Thursday night we had a great time together at McAllister Center! We enjoyed worshipping God together and praying for our burdens together using our imaginations. After all, God designed us with imaginations and we too many times use them for nothing important, or less than admirable purposes!
So, we began with imagining many things in our pasts to thank God for, then things in our present and then things in our future that He might do in us and we praised and worshipped for all that God has done, is doing, and will do in our lives. Then we took a few minutes to give anyone who wanted to a chance to praise God out loud for how great He is.
We have learned through the weeks that in many things we can worship. This week it was obviously about using our imaginations and minds to give thanks to God and to talk to Him. In past weeks we have worshipped to simple things like how marvelously He created our hands, to using crayons and paper to worship Him with writing and pictures and paper, to listening to the sounds around us to worship and noticing how wonderful the things we hear can be, to singing praise songs to Him. The truth is, this is all an attempt to do two things, 1) to help people worship God who are not as “into” the songs and worship type that we see in most churches – this being a point to our group, to help people find God who have not found church to be the best place for them to do it and 2) to begin to help people see that we can worship all the time, if we begin to simply notice the things around us and how wonderful God is that He has made all this earth and all the things in it!
After our rather unorthodox worship time, we took some time to pray to God for our hurts and burdens, our fears and losses, our concerns and worries. We imagined Jesus, in all His glory in heaven, and then imagined Him looking down at us. We then imagined our pain or hurt or issue in our hands and turned our hands out to Him to give Him the problem – which the Bible says He wants to take from us – and then we opened our hands like cups to receive His blessing, forgiveness, peace, joy, love, etc. in the place of the problem we had just given to Him. It was a nice time of quiet imagining and thinking about God. I left the time feeling much more free in my spirit…
Having spent time worshipping and praying, we had some teaching. This week’s teaching was really the first for what will be several months of teaching and learning along the topic of What is More than More? What do we mean? The teaching began and ended with the same questions.
Why do you get up in the morning?
What is your motivation for living?
What lights your fire?
What are you passionate about?
What is your reason for all you do?
The scripture we used was from Ecclesiastes, which is a book in the Old Testament of the Bible, and we used the Message translation, which is simply the way someone interpreted the Bible into modern language.
Here is the passage:
Ecc 1 “Smoke, nothing but smoke…There’s nothing to anything- it’s all smoke. What’s there to show for a lifetime of work, a lifetime of working your fingers to the bone? “What I’ve concluded is that so-called wisdom and knowledge are mindless and witless-nothing but spitting into the wind.” “I said to myself, “Let’s go for it-experiment with pleasure, have a good time!” But there was nothing to it, nothing but smoke.” “Oh, I did great things: built houses, planted vineyards, designed gardens and parks…then I acquired large herds and flocks, larger than any before me…I piled up silver and gold loot from kings and kingdoms, I gathered a chorus of singers to entertain me with song, and-most exquisite of all pleasures-voluptuous maidens for my bed. Oh, how I prospered…everything I wanted I took-I never said no to myself. I gave in to every impulse, held back nothing. I sucked the marrow of pleasure out of every task-my reward to myself…Then I took a look at everything I’d done, looked at all the sweat and hard work. But when I looked, I saw nothing but smoke. Smoke and spitting into the wind. There was nothing to any of it. Nothing.”
“The smart and the stupid both disappear out of sight.”
“We work to feed our appetites; Meanwhile our souls go hungry”
This seems an awful lot like American Society. Granted, not many people are really working these days at acquiring large flocks and herds, but some people definitely are acquiring large flocks of electronics and large herds of sexual conquests… The question is where does all this pursuing of more lead? The author of Ecclesiastes suggests that it is all “smoke.” We run and run and run after stuff – often times with the stuff in the end simply controlling us as our credit card bills pile up and we work from early to late to simply make the minimum payment.
With much thought and prayer, I came up with a list of general categories that I think Americans run after – the “more” we pursue. These things are not bad by themselves, but when they control us and become our reason for living, for getting up in the morning, the thing that we think most about, dream most about, work most for, they end up in…well that’s where we’re headed in the next meetings.
Here’s the list (if you have any to add, please let me know!):
…money & wealth – “If I could only win the lottery! Think of what my life would be like. If I could just work hard enough, train hard enough, maybe I can make tons of money and have it all.”
…fun & pleasure, “I’d quit my job and just play, have fun all day, party and party and party all day, all night. Girls/Men, fine food, the finest hotels, fanciest clothes, whatever my heart desires”
…family & children, “I’d give my children and family the best. Quit my job, invest in them totally, the best schools and education, the best clothes, the best teeth (we’re working on orthodontics now!), playing with them and helping them grow and become.. I’d invest in my relationships, my husband, my friends, grow them all strong.”
…fame and achievement, “I’d become the best in my area. I’d rule the company, the town, the country. I’d be a great race car driver, the best in my field. I’d publish studies or books, change the face of the world with my greatness. I’d prove to my dad, my mom, those people who picked on me, to everyone that I really am somebody”
…fitness, strength, and beauty, “I’d be the strongest, toughest, most powerful, leanest, most beautiful, most perfect body, most sensual, most sexy, the most defined, ripped, cut. I would fit the mold of everyone’s perfect woman or man. Everyone would desire me and want me.
