Back in MN

As you probably already know, we have moved back to Minnesota. Here’s a few things that have reminded me that we’re back:

- I had to stop my van at a stop sign on a back road because the snowmobile road that crossed it had the right of way.

- The AM sports radio station out of St. Cloud does a segment each day on Canadian Sports History. One day they were talking about what they believed was the greatest moment in the history of sports, and I had absolutely no idea what event they were referring to.

- My digital outdoor thermometer has stopped working every night when the temperature drops below zero degrees.

- Another local radio station does a 3 minute – “Fishing Tip of the Day.”

- Everyday I find my “oh” sounds getting longer and longer. I also catch myself saying “you betcha” 5 or 6 times daily.

Can't Text Me Love

Cell phone salespersons are the “used-car” salesmen of the technology age. Why is it that every time I speak with one of them they spend 1% of their time actually listening to me and 99% of their time trying to convince me how much I need the latest, greatest device? I went into the store the other day and said straight out, “All I want is a cell phone for making calls (there’s a novel idea!). I use it primarily for business. I don’t need a lot of extra minutes. I want as basic of a plan as possible at as low of a cost as possible.” So, the guy decided to totally ignore all of this information, and take me to the latest fancy all-in-one phone/internet device. He told me that we can package stuff together to get me a really good deal. He said that if we bundled certain things with my home phone and internet service, it would be equal to what I am currently paying. His sales pitch sounded pretty good and reasonable, but unfortunately he wasn’t listening to me and was trying to sell me a techno-lemon. After a few clarifying questions, I discovered that the only way the cost would balance out is if I dropped my home internet service in favor for the internet service on the phone. I then asked him, “So, what you’re telling me is that I would have to do all my internet work on this 3 inch screen and with this 3 inch keyboard?” He paused, silently, to consider my question. “Yeah, I suppose so,” he responded nervously as he realized he was losing the sale, “but if you add this thing and this other additional cost, you can hook your computer up to your phone, etc, etc….” I said, “Thanks for your time” and walked out of the store, never to return again.

Have you seen the latest cell phone commercials? AT&T is trying to convince us that we need their phone because we can talk on that phone while at the same time surfing the internet on the same phone, and apparently you can’t do this with Verizon. Is this a helpful tool? How many times are you on the phone making an appointment with someone thinking, “Man, I wish I could be watching a youtube video for the 45 seconds I’m spending scheduling this meeting.” But the guy at the store believes that my life is somehow incomplete or lacking without all the new bells and whistles that will be obsolete one year from now.

The Real God

Do I see God for who he truly is, or do I see God for how I would like him to be? Is God real; is he truly other, or do I worship a God who is shaped in my image, crafted in my head by all that I wish Him to be? Even when I pray and study Scripture, am I encountering the Living God, or am I simply attempting self-improvement through these rituals of discipline?

I have been thinking about God’s reality these past few days, which oddly enough, is something I don’t often think about. I’ve always believed in God. I’ve always known that He is real, at least theoretically. God is real, even more real than I am, but, while I know He is real, I do not always live with an awareness of His reality. Not that I deny His existence or doubt His truth, but I do tend to treat Him as if He is there in order to serve me or to fulfill my desires. Perhaps I have focus too much on God’s imminence and not enough on His otherness. I meditate on His love and compassion but much less on his Lordship and sovereignty.

God longs for and expects my devotion, yet I often get this turned around. Rather than submitting to the will of this very real King of Creation, I seek to bend His will to mine. I ask Him to serve me, to bless me, to transform me. He becomes the means to my ends. I treat Him as if He exists to fulfill my life. How egocentric! How corrupt is my thinking!

Today I recognize that God does not exist for my pleasure; I exist for His. I am created by Him and for Him. While He does desire union with me, He does not need me. I, on the other hand, would cease to exist if it were not for his constant, sustaining reality. All that I am rests completely on His Being. I am only because He Is.

Today I am thankful that God is a real and loving Father. He understands this perversion in my thinking, but He still calls me His son. I may often be the son who thinks His Father’s only purpose is to make his son happy, to give him his inheritance whenever he wishes to receive it. I may forget that I would not even be here if it weren’t for the will of my Father. Yet He still loves, as a patient Father loves his children. He is longsuffering with my self-centeredness. He blesses me even though I don’t deserve it. He gives grace, even to those who selfishly seek it.

