Halloween

Halloween is not the devil's day.  The devil doesn't get a day, because he was defeated on the cross.    Think about that for a moment.  Do you live as if Jesus is victorious, or do you live in a dualistic world where the good God fights with the bad devil for control of your life?  Remember the devil was defeated on cross.  This is our Father's world.

Halloween is the day before All Saints Day.  All Saints Day is the day when we remember those who have lived and died, who have gone before us.  All-hallows eve is the night before, when of course people found reasons to have a party. 

So there is nothing sinister or demonic about any of its origins.  Like any day, it can be made sinister by the misbehavior of humans. 

Halloween is a great day for kids.  Smile at them.  Hug them.  Give them some candy.  Drink some hot chocolate.  Eat some chili.

It is a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Halloween part 3

I keep remembering more good Halloween stuff.  When I was in 8th grade I went to a costume party at the Christian church on Camden Avenue dressed as the mummy.  I remember dancing the entire long version of indagadavida. : )

One year when we lived on Stanton, we had a bench by the front door.  I dressed up in overalls, gloves, and a big monkey head.  We stuffed straw everywhere that I looked like a person.  I sat sprawled on the bench and did not move a muscle.  When the kids would come up the walk, they would stop and ask if that monkey was real.  I would wait until they got right up by me, and then I would twitch.  No noise, no frightening jumping up, but just a twitch.  That was all it took to totally send them into fits of terror.

This year, the girls are coming over and they are going to cook, eat chili and watch scary movies with their mom.  I hope to be at the chiefs game.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Halloween pt 2

When you become a parent, Halloween changes in a big way.  Now you are not just participating in the holiday, you are actually passing on traditions.

When the kids were really little, Cathy would stay home with baby Scottie and I would take the girls out in our blue Plymouth Voyager van.  It was as old as the hills and was the most basic model with crank up windows and all.  We would drive all over Princeton and other than the mass shopping at the Hal England Center, the routine was pretty rough.  Stop van.  Get out.  Open slider.  Unbuckle kids from car seats.  Walk with one on each hand, toddling along up to the front door.  To make it worse, it always seemed to be sleeting on Halloween in Princeton.

When we got done we would sit around and drink hot chocolate that mom would have ready.  We would snack on our collection of treats.  I would steal their Hershey bars and eat them.  We would watch scary movies like the Wizard of Oz.

When we moved to Lee Summit, we joined the gang of neighborhood kids who terrorized Woods Chapel Acres and parts of Lakewood.  They gathered at someones home for pictures, then romped street by street through neighborhood.  The dads would trail along behind at a good distance to the big kids would almost feel on their own.

Back at the house it was the same thing.  Halloweentown.  Hot Chocolate, too many snacks and then off to bed so that Dad can steal your Hershey bars.
Good times, good memories.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

I hate to ask for money

I have to tell you, I hate to ask for money.  It makes me very uncomfortable.  And, frankly, I don't think I should have to do it.  In my little brain, I have this idea that people love their church.  They know that the Bible teaches that we should give 10%, yet 1/3 of those that attend most churches give nothing at all.

I talk to folks, I listen to folks.  They love their church for the most part.  I think, ok, when we joined, we agreed to support the church with our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness- right?  I just think that we ought to go ahead and actually do it. 

So whether it is for a building, the general fund, missions, or something else, I hate to ask.  I just hope that you will give from the heart.

What happens at the church is so important.  So many good things spring from there.  Families helped, marriages saved, kids grow up into fine young people.  Decisions for Christ.  It is all worth it.  In fact, giving to the church is one of the best investments that I have ever made.

So, as uncomfortable as I am about doing so, I will probably need to keep asking folks to give.  We all have to be reminded from time to time that ultimately our spirituality is the most important part of life. 

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Halloween

For some folks, Halloween is an evil time.  For my family, and for me growing up, it was always a fun time.  For as rigid and fundamental as my mother was, all of that went out the window when Halloween came.  She baked and decorated, and dressed the kids up and sent them out the door. 