…religion and right living…”I’d be the wisest, holiest, most starched, never swearing, never grumpy, never miss a church service, always read my Bible every day, always have my private prayer time, always control my temper, never make a mistake, totally sanctified, and make sure everyone else knows how they fall short too,”
The truth is that I run after these things far too much of the time. When I look at where most of my time is spent, it is in the pursuit of one of these way too much. It grieves my heart.
We are going to be looking at each of these, one by one, over the next several get togethers (the next will be 6/12 at 6:45 at McAllister Center – see previous posts for directions) to see where they lead in the end. We will even be having some guests join us who have pushed one or more of these roads to the end of the line and they will be sharing their experiences with us. The great news is that even as all these “more’s” (again although none are bad by themselves and in the right perspective) in the end seem to lead to smoke, or in another word to nothingness, if they are the main drive to our lives, there is a More that truly is satisfying and wonderful and makes all these others come into the right perspective in our lives. He is the More that is More than the more that we chase! Jesus is More than more! You see, you were made to be something so awesome and great, and in Him, all the things in this life fall into their correct place. Money, instead of ruling us, becomes a tool to life fully. Achievement becomes something that can be part of something much larger than just “being the best” and on through the list we could go. You see, all of the things on the list above have value, they just are not meant to be the ultimate value in our lives.
We concluded with a song, “My Generation” by Starfield. I have tried to attach the mp3, but can't seem to - sorry
Here are the words:
There is something more
Hello, we're going down the hallway to the door
We know there's something more
Our soul has a got a hole
We know but what's it waiting for
Scattered in the street
Like dreams and destiny
The things we wanna be
Are scattered in the streets
If we're coming clean
We've seen to know we're incomplete
Chorus: How do we feel, how do we feel
My generation is aching for real
Dyin for love cryin for truth
My generation is aching for you
Country of our own
Is all we're asking for
A place to call our home
A country of our own
We know it must be close
Our souls are searching through the cold
The cold, the cold
Chorus: x3
How do we feel, how do we feel
My generation is aching for real
Dyin for love, cryin for truth
My generation is aching for you
And so, the questions…
Why do you get up in the morning?
What is your motivation for living?
What lights your fire?
What are you passionate about?
What is your reason for all you do?
Be thinking about it and we’ll hope to see you on June 12th!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
This Thursday
We are a group of people dedicated to searching for more than the everyday American "mores" that we search for. We look for this in a relationship with Jesus Christ, God's son. We do it in a very different way than the usual specifically so that people who may not be interested in church, or who have had bad experiences at church,or just haven't found a church they fit in with, can feel more comfortable with the whole thing!
This Thursday we will be meeting again at McAllister Center in Lafayette,
2351 North Twentieth Street
Lafayette, IN 47904-1155
765-476-4585
from 6:45-8:00 PM.
There will be free, reliable childcare, as always.
We will have a great time...we hope you can make it.
Hope to see you there!
Jason and Melissa
This Thursday we will be meeting again at McAllister Center in Lafayette,
2351 North Twentieth Street
Lafayette, IN 47904-1155
765-476-4585
from 6:45-8:00 PM.
There will be free, reliable childcare, as always.
We will have a great time...we hope you can make it.
Hope to see you there!
Jason and Melissa
Friday, May 23, 2008
Sprinklers and Expectations
The other day I had one of those days I’d rather forget. Not that there was nothing good at all about the day, but that the sense that I had when I came home for the evening was that I just had not measured up (to what? I’m not sure). I felt flat. It was as if there was something I had missed in that day that God had wanted from me. Somehow in the hustle and bustle of the world, His mission had become lost and I had not measured up (there it is again). The thing is that I lived that day, as I live most of my days, talking to God, searching for His will, trying to notice His wonder and mission throughout the moments of the day, battling back the American lifestyle and push for more and more and more. As I felt this general dissatisfaction for my day, I began to rehearse some of the day over in my head and I could not see where I had gone wrong…or where God had left me to my own and allowed me to not measure up (uh oh – this is becoming a trend). It seemed to be another day…to be honest I had really committed the day even more than usual to Him, for a variety of reasons I had been praying about this day for quite a while and specifically praying that God would use me in this day and make it an awesome day for his kingdom.
Soaking in all this frustration and lostness, as I came home, it was getting really dark, and yes, just like a movie, it was raining. Now, it’s May in Indiana and so rain is not any particular surprise, but it was not just any rain. It was the kind of rain that makes you glad you have an attached garage, pouring out of the air like from the end of the water slides at the water park…just that there were like a million water slides. Water was standing everywhere, and the creek by our house that I can typically wade across, looked more like a muddy raging river. We pulled into the garage. I, quite miserably by now, between the storm going on inside me and the storm outside, moped and frowned my way to my bedroom, to change into pajamas as the kids got ready for bed, the whole while with this “Why me?” and “What did I do wrong?” and all running in my head like a one way conversation that I liked to think was me crying out to God, but was really more complaining. I walked into my bedroom and went to close the blinds. That’s when I saw something so pitiful. I characterized how I felt to such a passionate degree that, in spite of my fatigue, I wanted to sit down a write a country music song about it…but I just never got the time that night.
