Monday Morning After

Last night at the First Baptist Church of Hamilton, NY, Dr.  Anthony Campolo spoke on a sociological study conducted years ago where senior
adults were asked what they would do differently if they had life to live over.  They concluded they would:

Reflect More

Risk More

Do More things that would live on after they were gone

 

Last week was a doozer for our building. Here is a list  of just some of the crazy things that went on one day after another this past week:

Told we need an elevator load test ($1200)

Electrical Problems in the apartment

Deacons have to create 6 month budget to face the new year

Fire Inspector appears and we need a dozen new CO2 detectors, curtains down, and  something with the boiler

Boiler guy comes and has to fix release valve after Hobart House basement started to collect water and he sees other problems.

By Friday, I looked at my watch and thought:  It is 10:30am and nothing has happened yet. Wow!

 

We had a celebration of baptism on Sunday with Doug,  Bonnie, and Virginia declaring and recommitting their faith in Jesus Christ. It
caused us all pause about our own faith commitments.

MONDAY MORNING AFTER

TO MY READERS:

This is a blog.

In the past I have tried to create a cogent essay on a
theme and end with some updates on what happened the previous Sunday.

While that format has served well over the last couple
years, I would like to experiment with some other frameworks. This one is more
a collection of random thoughts. I have lots of them, all the time. It explains
why I am so easily distracted and am such a poor driver. So, my goal is to be more
“Monday” consistent with a new format.

 

MONDAY MORNING AFTER

It struck me while in Hawaii, a place everyone should go,
that there were consequences to climate and our faith. As the Hawaiian pastor
announced Thanksgiving events, it didn’t feel like Thanksgiving was upon us. I
need cold weather, signs that the harvest is about to end, and falling leaves.
But Hawaii and the majority of the nation, as well as many other countries, do
not need those things to have a day to celebrate Thanksgiving to God. What
would it be like to have Thanksgiving in July? Would it change the meaning for
you?

This Friday is the national recognition of Veterans Day.
I was struck by 2 items recently:

There is a wonderful article in the Readers Digest about some veteran chaplains. One
chaplain reflects on those times soldiers ask the “Why…” questions. Navy Lt.
Cdr. Nathan Solomon writes: “I don’t encourage them to make sense of it. Chaos,
suffering, and pain are a consequence of being human. I don’t think God wills
it to happen; it’s just part of being alive…  

Then he says this:

“It’s not my job to defend God. It important for me to acknowledge that there
are questions that are legitimate and that I have no idea how to answer.”

I like that. It is not our job to defend God.

 

While visiting the Arizona, buried beneath the waters of Pearl Harbor, these words
were on the bronze plaque ;

May God make his face to shine upon them and grant them peace.

It seems like an appropriate blessing based on verses from the Psalms.

 

Last Sunday, we remembered those who have died in the last year. I suppose you can’t remember loved ones too often, but each year 10-20
folks take the opportunity to come up front and participate. The message was on comfort that comes when life seems like we are carrying a heavy load and God comes up along side us and offers us a yoke with which to walk with Him (Matthew 11:28-30)

Monday or so Morning After Depending on Your Time Zone

Blogging fromMaui.  Hmmmm…Nothing is coming to me right now.

Monday Morning After

Dwight L Moody talked about three kinds of faith. Moody was
a renowned preacher and evangelist from the 1800’s and was known for his
powerful, but common speech. He talked about faith this way:

There is STRUGGLING FAITH, the kind where you seem to be in
deep water and are desperately trying to swim.

There is CLINGING FAITH, like the person who is hanging on
to the side of the boat.

And there is RESTING FAITH, like the one safely inside the
boat, willing and able to help others out of the water.

Moody observed that at various times in life, we move from
one kind of faith to another. On Sunday, we looked one last time at living
confidently in uncertain times and this week the focus was faith. What happens
when your faith is shaken, or in Moody’s case, you seem to be in the water?

In Mark 9, there is a story about a father who is uncertain
about his faith because the disciples can’t heal his son, the condition has
been a lifelong one, and now the father wonders about whether Jesus is even
able to do anything for his son.  Jesus assures
him that nothing is impossible with God and asks him about his faith. His
response is:

I believe, help my unbelief

“I believe” is the starting point. We may not have gone much
beyond that, but “I believe” is enough to begin. With that much, sons are
healed as in this story, and faith can grow.
What is your “I believe” right now?

On Sunday, we baptized 2 Eastwood Baptist folks and 3
Burmese/Karen members, starting points for faith. We sang “Just As I Am” as
each one entered the water and cheered as they declared their faith and came up
from the water. After worship, a Compassion Child Brunch was held in the Titus
Hall to support our Haitian friend, Wadeline. It was a celebration Sunday. You
had to be there. Maybe you were.

