My Celebrity Look-Alikes

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A Way to Help on a Ugandan Mission Trip

Joshua Longbrake is leaving soon (this weekend!) for a mission trip to a Ugandan orphanage. A passion of Josh's is photography, and in a blog post, he shares a great way for any/all of us to help his trip have deep meaning for those kids.

For more info, check this out: http://www.thelongbrake.com/blog/2007/02/24/community-photo-project-3-polaroids-for-orphans-in-uganda/

The Way I See It #193

"Let's imagine a 21st century America where families, friends and neighbors gather together at the end of each day in parks and town squares and on street corners and porches, to tell stories and jokes, to sing and dance with wild abandon! I can see and hear it now . . ."

~ Dan Zanes, musician

If I was a betting man, I'd betcha that Dan Zanes is a Christian. I mean, if you think about, in just one long sentence using a handful of words, he's described the Kingdom. He asks us to imagine what community - true community - might look like. Over all that Zanes is describing, there is a sense of rhythm; without it, his image breaks down. Seeing words like those on this particular Starbucks cup are becoming common for me, as I truly feel that God is leading me to a much-needed awareness and understanding of what it means to live my life in harmony with his plans and purposes for me.

Maybe I can do my part to usher in the community life that Dan describes if I will live out these words of Thomas Merton:

The fact remains that we are invited to forget ourselves on purpose, cast our awful solemnity to the wind and join in the general Dance.

Entrance to a New Life

Lent began today. Before Rick Warren, Lent was the original 40 Days of Purpose. Though I come out of a church culture that doesn’t typically invest much time or energy in observance of a huge chunk of the traditional Christian calendar, I have been drawn to Lent for several years now. I suspect the reason for that pull towards this time of year is because for me, discipleship – learning what it means to follow Christ, and doing it – is what gets me stoked.

There are tons of good resources available (many are on the web if you google “lent”) that can help you understand the theology and history of this season. But I thought I’d throw out my take on Lent, if for no other reason than this affords me a chance to actually capture my own thoughts and think them through. So here goes.

In calling his disciples, Jesus says that if you would follow him, you would deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him. In our world today, an extremely difficult part of that equation to flesh out is the “deny yourself” deal. See, between the crazy affluence that we enjoy (whether we admit and/or realize it or not!), and the power that advertising holds over our lives, we consume “stuff” at an incredible rate. More for me, new and improved for me, low monthly payments for me. And all of these things can suck the life out of our . . . life. We end up being controlled by schedules and objects, too often finding ourselves frayed, broken, and out of touch with who we were meant to be. Ultimately, and most dangerously, we lose sight of the One who we are to follow.

And we are in need of repentance. We need to return to our first love. To re-center our lives on the true Center. Lent is the time of the year when our ears are tuned in to the message of the prophet Joel, as he proclaims “Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God.” With sackcloth and ashes, we bow before a God who Joel tells us is gracious and merciful, and in doing so, we find new beginnings. Again.

Fulton J. Sheen wrote, in Lent and Easter Wisdom, these words: “As the cross of ashes is traced on our foreheads on this day, may we be reminded that Christ’s conquest of death is our entrance to a new life.”

AMEN.

Lord, In This Thy Mercy's Day

On Ash Wednesday, from the Episcopal Hymnal:

Lord, in this thy mercy's day,
Ere the time shall pass away
On our knees we fall and pray.

Holy Jesus, grant us tears,
Fill us with heart-searching fears,
Ere that day of doom appears.

Lord, on us thy Spirit pour,
Kneeling lowly at thy door,
Ere it close for evermore.

By thy night of agony,
By thy supplicating cry,
By thy willingness to die,

By thy tears of bitter woe
For Jerusalem below,
Let us not thy love forego.

Judge and Savior of our race,
Grant us, when we see thy face,
With thy ransomed ones a place.

On thy love we rest alone
And that love shall then be known
By the pardoned, round thy throne.

Amen.

Transformation

Driving to St. Meinrad takes you by Patoka Lake. I stopped to snap a couple of pictures, as the lake was undergoing a transformation.

What do you see in these pictures? What is God saying to us through this natural process? Which part of the lake best represents God? What part of the lake best represents you?

Click "Comments" and share your thoughts and ideas!

Whisper

Over the past few days, I've heard whisperings, each calling me back to a truer, healthier, more God-honoring sense of identity. The whispers have come through friends here in Mitchell (XX!), friends in Ohio (Go Wolverines!), friends I don't really know who speak through their blogs (Mark Waltz and Josh Longbrake), through life stuff (here's to boundaries!), and a couple of brothers who are praying (one, a pirate who is looking for throats to slit, and then there's Agent 260).