What was it? The sprinkler. There, in the middle of my garden, with little plants soaking up the bucketfuls of rain and with giant puddles surrounded by shear mud, sat the sprinkler. It was not running, just ludicrously sitting there, as if to say, “Why am I even here? There’s no need for me. All this is well watered and watering is what I do. My entire purpose for being is lame. I have not measured up (yup!).” The sprinkler looked so stupid and lame and pitiful, there in the middle of all those puddles, I felt an immediate kinship with it – I know what kind of person finds kinship with a sprinkler? But really, I just felt like in that day, that I had felt held such promise; That day that I had such plans for being used mightily by God; That day that I had prayed about and over and through that He would take and use me powerfully to spread His Word; In that day, I was like that sprinkler. It wasn’t that God had stopped His kingdom work. He was pouring it down like water at the end of the water slide…times a million. It wasn’t that I wasn’t willing, I was. It was that the impact that I was having was small. In fact to me, it seemed insignificant, especially at that moment. I was a sprinkler dropped into the middle of a flood.
But the story doesn’t end there. I was going to write out my desperation and frustration that night, but never got to it. There were things to do, and I was tired, so when all was finished and in its place for the night, I crashed out. I got up the next morning, and went downstairs to my usual weight lifting/ listen to some preacher on MP3/crunches/prayer time and found that my MP3 player was not available, my shoulder was in serious pain from restarting softball (welcome to the late 30’s buddy!) and I just couldn’t bring my self to do crunches. So, I sat down and began to pray. But, as I began, there was a very real sense that this was not going to be a “usual” prayer time. My heart began to break for Christ and His love for me and the people around me and He poured out His Spirit all over my basement. It was a wonderful time of basking in His presence. When I opened me eyes and saw that it was time for morning hoops with the guys, I was almost sad to have to leave my basement sanctuary, but I certainly had a fullness of God’s love in me heart. Well, basketball came and went, and then to the hospital, where I visited a sweet little newborn given into a wonderful Christian family. We shared an awesome time of prayer, worship and blessing over her and her parents and then I went on to my office. And, you know what? God had lined up for me, from people who worked with me, to patient after patient, individuals desperately seeking God. They came in their brokenness, they poured out their frustrations and inabilities. We shared their hurts and losses and the wonder of a God who loves them so much, He gave all He had to give. Not a dead God, but a living One! Time after time I reached into the bounty of His love for me and gave it as a gift to these wonderful people. I can’t tell you how many conversations I barely even remember because the Holy Spirit turned exam rooms into Holy places! They left, one by one, and their dryness, the cracked soil of their lives, the painful parchedness of their circumstances found some of God’s life giving water. Now, please understand, I am not taking credit for any of this, God chose to use me and my glory goes to Him, but hear the message loud and clear. God knows more than I do. His ways are higher than my ways! He is the master and I am His servant. And if He chooses to allow me to be frustrated at how my plans have fallen short of “measuring up”, to prepare my heart to be in a place that He can use it more completely, then please frustrate away!
By now I am quite sure that many of you are beginning to get the point to the “measure ups” in this little story. The truth is that my tendency to feel a need to “measure up” is deeply rooted. It provokes me to try to do and be with what I have within me something significant. It is not all bad – It motivates me to keep moving forward and trying to be more God’s man. But, I must remember two things frequently. First, that I have nothing to prove to God. He knows me and that I have all this need to prove stuff and nothing I achieve or fail at will ever change His opinion of me. He loves me…completely and totally! Second, I must remember that “all things work together for the good of those” and “His ways are higher than my ways”. I am reminded of how Bryan McClaren (whether you agree with everything he writes or not) describes God as operating at a place that is so above what we can even imagine, that we really have no idea of the grandness and awesomeness of His plans. Of course, His level interacts with our level all the time, but the grand play, the big scheme, the whole tomato if you will, is beyond our grasp. Sometimes, it is so cool to think that God uses my stupidness to end up giving Him glory, just as much as my (small) wisdom. In this case, how would I have guessed that my broken dreams and sprinkler sitting in the flood imagery of the night before would be the perfect way for God to put me in the place the next morning to minister so powerfully for Him? Obviously, not me.
So, if you struggle with what your place of ministry is. If it seems you search and pray and struggle and are just not sure of what it all comes to. Even if your heart is exactly in the right place but it seems you just aren’t “measuring up” to the expectations you or someone else has of you. Please hear this clearly, if you will just grope and search and pray and even scream out to God. If you will truly do everything you can to let go of yourself and all that you hold. If you will for real go after God, and trying to love Him and be in true relationship with Him, you cannot fail. What you achieve may be something far different that what you expected. And there may be many times when you feel like a sprinkler in a flood. But believe me, in the end, you measure up…and the water you disperse…may be the very drops needed to save the life of someone thirsting to death!
Soaking in all this frustration and lostness, as I came home, it was getting really dark, and yes, just like a movie, it was raining. Now, it’s May in Indiana and so rain is not any particular surprise, but it was not just any rain. It was the kind of rain that makes you glad you have an attached garage, pouring out of the air like from the end of the water slides at the water park…just that there were like a million water slides. Water was standing everywhere, and the creek by our house that I can typically wade across, looked more like a muddy raging river. We pulled into the garage. I, quite miserably by now, between the storm going on inside me and the storm outside, moped and frowned my way to my bedroom, to change into pajamas as the kids got ready for bed, the whole while with this “Why me?” and “What did I do wrong?” and all running in my head like a one way conversation that I liked to think was me crying out to God, but was really more complaining. I walked into my bedroom and went to close the blinds. That’s when I saw something so pitiful. I characterized how I felt to such a passionate degree that, in spite of my fatigue, I wanted to sit down a write a country music song about it…but I just never got the time that night.
