"Hump Day" is bittersweet. It's the middle of the week and it's either half over or there's half left, depending on your mood or the week. As a Church of Christ "lifer" (that's not a great term, but descriptive nonetheless) I am used to going to Bible Study on Wednesday evenings.
Now, in the bible, you won't find any reference to Wednesday evening Bible Studies. However, in Acts 2:46, we read that "Every day they [the early Christians] continued to meet together in the temple courts." Wednesday night Bible Studies have always been an opportunity to get a charge during the week to prepare yourself the rest of it.
However, over the last 5 years or so, I have come to just about dread them.
Why? There are a number of reasons, but it comes down to the fact that they just don't charge me up anymore.
To start with, just about every congregation I have been to attempts some sort of "devotional" before or after the Bible classes. This sounds like a good idea, but it ends up being so devoid of emotion and praise that it's depressing and embarassing. Everything is by rote and our minds are no where near where they should be. We walk through these cursory devotionals like zombies.
Inevitably, there is some diatribe of announcements and prayer requests. The really interesting part of this habit is that the people that attend on Wednesdays, are typically the "core members" (those that you see the most and try to be at the building when the "doors are open"). They already know 95% of these announcements because they are up to their necks in these events. We are "preaching to the choir", so these announcements become even more repetitive and boring than normal.
When we finally get to class, the problems are just starting.
The participants (especially kids and teenagers) are so distracted and tired that studying anything with the slightest bit of meat in it is frustrating at best. When I was teaching middle-schoolers I used to ask them for "20 minutes". What that meant is that I only expected 20 minutes of their attention, more than that was just not going to happen. I stopped trying to prepare lessons with any level of complication, they just couldn't (or wouldn't) handle it.
Even if you have a group of people that really want to study and dig into God's word, you get about 30 good minutes, by the time everyone has entered the classroom and is good and ready to get started. There are almost always more announcements and then chit-chatting and more prayer requests and then...
Lately, I have had to just about drag myself to Wednesday Bible study.
I wonder if we should just make it a social event with a decent devotional. Atleast, people could do what they really want to do (talk and relax) and we could come away refreshed and ready for the rest of the week...what an idea!
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Friday, February 11, 2005
Amazed, Stunned, Awe-struck
I believe in the power of prayer, just when I start to forget why, God reminds me of his awesome power, understanding and love.
Lately, I have had to travel quite a bit, which is unusual for me. In some ways it has been good for me, but in many other ways it has complicated my life. Over the last few weeks I have been working on a "travel schedule" so that everyone at work knows when to expect me and, more importantly, my family will know when I'll be out of town.
After I was done, the schedule looked tight...very tight. I had to squeeze all that I could out of it and still in the end I felt guilty that I would not be at the client location enough and more importantly that I would be away from home more than I wanted to be.
To make matters worse...
This week, the client that I am working with just won two large accounts that will more than double their workload. This fired off alarms in my head. How am I going to squeeze some more time away from home when I'm already gone enough?!? I had reserved myself to the ominous reality that I would have to revise my schedule again to spend more time away from home, but how?
Last night on the plane I spent some extra time praying to God before the flight took off (I always pray before each takeoff). Among my normal pleadings for a good flight and to take care of Stacy and the boys I asked God to show me what to do. Not just guide me in the right direction, but to pick me up and carry me to my next destination to take my hand and drag me so that I could make all of this work. I told him that I didn't have any good answers.
He did.
Today, due to a "knee jerk reaction" from someone some levels above my head here at work, my scheduled travel was terminated. Just like that. There are some stupid reasons behind it and someone really isn't thinking. It was really a fluke, a vice-president saw me up there a few days ago and thought that my time would be better spent down here.
At first this made me quite angry. But, after I had some time to cool down and while I was driving to lunch, it hit me in the face...
I asked for this! I ASKED FOR THIS! How on earth could I have forgotten so quickly?...I asked for this!
I asked God to grab my hand and get me out of this...and that is exactly what he did. There is no other explanation for it. He listened to my cry and he reached down and snatched me out of the situation I had ended up in.
I stand here completely and utterly amazed, stunned and awe-struck...once again.
Jonah 2:1,5-7
"In my distress I called to the LORD ,
and he answered me.
From the depths of the grave I called for help,
and you listened to my cry...
The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you brought my life up from the pit,
O LORD my God.
When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, LORD ,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple. "
Lately, I have had to travel quite a bit, which is unusual for me. In some ways it has been good for me, but in many other ways it has complicated my life. Over the last few weeks I have been working on a "travel schedule" so that everyone at work knows when to expect me and, more importantly, my family will know when I'll be out of town.
After I was done, the schedule looked tight...very tight. I had to squeeze all that I could out of it and still in the end I felt guilty that I would not be at the client location enough and more importantly that I would be away from home more than I wanted to be.