Side bar, thinking of my mother right now I am reminded that death is such a mysterious thing.  Mom was so alive and happy during the Halloween season - now, well, she is gone............ life is short.

Back to the story.  Mom put a box on the front porch and above it a sign that she hung on the front door of our home.  There was a witch on a broom and she was saying to the kids that would ring the bell, "welcome kiddies, put all of your goodies in the box below.  Go quietly and no one will get hurt."  Mom thought that was very funny.  Looking back on it, it is funny.

1st, 2nd, 3rd grade, we ran the neighborhood by ourselves in the pitch black of night.  We would canvas an eight block area from Wornall Rd to Walnut Street and 96th to 99th.  And oh, the booty to be claimed.  We brought back pillow cases full of candy.  I usually would have to quit, go home and empty it out, and then go back for more.  You had to be careful about this, because if Dad was awake, he would pick thru your loot and eat all the Hershey bars.

Carmel apples.  Popcorn balls.  Snickers.  M&Ms.  Black Cows.  God bless Halloween it was a time of unbridled joy in the life of a young person growing up in the 60's.  And so for some strange reason, I look forward to it every year.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

flat

Someone mentioned to me the other day that I seemed flat and I guess I probably have been somewhat lately. My solution to times like these is to change direction a little or bring something new into my life. So I picked up a book from the "Brinkman top 10" list "Walking on Water" by Anthony DeMello. I opened it to a page I had book marked and read "We have to have the courage to not let ourselves be manipulated."

When we allow others or a situation to control us we lose our self confidence...our direction, and life becomes a struggle. The good thing is when you can identify the problem and correct it, but sometimes we are past the point of being able to identify our problem. That is where the other half of the readers here come into play.....look for those who are struggling...help them find their direction again.

Peace,
Lion's Den Man

what matters

I find it is easy to neglect the people closest to me. The ones that mean the most sometimes get the least recognition for being who they are and for what they mean to me. Some people seem really good at making the effort (maybe it is not an effort at all) to let you know what you mean to them. That stuff sticks like glue and it can be contagious. There is never a bad time to reach out and let someone know you care.

Today, seek out a friend...a loved one...make them smile, let them know that they are on your mind and that are an important part of your world.


Peace,
Lion's Den Man

youth sunday

Yesterday was youth Sunday, and if you missed the worship, I am sorry. It was wonderful.  The kids did an awesome job. 

They were so conversant, so real, so sincere.  I was so proud of our youth program and so proud of our church.

I sat in the 8am service and my eyes were full of tears.  What a blessing.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

helping someone

So you are thinking about helping someone, and you are not sure if it is the right thing to do.  Sure there comes a point when you can help too much, and that becomes enabling, but this is not that.  You have never helped this person before.

Go for it.  Just do it.  What is the harm?  You won’t miss it.  I don’t know but maybe the reason it is still on your mind is that the good Lord is prodding you.

Are you tired of this being on your mind?  Risk it.  Help them.  You will be glad that you did, and you can go back to thinking about other things.

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to do the good.

on meeting new people

This week I am meeting with some new folks.  Some are new to our church and some don’t even attend.  Maybe they never will. 

Sometimes I am an introvert and I want to crawl into a cave and hide.  Other times I am loud and funny [or annoying depending upon your view.]

I always enjoy meeting new people.  New people are an opportunity to get to know another slice of God’s creation.  Who knows what I may learn from them.  And if the moment is right, I will be able to tell all my jokes over again to an unsuspecting audience.

I think my heart goes out to new people.  Who have you met lately?  Did you smile at them?  Someone once said, “a stranger is just a friend that you haven’t yet met.”

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.

seeing the good

Is it possible to learn to see?  To see better? 

