The Deep End

Over the past few weeks I've been re-reading Eugene Peterson's book, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places. It's worth a second read....and a third. When I came to page 310, I read an already heavily underlined section, with notes in the margin. It's just great, and I used the quote below to begin my teaching last Sunday at church.

“Anyone who joins a church expecting to be part of a happy and harmonious gathering of put-together people sooner or later is in for serious disappointment. We can also suspect that such a person hasn’t read the Scriptures very carefully. There are exceptions, occasionally quite glorious exceptions, but Christian communities, all of them are communities-in-progress, baptized sinners in various stages of development in the life of love.

“Men and women are not admitted to the community by presenting credentials of love skills, nor do we maintain our place in the community by passing periodic peer reviews on love. We are here to be formed over our lifetimes into a community of the beloved, God’s beloved who are being formed into a people who love God and one another in the way and on the terms in which God loves us.

“It’s slow work. We are slow learners. And though God is unendingly patient with us, we are not very patient with one another. Outsiders, observing our embarrassingly slow and erratic progress in love, wonder why we bother. Well, we bother because God is love: he created us in love; he saved us in an act of love; he commanded us to love one another.

“Love is the ocean in which we swim. So what if many of us can only wade in the shallows, and others of us can barely dog paddle for short distances? We are learning and we see the possibility of one day taking long, relaxed, easy strokes into the deep.”

I love this passage because it communicates so well what lies at the heart of a God-designed life: living as a beloved child of God and growing in that love so that we can pass it along to others.

I love Peterson’s words because they summarize our church’s (and my own) raison d'être. And even more, they describe what I actually see going on among our church....i.e. we are fulfilling our life purpose!

I am part of a phenomenal church community. And we are learning, slowly and imperfectly, but surely, to take long, relaxed strokes in the deepness of God’s kingdom of love and grace. We are learning about how to truly live the blessed life! How great it is!

Wells for Africa: Coins Edition

Last weekend my church ended a four-week season of thinking about, praying for, and donating money towards the building of our 9th freshwater well in Africa. The weekend was highlighted by two events. On Saturday we invited friends and neighbors and enjoyed an outdoor benefit, "Concert in the Courtyard," with live music and tasty BBQ'd burgers with all the fixings you can imagine. And the children got a bonus of playing on an outdoor playground and zip line.

And then on Sunday our church gathered for a big Wells for Africa Celebration, highlighted by worship music, teaching and the bringing of all our coins to drop in the "Wells for Africa" water jug. Coins came from everywhere--underneath sofas, in cars, in dresser and kitchen drawers, inside Tupperware containers and piggy banks (see picture).

The Sunday celebration will undoubtedly go down as one of the most memorable weekend services in our church's history! I will never forget the joy on every child's face as we filled the large water jug full to overflowing with coins for the digging of our 9th well. (In coins alone, we raised just under $1,000.) And I will always be grateful and strengthened in my faith when I remember the moving experience of singing "How Great Is Our God" alongside so many friends, as we celebrated God's goodness and his undeniable presence among us that day.

I know Halloween is still a couple days away, but it feels like we got an early jump on the Thanksgiving season!

I Found An Acorn

I found an acorn on the ground a few days ago. It was a perfectly formed acorn, olive-green with its “hat still on,” as my daughter put it. I looked at it for a few moments and then put it in my pocket. I’ve paused to look at it many times since the day I found it. There is something about that acorn that reminds me of God’s perfection, his love of beauty and his love for me.

And it reminded me that if we’ll stop and notice, there are signs of God’s love and perfection everywhere…
• In a smile.
• A hug.
• The fresh breeze that undeniably hints of autumn’s arrival
• Two scoops of Breyer’s Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream.
• A pine cone.
• A freshly washed and waxed red sports car.
• A clear, blue sky
• The night sky
• A U.S. Open tennis match…the athletes, the New York night, the crowd
• The smell of freshly cut grass
• A firm, sweet strawberry
• A hot shower
• A glass of ice water, especially when you're really thirsty
• A bird, a squirrel, a deer, a butterfly, a dog and even a cat
• A soft pillow
• A firm handshake
• Laughter
• A campfire
• In an olive-green acorn with its “hat still on”

The list is endless. Have you stopped? Have you noticed?

4 Days, 4 Books, 1 Story

I've spent time, each of the last four days, reading the Gospels—Mathew, Mark, Luke and John. Four books, one story.

But rather than critically examining each verse or dissecting the message of a particular chapter, I chose to read one gospel each day, in one sitting. In addition, I tried to do so NOT as a pastor, and NOT even as a Christian, but from the perspective of someone who knew nothing about Jesus. I wanted to meet Jesus for the first time.

After reading the last gospel, I jotted down a few conclusions from my four-day adventure. I share them with you below.

1. Salvation is more about a life lived now than about a destination in the future.

2. Jesus’ call to us, that we follow him, is crystal clear. And he wants all or nothing. For someone to call him- or herself a Christian without desiring to actually be a devoted follower of Christ in daily practice is completely ridiculous.

3. The gospels offer you and me fabulous and credible hope.

4. Jesus is smart.

5. Jesus is humble.

6. Jesus is relentless in the pursuit of his calling.

7. Jesus loves me……more than I’ll ever understand.

Would you do this? 4 Days, 4 Books, 1 Story.

Not Just Fireworks, Baseball, Hot Dogs and Apple Pie

Several years ago I traveled with my family to Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington D.C. We took in all the familiar sights, tracing much of the history of the American Revolution.

I was reminded of that trip this week as I read the book Patriots: The Men Who Started The American Revolution. It’s a good, fairly fast read. And this weekend I am moved and inspired, again, by the hearts and minds of our founding fathers.

I believe that when one reads about and remembers the vision and sacrifices of those who gave so much to guarantee our freedom, it does great things to that individual's heart, mind and will.

So this weekend let’s enjoy the fireworks, baseball, hot dogs and apple pie. But let’s also remember the freedom we enjoy and the sacrifices of the men and women, the Patriots, who were authors of the American Revolution and of our nation.

Don’t let the weekend pass without at least re-reading the Declaration of Independence or “google-ing” one of these names/words that evoke so much emotion and inspiration:

John Adams

Ben Franklin

Samuel Adams

Alexander Hamilton

Thomas Paine

Thomas Jefferson

Paul Revere

Patrick Henry

George Washinton

John Hancock

Richard Henry Lee

The Boston Tea Party

Lexington and Concord

Bunker Hill

Battle of Saratoga

Valley Forge

Battle of Yorktown

From our Declaration of Independence

“We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness……For the support of this Declaration with the firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

And finally, this weekend I am reminded of the words of Ronald Reagan, our 40th President…

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”