I've been hearing this phrase a lot these days. Whether it reverberates around the economy, the election, or the church...more than once I have heard..."well, it is what it is."
A little research finds that the phrase originated with professional athletes...(of course) as they avoided committing to any kind of statement that might come back to haunt them..
The online Urban Dictionary defines the phrase as follows:
A) A phrase that seems to simply state the obvious but actually implies helplessness.
B) A phrase that seems to simply state the obvious but actually means "it will be what it is," as in "it ain't gonna change, so deal with it or don't."
The more I have heard the phrase, the more I think it implies some kind of apathy, and certainly helplessness...it is what it is and I can't do anything about it. Now when you are a professional football player and the team has just lost and you played your best game...it is what it is - a loss. But when talking about the church, or your family situation, or the community in which you live...any where that you have a voice and some part of the outcome - it is what it is, gives up too soon.
"It is what it is", makes me think of "I am who I am;" another phrase that leads us to scratch our heads a bit and we know Moses did too...but there is much more power in I am who I am than in it is what it is. Hear these words from Max Lucado The Applause of Heaven.
Consider the rod of Moses. By this time in his life, Moses had been a shepherd as long as he had been a prince, and he'd grown accustomed to it. Herding sheep wasn't as lively as living with Egyptian Royalty, but it had its moments, especially the moment God spoke to him through a burning bush that didn't burn up. God announced that Moses was his man to deliver the Israelites. Moses wasn't convinced he was the one for the job. God said that who Moses was didn't matter; what mattered was who God was. And God set out to demonstrate.
"Moses" spoke the voice from the bush, "throw down your staff."
Moses, who had walked this mountain for forty years, was not comfortable with the command.
"God, you now a lot about a lot of things, but you may not know that out here, well you just don't go around throwing down your staff. you never know when..."
"Throw it down, Moses"
Moses threw it down, the rod became a snake and Moses began to run.
"Moses!"
The old shepherd stopped.
"Pick up the snake."
Moses peered over his shoulder, first at the snake and then the bush, and then he gave the most courageous response he could muster.
"What?"
"Pick up the snake...by the tail." (God had to be smiling at this point.)
"God, I don't mean to object, I mean, you now a lot of things, but out here in the desert, well you don't pick up snakes too often, and you never pick up snakes by the tail."
"Moses!"
"Yessir."
Just as Moses' hand touched the squirmy scales of the snake, it hardened. And Moses lifted up the rod. The same rod he would lift up in Pharaoh's court. The same rod he would lift up to divide the water and guide two million people through a desert. The rod that would remind Moses that if God can make a stick become a snake, then become a stick again - then perhaps he can do something with stubborn hearts and a stiff-necked people.
Perhaps he can do something with all of us.
The next time we are tempted to utter "it is what it is" remember God hears our needs and answers prayers in the manner that will help us, serve his will and often surprise us.
Trust God in prayer to do what needs to be done to make what it is what God wants it to be and not what we keep it from being....Amen
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Jitterbugging
The Christian journey or Spiritual life has sometimes been likened to a dance. There is the struggle of letting God lead, there is the struggle of keeping up with the rythmn and the pace. Well I'm pretty sure this weekend I was jitterbugging with Jesus!
Many weeks ago, a friend called and asked if I would be able to come to his church and talk about my trip(s) to Mozambique and just share my experiences with the people and the country as his church was thinking about a mission trip in the future. I was glad to have the chance to share my pictures and stories as I haven't done that since I got back in August. So that got on the books, Sunday 6:30 about a two hour drive from home. Great!
Then about 4 weeks ago we received an invitation for a 90th birthday celebration for a dear saint of the church and she asked that I would come and offer the prayer for the meal and of course for the joy of the day. That was on Saturday at 4:00. Great!
Three weeks ago, I had the joy of talking with a woman who had gone through our Grief Support group about three years ago after her husband died of a long illness. Her mourning had turned to dancing and she was getting married to an old High School classmate that she had been reintroduced to at a recent reunion. He too had lost his wife to cancer and a long illness. It is a wonderful thing to be able to see God draw a circle in someone's life and heal the sadness of loss with the joy of reunion. She asked that I officiate at a small family wedding. That would be Saturday at 7:30!.....OK...hmmm, Great!
On Thursday I received a call that a 95 year old child of God had died. She was the beloved mother of one of our church members and had moved to a local nursing home from Iowa a few years back. Our member asked that I officiate at the funeral, 1:00 on Saturday...hmmm...well...yes, Lord...OK. Next day - wait a minute, out of town family can't make it until later, how about Saturday at 3:00? By this time, I'm smiling and seeing what God is up to...OK, I'll step it up a notch. Sure, Great!
