My church recently lost a great man. Actually, I can confidently say that not just our church, but our community lost a great man. As we wrapped up sharing memories of him during coffee hour on Sunday, a few friends (around my age) stood wondering with each other.  We talked about why we looked up to him so much. It was because he communicated with everyone in their preferred communication style (he bought a smartphone so he could text with the “younger” people). It was because he was so consistent. He was the same gentle, loving soul with his family, church family and friends – even on a bad day – and because he genuinely wanted the best for everyone.  “It makes you ask yourself, what kind of person am I?” one of us asked.  And then we joked about how possibly he just had some extra God pieces inside of him from the very beginning. Was he a saintly kid too?  Or did he have to work at it all the time to be able to reflect God’s image with his life? Which is it?  We wondered.  Do … [Read more...]

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lordwas not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.  (1 Kings 19:11b-12) One of my pastoral mentors had a chair where he met with God each morning.  I know others who have a window seat in their house or a corner in a booth in a coffee shop.  Sometimes it is not a place, but a time.  Many meet with God in the morning through prayer or in the evening before they fall asleep.  “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart,” says Jeremiah 29:13. “It’s human nature to park in the same space every time,” a co-worker informed me one morning when I parked in “his spot.”  I joked, “Then, I guess I’m not human.” I like to pick a new seat at every staff meeting. if I were sitting in the congregation in … [Read more...]

If I had to describe myself in three words, I would pick loyal, dedicated and consistent. So, no surprise here – along the lines of our greatest strengths becoming our greatest weaknesses, I am not great at being flexible, spontaneous and unstructured.  I always used to dread the first day of school, because (as an anti-procrastinator) I wanted to get everything done as soon as possible and was overwhelmed by the syllabus.  The only thing that would calm me down was deliberately placing all of the due dates on my academic planner and then finishing everything ahead of time. I still have dreams that I somehow missed taking a science class and cannot graduate on time.  I hate being late; in fact, I’d rather be absent than arrive late (partially because I hate not to be on time, but also because I cringe just thinking about everyone looking at me as I walk into the room late). Yet, even with my preference for routine and regiment, my favorite date of all-time involved being woken up in … [Read more...]

In middle school, I vividly recall when the phrase “nothing personal” became popular.  All of a sudden, we all started saying it.  And pretty quickly, it became the disclaimer or introduction to, “I’m about to say something really mean,” disguised in the short phrase “Nothing personal, but …” “Nothing personal, but you really need to put on deodorant after gym class.”  “Nothing personal, but that sweater is ugly.”  “Nothing personal, but that color just doesn’t look good on you.”  Sadly, middle school mean girls used the phrase to somehow soften really mean personal comments. I have always been abhorred by the accounts of damage the church has done, but it seems especially visible right now.  From claims of sexual abuse by spiritual leaders (and refusal by other leaders to believe these claims) to harassment of women to making people feel inferior because of their sin, so many people have been harmed by the church.  And, as a pastor of a church that is attempting to … [Read more...]

I prefer silver to gold jewelry.  I’m not sure why, but I always have.  I prefer mustard to ketchup, white bread to wheat bread and snowboarding to skiing. Someone asked me recently to explain why I prefer the color green to the color purple. (Give that one a shot – I dare you!)  Sometimes we can easily explain our preferences, but when it comes to why we like to look at a certain color more than another or listen to one type of music versus another, we often cannot pinpoint the reason we enjoy one more than the other.  And even when we can, my preference doesn’t make me right.  And it doesn’t make someone with a different preference wrong.  But, sometimes it seems like life would be easier if that was the case, doesn’t it? I find we often like to pretend that we, as Christians, are exempt from preferences or perhaps that they do not exist for us because the Holy Spirit guides us to the truth — even about whether contemporary worship music or traditional music is better. See where … [Read more...]