Don't Lose the People in the Programs

It was a big day for our church. Our lead pastor was moving on to new things and I was moving into the lead role. The sanctuary was slowly emptying as people said their goodbyes...

I gave pastor a hug, told him I loved him, and as I walked out the door I was greeted by a young couple traveling through town. My immediate reaction... *sigh... "What do they want?" Calloused by listening to years of stories of stranded travelers, I extended my hand and asked, "What can I do for you?" Many times when I extend this hand, I have already made up my mind that "we have nothing left in our budget for this at this time" or some similar excuse... but today was different... Not that their story was unique or special or that it was even legit, but God's prompting was real and I responded.  "Meet me a the Chevron in the middle of town in a few minutes and we will at least get you to the next town where you can find more help."

A few minutes later I found my self squeezing a gas pump and talking with a young man who needed to see the love of Jesus in action... As I finished pulsing off $20 into his tank, my phone rang... It was a young lady, 8 months pregnant, who had slept in the car with her boyfriend the night before and ended up in the hospital with early contractions.  She had been released with no place to go... Once again I felt the cynical sigh coming on... Can I really believe her story?! But once again I felt checked and found myself saying, "I will meet you guys at the hotel in a few minutes. I am on my way."

With my family waiting at home for me to join them for lunch I found myself pulling out of Chevron on my way to Motel 6... feeling bitter and uneasy about my first day as a lead pastor... Is THIS the way it was going to be?!  Constantly dealing with needy people and no time to focus on our church's program or planning?!

And then it hit me... God impressed clearly on my heart, "The church isn't about the programs... It's about the people." You see... when it comes down to it, it really is simple! Jesus was asked, "What's most important?!" His response was, "LOVE GOD... and out of that love, LOVE PEOPLE!"

In that moment I felt my attitude change... The cynicism turned to compassion... As I stepped out of my car at the motel and extended my hand to the young pregnant girl looking desperately for a room Mary, the mother of Jesus, came to mind... With tears in her eyes she expressed her thanks... Her boyfriend was there as well... As he gripped my hand his eyes filled to overflowing as well... Their sincere gratitude shook me... Their statement, "you're the only church that even called us back" broke me...

Church... somewhere along the journey we have lost the people in the programs! We do everything we can to perpetuate programing that will "attract people" and "appease the saints" when hurting people are crying out for help.  I know it can be hard to discern true need... I know people can be deceptive... I know we need to be good stewards of God's money... but I also know that Jesus said it was MOST IMPORTANT to LOVE GOD and LOVE OTHERS...

I returned home to my family, had lunch, laid down to rest and my phone rang... It was a member of our church on the way to the emergency room with another member of our church who had fallen... And that is a picture of what the church needs to be! It wasn't a call to the lead pastor to say, "You need to take care of this". It was a call to say, "It's taken care of because WE ARE THE CHURCH, but we wanted you, our leader, to know what's going on."

Church... Let's not lose the people in the programming! Let's always remember that it's MOST important to LOVE GOD and LOVE OTHERS... All the rest will fall into place.

It's Time to Grow Up!

He pulled up to the light next to me… inching forward… His engine revving… Without even looking I knew who was there… It was one of those young country boys with an ego bigger than his Wranglers… in his lifted Dodge pickup truck decked out with all the goods, wanting to race off the light through the intersection. How did I know? Because this is a rural, “good ‘ol boy” ranching community and 20 yards after the intersection two lanes will narrow to one.  The race for ego, pride, and ultimately respect in small town livin’ was on!

I gripped the wheel tight… tapped my gas petal, feeling for the response… and waited for the light to change! If I could just get a jump on the light, I could do this… 20 yards, I would be in front, he would be eating my dust and I could slow down before I passed the CHP office up ahead.

He revved his engine again as the crossing light turned yellow, knowing the time was close… I had to take a glance… What I saw made everything within me want to break out in laughter! The “lifted Dodge pickup truck decked out with all the goods” was actually an old, beat up, Chevy work truck… The “young country boy with an ego bigger than his Wranglers” was actually an old roughed up, over the hill, gray hair with a scruffy beard and a Taco Bell burrito in one hand… I did get a couple of things right though… He had an ego bigger than his Wranglers and he wanted to race!

I was caught off guard as the light changed and his engine roared! He got the jump and was halfway through the intersection before I hit the gas on my soccer-mom minivan… trying, unsuccessfully, to hold back the laughter! Had I really just engaged in that nonsense, allowing my mind to descend into the abyss of high school, new driver, stupidity?! I had! And I was so glad that time had long passed!  

But a quick word for the “old roughed up, over the hill, gray hair”… It’s time to grow up brother! You’ve been sitting in that seat too long! The steering wheel cover is showing wear and the dice on the mirror have long since been faded by the sun… It’s time to grow up!

And then conviction sets in… and I see the state of the Church… Sitting in the same seat too long… The wear beginning to show… The dice quickly fading… 

Hebrews 5:11-14 is paraphrased in The Message explaining, “I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you’ve picked up this bad habit of not listening. By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one—baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God’s ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong.”