Now don't forget I'm also shuttling my football player to practices Friday and Saturday, chaperoning a party at my dtrs middle school, a game on Friday night, laundry, house cleaning...will I ever get to cook for my family again?
But here it is Monday and while I am too pooped to take one more step, what a great dance it was. To honor a dear woman at her memorial service, to join two who had been brokenhearted together to heal their hurts, to celebrate the abundance God continues to give to a nonagenarian, and to worship God amidst a very busy morning and then to culminate by talking about one of the most fascinating and wonderful people and place on earth - I was high stepping and had my flats on! Spun around a few times and even had an encounter with a very gracious Vienna police man who clocked me at 51 in a 35. I think he knew I was headed home and beyond tired. He let me go with a warning and I am grateful and slowed down the rest of the way home.
Thanks be to God for grace to serve, for perseverance when fatigued, for inspiration when needed and for comfort to all who mourn.
I'll take a simple slow dance for just alittle while and then get back to the rock and roll. Thank you Lord, it was great!
Many weeks ago, a friend called and asked if I would be able to come to his church and talk about my trip(s) to Mozambique and just share my experiences with the people and the country as his church was thinking about a mission trip in the future. I was glad to have the chance to share my pictures and stories as I haven't done that since I got back in August. So that got on the books, Sunday 6:30 about a two hour drive from home. Great!
Then about 4 weeks ago we received an invitation for a 90th birthday celebration for a dear saint of the church and she asked that I would come and offer the prayer for the meal and of course for the joy of the day. That was on Saturday at 4:00. Great!
Three weeks ago, I had the joy of talking with a woman who had gone through our Grief Support group about three years ago after her husband died of a long illness. Her mourning had turned to dancing and she was getting married to an old High School classmate that she had been reintroduced to at a recent reunion. He too had lost his wife to cancer and a long illness. It is a wonderful thing to be able to see God draw a circle in someone's life and heal the sadness of loss with the joy of reunion. She asked that I officiate at a small family wedding. That would be Saturday at 7:30!.....OK...hmmm, Great!
On Thursday I received a call that a 95 year old child of God had died. She was the beloved mother of one of our church members and had moved to a local nursing home from Iowa a few years back. Our member asked that I officiate at the funeral, 1:00 on Saturday...hmmm...well...yes, Lord...OK. Next day - wait a minute, out of town family can't make it until later, how about Saturday at 3:00? By this time, I'm smiling and seeing what God is up to...OK, I'll step it up a notch. Sure, Great!
Now don't forget I'm also shuttling my football player to practices Friday and Saturday, chaperoning a party at my dtrs middle school, a game on Friday night, laundry, house cleaning...will I ever get to cook for my family again?
But here it is Monday and while I am too pooped to take one more step, what a great dance it was. To honor a dear woman at her memorial service, to join two who had been brokenhearted together to heal their hurts, to celebrate the abundance God continues to give to a nonagenarian, and to worship God amidst a very busy morning and then to culminate by talking about one of the most fascinating and wonderful people and place on earth - I was high stepping and had my flats on! Spun around a few times and even had an encounter with a very gracious Vienna police man who clocked me at 51 in a 35. I think he knew I was headed home and beyond tired. He let me go with a warning and I am grateful and slowed down the rest of the way home.
Thanks be to God for grace to serve, for perseverance when fatigued, for inspiration when needed and for comfort to all who mourn.
I'll take a simple slow dance for just alittle while and then get back to the rock and roll. Thank you Lord, it was great!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Adam Hamilton responds to economy ?
On September 25, as the U.S. House of Representatives was preparing to vote for the first time on the proposed economic rescue plan, Adam Hamilton, pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, was speaking not far away at a forum on faith and public life. Wesley Seminary president David McAllister-Wilson asked Hamilton a hypothetical question about what he would preach at his church after an economic "worst case scenario" - a scenario that did not differ much from the economic catastrophe that soon followed. Listen to Adam Hamilton's three-minute response on this podcast: http://www.churchleadership.com/audio/101208.mp3.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Stewardship amidst the worse week of the economy in 5 years
We are in the midst of trying to start a Stewardship campaign - even though all the news continues to be very bleak and we hear words like "never before" or "not since the Great Depression" and "Worldwide recession." But is that enough to get us off the hook of giving?
No it is not.
It is a given that the bucket we have to pull from may be smaller, but it is still a spiritual act to give and to give sacrificially. Sacraficial giving is giving that means something, that changes us in some way when we do it. Not sacrifice that hurts us, but that makes us stronger.
So in the pie that God gives us, as we slice it all up and give to the mortgage, the utililties, the credit cards and whatever else we may have, let us not forget to give God the portion that belongs to God in the first place.