Less of a Man

Yesterday, I felt like I needed a change....felt like I needed to mix things up, so I shaved my beard completely off for the first time in about three years. I'm afraid this might hurt my image as the scraggly young pastor. As a clean shaven man, I feel somewhat like I'm less of a man. I wonder if Jesus would agree with me on that.

Latest News

Haven't posted in a while. I'm sure most of you have already heard our latest news, but if not, Jill and I are expecting baby #2. Everything on the ultrasound looks good. The due date is May 24. We'll try to keep you updated.

Against My Better Judgment

Well, today I sold my soul to the technological evil of virtual relationships otherwise known as social networking. As I begrudgingly signed up for a facebook account today, I felt a little something inside of me die. Sure, by finally giving into peer pressure and joining the rest of my generation on facebook, I probably haven’t received the “mark of the beast,” although I bet there’s some TBN preacher making that eschatological interpretation. But I do have serious hesitations:

1.Our culture is increasingly becoming virtual. People are replacing real, personal, physically-present relationships for an e-reality. It takes time and energy to make real friendships, but with a few clicks of a mouse I already have dozens of facebook “friends.”

2. Facebook feeds on our celebrity-driven narcissistic culture. Now, I’ve already admitted that this blog is semi-narcissistic and self-indulgent, but my primary reasons for having it are to give me an avenue to update friends and family on Jovi’s life and to occasionally write my thoughts on culture and theology. I’m not concerned with how many people read it, and I’m not attempting to gain friends or influence through it. Facebook seems to me to be a world in which everyone gets to be the star of their own little virtual world. Of course, not everybody uses it for this, but it does seem to promote this mentality.

The one and only reason I have joined facebook is to be able to communicate with a few people who seem to only use facebook as their means of communication. There is specifically one organization that I am trying to stay in contact with, and I’m realizing that it’s very difficult without facebook. So, there is my justification for going over to the dark-side.

8-Track Guy in an iPod World

I’ve noticed that I’ve apologized a number of times on my blog for failing to post more often. Sometimes a month goes by without me ever logging onto my site. I do feel bad because I wish I spent more time and energy writing and posting, but unfortunately it’s normally low on my priority list. I also know that my infrequent updates may cause some people to lose interest and stopping checking my blog. I hope that’s not the case, but I guess that’s just the world we live in.

Rather than apologize again, I want to defend my infrequent posting by saying, at least I don’t twitter or post insignificant details of my life. I could sit down for two minutes daily and write a bunch of inconsequential drivel that nobody cares about, but I’d rather remain silent than to bore you with the tedious details of my everyday. For instance, I could write that I got a gallon of milk for $1.59 at the grocery store the other day. Yeah, I know, that’s pretty cheep. But here’s why I don’t write things like that: unless you live in the Lansing area and want to know what grocery store to go to, this information is useless to you (or unless you’re my father-in-law who is a dairy farmer that cares very much about the price of milk). Our world is increasingly saturated with nauseating amounts of frivolous information and I don’t want to contribute the self-indulgent culture of texting, tweeting, and facebooking. Ok, maybe this post is a little self-indulgent, but don’t worry, it will probably be the only one this week.

Death of an Icon

For most of my life I have had my eyes fixed on the future. I always seem to be planning for what is to come, worrying about what might go wrong, and preparing myself for the joys and sorrows that lay ahead of me. If you were to ask me what I have going on next week, I could tell you my schedule in great detail. If you ask me what I did last week, it would take me five minutes to pull that information from my memory banks, that is, if I could remember at all. The very title of this blog speaks to the way I approach reality – driven by the future, quickly forgetting the past.

With that said, I’ve been reflecting about the past more this year than I ever have before. Perhaps it is because I am now a father. Perhaps it is because I’ve entered my 30’s. Perhaps it is because I serve a congregation with a large number of elderly folks and have had to minister to people facing disease, death, and the end of their lives. Whatever the reason, I’ve been thinking a little less about what is to come and a little more about what has been left behind. This was especially true when I heard this weekend that radio legend Paul Harvey died on Saturday.