Church?! It’s time to grow up!

Kassy's version of Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball

Oh What a Journey... for Dan

Life is a journey… full of ups and downs… straightaways and hairpin turns… quick, easy trips and icy, snow covered roads… Friday morning I set out from northern California for a quick trip to Portland, OR.  A 5 1/2 to 6 hour drive straight up Interstate 5 over a couple of mountain passes to the city where I spent 5 spent pastoring.  I headed out early on Friday so that I could beat the winter storm that was supposed to be coming in.  Everything was fine… some clouds and a little bit of rain… and a whole lot of thinking about the reason for my trip. 

I was heading to Portland to celebrate the life of a man who truly touched mine.  A man who supported me, encouraged me, mentored me, and invested in me.  As I drove I thought of the many conversations we shared… some good, some hard… challenging words… deep thoughts… Talks filled with laughter, wisdom, insight… Words centered on Jesus.  

I thought  of the time Dan gave me his son’s car keys so I could get him back for forking my lawn (Wes’s car got spray painted as a result… with Dan’s permission of course!)  I thought of how I always had to guard my plate when Dan was around because whenever we were eating together there always seemed to be food disappearing.  I thought of the picture of the General Superintendent I found staring down at me from the ceiling in my office one day… Dan’s explanation was “He’s watching you.”  I thought about the Sunday morning when I pulled up to the church to find Dan digging in the dumpster… Come to find out he had put a “TRASH” note on my computer monitor and the new cleaning service took him seriously and threw it away.  I thought of him tying my office door closed so I couldn’t get out and me stepping on his oxygen hose :)… 

Then I began to think about how brave he was… leading his church in Brentwood to merge with Central. All of the unknown he faced… What would happen to his people? His job?

I thought about how humble he was… Coming on staff under the leadership of another pastor after spending so many years as a lead pastor.

I thought about how wise he was… so many times giving me the advice I needed as the exact right time.

I thought of how caring he was… investing in a young pastor and his wife… Making sure we didn’t burn out and quit.

I thought about how strong he was… standing up for what was right even when it was hard and it hurt.

I thought about how patient he was… how much he LOVED God and LOVED others… How much he LOVED kids… 

I remember him giving up his pulpit and position to minister because that is what God called him to do.  I remember him spending months in children’s church loving on kids who just needed Jesus.

I began thinking of all the lives he impacted… at Central… At Brentwood… those students who he brought with him to Central from such rough places, but he loved them anyway… I thought even about those at Weaverville… the kids (including my brother) who he counseled at summer camps.  

Dan was an amazing man.  Despite all the physical struggles he faced every day he never complained. He just continued to follow God’s call on his life… His journey, no matter how hard (I am positive it was more difficult than he ever let anyone know) continued… He followed his calling to the end…

About then, on my journey, the rain turned to snow and the road began to get slick… I pulled off in Springfield to get some food and check the weather report.  It didn’t look good… The storm was getting worse and showed no signs of letting up anytime soon.  I decided to hunker down for the night and get a hotel room.  I was informed the service was postponed a day, from Saturday, to Sunday, giving me an extra travel day.

Saturday morning I woke up and waited… I wasn’t going to turn back… Dan was worth it.  The roads were bad, but it looked like things would thaw enough to begin the journey again soon… Just after noon I left Springfield and headed north… and it wasn’t so bad… the roads were wet and a little slushy, but much better than I expected.  Until I hit Albany… the slush turned to ice and the freezing rain began falling…. Then the traffic stopped… the trucker next to me said he had heard over the radio 5 semis were sideways across the road up ahead… *sigh… there was nothing I could do… so I waited. The hour drive from Springfield to Salem took over 3 1/2 hours… passing spun out vehicles in ditches and slipping and sliding even with the four wheel drive engaged.  

I stopped for the night in Salem planning to make the 45 minute/2 hour drive to Gladstone in the morning after things thawed a bit for the 2 p.m. service… I got into my room, turned on the t.v. and heard the news of the snow storm turning into an ice storm… “That’s ok” I thought… “I can still take it slow and make it in time.”  And then I received word that the service had been postponed again… until next weekend.  2 days… 300 miles away from home another 300 miles to get back… 2 hotel rooms, maybe 3… why? It was all for naught.  

But then I got to thinking… THAT’S THE JOURNEY OF LIFE!  Quick, easy trips and icy, snow covered roads… Not sure why you’ve covered the paths you’ve taken… Unsure if you’ve made any difference at all… Feel like you’ve just been spinning your tires and not getting anywhere, but looking back you’ve come a long ways… You’ve covered so much terrain… God called you to go and you went… You didn’t think you’d been making any difference at all, but lives were affected… people were touched… hearts were changed… and even though you may not have seen it, you were a hero to so many along the way.

Dan… You were a humble hero… following God’s call and touching so many lives along the journey… never seeking the limelight or promoting yourself, but serving… like Jesus… You once told me that holiness was about loving God and loving others… that’s it… and that’s how you lived.  I love you friend. Goodbye… until that day, over there… where once again I will be guarding my food. 

