Snapshots and Synapses

February to February is not your typical time to do a “Year in Review”, but I’ve never been labeled as typical. In fact, I’ve often joked that the only thing truly consistent about me is my own inconsistency. So since I’ve been in this atypical mode all my life, I’ve decided to write a longer-than-usual blog that explains why I am not planning on planting a church. I journal, usually daily, in the cheapest, small notebook I can purchase. You’ve probably seen them in the store: manila cover, thin-lined and about half the size of a 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper. I’ve done this for decades, and while the nature of my journal has changed through the years, it serves as a reminder of what God has taught me in that time period. My current notebook started in February 2010 and was completed on 2/27, so following my habit of the past several years, I’ve reviewed the contents… reliving some of the trials and victories of the past 12 months. It’s been a hard year, but a good year. So long story shor...

How sad when the Church fails to reflect Christ… and by “Church”, I mean the collection of people that make up the universal church, not a specific person or denomination. Without going into a lot of details, shortly after I started getting more involved in my local church, I discovered that the church could be every bit as exploitative as the world. I found out that oftentimes: a person’s value in the church was proportional to the time, talents or money that they contributed it was okay to gossip so long as you put it in the form of a “prayer request” in practice (or should I say “malpractice”), accountability and submission to authority were often control techniques freedom and grace could be used to excuse a rebellious attitude In reading Scripture, I’ve noticed that the only words of criticism Jesus had were for religious authorities. But I also see that one of His ending prayers was for these very same people: “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.” So as ...

In the late nineties, I taught at a Christian school in the Orlando area. As I was interviewing, I was asked the question: “Have you been given any extraordinary gifts of the Spirit?” My response was sincere: “Are there any gifts of the Spirit that are truly ordinary?” This caused the people in the room to laugh with me, and the interview continued without any further probing into my beliefs about spiritual gifts. I got the job and we moved from the Washington D.C. area to Orlando. The school was part of Reformed church that had very specific beliefs about the gifts of the Spirit, and it was at our first Sunday service I discovered the real meaning of the question I had been asked in my interview: in a sermon on spiritual gifts. Now, there is the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, etc.), and there are gifts of the Spirit. I had grown up in a liturgical denomination and wasn’t familiar with the term “extraordinary gifts”. For me, the gifts of the Spirit were all lumped into one cat...

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a vast, heavenly army appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom He is pleased!” - Luke 2:14 (NET Bible)  Good News? The headlines are filled with almost everything but! Peace??? Where? 2010 has been a flurry of a year! How can anyone argue with that? 2000 years after Christ’s birth, we see wars, famines, etc. Where is God in the midst of suffering, violence, sickness, and death? I’ve heard good questions like these, and to be honest, I don’t know if my answer would satisfy the person that has these questions, but I have an answer that satisfies me. It all has to do with the words of the ...

I was reading a book on marriage discussing the concept of making your own happiness. The author wrote that the human mind is like a computer that regularly receives programming: positive talk reinforces a positive outlook while negative talk promotes a negative outlook. The author continued to identify “self-talk” as the thoughts we allow ourselves to think repeatedly that have the same impact on our perspective. Now, I believe that happiness flows from our response to circumstances, which in turn comes from our ability to find joy, and according to Scripture, joy is a fruit of the spirit. So spending time with God allows the fruit of joy to fill us… but we need to agree with the truth He reveals to us for the fruit to grow. Our thoughts need to be conformed first to His way of thinking (1 Cor 10:5, Phil 4:8). I’m not always good at putting this into practice, but I’ve resolved to program my way of thinking so I can respond with joy and happiness to the circumstances of the day. In ...

“Here, you must need this dollar more than me.” The man said with a note of aggravation in his voice. It took my lunch companion and me by surprise. We didn’t know what he was talking about, but taking a tip from Proverbs 15:1 (“A mild answer calms wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”), we asked some questions to try and figure out what had happened. Intending to be courteous, my wife had moved her purse out of the way as the man sat down in the crowded café. This was a habit I’ve seen her do consistently through the years out of consideration. But the man, an African-American, took offense at her actions as an insult to his integrity. We talked about it, but in the end, I don’t know if he felt the respect and consideration we were trying to convey. The years and even generations of mistreatment doled out by someone with my skin color blocked the good will my wife and I wanted to show this man. I see this tragedy work its way into the lives of my kids as well: an intended display ...

When I was little, my parents would sing a slightly modified nursery rhyme: I see the moon; the moon sees me;      the moon sees somebody I’d like to see. God bless the moon; God bless me;      God bless the somebody I’d like to see. It seems to me that God above      created you for me to love. He picked you out from all the rest      because He knew I’d love you best. As I started having children of my own, I’d sing this song to them, and my guess is that they will pass this on to their children. Romantics have often gazed into the night sky and looked upon the beauty of the moon, inspired with thoughts of love. But the first time I was truly struck the moon’s radiance, was at Disney World. As the day at Disney came to a close, the customary end-of-the-day fireworks started exploding over the castle. Now the folks at Disney put on a good show, and the fireworks are part of the package, do...