Check out: www.worshiphousemedia.com and look for "God Pie" for a great illustration.
No it is not.
It is a given that the bucket we have to pull from may be smaller, but it is still a spiritual act to give and to give sacrificially. Sacraficial giving is giving that means something, that changes us in some way when we do it. Not sacrifice that hurts us, but that makes us stronger.
So in the pie that God gives us, as we slice it all up and give to the mortgage, the utililties, the credit cards and whatever else we may have, let us not forget to give God the portion that belongs to God in the first place.
Check out: www.worshiphousemedia.com and look for "God Pie" for a great illustration.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
10 PREDICTIONS NO MATTER WHO WINS THE ELECTION OR WHAT THE ECONOMY DOES 1. The Bible will still have all the answers. 2. Prayer will still work. 3. The Holy Spirit will still move. 4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people. 5. There will still be God-anointed teaching and healing. 6. There will still be singing of praise to God. 7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people. 8. There will still be room at the Cross. 9. Jesus will still love you. 10. Jesus will still save the lost. ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS REALLY IN CONTROL!
Such distracting days and times
I spoke with a local pastor yesterday who asked if we had good crowd at church on Sunday. I had to say no, it was among the worst Sundays of the year. He was quite relieved because he said the same was true for his small rural church. He said it was the smallest attendance they have had since he was pastor at that church. It was World Communion Sunday, no ice storms, a beautiful day really, and yet so few chose to come to church and offer their worship or share in God's meal of grace and forgiveness.
We continued to bemoan the culture and the times we find ourselves in and with much sadness in our hearts came to the conclusion that what all the experts have been saying about our churches and our faith is true. The churches are shrinking and our Christian faith is not seen as an anchor in the storms by much of the people in the world around us.
I wonder how much we will need to shrink before we go out and share our faith or even share how our faith is helping us through these days of depressing predictions about our finances or our future. Which then leads to the question...is your faith helping you through these days of severe market down turns?
I share this from "The Message" Matthew 6: approx14-3something
"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or - worse! stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!
You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship God and Money both.
If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
Has anyone, by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion - do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and loot at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the coutnry look shabby alongside them.
If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers - most of which are never even seen - don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works, Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
I pray these words meet you where you are...and that there is some light shed on the darkness of these day. And I pray we will choose worship this next Sunday morning.
Peace!
We continued to bemoan the culture and the times we find ourselves in and with much sadness in our hearts came to the conclusion that what all the experts have been saying about our churches and our faith is true. The churches are shrinking and our Christian faith is not seen as an anchor in the storms by much of the people in the world around us.
I wonder how much we will need to shrink before we go out and share our faith or even share how our faith is helping us through these days of depressing predictions about our finances or our future. Which then leads to the question...is your faith helping you through these days of severe market down turns?
I share this from "The Message" Matthew 6: approx14-3something
"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or - worse! stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!
You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship God and Money both.
If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
Has anyone, by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion - do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and loot at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the coutnry look shabby alongside them.
If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers - most of which are never even seen - don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works, Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
I pray these words meet you where you are...and that there is some light shed on the darkness of these day. And I pray we will choose worship this next Sunday morning.
Peace!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
The Shack page 2
Well I finished it! It's a book that has a great imagination around God, the Trinity, and above all it tries to answer the question about why bad things happen, or perhaps where is God when bad things happen. There were a few moments that seemed a little "New Age " to me, but nothing too outrageous. I think it could make for a great book review or perhaps even the centerpiece for the women's retreat this year.
Among the best thoughts: "Because you are important, everything you do is important. Every time you forgive the universe changes; every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes; with every kindness and service, seen or unseen, my purposes (God's) are accomplished and nothing will ever be the same again."
As children of God we are created to change the world, to work for God's healing love in the world, and to share the Love of God that lives within us. That every time we reach someone's heart the world changes is an amazing call for each of us to take in.
And a little bit of light in the darkness of our own hearts.
God bless!
Among the best thoughts: "Because you are important, everything you do is important. Every time you forgive the universe changes; every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes; with every kindness and service, seen or unseen, my purposes (God's) are accomplished and nothing will ever be the same again."
As children of God we are created to change the world, to work for God's healing love in the world, and to share the Love of God that lives within us. That every time we reach someone's heart the world changes is an amazing call for each of us to take in.
And a little bit of light in the darkness of our own hearts.
God bless!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
The Shack
In my season of searching, I am reading "The Shack" by Wm. Paul Young. I am at the halfway point so cannot give it a full review, but I can tell you that you have to read it! The images of God, the questions that it raises and attempts to answer are wonderful. If you are wrestling with God, this is a good place to take your wrestling.