Monday Morning After

They call it multi-tasking and in the past it has been  admired. I’m over simplifying, but it means doing more than one task at a time.  For example, while driving, you listen to the radio (or do other stuff). In the  kitchen, you keep things going in the oven, on the stove, and atop the counter  all at once. Technology offers us the illusion that we can talk, text and other
stuff without losing focus. My students claim they can be on their phones and participate  in class at the same time.

Some research claims that women are better at  multi-tasking than men. Ask any mother. We are told that the younger we are, the  better we are at multi-tasking. Last summer, some missionary friends came for a  few days, he from Scandinavia and she from Mexico. They serve in Europe. Their  12 year old daughter could speak to her dad in one language, mom another, and  in Europe, the whole family speaks a third language. Oh, yes, and she spoke to  us in English.

But there is an increasing amount of research that doing  several things at once is a trick we play on ourselves. “In reality, our  productivity goes down by as much as 40%. We don’t actually multitask. We  switch-task, rapidly shifting from one thing to another, interrupting ourselves  unproductively, and losing time in the process.”

“People can’t multitask very well, and when people  say they can, they’re deluding themselves,” said neuroscientist Earl
Miller. And, he said, “The brain is very good at deluding itself.” Miller, a Picower professor of neuroscience at MIT, says
that for the most part, we simply can’t focus on more than one thing at a time.  What we can do, he said, is shift our focus from one thing to the next with  astonishing speed. “Switching from task to task, you think you’re actually  paying attention to everything around you at the same time. But you’re actually  not,” Miller said.

Fortunately for us, God is the supreme multi-tasker,  everywhere, all the time, with limitless power.Such a worldwide God was on our  minds on Sunday.  We were trying to multi-task  again. It was World Communion Sunday, recognizing that around the world,  Christians were in communion over communion. For the Children’s time, we talked  about the Lord’s Table (and every other kind of table, which was off the topic,  but absolutely fascinating to the children). People in the pews had flags from  over 35 different countries and the children gathered them, put them in their  stands, and we held hands around the table for prayer.  During the announcements, Joe invited folks  to join him on a short mission trip later this month to the Binghamton area to  assist in recovery from the flooding. The message was about Living Confidently
in Uncertain Times: Having Enough. Moses and the Hebrews left slavery in Egypt,  grabbing everything they could hold, and heading into the unknown desert (yes,  through parting waters). They learned that God Provides, God Provides with
Limits, and God Provides at times so that we will never forget that God will  Provide when life is uncertain. We must never forget. The Hebrews even put  manna in a jar and kept it preserved so that they would never forget how God  provides. Do you have a jar?

You had to be there. Maybe you were.

Monday Morning After

This Friday (or Saturday) the UARS will fall to the earth. It is (or was) a 6 ton weather satellite the size of a bus sent up in 1991 to study ozone levels and climate changes. Did you read the “fall to earth” part? Usually space junk burns up in the atmosphere and this one should break up into about 25 pieces, but some of those pieces could be big enough to land on the earth. According to NASA’s Nick Johnson, “Last year one object a day, on average, made an unshepherded dive into the atmosphere.” There is a 1 in 3,200 chance of getting hit, less if you live in Antartica. Is that comforting? Your chances of winning the lottery are 1 in 18 million or more. Mmmm.

According to National Geographic, a number of notable objects have made surprise return trips to Earth:

In March a hiker in northwestern Colorado spotted a spherical object, still warm to the touch, sitting in a crater. The hiker called military aerospace officials but was told to instead call the county sheriff, according to an orbital-debris report released last week by the National Research Council. Eventually the hiker reached the NASA office that tracks space debris. The tank, from a Russian Zenit-3 rocket launched in January, is one of the few such space objects to be recovered in the United States.

A woman taking a late-night walk in Oklahoma in January 1997 saw a streak of light in the sky, then felt something brush her shoulder. It turned out to be part of a U.S. Delta II rocket launched in 1996—the only space debris known to have hit someone, according to the Aerospace Corporation. The woman was unhurt—and lucky. A 580-pound (260-kilogram) fuel tank from the same rocket slammed to the ground in Texas around the same time, narrowly missing an occupied farmhouse, NASA reports.

When the Salyut-7 space station began trailing lower in its orbit, Soviet engineers tried to send it into a controlled tumble into the Atlantic Ocean. But their efforts failed, and the 88,000-pound (39,916-kilogram) station—one of the largest human-made objects to reenter the atmosphere—showered metal fragments on a city in Argentina, where residents observed glowing trails in the sky. No one was hurt, according to the Aerospace Corporation.