Some walk by a tree and don't even notice it.  Someone else looks, sees the tree and acknowledges it.  Someone else cares enough to learn to identify the species of tree and recognizes it as a hackberry.  Another person stops and begins to evaluate the tree- how old is it- has it been recently pruned?  One sees the nest in the tree.  Another parks in the shade and considers the shape and texture of the leaves.

Someone else looks at the tree in it's context.  What is with it.  What is around it.  How does it all go together? 

At some point, we humans contact God's creation and experience the wow.  What started as a tree that we did not even notice, eventually turned into a wow.

Do you notice the tree?  How much did you see?  Can we learn to see more?

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

My dog

Do you remember the Kennelration commercial?  My dogs bigger than your dog, my dogs bigger than yours, my dogs bigger cause he eats Kennelration, my dogs bigger than yours.

This song is sung way too often my people that attend churches.  My church is bigger than your church, my pastor's cooler than your pastor, my church does more missions than your church, on and on we go.

Sometimes people sing this song because it makes them feel better to demean someone else.  That tells you something about someone who needs to do that, doesn't it? 

Please don't ever sing this song.  There are always going to be churches bigger and smaller than ours.  It isn't about any of that anyway.  We should be working together, caring together, loving together, living life together. 

Life is full of competition.  It doesn't belong in Jesus' church.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

I am your pastor

I am your pastor.  I care about you.  If you are unhappy about something, please call me or email me.  Nothing is benefited by you feeling bad or mad.  It is rough on you and it usually won't go away by itself.

I am your pastor.  I love to talk with you.  The best use of my time is meeting with you.  So if you have questions, if you want to talk about life, if you don't like my looks, anything at all, please call me as I am more than glad to sit down with you.

I am your pastor.  I care about you.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs.  1955-2011.  What an amazing man.  How sad that we only had him for 56 years.  Recently I was in a cafeteria and CNN was playing a clip from a speech that he made at the Stanford graduation in 2005.

Here is the video of his speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

Here is the text:
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

During his talk, the noisy cafeteria became quiet.  Every eye was fixed on the TV.  Every ear was straining to listen.  Even the servers stopped their work.  You could have heard a pin drop.

Part of the deep grief of his loss, is that he was so brilliant.  If you own an iphone, an ipad, a mac of any type, if you use itunes, Steve Jobs is a part of your life.  Part of the loss, is that although very successful, he was also very wise, kind and humble.  Part of the loss is that he died at 56.  Wow.  That is pretty young.

His death makes me wonder about how much effort I am putting into my life.  Am I, are we, fulfilling our potential?  Life is fleeting and tomorrow is not promised to us.  How important it is that we live - really live.  L I V E live.  And care and love and make the very most of this precious gift that God has given to us.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams, 1902-1984 was an American photographer, noted for his black and white photos of nature.

Lately, I have been taking some pictures.   I have realized that seeing the good is one thing, capturing it in a photo is another, which allows it to be saved and shared with others.  Since real photographers name their pictures, I am naming the one on the left, "Seagull at Pigeon Point."

I have been taking pictures of trees, flowers, birds and buildings.  I don't know what I am going to do with all of this, but I have some ideas.

One of these days when I have time, I may take a photography class at Longview.  I may sit up at night and photo shop my pictures.  I may delete the bad ones and categorize the good ones and learn how to print them.

I may give them to friends as presents.  I have become Ansel Adams.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

who is a saint

When I first heard the word, I figured that I would never know any saints in my life.  I figured that there are so few perfect people, I will never meet a saint.

Over the years I have learned a couple of things.  First of all, the saints are not that saintly.  Every one that I read about had doubts, sins, trials and trouble.  They were not saints because they were perfect, they were saints because of the way that they responded to life, and lived it out day by day.

The second thing that I would tell you that I have learned about saints, is that I am surrounded by them.  People that go the second mile.  People that turn the other cheek.  People that forgive what others think is unforgivable.  I have watched people love and love and love some more.  I have witnessed sacrifice, commitment and perseverance.