What was it? The sprinkler. There, in the middle of my garden, with little plants soaking up the bucketfuls of rain and with giant puddles surrounded by shear mud, sat the sprinkler. It was not running, just ludicrously sitting there, as if to say, “Why am I even here? There’s no need for me. All this is well watered and watering is what I do. My entire purpose for being is lame. I have not measured up (yup!).” The sprinkler looked so stupid and lame and pitiful, there in the middle of all those puddles, I felt an immediate kinship with it – I know what kind of person finds kinship with a sprinkler? But really, I just felt like in that day, that I had felt held such promise; That day that I had such plans for being used mightily by God; That day that I had prayed about and over and through that He would take and use me powerfully to spread His Word; In that day, I was like that sprinkler. It wasn’t that God had stopped His kingdom work. He was pouring it down like water at the end of the water slide…times a million. It wasn’t that I wasn’t willing, I was. It was that the impact that I was having was small. In fact to me, it seemed insignificant, especially at that moment. I was a sprinkler dropped into the middle of a flood.
But the story doesn’t end there. I was going to write out my desperation and frustration that night, but never got to it. There were things to do, and I was tired, so when all was finished and in its place for the night, I crashed out. I got up the next morning, and went downstairs to my usual weight lifting/ listen to some preacher on MP3/crunches/prayer time and found that my MP3 player was not available, my shoulder was in serious pain from restarting softball (welcome to the late 30’s buddy!) and I just couldn’t bring my self to do crunches. So, I sat down and began to pray. But, as I began, there was a very real sense that this was not going to be a “usual” prayer time. My heart began to break for Christ and His love for me and the people around me and He poured out His Spirit all over my basement. It was a wonderful time of basking in His presence. When I opened me eyes and saw that it was time for morning hoops with the guys, I was almost sad to have to leave my basement sanctuary, but I certainly had a fullness of God’s love in me heart. Well, basketball came and went, and then to the hospital, where I visited a sweet little newborn given into a wonderful Christian family. We shared an awesome time of prayer, worship and blessing over her and her parents and then I went on to my office. And, you know what? God had lined up for me, from people who worked with me, to patient after patient, individuals desperately seeking God. They came in their brokenness, they poured out their frustrations and inabilities. We shared their hurts and losses and the wonder of a God who loves them so much, He gave all He had to give. Not a dead God, but a living One! Time after time I reached into the bounty of His love for me and gave it as a gift to these wonderful people. I can’t tell you how many conversations I barely even remember because the Holy Spirit turned exam rooms into Holy places! They left, one by one, and their dryness, the cracked soil of their lives, the painful parchedness of their circumstances found some of God’s life giving water. Now, please understand, I am not taking credit for any of this, God chose to use me and my glory goes to Him, but hear the message loud and clear. God knows more than I do. His ways are higher than my ways! He is the master and I am His servant. And if He chooses to allow me to be frustrated at how my plans have fallen short of “measuring up”, to prepare my heart to be in a place that He can use it more completely, then please frustrate away!
By now I am quite sure that many of you are beginning to get the point to the “measure ups” in this little story. The truth is that my tendency to feel a need to “measure up” is deeply rooted. It provokes me to try to do and be with what I have within me something significant. It is not all bad – It motivates me to keep moving forward and trying to be more God’s man. But, I must remember two things frequently. First, that I have nothing to prove to God. He knows me and that I have all this need to prove stuff and nothing I achieve or fail at will ever change His opinion of me. He loves me…completely and totally! Second, I must remember that “all things work together for the good of those” and “His ways are higher than my ways”. I am reminded of how Bryan McClaren (whether you agree with everything he writes or not) describes God as operating at a place that is so above what we can even imagine, that we really have no idea of the grandness and awesomeness of His plans. Of course, His level interacts with our level all the time, but the grand play, the big scheme, the whole tomato if you will, is beyond our grasp. Sometimes, it is so cool to think that God uses my stupidness to end up giving Him glory, just as much as my (small) wisdom. In this case, how would I have guessed that my broken dreams and sprinkler sitting in the flood imagery of the night before would be the perfect way for God to put me in the place the next morning to minister so powerfully for Him? Obviously, not me.
So, if you struggle with what your place of ministry is. If it seems you search and pray and struggle and are just not sure of what it all comes to. Even if your heart is exactly in the right place but it seems you just aren’t “measuring up” to the expectations you or someone else has of you. Please hear this clearly, if you will just grope and search and pray and even scream out to God. If you will truly do everything you can to let go of yourself and all that you hold. If you will for real go after God, and trying to love Him and be in true relationship with Him, you cannot fail. What you achieve may be something far different that what you expected. And there may be many times when you feel like a sprinkler in a flood. But believe me, in the end, you measure up…and the water you disperse…may be the very drops needed to save the life of someone thirsting to death!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Tonight 5-15
Hello everyone! We had a good time tonight worshipping, praying and sharing concerns and then learning a little too. Then sharing communion over Melissa's zucchini muffins and grape juice.
