Sep
05
Aug
19
Organic Spirituality
Taco Bell vs. The Humble Beagle?
Recently I took a quick (ok, not so quick) run to Eugene. Some fellow pastor friends were up from California and we decided to meet up at the Foursquare Church in Eugene for their midweek service. Pastor Wayne Corderio was in town speaking so we thought it would be fun to see Wayne and then grab a bite afterward. Hey, don’t mock us…it’s what pastors do for fun.
I drove through Albany around 6 pm and was starving so I did what any seemingly indestructible young man would do…I pulled over at Taco Bell. In exchange for just over five bucks the drive-through attendant gave me three of their finest burritos and a wad of napkins. I needed every one of those precious napkins for my “driving while eating” stunt on I-5 South. At one point I had a Double-Decker Taco Supreme in one hand, my cell phone in the other and my steering wheel was being operated by my knee. It was for only a brief moment, mind you, but it was ugly nonetheless. Sanity got the better part of me and I set the taco down and wrapped up my call. You can stop judging me now!!!!
I then arrived at the church with a stout stomach ache. Oddly, after the service we all went out for a bite to eat together. I prayerfully justified that the Taco Bell was a thin fabrication of actual food and therefore for me to really survive I would need something with higher levels of nutrition in my system. Enter stage right: The Humble Beagle.
The Humble Beagle is a small, locally owned and operated establishment that my buddy had read about online. It had only been open for a few months and had gotten great reviews already. It was late and thankfully it was open. What proceeded was a delightful evening of eating really fresh, locally grown, healthy food and extended conversations with the couple that owned the eatery. They were very pleasant – the kind of folks that I could see becoming really good friends with. The hummus/pita plate was great. The beer-battered organic vegetables were delicious. The blue-cheese burger was…wow. All the food was split and shared among us and we enjoyed a nice evening of conversation together.
Go ahead now and compare my two food stops last night.
And now, let me ask you…how do you like your spirituality?
Are you shoving it down while driving with your knee?
Is it organic or heavily processed?
Are you getting your spiritual feeding while on the run or are you sitting down and enjoying the journey with Jesus?
Questions.
Questions I’m personally wrestling with. Perhaps you are too. That’s what the journey is all about – asking questions of our lives and seeking the Lord Jesus for direction. Let’s keep doing that together.
Aug
19
It’s Getting Hot in Here…
It’s been so unbelievably hot right lately. Seriously. I was not prepared for this.
Everything I do is laborious. Moving is difficult. Sleeping is fitful. My laptop is overheating. My perspiration is sweating. It’s pretty much bad. Today hit around 104 degrees…in the shade. I felt like a HotPocket in my truck. It served as a metallic sleeve wrapped around me as I drove around in one big microwave oven. The imagery could go on and on.
Bottom line: I am longing for January.
Ah, January. The month that gave us more snow than we had had in a long, long time. Those were the days.
Isn’t it interesting how we go from one extreme to another. Hot…cold…hot…cold.
I guess it’s better than being lukewarm. Scripture makes it clear that we should avoid lukewarmness (see Revelation 3:16).
Sadly, we crave the comfort of lukewarm living – like warm milk, it’s safe and calming.
But it’s not very exciting.
The days we are living in need people that will live extreme. Not lukewarm. Hot or cold.
What will you be?
Jul
02
Biscuits of Life
Yes, I did indeed eat 18 of them.
Year’s ago, Denise and I went to Red Lobster in San Diego for our anniversary. It was a grand evening for two broke bible college students to splurge and ‘live it up’ for a night. Just so you know, I have a thing for Red Lobster. I always get the Admiral’s Feast and I load up on those amazing, little garlic butter biscuits that they serve with the meal. And when I say ‘load up’, I really do mean it.
On this particular evening I was pretty feisty and jokingly bonding well with our server. I asked her to keep those hot little rolls coming because I am ‘quite fond of them.’ Well, she did. She kept them coming, and I kept eating them. And eating them. And eating them. I also ate my entire Admiral’s Feast (the sin of gluttony, I know, I know).
