital and seeing her sick at home, but I clearly remember the scene at the cemetery on a cold March morning with daisies (her favorite flower) draping her coffin.  In that moment, I heard words of victory: a God who defeated death.  I latched onto those words with my whole being.  Edee won…because Jesus won. 

This hope has sustained my faith throughout my life.  We have a powerful God who has defeated death.  The book of Revelation isn’t one that many people read time and again.  Most get lost in the bizarre imagery and strange battles with evil.  Not me!  I gravitate again and again to the images of the heavenly throne room…and the God who conquers.  In Revelation, no matter how much pain and suffering is unleashed on the world, God remains God, gathering God’s people in praise and victory.  I’m reminded that I am on the winning team.  This isn’t because of anything that I have done (or can ever do).  God’s power tells the whole story.  God has won.  Nothing can stand in God’s way.  This God has claimed me to be on that winning team.  V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

Into this story I keep hearing words of doom and gloom for God’s church.  People decry the ‘death of Christianity’ and some numbers seem to bear that out.  In America the number of people in worship on a given Sunday has dropped precipitously.  Sunday Schools no longer burst with children’s voices.  Financial support to congregations is way down, with many wondering what the future will hold.  People talk of days when churches will no longer exist.  The numbers can lead people to despair. 

Unfortunately, we’ve ‘played church’ much like many people play Monopoly: cautiously!  We’ve been afraid to take risks, leaving us willing to die a slow death rather than take a chance on something new and different.  We have been tied to models of church that worked in one era, but no longer prove effective.  We circle the wagons and try the same things, thinking that greater effort will make everything turn around.  When it doesn’t happen we feel like there is no future for God’s church. 

Nothing could be further from the truth!  The God who conquered death will not sit on the sidelines.  As long as God is at work in the world, ‘the church’ will be just fine.  God has not sustained people of faith for the past 2000 years only to quit now.  Remember, we’re on the winning team!  If God can conquer sin and death, surely God can handle some changes in American society.  As members of the winning team, the church can take risks.  We can go ‘all in’ on listening to the Holy Spirit to find new and creative ways to be God’s people in the world.  We can risk, knowing that in the end we can’t lose.  There is nothing that we can do to ‘kill’ God’s church.   True, we may find some of our risks end in spectacular failure, but at the end of the day God remains the head of the church and will sustain people of faith.  God gives is the freedom to take risks…to try new things…to envision what communities of faith can look like in the future. 

I’m not willing to be a part of a losing team.  If ‘the numbers’ are against the church, that simply means that it’s time for some risk taking, trusting that God will not abandon us.  ‘The church’ of the future may look vastly different, but if that’s what God is calling us to, I say, ‘Bring it on.’ 

We’re already on the winning team.   The end of the story has been written.  God walks with us in the midst of the pain of this world (which I know all too well).  It’s time to step out in faith.

Better to risk and win than play cautiously and slowly dwindle away to nothing. 

And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children. Revelation 21:5-7

The Blog is Back!

It's been nearly a year since my last blog post.   It's time to start up again! I have received great encouragement to get underway once again (yes, I'm talking to you Emily Carson).  

I'm excited to share ways that I've seen God at work in the world.  Once again, it's time for me to be 'Walking in the Sunshine.'