Our worship tonight was an exercise in praising God for the sounds around us. We thanked God and talked to him while we listened to a series of sound clips...which I have tried to attach to the blog entry...but have been unable- if you want it, please email me. It was different and fun to see how worshipping God can be as simple as quieting our hearts long enough to hear all the wonderful and awesome things around us that God has made and then talking to Him about it. If you want to try it, just let me know, and I will forward you the playlist and you can set aside a few minutes to worship to the sounds we listened to!
Our discussion centered around an article in the Lafayette Journal and Courier this week about searching for the meaning of life - here's the link - http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=LIVING. We had a good discussion about this article and what the meaning of life and purpose of life really is. The interesting thing about the article is that the same person who didn't believe in meaning in life and believed that life was accidental believed that all people found purpose in their own way and that some examples of that would be to "find purpose in honoring God, teaching, helping the homeless or raising a family," he said. "These are all the correct purpose for each person and they find meaning in that." The interesting thing is that this guy who claims to not believe in purpose seems to believe that Christ-like purposes like the ones he names are worth while.
Isn't interesting that even the skeptics of Christianity end up often simply helping us explain the Truth that we believe? In much the same way as we talked about a few weeks ago that Ghandi used Christ's behavior patterns and techniques to get wonderful results for India - this guy is asserting that purpose and meaning might just come in the actions that Christ taught...like honoring God, teaching, helping the homeles or raising a family. The trick is that Christ didn't teach to do it because it is right, or because you want to have meaning - He taught to do it because it overflows from your heart full of love - a heart that is full of joy and satisfaction and meaning in life with the meaningful actions simply and naturally flowing out from that. It is a much better way to live. Some might even say it is the More of More than More!
We then introduced a new path of learning we'd like to travel down over the next several weeks. The lessons are based out of Ecclesiastes and in them we will be following some of the paths to "More" that we as Americans frequently travel down and seeing what tends to prompt them, what they can lead to, etc. We may even have some people in to talk who have followed these paths to the very end, to talk about what they found there.
We also plan to continue to search for new and different ways to worship. And at least one of our meetings this summer will be outside.
Well, if you missed the time we shared, we're sorry - but we hope to see you 5/29 - 6:45-8:00PM at McAllister!
Our worship tonight was an exercise in praising God for the sounds around us. We thanked God and talked to him while we listened to a series of sound clips...which I have tried to attach to the blog entry...but have been unable- if you want it, please email me. It was different and fun to see how worshipping God can be as simple as quieting our hearts long enough to hear all the wonderful and awesome things around us that God has made and then talking to Him about it. If you want to try it, just let me know, and I will forward you the playlist and you can set aside a few minutes to worship to the sounds we listened to!
Our discussion centered around an article in the Lafayette Journal and Courier this week about searching for the meaning of life - here's the link - http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=LIVING. We had a good discussion about this article and what the meaning of life and purpose of life really is. The interesting thing about the article is that the same person who didn't believe in meaning in life and believed that life was accidental believed that all people found purpose in their own way and that some examples of that would be to "find purpose in honoring God, teaching, helping the homeless or raising a family," he said. "These are all the correct purpose for each person and they find meaning in that." The interesting thing is that this guy who claims to not believe in purpose seems to believe that Christ-like purposes like the ones he names are worth while.
Isn't interesting that even the skeptics of Christianity end up often simply helping us explain the Truth that we believe? In much the same way as we talked about a few weeks ago that Ghandi used Christ's behavior patterns and techniques to get wonderful results for India - this guy is asserting that purpose and meaning might just come in the actions that Christ taught...like honoring God, teaching, helping the homeles or raising a family. The trick is that Christ didn't teach to do it because it is right, or because you want to have meaning - He taught to do it because it overflows from your heart full of love - a heart that is full of joy and satisfaction and meaning in life with the meaningful actions simply and naturally flowing out from that. It is a much better way to live. Some might even say it is the More of More than More!
We then introduced a new path of learning we'd like to travel down over the next several weeks. The lessons are based out of Ecclesiastes and in them we will be following some of the paths to "More" that we as Americans frequently travel down and seeing what tends to prompt them, what they can lead to, etc. We may even have some people in to talk who have followed these paths to the very end, to talk about what they found there.
We also plan to continue to search for new and different ways to worship. And at least one of our meetings this summer will be outside.
Well, if you missed the time we shared, we're sorry - but we hope to see you 5/29 - 6:45-8:00PM at McAllister!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Link for Directions
McAllister Recreation Center
Address:
2351 N 20th St
Lafayette, IN 47904Get Directions
(765) 447-9354
Address:
2351 N 20th St
Lafayette, IN 47904Get Directions
(765) 447-9354
This Thursday
If inside you you feel a longing for something more than the usual that we all climb for in America.
If you are wondering if there are people who will be real with you and care about you for who you are, not just who you pretend to be.
If you have been thinking that there must be more...and that maybe it is in God, but you aren't sure.
If you want to look at these thoughts closer, but are not sure church is right for you.
If you have been to church because the idea of God sounded like it was worth a try, but church didn't seem to fit you very well, or if you had a bad experience in church.
You should come to More than More.
We will be meeting at 6:45-8:00 PM at McAllister Center - see link in the post below for the address and map.
If you are wondering if there are people who will be real with you and care about you for who you are, not just who you pretend to be.
If you have been thinking that there must be more...and that maybe it is in God, but you aren't sure.