There are few things that remind me of my childhood more than the voice of Paul Harvey being broadcast over the air waves. My father’s father died when I was only five years old. I don’t remember much about him, but one of my distinct memories from childhood was visiting my grandmother and him in their house in Carrollton, Ohio, drinking sassafras tea, eating cinnamon toast, and hearing Paul Harvey on the radio. On the days that I would follow my dad to work as a kid, we would eat our sack lunches at noon sitting on a couple of five gallon buckets while listening to Paul Harvey report the news on my dad’s little AM radio. My last year of college, I had a class that dismissed at 11:45, and I would listen to Paul Harvey everyday as I drove back to my apartment for lunch. Throughout all the phases of my life, I have memories of hearing Paul Harvey on the radio.

In our world with rapid changes in culture, technology, and worldviews, Paul Harvey was an icon who seemed to transcend many of the boundaries of age and opinions. I imagine that if my grandfather was alive today we probably wouldn’t share a similar taste in music or fashion. I don’t really like Lawrence Welk, and I doubt that he would be a big fan of U2 or Pearl Jam. I’m sure he would be a lot better at working on cars, but I would be more skilled in working with computers. He would know a lot about the political issues that affected his life during the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. I would speak to the issues that are currently shaping our world in impacting my family. My grandfather and I would be divided in so many areas because of time and trends. There are so few things that link my generation to his generation. When Paul Harvey died this past weekend, I feel as if we lost one of those few links.

I’m not sure what this world is going to be like when Jesus comes back to fully establish his kingdom. I’m not sure if there will be radio when the dead in Christ are resurrected and Christ makes all things new. But, if there is radio, I hope Paul Harvey gets some airtime. And I hope my grandfather and I have a chance to once again sip on some sassafras tea, eat some cinnamon toast, and listen to the news from a radio legend.

Deal Me In

I’ve come to find that churches are the worst places to clean and organize. The reason for this is because nobody ever throws anything away, and the reason nobody ever throws anything away is because nobody owns the stuff at a church, and nobody feels that they have the authority to get rid of it. So, things that haven’t been used in 20 years in a church get put into a box and tucked away into a corner closet because you never know, somebody might use that stuff someday. I and a few other folks at the church have been trying to clean the place up and get things better organized, and we’ve found boxes and boxes of files, decorations, and all kinds of other weird stuff that hasn’t seen the light of day since the 80’s. Don’t tell anybody, but much of that stuff has finally found its proper place in the dumpster.

Above is a picture of my favorite discovery so far. I know what you’re thinking…that is the sweetest deck of Jesus playing cards I’ve ever seen. That’s exactly what I thought when uncovered several packs of these babies. I was ready to call up the boys and have a sanctified game of Texas Hold’em right there in the church. I hoped in this deck that the King, Queen, and Jack have been replaced by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I hear a Holy Flush is the new highest hand you could have in poker.

To my dismay, the above cards weren’t actually playing cards. The other side is totally blank. I have no idea what they were used for. I’m thinking about drawing in all the appropriate numbers and symbols and making my self the sweetest deck of cards ever.

Latest on Jovi

They say that weight training works because it stresses out muscles and breaks them down. Then when your muscles get rest and protein, they recover and become stronger than they were before you worked them out.

I think our stressful travel must have been the equivalent of weight training for Jovi’s mind and development. When headed out on Christmas, she was able to roll over and only in one direction. Now, just in the past few weeks, she has gone from rolling, to crawling, to pulling herself up into a standing position. I figure that if we take her on few more stressful trips, we can probably get her walking, talking, and maybe even writing my sermons for me by next year.

The Trip from Hades

It’s been quite some time since I last touched base with the blogging world. Forgive my absenteeism. Jill, Jovi, and I were traveling over the holidays. We returned home for one week before heading out again for meetings with my denomination in Ohio. The last couple of weeks I feel like we’re just trying to catch up with work at the church and around the house, so my blogging has been on the back burner. But, it is good to be home.

Do you ever feel like God is just messing with ya? I’ve never really thought this, but by the end of our trip, I was beginning to wonder. We headed out Christmas morning to fly to Minnesota for few days to celebrate with Jill’s family. Our first flight was canceled. We showed up at the airport for the next available flight, and it was delayed for about 3 hours. We finally boarded the plane and took off. We landed in Chicago and were supposed to have a brief layover, but they didn’t have any gates open for us to get off of the plane, so we sat on the runway for over an hour, causing us to miss our connecting flight. We hung in Chicago for quite some time....our next flight was delayed, but eventually we finally made it to MN.