To make matters worse...
This week, the client that I am working with just won two large accounts that will more than double their workload. This fired off alarms in my head. How am I going to squeeze some more time away from home when I'm already gone enough?!? I had reserved myself to the ominous reality that I would have to revise my schedule again to spend more time away from home, but how?
Last night on the plane I spent some extra time praying to God before the flight took off (I always pray before each takeoff). Among my normal pleadings for a good flight and to take care of Stacy and the boys I asked God to show me what to do. Not just guide me in the right direction, but to pick me up and carry me to my next destination to take my hand and drag me so that I could make all of this work. I told him that I didn't have any good answers.
He did.
Today, due to a "knee jerk reaction" from someone some levels above my head here at work, my scheduled travel was terminated. Just like that. There are some stupid reasons behind it and someone really isn't thinking. It was really a fluke, a vice-president saw me up there a few days ago and thought that my time would be better spent down here.
At first this made me quite angry. But, after I had some time to cool down and while I was driving to lunch, it hit me in the face...
I asked for this! I ASKED FOR THIS! How on earth could I have forgotten so quickly?...I asked for this!
I asked God to grab my hand and get me out of this...and that is exactly what he did. There is no other explanation for it. He listened to my cry and he reached down and snatched me out of the situation I had ended up in.
I stand here completely and utterly amazed, stunned and awe-struck...once again.
Jonah 2:1,5-7
"In my distress I called to the LORD ,
and he answered me.
From the depths of the grave I called for help,
and you listened to my cry...
The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you brought my life up from the pit,
O LORD my God.
When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, LORD ,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple. "
Monday, January 31, 2005
"Something to Someone"
We all want to be “someone”, to stand out in a crowd and make our mothers proud. However, it doesn’t always work out that way. We get lost in a sea of humanity and become just another person, a number. We look around at celebrities, movie stars, and professional athletes and we have a hard time measuring up. Even ones we love hurt us and make us feel bad or use our weaknesses against us.
We just want to be something to someone, as we age, we look back and wonder what happened to all of our dreams and aspirations and we get frustrated. We want to leave our mark on the world and for people to remember us when we are gone.
We are someone to Christ, he loves us unconditionally and completely. He loved us before we were born, before our parents were born, he loved us enough to give up everything precious to him, most importantly being with his father. He loved us first and he will be there when it’s all over, HE will remember us when we leave this place and HE will stand side by side with us at the judgment and speak for us.
Phillipians 2:6 – “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…”
Romans 5:7 – “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
We just want to be something to someone, as we age, we look back and wonder what happened to all of our dreams and aspirations and we get frustrated. We want to leave our mark on the world and for people to remember us when we are gone.
We are someone to Christ, he loves us unconditionally and completely. He loved us before we were born, before our parents were born, he loved us enough to give up everything precious to him, most importantly being with his father. He loved us first and he will be there when it’s all over, HE will remember us when we leave this place and HE will stand side by side with us at the judgment and speak for us.
Phillipians 2:6 – “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…”
Romans 5:7 – “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Friday, January 21, 2005
Learning to Fly - Part 2...Transitions
As I was flying just last night (again) I was reading. It has become easier to read (and rest) as I get more and more used to flying. When I first started this adventure even reading a magazine was difficult, not only was it hard to concentrate on any thing that was written, but my hands would get the pages wet.
In the last couple of flights, I have found that I can actually read pretty well (and fast) on the plane - it seems to calm my nerves and distract my mind from wandering and going somewhere irrational. Last night I was reading "Ten Lies the Church Tells Women" by J. Lee Grady (a book that I hope to "review" here soon - I wasn't overly impressed) and as I was reading about a great number of women that have been terribly mistreated through time because they exerted themselves and their ideas something occured to me...as I remembered that I was flying.
Something that I have noticed about flying is that things are most unpredictable and stressful during periods of transition. Obviously, take-offs and landings are periods of extreme transition. During take-off, a huge, heavy (I wonder how heavy?) plane is being coaxed into going from sitting on a runway to flying in the air at high speeds.
Landing is equally stressful. Now you have to get a huge, heavy plane to SLOW DOWN and land without hurting anyone (can you say "controlled fall"?). I have also noticed that you can pretty much count on some sort of bumping or turbulence when entering and/or exiting clouds or when going over mountains or when the pilot is trying to slow the plane down for landing (nicely, a plane is made for flying smoothly at high speed, not so much for flying slow with flaps open and landing gear down). Sometimes the pilot turns the plane while doing one or more of the above which is when things can get really interesting.