Should you be worried? Probably not. But it just reinforces the fact that we live in uncertain times. That has been the topic in church this fall: Living Confidently in Uncertain Times. It is an attempt to look at people in the Bible who faced uncertain times and what God said to them.

Sunday’s study took us to Joshua 1 as he was about to face a life and death future leading the army into the Promised Land. We, too, face uncertainties about health, life and death, and sometimes it is like a battle. God seems to say to Joshua:

• Be strong and courageous – The path to health and wholeness begins with courage
• God reminds him to keep the commandments and follow God’s law – We must keep doing what is right, one step at a time, even in the face of uncertainty
• Remember “the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go”

It was one of those Sunday’s when we were having more fun than a church should be allowed to have. We shared in the dedication of twin boys, dedicated teachers, presented Bibles to 3 young people, amazingly had 12 children for the story about the 12 disciples, and said good bye to our old hymnbooks. You had to be there. Maybe you were.

MONDAY MORNING AFTER

This weekend reminded us that dates have meaning, some sad, some glad, and yes, some mad.

What kind of datebook do you have? I am yet to advance to the “blackberry” generation. I have an aqua colored datebook to be exact (it was on sale) and I affectionately call it my “blueberry”.  At least it sounds like it is related to a blackberry. I had a friend who refused to carry any kind of datebook. He never made an appointment and you could never count on him to show up to a meeting. (Yes… he was a pastor.) He believed that God wanted him to be open to the present, to the Spirit’s leading, and not to an artificial schedule.  Mmmm. Me? I still panic when I can’t find my blueberry.

I remember the day President Kennedy died. It was the first and only time we ever saw our elementary principal, Miss Coffee, cry.  It was November 22, 1963. Pearl Harbor is not a national holiday, but I have it on my calendar. I remember the manned landing on the moon, the night we saw the Berlin Wall come down, and Y2K. Remember that? I was in a church bell tower ringing it at midnight. I also remember the Sunday night  the Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan Show. Oh, and so far, I have remembered my wife’s birthday and our anniversary dates.

Dates have meanings and carry significance.  September 11^th  has always been meaningful to me. It is my brother’s birthday and that is what I was thinking about before I saw the towers on fire while checking out at Buzzy’s.  This weekend will probably be one of those dates we always remember.

Dates have always had meaning for Christians in particular. Our faith is anchored to the calendar from Christmas to Easter, from Advent to Lent to Pentecost. Jesus and the disciples can be found celebrating special dates, remembering the Jewish festivals, the Passover, and the Sabbath.

One event you don’t hear about much was the annual reading on the Tischab’ov (the 9^th of Av). Each year in Israel, the Book of Lamentations was read on that day in remembrance of the destruction of the temples. It basically asks the question: “God, how could this happen? “ without expecting an answer. The reading reminded the people that even in suffering, God is present in our troubles. Read it sometime.

On Sunday, we remembered!  Fire Fighter David Reeves came and talked about where he was on 9-11 and what lessons we learned from that day. We took a moment in the pews and shared where we were with those around us. There were a handful of lessons we took from Ephesians 6 and Lamentations, like how heroes are ordinary people who do extraordinary things, how we have learned our world is smaller than our own country and there are forces in this world beyond our ability to control. We need our God to be a refuge and strength as we read in Psalm 46. The choir was glorious and Marge and Lucy sang “God Bless America”. It was good to be in church that Sunday and many were. You had to be there. Maybe you were.

Monday Morning After

Tonight is the draft for my NFL football fantasy league. Our family has participated in Yahoo’s free one for the last few years and we have a lot of fun. I have minimal knowledge when it comes to specific players, so I depend on the advice of others. My brother says that if I am not one of the first 5 to have their turn picking, I should give up. (No, he said to go with a quarter back.)  Last year, I let the computer pick for me, so I ended up with criminals. Most of my players were just getting in or out of prison. I came in second place at the end of the season, though, so don’t think I haven’t thought about that strategy. Actually, my strategy has little to do with football knowledge. Each week, I change several players, depending on how well they did the last week. Unfortunately, that is a lot like buying stock after it has done well. There is no place to go but down.  For a couple of seasons I would put my Donovan McNabb bobble head doll on the TV each time he played. When that didn’t work, I figured the problem was he couldn’t see the game if he was on top of the TV, so I faced him toward the screen. Everyone has their own gimmick to win.

Sometimes we treat God like that.