Although each of these people have problems, they qualify to be saints because their lives are not dominated by their problems.  Their problems are dominated by their desire to please God and do the right things, no matter what may come.

I you are reading this, you may be on my saint list.  If you say, "no not me."  Then you probably are.  God loves the humble, hardworking, gracious, forgiving, generous people.  It's ok to be a saint.  In fact, it is preferred.

I don't know about you, but I want to be in that number, when the saints go marching in.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

why I don't like to fly

I don’t like to fly because I hate turbulence.  I don’t like to fly because there is always someone nearby that has a problem.  Their shower broke last year.  They can’t stop talking.  They fall asleep and snore.  They have a screaming child.

So here we are, all crammed onto this plane.  Six across, 30 rows deep.  180 people and there are only two bathrooms.  Whose idea is this?  And did I mention that it is a long way to the ground?

God did not intend us to fly.  If he did He would have given us wings.  Besides, flying is not scriptural.  Didn’t Jesus say, “low, I am with you always?”

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.

beyond guilt

And so there are these passages in Scripture where the apostle Paul rails against the works of the flesh.  Oh, my.  The voices of my parents and my pastors rail and wail and warn me of such behavior.  The voices are so heavy that some days, I don't like the apostle Paul. 

As I work on the sermon for Sunday, I have had a thought.  What if the purpose of these sections was never to be a hammer?  What if the focus should not be on the negative, but on the positive?  What if our grovelling in guilt and delivering guilt to others is simply another work of the flesh?

There has to be something else, something better, something joyful, something good.  God wants us to focus on Him, not on how bad we are.  Let me turn the sentence around, so our last thought is not about us.... as Christ followers we are invited to live beyond mere humanness and move towards a loving walk with our Father. 

How does that sound?

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

the little pony grows up

Once upon a time a pony played in the pasture with his friends.  He laughed and hopped and galloped around.  He ate and drank whenever he wanted to.  He took naps whenever he wanted to.  He just pretty much did whatever he pleased.  Ahh, the life of a pony!

 As the pony grew up, he began to notice that all of the adult horses left the pasture in the morning and were hitched up to wagons.  They were gone all day, and always came back home tired.  The pony wondered what that was all about.

 One day, the farmer came for the pony.  He put a rope around his neck and led him to a corral.  There, the farmer forced a metal bit into the pony’s mouth and began to teach him the ways of the big horses.  The pony would learn later that this process was called “breaking.”  It was aptly named because the experience was not very pleasant for the pony.

 But the Farmer knew that the pony had a purpose that God had created him for.  Difficult as the breaking process was, the farmer stayed with it, because he loved the pony and wanted him to find the joy in life.  Soon, the pony was a young horse.  He was leaving the pasture every morning, pulling wagons to town and plows through the field.  On his way through the farm he would often look back at the young ponies playing in the pasture.  He would smile - he knew what was in store for them. 

 Once upon a time there was a child who played every day.  He watched his Dad go off to work every day and come home tired at night.  The child wondered what that was all about.  Then one day, his Dad got a hold of him….

 It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.

rejection

We all know it and we all hate it.  Rejection is one of this life’s most painful experiences.  I was fired from a job.  My spouse left me.  A family that I love has left the church.  I have been thrown away by a friend.  I was passed over for the promotion.

 All of these things hurt.  Sometimes they hurt bad.  There is no escape, no getting around it.  The pain is real and it keeps coming back.  Every time I think of that situation, it hurts again.

 So what do I do?  What do we do?  Well, you pray.  You pray for the people that hurt you.  You ask God to bless them.  You imagine Jesus standing next to them, loving them.  That helps me.  The other thing that I do is to just press on.  Keep going, keep working, keep living.  There are new jobs, new friends, new opportunities.

 I cannot control what others do, but I can control what I do, and I am going to press on through the pain.  And you know what, life is good.  Life is still good.  There are some thorns on the rose bush of life, but oh, it is still so beautiful.

 It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.