A key lesson for me in all of this actually comes from Mark Waltz, who posted this on his blog:

One of the most challenging aspects of my role is keeping the main thing the main thing. That is, continuing to be clear on what I'm saying "yes" to, so that I have conviction and clarity on all the things I need to say "no" to. The tyranny of the urgent is one thing; the tyranny of someone else's urgent is still quite another. Is every need a call? Is every opportunity my personal challenge?

No.

It's a simple word. No. A difficult one to practice.

I am planning to spend the day Monday at St. Meinrad. The retreat center there is extremely awesome, and I have a soul thirsty for a day of quiet. This will be time well spent. If you feel so inclined, I would covet any prayers you could offer on my behalf!

Pax et Bonum!

Sami Hornback

Tomorrow marks the 1 year anniversary of Sami Hornback's release from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Sami's life is a beautiful story of how many MANY people lifted a very sick little girl up in prayer, and God listened. And He acted.

Sami's grandpa Mike asked me, as he took a moment to look back over the last year and remember how God has worked in Sami's - and his - life, to once again say "thank you" to all who prayed and supported the family when it seemed that hope could not be found.

Thank you!

Boundaries

God is teaching me important lessons in these days. I got this diagram from a seminar I went to a loooooooooong time ago - I actually don't remember what the conference was, or who presented the talk. But there is wisdom in this simple drawing, and I am trying to allow these truths to shape my life as I realize I'm not being the man I want to be. May this not only be a reminder for me, but maybe for you too. Peace.

If you want a copy of the diagram,

drop me an email and I'll shoot it to you!

A Friend is Baptized!

I was excited and honored to be able to stand in the waters of baptism with my friend Amy Brothers this past Sunday. I was excited for several reasons; first and foremost, because of her commitment to Jesus Christ that she made public, by being "buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, she too may live a new life." [Romans 6]

But I’m also proud of how Amy got to this point. See, this is a perfect example of “doing life together.” Amy was invited to Tulip Street by Jodi Mundy. Those two had some mutual outside interests – their lives intersected – and because of a genuine friendship that grew out of those interests and intersections, the stories of BOTH of their lives are different now, in better ways. When I look at Amy, and consider the friendship that my family is sharing with Mark, Amy and their kids, I see a very cool picture of what can happen when we open our lives up to God’s purposes and seek to live those out. Good stuff - May Kingdom Come!

Communion Prayer

My friend Mark lead Tulip Street into our weekly time of sharing in the Lord's Supper this past Sunday. His prayer was beautiful, and just stunned me as he prayed over us. I share it now in hopes that it will speak to you in the same way. Peace!

Word becomes flesh,
flesh becomes bread,
bread becomes body,
body becomes word.

God is bread,
bread is broken;
pain becomes wine
wine becomes joy.

Wine bursts the wineskins,
God bursts the tomb,
bread bursts into song...

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, God, Almighty.

Amen.

Praying With the Church, February 2007

As an elder of Tulip Street Christian Church, I have the privilege of praying for God’s people who gather there, as well as for needs in our community as they arise. As you read these prayer concerns, I ask that you would join with the great cloud of witnesses that comprise the Kingdom, and make these prayers your own. Simply mouthing the words “Lord, hear our prayers” will be our collective offering of unity under the name of Jesus. May we pray boldly . . .

Susie Hamilton requests prayer for Ben Hartwig who is in therapy after his recent heart surgery. Lord, hear our prayers.

Susie Hamilton has requested we pray for Richard Kern, who is recovering from neck surgery. Lord, hear our prayers.

Jeanna Hill reports that Kathleen Dunn is doing better. The brain tumors are decreasing without medication. Lord, hear our prayers.

Teresa McCoy requests that we pray for Shon and Kim Belcher and family as their home was damaged in a house fire this past week. Lord, hear our prayers.

Annabelle Zile requests that we continue to remember the family of Alice Walton. Alice passed away last week. Lord, hear our prayers.

Kelly Morris requests prayer for her family. Lord, hear our prayers.

Jeff and Debbie Brothers request prayer for their daughter Cassandra; she is continuing to have knee pain and has a doctor appointment scheduled. Lord, hear our prayers.

Warren and Susan Crawford request prayer for their daughter Laura, who will be on a mission trip March 3-24. Lord, hear our prayers.

Songs of Suffering

At Tulip Street, there seems to be a type of worship song that elicits the most response in our gatherings. Songs dealing with suffering seem to “click” with people. For instance, the songs Trading My Sorrows and Blessed Be Your Name seem to pull more emotion out of those we worship with than any other songs we do at our church. The singing is louder and more heartfelt, there are more hands raised, and really there is just a sense of energy in the room during these songs of suffering.

My question is this: What is it about suffering that brings out this kind of response?

Think about that a bit, and add your comments (simply click “comments” at the end of the post). Let’s see if we can get a discussion going about suffering. It’s something that we all face on different levels all throughout our lives – maybe we can help each other out by sharing our thoughts!