It occurs to me that transitions during flight...and life...are difficult, stressful, taxing - but can be ultimately fulfilling. The book I was reading told of women that had been tortured for doing things we take for granted today. Things like just stating that they may not agree with someone in authority or even for things they had no control over. Over time we have worked through transitions that have made huge impacts over large portions of our world and there have been others that only affect a few, but they all seem to have an accumulative effect. However, we still don't learn from the past.
Transition still seems to be painful, maybe that's just our nature. We like things the way they are and changing them makes us uncomfortable.
Did I use that word? Change? I guess I did.
In the last couple of flights, I have found that I can actually read pretty well (and fast) on the plane - it seems to calm my nerves and distract my mind from wandering and going somewhere irrational. Last night I was reading "Ten Lies the Church Tells Women" by J. Lee Grady (a book that I hope to "review" here soon - I wasn't overly impressed) and as I was reading about a great number of women that have been terribly mistreated through time because they exerted themselves and their ideas something occured to me...as I remembered that I was flying.
Something that I have noticed about flying is that things are most unpredictable and stressful during periods of transition. Obviously, take-offs and landings are periods of extreme transition. During take-off, a huge, heavy (I wonder how heavy?) plane is being coaxed into going from sitting on a runway to flying in the air at high speeds.
Landing is equally stressful. Now you have to get a huge, heavy plane to SLOW DOWN and land without hurting anyone (can you say "controlled fall"?). I have also noticed that you can pretty much count on some sort of bumping or turbulence when entering and/or exiting clouds or when going over mountains or when the pilot is trying to slow the plane down for landing (nicely, a plane is made for flying smoothly at high speed, not so much for flying slow with flaps open and landing gear down). Sometimes the pilot turns the plane while doing one or more of the above which is when things can get really interesting.
It occurs to me that transitions during flight...and life...are difficult, stressful, taxing - but can be ultimately fulfilling. The book I was reading told of women that had been tortured for doing things we take for granted today. Things like just stating that they may not agree with someone in authority or even for things they had no control over. Over time we have worked through transitions that have made huge impacts over large portions of our world and there have been others that only affect a few, but they all seem to have an accumulative effect. However, we still don't learn from the past.
Transition still seems to be painful, maybe that's just our nature. We like things the way they are and changing them makes us uncomfortable.
Did I use that word? Change? I guess I did.
Friday, January 14, 2005
A VERY Thoughtful Present
Do you know what Myrrh is? All my life, I have been told that it was an expensive perfume. While studying this week I learned that it IS a perfume...for the dead.
Myrrh is a bitter, gum-based substance with a very strong odor, typically used in embalming the dead to slow putrefaction. Yes, Myrrh is a precious substance that was kept for long periods of time and most likely traded for other things, but it's primary use was for the dead.
Why then would a Magi, traveling many miles, bring Myrrh as a gift to BABY Jesus? Gold makes sense, gold was a very common gift, especially to Kings. It would make sense to bring gold to Jesus to recognize his "sovereigness". Frankincense also makes sense - it was a very valuable fragrance and it addresses Jesus as our High Priest.
But an embalming agent?
Wouldn't it make more sense to bring a child something he could use like some type of farm animal there are many uses for these animals when a baby is around (milk, food, clothing). Maybe silver or some instrument created abroad (these men came from far away). Why bring a baby something he didn't seem to need?
Myrrh recognizes Christ's eventual suffering and death on the cross. Christ has identified with us in our pain and sorrow and the Myrrh that covers up our eventual decay makes a perfect symbol of the sin-covering love we get from our Lord and Savior. The bible doesn't tell us if the Magi were lead or influenced by God when they chose their gifts, but you would have a hard time convincing me otherwise...
Myrrh is a bitter, gum-based substance with a very strong odor, typically used in embalming the dead to slow putrefaction. Yes, Myrrh is a precious substance that was kept for long periods of time and most likely traded for other things, but it's primary use was for the dead.
Why then would a Magi, traveling many miles, bring Myrrh as a gift to BABY Jesus? Gold makes sense, gold was a very common gift, especially to Kings. It would make sense to bring gold to Jesus to recognize his "sovereigness". Frankincense also makes sense - it was a very valuable fragrance and it addresses Jesus as our High Priest.
But an embalming agent?
Wouldn't it make more sense to bring a child something he could use like some type of farm animal there are many uses for these animals when a baby is around (milk, food, clothing). Maybe silver or some instrument created abroad (these men came from far away). Why bring a baby something he didn't seem to need?
Myrrh recognizes Christ's eventual suffering and death on the cross. Christ has identified with us in our pain and sorrow and the Myrrh that covers up our eventual decay makes a perfect symbol of the sin-covering love we get from our Lord and Savior. The bible doesn't tell us if the Magi were lead or influenced by God when they chose their gifts, but you would have a hard time convincing me otherwise...
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