Category Archives: community

On Christian extremism

Posted on by
3

I’ve been thinking a lot about Christians going to extremes recently. Here are some stories that I’ve noticed this week.

I watched a video about Ian and Larissa. They dated for ten months. And then he was in an accident. His brain and body were severely abused. After a long recovery process, where recovery means being able to understand each other, they got married.

Steve McCoy, a pastor, writes about his wife Molly’s struggles with Chiari Malformation. It’s a brain problem. She gets horrible headaches and worse. And there isn’t much that helps. Steve has many posts of their journey.  Recently, in the middle of one of the worst battles, he wrote:

We continue to talk and pray together about the goodness of God, His ability to heal and our request that He would heal Molly, and His power made perfect in weakness and the possibility of the weakness remaining rather than being taken away.

If you would, say a prayer for Molly and our family.

Bob Goff is a lawyer who sits at Disneyland to plan, is a friend of Don Miller, and founded Restore International:

Our goal is simple: to fight injustice. Restore International seeks to find daring and audacious ways to combat human rights violations, including forced prostitution and slave labor. Instead of just talking about it, we want to be actively seeking ways to bring hope, justice, and restoration.

Sunday night, I helped with a concert. A bunch of high school students want to keep young girls from Nepal from ending up in brothels by supporting Tiny Hands International. The free-will offering at the concert was over $6,000. After the event, Jon Andrews from Tiny Hands told them, “When your kids asked you what you did in high school, tell them you saved the lives of kids.”

–

If you found this post helpful or challenging, subscribe to 300wordsaday.com for daily words about following Jesus.

How to answer a simple question.

Posted on by
9

I work at a church. Every Sunday morning, I know that someone will ask me how I’m doing. I know that someone will say, “How was your week.” And I will not know how to answer the questions.

So I decided to figure out how to have an answer.

1. Don’t think, “I wonder why they are asking. I better answer well. They are paying part of my salary.” And get tongue-tied.

2. Don’t think, “Great. They are asking me, I need to ask them, and then we’ll be talking for an hour. And I have to fix the projector.”

3. Every Sunday morning, when you are driving to church, remember that someone will ask you these questions. There is no excuse for being surprised. (If they ask, “why did you drive backwards through the softball field last night,” you can be surprised.)

4. Every Sunday morning, think through the names of the people that you are likely to see. That way you won’t be scrambling to remember. And it’s possible that the review session will give you something to ask first: “How are you feeling after the Boston Marathon?” (Hi bib #13577).

5. Be honest with the person who is asking, letting them know that the reason you keep edging away from them is that you are getting toilet paper for the three empty stalls upstairs.

6. Be honest with yourself that you aren’t nearly as busy at this moment as you would like to believe that you are.

7. Stop rushing for fifteen seconds and look in the asker’s eyes. You’ll find out whether the next sentence is going to be “great” or is going to be “my mother has Alzheimer’s.”

8. Remember that touching, talking, listening, stopping, and speaking truth were all ways that Jesus got involved in the lives of people. People just like me.

–

If you found this post helpful or challenging, subscribe to 300wordsaday.com for daily words about following Jesus. 

Every pencil is different

Posted on by
1

Sharpening a pencail with a knifeI enjoy making birthday cards by hand. I use colored pencils. I always sharpen them with a small Xacto knife, to maximize the lead from each pencil. If I used a pencil sharpener, I would not notice the different types of wood that make up each pencil. Even though my colored pencils all the same brand, the wood of some is harder than the wood of others.

We are all made differently. Even though we know that, deep down we expect people to think and act the same as us. But we need to give each other lots of room to breathe – and exercise the gifts that were designed into who we are.

I met with a pastor friend last weekend, and he said another pastor did not understand why people liked to communicate with phone text messages. That pastor’s view on the subject went far enough that he was in the zone of judging people who texted. (That was dangerous territory – since communicating via text message is a significant avenue for the majority of people under the age of 40.)

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul writes: “In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other.”

Sensitivity. That’s the best way to treat others. We can’t go wrong if we honor others more than ourselves.

(Paul Merrill writes here every First Friday.)

—

For 7×7, see 3.2.12

Saturday reflection: places I read.

Posted on by
Reply

I realized that I don’t often tell you what I read on blogs. So I’ll change that. Here are some posts that have made me smile or weep or build my resolve in the past few weeks. They show you some of what feeds me.

my life as a roadie. A person from our church, this post was a great picture of the other side of the roadie life Andrew (son) lived for the last couple years. Because I know the family, a little, I’m learning more through these posts.

How to read a book. I just started following this seminary blog. I’m enjoying it. This post is particularly helpful. I’m a reader. This framework is a great one. And I agree that some books are worth not reading.

Should leaders have hobbies? I’m not great at hobbies. Terry is much better at this (and a variety of things).

29. Odysseus and I agree. Robby is a lit prof who hasn’t posted much until this year. This year, he’s writing almost daily and I’m getting to enjoy what Hope got to hear in class. (He’s one of her profs). This post is a fabulous defense of liberal arts degrees. I like it because that’s what my degree is.

Roller Coaster Weekend My sister created a blogging persona: Ernestine Edna. EE is an aunt, as is my sister.  But what is written at the blog isn’t fiction, isn’t hidden. It’s real-time memoir. And is a way for me to have glimpses between the statuses. My sister and Hope and Nancy all do this very well, using blogging as public journal, as hearting space. And I am very grateful they do. I remember the things in this post. I remember the rice pudding bowl, and the rice pudding.