Red Brows and Rash Decisions

The other day while getting into character for our youth group's murder mystery dinner I thought it would be fun to darken my goatee with my 14 year old daughter's mascara.  You see, it had gone grey from working with teenagers for close to 20 years and now having one of my own. As I dipped the little brush in the black makeup and proceeded to color my beard I noticed that my eyebrows no longer matched so I decided to color them as well… When I was all done I realized I LOOKED GOOD! I went to the party and was a hit! People loved the new color.

I went home, crawled in bed, rolled over to kiss my wife goodnight and was quickly reminded that I had forgotten to remove the black.  I crawled out of bed, got a washcloth wet with hot water and began to scrub… It didn't take long to realize that mascara doesn't come off that easily.  I rewet the cloth and scrubbed some more, looked in the mirror and still saw black… Once more I rewet the cloth and scrubbed… and scrubbed… and scrubbed… by the time I was fairly satisfied, and my eyebrows were a charcoal grey instead of black, I crawled back in bed and fell asleep.

The next morning I awoke and began my day. Not too long later I began to feel my eyebrows hurting. I looked in the mirror and to my horror saw that the area around my brows was all red and puffy and hurt like the dickens! I realized that in doing something that needed to be done… something that was good to do (especially if I ever wanted to kiss my wife again)… I had overdone it caused damage. I was not gentle enough and used the wrong method and pushed too long for too hard and it had caused more pain than it was worth… The pain lasted for several days until a layer of skin actually peeled and my face returned to normal.

I got to thinking about this experience in relationship to that same 14 year old daughter whose mascara I had borrowed… How many times in raising her have I caused the same kind of unnecessary pain while trying to get her to conform to my wishes? There have been many times when I have done something that needed to be done… something that was good to teach her as she was growing up… some form of discipline or even just teaching her a lesson... when I had overdone it and caused damage.  I had not thought it through and in the moment used the wrong method or become angry and pushed too hard for too long causing more harm than good.  A few times the unnecessary pain even lasted several days until it finally peeled away and everything returned to normal.


Ephesians 6:4 says, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord”. Another version says, "do not provoke your child to anger." I believe that as I raise my daughter "in the instruction of the Lord"… taking time and seeking Him in the decisions that I make, then He will show my how to lead her into truth without losing my cool, making rash decisions and causing unnecessary pain.

Hmmm? Maybe I should've thought about it a little bit before I started scrubbing my eyebrows as well…

Trusting the Wonderings of Christmas

I wonder why…
     Why did Father do it the way He did?
          Why a baby?
               Why a carpenter and young girl who weren't even married yet?
                    Why the last available space in Bethlehem?
                         Why only 33 years on earth and only 3 years of ministry?

I've been listening to Winter Snow, by Audrey Assad and Chris Tomlin (check out this beautiful video of the song by Erik Rutgrink on youtube) and reading through Margaret Feinberg's Unwrapping Advent… trying to get my head around the miracle of Christmas and …
     … I AM AMAZED BY THE WONDER OF IT ALL …

I think the question I am wrestling with the most today is…
     … How did such a minor event in the grand scheme of things chronologically (only really 3 years of the calendar) have such an INCREDIBLE impact on the course of history? …

This Jesus, that came to earth in such a quiet humble way, has impacted
the course of time more than any other person ever …
    … about that I wonder…
          … and yet I trust…

I put my full trust and confidence in this baby and in the carpenter and the young girl…
     … I trust the manger and the ministry…
          …I don't get it… I don't understand all the whys… Why did Father do it the way He did?… but no matter the whys, I choose to trust the wonder.

Keeping X in Christmas

Been wrestling again… This time with the whole Xmas versus Christmas and Happy Holidays versus Merry Christmas deal… I think once again we, as Christ followers, are fighting the wrong battle…

Walk with me here for a bit… "X" is the Greek letter "Chi" which is short for Cristos meaning Christ… So in reality Xmas is Christmas.

Happy Holidays tells me the person sending the greeting is possibly not a follower of Jesus, so it opens the door for me to bless them with a smile and a sincere "Merry Christmas".

The wrestling for me comes when Christ followers get all up in arms about these relatively insignificant issues while succumbing to the consumerist mentality that secular society has forced on this holy holiday and are so concerned with Black Friday and Cyber Monday that they forget about JESUS humble, awe inspiring, wondrous birth.  I mean GOD coming to this earth as one of us… one of His own creation… so that we can be saved from the mess we've made for ourselves!!  And we are so focused on the best deal or the fact that someone replaces the English spelling of Christ with the Greek abbreviation that we totally forget about the baby.

AND if someone is unknowingly or even intentionally wishing "happy holidays!" or writing "Merry Xmas!" in an anti-Christ manner, don't you think we should be should be more concerned about their souls than the way they are celebrating the holiday…. hmmm? Just something to think about… It's deeper than this surface issue… It's a matter of the heart.

I hope your holiday is happy and you are truly able to focus on X this Christmas… The baby born as a man for the salvation of the multitudes… the GREATEST gift of all!