This is a story about a man who encounters a great sadness in his life and in the aftermath, meets with God in a shack in the mountains of Oregon. There he asks questions and receives answers that are profound and what the Bible tries to tell us but what our humanity has twisted and torn.
On the cover, Eugene Peterson who wrote The Message, writes this: "This book has the potenital to do for our generation what John Bunyon's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. It's that good!" Yep, yep...check it out!
This is a story about a man who encounters a great sadness in his life and in the aftermath, meets with God in a shack in the mountains of Oregon. There he asks questions and receives answers that are profound and what the Bible tries to tell us but what our humanity has twisted and torn.
On the cover, Eugene Peterson who wrote The Message, writes this: "This book has the potenital to do for our generation what John Bunyon's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. It's that good!" Yep, yep...check it out!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Oct 1 - Seasons change
What a beautiful hint of Fall is in the air this day! We have finally made it to October, the long summer is passed and Autumn is just around the corner. Twice today I have heard the phrase - "this season in your life." It has caused me to think about what season am I in...and what promise is it leading to? I am in a season of searching, of seeking for God's direction.
One thing about blogging is that I am writing about me and my feelings - I am not writing in the hopes someone will tell me the answers...but rather inviting you into the journey for yourself or along with me. If you see a big rock looming ahead, please don't let me stub my toe, but for the most part I don't write for someone to tell me I'm OK or that I am right or that I'm wrong...but please do tell me what your perspective may be or what you hear God saying....
I am seeking God's direction in finding a vision for ministry and for this church that will transform us into the church God desires. We are standing in history at a time of literally decades of decline. Starting in the 1980's there is a steady decline downward in worship attendance and membership numbers. The world has changed since that time 20 years ago (there is evidence it even began 40 years ago) and the church has not necessarily changed with it. The church is no longer a place where the world looks for answers or comfort or wisdom. We've blown it; our relevancy, our accountability, our trustworthiness have all been lost by the sins of those who came before. So we cannot be a church that exists for itself anymore. If our faith is not strong enough to propel us out into the world to share with others, then it is our obligation to grow that faith, through study, through worship, through sharing with others in small groups. Not a choice, not a worthwhile hobby, not an option, but a must! It is what God asks us to do, it is an expectation of a follower of Christ!
If we do find our faith sufficient to share, then we need to be about ministry that helps the poor, the widowed, the children; ministries that will change their life into disciples that will go and repeat the process for someone else. As lives are changed the world will change.
I pray for a season of hunger and need, so that we may turn to God to satisfy. I pray for a season of anxiety so that we might look beyond the routine to find our comfort. I pray for a season of change so that God's will be done.
As the season of our amazing world changes right before our eyes, I pray that I can change too, into one that can grow and build and share; and reflect the nourishment I've been given (like the autumn leaves), so that the dormant place we find ourselves this day will hold the hope of new life to come. It may be our only hope!
One thing about blogging is that I am writing about me and my feelings - I am not writing in the hopes someone will tell me the answers...but rather inviting you into the journey for yourself or along with me. If you see a big rock looming ahead, please don't let me stub my toe, but for the most part I don't write for someone to tell me I'm OK or that I am right or that I'm wrong...but please do tell me what your perspective may be or what you hear God saying....
I am seeking God's direction in finding a vision for ministry and for this church that will transform us into the church God desires. We are standing in history at a time of literally decades of decline. Starting in the 1980's there is a steady decline downward in worship attendance and membership numbers. The world has changed since that time 20 years ago (there is evidence it even began 40 years ago) and the church has not necessarily changed with it. The church is no longer a place where the world looks for answers or comfort or wisdom. We've blown it; our relevancy, our accountability, our trustworthiness have all been lost by the sins of those who came before. So we cannot be a church that exists for itself anymore. If our faith is not strong enough to propel us out into the world to share with others, then it is our obligation to grow that faith, through study, through worship, through sharing with others in small groups. Not a choice, not a worthwhile hobby, not an option, but a must! It is what God asks us to do, it is an expectation of a follower of Christ!
If we do find our faith sufficient to share, then we need to be about ministry that helps the poor, the widowed, the children; ministries that will change their life into disciples that will go and repeat the process for someone else. As lives are changed the world will change.
I pray for a season of hunger and need, so that we may turn to God to satisfy. I pray for a season of anxiety so that we might look beyond the routine to find our comfort. I pray for a season of change so that God's will be done.
As the season of our amazing world changes right before our eyes, I pray that I can change too, into one that can grow and build and share; and reflect the nourishment I've been given (like the autumn leaves), so that the dormant place we find ourselves this day will hold the hope of new life to come. It may be our only hope!
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