To make matters worse (or better so I thought), when the meal was over and we were getting ready to go, I asked our server if she could sneak us a baggie of those little biscuits to go! She did. Bonus!
On the way back to our beach cottage, I ate some more of the buttery goodness. A few more were consumed while settling in for our romantic evening together. While my beautiful bride was snuggling up with her Admiral (that’s me), I was beginning to feel something swirling in my stomach, and it was not good. I officially had a big gut-ache. Upon further review we determined that I had single-handedly eaten…wait for it…wait for it…18 Red Lobster biscuits. Yes, I did indeed eat 18 of them!!!
In John 6, shortly after Jesus and the disciples feed over 5000 people with bread and fish, they gathered again on the other side of the lake and Jesus said some important words to his team:
“You are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (John 6:26,27).
I believe Jesus is challenging his disciples (which includes us) to work for that which lasts – the stuff of eternal life. So often we look to Jesus to only get our fill rather than partnering with to see the miraculous happen in the lives of others. The disciples had just had the opportunity to join him in feeding over 5000 people with a very little amount of food, which is nothing short of a miracle. And now, one day later, they are coming to Jesus looking for more food for their belly’s. Jesus called them and continues to call us to something greater.
There has got to be more to life than eating 18 Red Lobster biscuits.
Imagine how many people don’t have any bread while I was gorging on mine. Worse yet, imagine how often we gorge on the presence of God while there are so many that have yet to experience it for themselves. Perhaps all they need is for those of us that enjoy Jesus greatly to simply share with it with them!
Jesus is the Bread of Life and he wants to be freely shared with others.
Maybe the old saying by Martin Luther is true: “We are one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.”
Jul
02
Direction Determines Destination
Orchard Heights Road kinda bugs me. I know I’ve been living in Salem for about 6 months now but I still can’t seem to figure out which way is which on that particular road. I’m constantly having to pull out onto Orchard Heights from the smaller side streets and every time I do I sit there for a moment and wonder: “Which way do I go?” If I go one way it leads me back to the church or to our home but if I go the other way it leads to…who knows where! Actually it leads to Wallace Road and I only go there if I must (because it’s always packed with cars)!
If my wife is with me she instantly knows which direction to go. She’s a keeper.
But me, well…thank God for my Garmin GPS. You see, I am directionally challenged. I am a man that gets lost. But the crazy thing is that I rarely know that I’m lost WHILE I’m getting lost – it occurs to me only after I am officially lost. I wish I would realize it WHILE! It would be great to have that moment of clarity 100 or so yards after going past the point of not-lostness…then I could back the car up and get back on track. But no…the revelation of lostness occurs to me much later and takes me much farther!
When you want to get to a particular destination you better know what direction you are going. Direction determines destination.
Not intention. Intentions are not enough.
Intention says: “I want to go to Canada.” If that is my destination then I would be foolish to hop onto the I-5 Freeway heading SOUTH. That happens to be the direction to…um…Mexico. To get to Canada I must go NORTH. Direction determines destination, not just simple intentions (as pure as they may be).
In any organization, including that of a church, we must know what our destination is then take active steps to go that direction. Good intention is not enough. The same is true for our personal lives. I can’t tell you how many folks I encounter that want be in a specific place spiritually or relationally and yet fail to purposely go that direction. It is what I call The Great Disconnect. The destination does not match the direction. The beliefs are disconnected from the behavior.
God, through his Scripture, has given us a map for charting our direction. I want to continue digging into the Bible to discover where we are going!
Jun
22
Why We Make Mistakes
I just finished reading a book called Why We Make Mistakes by Joseph T. Hallinan. With a great deal of research and case studies he concludes that the average person make mistakes because:
• We look but don’t always see
• We connect the dots
• We wear rose-colored glasses
• We can walk and chew gum-but not much else
• We skim
• We shoot first
• We all think we’re above average
• We would rather wing it
• We don’t constrain ourselves
Each of the observations brought about an “a-ha” moment for me to realize that there is distinct reasoning behind the gaffe’s and errors I make on a regular basis. What I found most helpful though was the concise conclusion of how to make fewer mistakes:
1. Think small. Little things mean a lot.
2. Think negatively. Ask yourself: what could go wrong?
3. Let multiple people proofread. What a colleague may miss, a spouse may catch. What a spouse may miss, your kids may catch. Etc. Etc.