If you want to look at these thoughts closer, but are not sure church is right for you.
If you have been to church because the idea of God sounded like it was worth a try, but church didn't seem to fit you very well, or if you had a bad experience in church.
You should come to More than More.
We will be meeting at 6:45-8:00 PM at McAllister Center - see link in the post below for the address and map.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Lawsuits and other Fears
I am a Family Practice doctor. It is a special type of ministry that you should never attempt unless called to it. It is full of joys and pains and wonders of all sorts. But, as with anything that involves being responsible for large numbers of peoples’ lives, it is also very stressful. One of the most stressful parts is the fear of malpractice law suits. The average doctor at least gets sued once in their lives, many more than once. Add to that the fact that many of the suits are more about people’s feelings than true mistakes and that sometimes juries see bad things that happen naturally to people and they want someone to help (and who else is there to help but the doctor?) and it can be downright scary!
In light of all this, I got an envelope today. In the corner was marked Laszynski & Moore, Attorneys at Law. It was a very formal looking envelope. The kind where the contents inside can plunge you into months of uncertainty and eventually end your career…AAAAAAAH!
Ok, I’m back now, deep breathing helps! Now understand, I get envelopes from attorneys from time to time and they usual are nothing more than records requests from accidents, etc. But, every time I see one a little voice inside me freaks out just a little. In fact, I almost always feel compelled to open it right away. Today was no different. I shakily took the envelope in my hands and ripped it open, reached inside and, filled with fear pulled out…a kids magazine advertising a horse riding camp? Yes, even I, as relieved as I was, was majorly surprised! It turns out that a patient of mine works for this law firm. She loves horses and she and I speak nearly every time we meet about my daughter Emily’s love of horses. In her horse riding reading, she had come across this ad and wanted to share it with me. She even put a little note on the front to explain what had sparked her interest. Obviously, my fear faded and I went on to the next patient.
The thing is I see an awful lot of humanity in this simple event. In fact, it hits particularly close to home right now. In the last week, a very close person to me has judged me by what they saw on the envelope, rather than opening up things all the way and seeing that what is inside is nothing like what was expected. I found myself reeling in pain at the idea that this person could believe such a thing about me, yet I seem to be unaffected by my attitudes regarding the homeless man who used to stand on the corner, the person with the multiple piercings who always wears black who wants to be able to look me in the eye and see the love and acceptance of Jesus there, the divorcee who wants to be loved the same as she was before she was divorced, that person who loves the choruses or that one who loves the hymns, and on and on I could go. It destroys us and our ability to convince anyone that what we have is anything they would want. The truth is that we people, but worse, we Christians are so pitifully unChristlike in this area. In fact, my initial response to my betrayal was to, unbelievably, see only the envelope. I was ready to crucify this person for not loving me for who I am. In my pain, I neglected to see the person who was misreading my package and judged far too harshly myself. I was no better than they.
Jesus was so awesome at this being non-judgmental. Over and over, He was able to see right through the envelope to the cool ad inside. He took it really to extremes though, even seeing the lack of understanding in the people who were killing Him, and begging for their forgiveness while he died. The problem is that, while I want to be like Jesus, I’m not. He was God! He could see into those people’s hearts! Like I can do that! Sometimes I’m glad to be able to sit still long enough to look my wife in the eye, much less see into someone else’s soul.
So, here in the 21st century, how does a judgmental guy (and church) get past our tendency to freak out over the envelope and always be looking for the really cool stuff that lies underneath that little flap?
The answer lies in a couple things. First, we must realize that if we were judged by our envelopes, we would all be worthless. Even though we may think we have it all together, the right clothes, the right talk, the money, the house, whatever, it is all just envelope and the real guts of who we are lies in what is inside the envelope. Our soul, our integrity, our passion, our love, our joy, our empathy…these are the things that really give us our value – really, it is the things God gives each of us in our hearts that give us value. So, once we begin to say with Sanctus Real, “I’m not all right” and actually more than say, but really begin to believe it and even embrace it, we are on our way to getting past our judging by the envelope. You see, once you determine that your real worth is the same as everyone else and that God gives it all anyway…what’s the point to judging?
The second thing that I think is key to overcoming our envelope judging selves is to begin to think like Jesus. I know this may seem like, ”Yeah, duh, great plan Hendrick,” but let me explain what I mean. The thing that made Jesus so amazing was that He was God, yeah, but He was also completely and totally in tune with His Father. When Jesus spoke, He said what the Father would have said if He had been there. When He went somewhere, it was exactly where the Father would have gone. They were totally in sync. I believe that we are called, as Christians, to move along this same road throughout our entire lives! No, I am not whacked in the head! Think about, we are called to be like Jesus. It is all over the New Testament!
So, how do we do this? I suggest you begin by taking your “I’m not all right” self and talking to Jesus about it. Start by asking Him to simply show you how to love. Start talking to Him about loving Him and loving people every hour each day. Voice your frustrations, celebrate your victories. Ask him in the quiet of your heart, right at the moment, or even right after, if it’s too late, that you find yourself encountering a tendency to judge, to show you the way and change your heart to His heart. Start reading the Bible, but instead of just reading it like a “I must get my chapter in for the day”, pray first for God to open the pages into your heart and stop when you sense something special and drink it in deeply, all the truth you can savor. Share with a close friend or two the areas you’re struggling with and have them pray with and for you and you pray for them. In these ways we break the chains of judging and move closer to the heart of Jesus.