Talk to a variety of Christians and you will get all kinds of ideas as to how to get what you want from God.  Prayer. A special kind of prayer.  Prayer with fasting. Prayer using certain words.  Some attend worship when they need something. I knew a couple who felt that tithing was the way to get God’s attention. (I loved that couple.) I certainly have tried a few tricks from time to time myself. Gideon asked for a sign from God, a wet and dry fleece (Judges 6 ).  Simon saw the apostles laying on hands when they prayed and offered them money to buy the power to pray for others in that way.

Jesus said to seek first the kingdom of God and “all these things will be given to you as well”. (Matthew 6:33).  Living faithfully and trusting daily in a God who loves us continuously is the most important thing.

In the end, there is no magic or power in the gimmicks. Some things we do help us to seek first his kingdom, but a living relationship with a living God is the goal.      

Speaking of gimmicks. On Sunday, our worship celebration with James Street Methodist was at Eastwood Baptist this time. A mighty combined choir sang and the children’s story started out with a job search and ended up praying for the beginning of school this week. Pastor Baums played a news anchorman and I played the on-the-scene reporter. The story was about a community of well meaning Christians who decide the best way to share their faith was by using a Gospel Blimp. In the end, they learn that the real way to share our Christian faith is through caring relationships that allow Christ to work through us. You had to be there. Maybe you were.

Monday Morning After

More than one homeowner in the path of Hurricane Irene waited too long. At least that is what they told the media in the days following that massive movement of wind, rain, and debris. There comes a time when you realize it is too late and you have to live with your decisions. That applies to many aspects of life and that is what King Solomon wrote about in the Book of Ecclesiastes. On Sunday, the focus was on chapter 12 and his advice to the young.

 “Remember your Creator in the day of your youth, before the days of trouble come…” – Ecclesiastes 12:1

Our study of Solomon ended Sunday by hearing his painful words, reflecting back on a life that on the outside was a reign of peace and prosperity unmatched in Israel’s history. Personally, though, he thought only of regrets. Several contemporary lessons emerge from his dark poetic language.

Life is short. We are accountable for how we live our lives – to others and to God. There may come a time when it is too late to changes things, so, remember your Creator while young. Such wisdom is some of Solomon’s finest, but also some of the hardest to hear when we are young.  It’s the kind of wisdom that makes sense when a hurricane is bearing down or an earthquake rumbles through unexpectedly. Oh, wait, that was last week’s news J

Lloyd sang for us on Sunday an old favorite “Rock of Ages”. And during the children’s story we talked about advice, beginning with how to eat properly and ending with remembering God while we are young. It was raining cats and dogs.

Monday Morning After

It has been fascinating to watch the analysis of human behavior following the week of rioting in England this month. The pontificators are all contributing their theories on why otherwise law abiding people behaved so badly, burning buildings, stealing from store fronts and committing random acts of violence. Big picture explanations are sure to keep coming – economic stress, opposition to an unresponsive government, cultural wars, etc.

The problem is the text messages and emails sent between those involved contained no such expressions. People, in many cases, did not know why they did what they did. “Everybody was doing it.”   

According to the New York Times, “the crimes seemed to be rooted in nothing more than split-second decisions made by normally orderly people seduced by the disorder around them…those perpetrating the violence had no ready explanation for their behavior…”  One stole bottles of water, another a box of pears, and another an arm load of coconuts. What’s up with that?

We have been undergoing our own little acts of violence at church these last two weeks. Someone(s) have been spraying offensive graffiti on the mural that faces our parking lot door. We wonder why? Maybe it’s some economically deprived young adult or teen without a family or some expression of frustration with the life that God has dealt them?  Maybe…but what if it is the actions of someone who simply makes the quick decision to act badly.

The once Mayor of New York City, Rudolph Giuliani, is credited with having applied the theory of broken windows to his city’s crime problem. When little things happen, say, throwing a rock through a window and people see the broken window, those otherwise law abiding people sometimes choose to behave badly because it looks like no one cares, so why not break more windows. Giuliani defied common thinking and focused on the small crimes, instead of the big ones, hoping to raise the bar. People did what was right because people were noticing.

For us, Barry and Ralph and I are painting that church mural a lot these days. We care. And we also care about whoever is doing it. And hopefully whoever is spraying will start making some good decisions. As Christians, we need to make right decisions every day. Small things matter. It only takes one bad decision to make a mess.

That is a long end run around to our topic in church this morning. King Solomon had been living the good life, but all along not paying attention to the little things. Slowly, they caught up with him and his life became one giant disappointment to him and to God. In Ecclesiastes 2, King Solomon tells us that pleasure, wealth, work and wisdom all end in meaninglessness. He was distracted by his riches and his loves, and neglected making God part of everything in his life.

Michael and Sue played a piano duet called “I’m a Child of God”. Wow! It was a warm and wonderful Sunday. You had to be there. Maybe you were.