4. Remember that multitasking is a mirage. There are limits to the number of things we can do at one time, and the more we do, the greater the chance for error.
5. Beware of the anecdote. When making decisions get accurate information and averages not testimonials. Diet companies make their money off of testimonials but look at the fine print: “Amount of weight loss is NOT typical.”
6. Get some sleep. Even moderate sleep deprivation can cause brain impairment equivalent to driving drunk.
7. Be happy. Happy people tend to be more creative and less prone to errors induced by habit.
And finally, Hallinan, says that one thing that DOES NOT seem to eliminate mistakes is money. Financial incentives do not affect average performance. People will work harder on a problem, though they will not necessarily work any smarter.
Why We Make Mistakes
by Joseph T. Hallinah
Broadway Books // 2009
May
13
Vanillaroma
I’m sitting in my truck waiting for the DMV to open so I can take my cycle endorsement test. I got here way too early and now I’m bored. But in my boredom I noticed something hanging from my turn-signal…a yellow pine tree vanilla air freshner.
I wonder how long it’s been there? And I wonder if it is still effectively doing it’s job?
It makes me ask the question of my own life: how effective am I at giving off the aroma of Christ? Am I just hanging around having long lost my freshness for evangelism and passionate worship?
Or, worse yet, have I gone the other way in absorbing the world’s fragrance and didn’t even notice it until now?
Questions.
How effective are you at bringing the aroma of Jesus to your world? What are you doing to stay fresh in the Lord?
May
12
The Lord is…
King David’s Song of Praise in 2 Samuel 22 is huge. Following the deliverance from the hands of all his enemies he pens an amazing worship tune. He declares a number of key attributes of the Lord that I always want to be in my heart and mind. From verses 2 and 3 alone I discover 8 massive traits of God.
The Lord is…
1. My Rock
2. My Fortress
3. My Deliverer
4. My Shield
5. My Strength
6. My Stronghold
7. My Refuge
8. My Savior
These 8 aspects of the fortitude of the Lord are bedrock to who I am and where I go when I’m hurting or in need. God is all that and so much more for me. Thank you Lord.
May
12
The Gospel According to Star Trek
“…to boldy go where no one has gone before…”
Those are the words I heard last night around midnight at the Lancaster Cinemas during the premiere of the new Star Trek flick.
Am I a “Trekkie?” Nah. Do I have pointy ears? Hope not. But I have grown up with James T. Kirk, Scottie, Spock and Bones and have come to love an entertaining episode or movie from the Starfleet of the USSEnterprise. Now, I’m talking about ‘ol school Star Trek…not that Next Generation junk.
When I heard those famed words last night I was a bit moved. Not because they came from the mouth of the aging Leonard Nimoy, but because those words have always inspired me for ministry in the Kingdom of God. The final frontier is not some newly discovered galaxy or space-time continuum for me. The final frontier represents all the people that have yet to say YES to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. There are many that have still not had their eternity secured. There are those that have no understanding of what Jesus did for them. There are many on our planet that still haven’t heard the truth of the Gospel. That’s why I keep doing what I’m doing. That’s why I want to plant churches and satellite campuses. That’s why I’m willing and ready to add more services to my already busy weekends. That’s why I want to disciple fully functioning God-followers that are a blessing within their sphere of influence. That’s why I keep going and going and going…boldy reaching and touching with the life and love of Jesus.
I want to always move forward with courage and conviction, always changing and always growing. There are new frontiers to be discovered and more to reach for the Lord. I can never be satisfied with where I have been. Grateful? Yes. Satisfied? Nope. Like the Apostle Paul, I want to “strain towards what is ahead, pressing on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).
Are you boldly going? Are you looking for new frontiers of Kingdom ministry? I encourage you nurture a heart and vision for what opportunities are all around you – there is much to do for the Kingdom of God. Whether the stories of your voyages are ever told or not, be faithful to go where no one has gone before…in Jesus’ name!