Why Men Shouldn't Take Messages

It's always a good thing to laugh a little. Thanks to those of you who have reminded me of that lately.

The Difference One Man Can Make

I’ve let the fuss die down a bit before I make this post. Just about anybody and everybody around here has had blue on the past few days, and Colts fever has been at an all time high. Now, I can declare what we all know: The Indianapolis Colts are the Super Bowl Champions!

To me, there is one guy who enabled the Colts to make this run to the championship. As you might expect, Peyton Manning won the Super Bowl MVP award (which is a crime, if you watched Dominic Rhodes eat up yards and clock in the second half). But Peyton, or even Dominic, is not the guy that I think you can point to and say, “He made a difference.”

That guy is Bob Sanders. #21 missed 12 games this year, and the defense was crippled without him. The run defense especially became something other teams couldn’t wait to match up against. The entire NFL knew that Indy was going to score some points, but they also knew that the Colts defense was going to allow the opposition to stay in the game. That put a lot of pressure on Peyton & Co. and it showed down the stretch as they seemingly fell apart.

Enter Sanders. Against the Chiefs, he was healthy enough to make a start when he was needed the most, in the playoffs. The Colts responded by shutting down Larry Johnson, one of the best backs in the league not named LT. From there, Sanders threw his body around the field, infecting the rest of the defense with his hard-nosed attitude and smash-mouth style, and the Colts went on the beat up a physical Ravens team, and finally clear the hurdle known as the Patriots to make their appearance in the ultimate game that we now know they won. Sanders had a pick in the second half, giving Rhodes a chance to ice the game on the ground.

Colts 29, Bears 17.

One man can make a huge difference, even in a team game like football.

As I’ve thought a bit about Sanders this week, I’ve wondered about my church. We are in the early stages of searching for a Lead Pastor. I am praying for this man, even though I don’t know who he is. I’m banking on the fact that God knows him, and is even now preparing him to lead our church. And I’m anxious to see how this man will take our church – our team, if you will – and infect us with his vision for what God is calling us to be. I trust that when God leads us to his man, that the difference he makes will allow us to change the world, starting right here in Mitchell, Indiana.

Up, ready, break!

rhythm

I woke up tired this morning. No, I didn’t drink too much at a Super Bowl party, thank you very much. But it’s kind of a depressing thing to start a week with your fuel gauge pointing towards “E,” and yet that’s where I’m at in these days.

I just wrapped up one of the busiest stretches I’ve experienced in a long time. Hard on the heels of the Holiday Season came our periodic family gathering that we at Tulip Street call “Moving Ahead.” I served as the moderator for that meeting, and had to deliver a couple of slices of information, speaking on Leadership Development at our church, and the formation of our Lead Pastor Search Team. The week after that, I spoke at both of our morning services, and had to prepare not only to speak, but to locate the materials to build a stone altar with as a visual object lesson for the teaching. The night of my teaching, we held our Annual Meeting. The week after the Annual Meeting, I co-hosted 15 Lehigh customers at our 4th Annual Concrete Technology School. Saturday, we had our monthly Elder’s Study, my son was in a basketball tourney, and then it’s Sunday again, and we stayed up for this football game that is kind of a big deal. And here I am, wondering why I feel beat up.

I guess I wanted to capture all of this as a way of saying “I’m sorry” to a lot of folks. I have dogged a lot of people who have sent me emails lately – you know who you are, and I promise I haven’t deleted anybody's email, and I will reply, but it may be awhile before I get to it. I haven’t posted on my blog in awhile, and I really did have some thoughts I wanted to share, but I couldn’t carve out the time (or sometimes even the energy!). I apologize for not updating the prayer concerns, as we collectively Pray With The Church. I have prayed as I’ve become aware of things, I just haven’t spent the time to post them. I’ve likely snapped at my wife and kids more than usual (to say I never do that would be, um, dishonest). Being busy and/or tired isn’t a good excuse for treating them poorly. But it’s the best I have right now!

So, I went through my usual checking this morning of a few blog sites that speak to me, and ran across something on Joshua Longbrake’s site. He writes:

there are seasons in my life when the phrase everything feels out of control runs too often through my head. anxiety surrounds me. i feel like i’m going from one stress-filled situation to the next, just trying to survive until i can lay down to sleep that night. i absolutely hate that feeling. i can’t stand it.

And that’s me: So many times lately, I sense that I’m caught up in this swift moving current without the ability to control where it’s going. Like Joshua, I hate the feeling. At one level or another, it affects me and others in my life. My heart hurts just thinking about it!

I want to close with the advice of the wise, often bearded, young man who seems wise beyond his years. Joshua closes his post with this, and so will I:

whatever it is in your week that gives you life, do it more and more. find the things that make you more whole and more you. find the things that you think God would enjoy doing as well and make them a rhythmic pattern in your life. God wants you to be whole and full of life. and so do i.