I can’t speak for you, but as one who has both freaked out about an envelope that looks scary and had his own envelope freaked out about. I will, for the rest of my life, seek to move closer and closer to the One who really understood all the fuss about envelopes and cool ads in the first place. I hope you will too.
In light of all this, I got an envelope today. In the corner was marked Laszynski & Moore, Attorneys at Law. It was a very formal looking envelope. The kind where the contents inside can plunge you into months of uncertainty and eventually end your career…AAAAAAAH!
Ok, I’m back now, deep breathing helps! Now understand, I get envelopes from attorneys from time to time and they usual are nothing more than records requests from accidents, etc. But, every time I see one a little voice inside me freaks out just a little. In fact, I almost always feel compelled to open it right away. Today was no different. I shakily took the envelope in my hands and ripped it open, reached inside and, filled with fear pulled out…a kids magazine advertising a horse riding camp? Yes, even I, as relieved as I was, was majorly surprised! It turns out that a patient of mine works for this law firm. She loves horses and she and I speak nearly every time we meet about my daughter Emily’s love of horses. In her horse riding reading, she had come across this ad and wanted to share it with me. She even put a little note on the front to explain what had sparked her interest. Obviously, my fear faded and I went on to the next patient.
The thing is I see an awful lot of humanity in this simple event. In fact, it hits particularly close to home right now. In the last week, a very close person to me has judged me by what they saw on the envelope, rather than opening up things all the way and seeing that what is inside is nothing like what was expected. I found myself reeling in pain at the idea that this person could believe such a thing about me, yet I seem to be unaffected by my attitudes regarding the homeless man who used to stand on the corner, the person with the multiple piercings who always wears black who wants to be able to look me in the eye and see the love and acceptance of Jesus there, the divorcee who wants to be loved the same as she was before she was divorced, that person who loves the choruses or that one who loves the hymns, and on and on I could go. It destroys us and our ability to convince anyone that what we have is anything they would want. The truth is that we people, but worse, we Christians are so pitifully unChristlike in this area. In fact, my initial response to my betrayal was to, unbelievably, see only the envelope. I was ready to crucify this person for not loving me for who I am. In my pain, I neglected to see the person who was misreading my package and judged far too harshly myself. I was no better than they.
Jesus was so awesome at this being non-judgmental. Over and over, He was able to see right through the envelope to the cool ad inside. He took it really to extremes though, even seeing the lack of understanding in the people who were killing Him, and begging for their forgiveness while he died. The problem is that, while I want to be like Jesus, I’m not. He was God! He could see into those people’s hearts! Like I can do that! Sometimes I’m glad to be able to sit still long enough to look my wife in the eye, much less see into someone else’s soul.
So, here in the 21st century, how does a judgmental guy (and church) get past our tendency to freak out over the envelope and always be looking for the really cool stuff that lies underneath that little flap?
The answer lies in a couple things. First, we must realize that if we were judged by our envelopes, we would all be worthless. Even though we may think we have it all together, the right clothes, the right talk, the money, the house, whatever, it is all just envelope and the real guts of who we are lies in what is inside the envelope. Our soul, our integrity, our passion, our love, our joy, our empathy…these are the things that really give us our value – really, it is the things God gives each of us in our hearts that give us value. So, once we begin to say with Sanctus Real, “I’m not all right” and actually more than say, but really begin to believe it and even embrace it, we are on our way to getting past our judging by the envelope. You see, once you determine that your real worth is the same as everyone else and that God gives it all anyway…what’s the point to judging?
The second thing that I think is key to overcoming our envelope judging selves is to begin to think like Jesus. I know this may seem like, ”Yeah, duh, great plan Hendrick,” but let me explain what I mean. The thing that made Jesus so amazing was that He was God, yeah, but He was also completely and totally in tune with His Father. When Jesus spoke, He said what the Father would have said if He had been there. When He went somewhere, it was exactly where the Father would have gone. They were totally in sync. I believe that we are called, as Christians, to move along this same road throughout our entire lives! No, I am not whacked in the head! Think about, we are called to be like Jesus. It is all over the New Testament!
So, how do we do this? I suggest you begin by taking your “I’m not all right” self and talking to Jesus about it. Start by asking Him to simply show you how to love. Start talking to Him about loving Him and loving people every hour each day. Voice your frustrations, celebrate your victories. Ask him in the quiet of your heart, right at the moment, or even right after, if it’s too late, that you find yourself encountering a tendency to judge, to show you the way and change your heart to His heart. Start reading the Bible, but instead of just reading it like a “I must get my chapter in for the day”, pray first for God to open the pages into your heart and stop when you sense something special and drink it in deeply, all the truth you can savor. Share with a close friend or two the areas you’re struggling with and have them pray with and for you and you pray for them. In these ways we break the chains of judging and move closer to the heart of Jesus.
I can’t speak for you, but as one who has both freaked out about an envelope that looks scary and had his own envelope freaked out about. I will, for the rest of my life, seek to move closer and closer to the One who really understood all the fuss about envelopes and cool ads in the first place. I hope you will too.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
A Rather Odd Snack
The other day I was in my office,doing what I do, playing with a little boy. He was probably not more than 18 months or so. I was explaining to his mom the expectations of this and that and the plan of treatment here and there. Then, as I began the conclusion to the visit, which usually includes an "Anything else you can think of you wanted to talk about today?" The little boy's mom and I looked down and saw his big sister. She had been walking around the room, playing and talking to herself during the visit - generally having fun and staying out of the way - which to a mother of two, is an extremely good thing!
Well, it turns out, during the concluding moments of the visit, she had decided to have a little snack. After all, she was entitled...I am not always running on time and doctor's offices can certainly stimulate an appetite! So there she was and her mom and I were both flabbergasted to see what she had chosen as her snack.
She stood there, smiling broadly, chewing on the sole of her shoe! Now, this is a great mom, and as soon as she was over the shock of it, she got the shoe from the mouth to the foot and all was fine...after all there are dirtier things in doctors offices, but we won't go there.
But this whole thing got me thinking...there are so many times that I eat shoes! Stay with me here. All around me are great things to eat, healthy foods, junk foods, candy, pizza, pumpkin bread, cheesy eggs, cereal (you just have to know me to understand that one!) and on and on. Yet there I stand, gnawing on a dirty, worn down and downright soggy shoe! What I really need is some yummy food, but for some reason I really have a hard time leaving the shoe.
You see, I spend so much time applying my energy to things that not only don't matter, but have little if any value at all in the grand scheme of things. I spend time watching hour after hour of TV. I spend tons of time worrying. I spend countless hours arguing with people over doctrine and the right way to do this or that or the other. I work extra so that I can buy more. I spend time discussing whether this money should be spent to do this project or that project or whether it should be saved...gnawing on shoes!
All the while right on the road to my office, day after day after day, sits a wonderful couple, who we helped out last night, who really needed some help. While helping them I feasted on real food! No shoes there!
All the while, in the rooms in my house, there are people whose needs sometimes go unnoticed - a feast waiting to be eaten - and why? - because I am preoccupied with the sole of the shoe I am working on at the moment.
And you know what else, I have no idea what deep hurts and needs the people in the houses around Don and Sue Peters may hold...or the people in the houses around mine either for that matter. I am just too busy.
But caring for real people, really noticing them, learning to love them and appreciate how wonderful they and the world around us are,really seeing what is important about life - this is when we leave the shoes and move on to the fried chicken!
I pray for you and me - that we will get off our shoe habit and start eating and drinking deeply of the "food" that really matters in this world. This is the kind of life that Jesus lived - a savoring one.
Well, it turns out, during the concluding moments of the visit, she had decided to have a little snack. After all, she was entitled...I am not always running on time and doctor's offices can certainly stimulate an appetite! So there she was and her mom and I were both flabbergasted to see what she had chosen as her snack.
She stood there, smiling broadly, chewing on the sole of her shoe! Now, this is a great mom, and as soon as she was over the shock of it, she got the shoe from the mouth to the foot and all was fine...after all there are dirtier things in doctors offices, but we won't go there.
But this whole thing got me thinking...there are so many times that I eat shoes! Stay with me here. All around me are great things to eat, healthy foods, junk foods, candy, pizza, pumpkin bread, cheesy eggs, cereal (you just have to know me to understand that one!) and on and on. Yet there I stand, gnawing on a dirty, worn down and downright soggy shoe! What I really need is some yummy food, but for some reason I really have a hard time leaving the shoe.
You see, I spend so much time applying my energy to things that not only don't matter, but have little if any value at all in the grand scheme of things. I spend time watching hour after hour of TV. I spend tons of time worrying. I spend countless hours arguing with people over doctrine and the right way to do this or that or the other. I work extra so that I can buy more. I spend time discussing whether this money should be spent to do this project or that project or whether it should be saved...gnawing on shoes!
All the while right on the road to my office, day after day after day, sits a wonderful couple, who we helped out last night, who really needed some help. While helping them I feasted on real food! No shoes there!
All the while, in the rooms in my house, there are people whose needs sometimes go unnoticed - a feast waiting to be eaten - and why? - because I am preoccupied with the sole of the shoe I am working on at the moment.
And you know what else, I have no idea what deep hurts and needs the people in the houses around Don and Sue Peters may hold...or the people in the houses around mine either for that matter. I am just too busy.
But caring for real people, really noticing them, learning to love them and appreciate how wonderful they and the world around us are,really seeing what is important about life - this is when we leave the shoes and move on to the fried chicken!
I pray for you and me - that we will get off our shoe habit and start eating and drinking deeply of the "food" that really matters in this world. This is the kind of life that Jesus lived - a savoring one.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Showing what we mean by More than More
Yesterday we had so much fun spending our first evening showing what we mean by More than More! We helped Don and Sue Peters, a couple who really needed some help getting ready to move.
It was an awesome time of hanging out, making new friends and doing something that was so much more than the usual things that our society pushes for. But it was so much more fun and rewarding than "the usual stuff"!
We concluded the night with a time of communion of pumpkin bread (thanks Melissa!) and banana muffins (thanks to the other Melissa!)and grape juice gathered around Don, who has had a heart transplant and is very weak still, and then a final word of prayer...praising the God who gives such love into our lives!
We will be doing this every couple months, so if you know people who might need some help like this, let us know!
Our next meeting will be 5/15, back at McAllister 6:45-8:00PM...more to follow - check out previous posts for the directions!
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