While in MN Jovi got sick and pretty much hated everybody but her mom for those few days. The following Tuesday morning we got in the car to drive from Jill’s parent’s house to the Twin Cities to catch our flight home. We set out really early because it was snowing hard. A drive that normally takes about 2 ½ to 3 hours took us about 5 ½ hours. We were stopped for over an hour at one point because of an accident. We finally arrived and stood in line for over an hour waiting to get our ticket. All the flights were delayed. Eventually we boarded the plane at about 8 pm. After boarding the plane we sat on the plane for over an hour before taking off….familiar story. Remember all of this was with a 6 month old baby! We finally got to Chicago. Our next flight was delayed again (making it a perfect 4 out of 4 for delays). We tried to drive to see my parents in Ohio, but the snowy roads nearly killed us, so we eventually stopped at 2:30 in the morning. What a nightmare!

So, what did I learn from all of this? 1) While part of me wants to say a big “Bah Humbug” to ever traveling again over the holidays, I came to realize that my experience this Christmas was much more an authentic representation of the first Christmas than my usual Christmas rituals. Rather than waking up Christmas morning to a big breakfast with family, laughing together, opening presents, and celebrating, this Christmas I was stressed, traveling, dealing with circumstances that were beyond my control, and trying to appease a crying, tired baby. I can imagine that Joseph must have felt the same way about the Roman government forcing him to travel to Bethlehem with his pregnant wife as I did about the airlines this Christmas.

2) True joy is most apparent in the midst of suffering. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that we really “suffered” on this trip, but the lack of sleep, the stress, the crying kid, the bad weather, and all the delays can certainly steal one’s Christmas spirit. After our second miserable day of traveling, while we were sitting on the plane on the runway, most people’s tempers were getting hot. You could hear people on the plane rustling in their seats, complaining to one another, and being very short with the flight-attendants. I was just like everybody else, getting very frustrated, but then I prayed and God spoke to my heart and reminded me how blessed I was. In that moment I couldn’t help but smile. I began to think that God was just messing with me this whole trip, like some cosmic practical joke, and it made me laugh. I realized that joy is so much deeper than our circumstances. I chatted and joked with the flight-attendant and let her hold Jovi. Jovi eventually started crying, and the flight-attendant asked me what’s wrong with her. I said, “She hates your airline,” and the people in our section all started laughing. Things really weren’t that bad. I don’t want to be happy; I want to have joy

Grace

I can’t help but feel overwhelmingly blessed lately. There are so many things in my life that bring such joy, and I know that all of these things are graces given by the Father. In no way do I deserve the life and blessings that I have been given. I have an amazing wife who is one of the most loving and genuine people I know. I have a beautiful daughter who makes me laugh and fills my heart with joy. I have a church that reminds me daily of God’s love and challenges me to be a better man. I have the privilege of serving Christ’s body as my occupation and vocation. I have been forgiven and am loved by God. I have been blessed so much, and sometimes I’m not even sure why. This is grace.

Merry Christivus

So, Jill and I were decorating for Christmas yesterday…I know, I know, it’s not even Thanksgiving yet; but what can I say, we love Christmas and we’re going to be out of town for Thanksgiving anyway….and as I was putting up our fake Christmas tree, I discovered this perfect blending of the symbols of Christmas and Festivus. It’s part Christmas tree, part Festivus pole. You can put your presents under it Christmas morning, and then air your grievances next to it in the evening. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, you need to watch more Seinfeld.

Seasons of Life

I am a Midwesterner, raised in Ohio, spent three years in Minnesota, and now reside in Michigan. I never realized how much of a Midwesterner I was until I spent six months in Brazil. Up until that point the Midwest weather, lifestyle, and change of seasons were all I ever knew, and when I lived in Brazil I missed that reality. I remember how depressing it was being in a tropical climate in October. Sure, the beaches were breathtaking and the sunshine was beautiful, but I’ll take a crisp breeze and some falling leaves any day of the week. I love the fall.

I was thinking about seasons and how much they affect my spirit, and I realized that my natural cycle of life doesn’t have four seasons. It only has two: football season and movie season. Jill and I were talking the other day, and we couldn’t remember the last time we watched a movie, and we love to watch movies. I figured out that the reason we hadn’t was because it’s football season…no time for movies. But, as fall turns to winter, as the college bowl season winds down and the NFL playoffs come to an end, my season will change from ESPN to Netflix, from Beanie Wells and Ben Roethlisberger to Russell Crowe and Steven Spielberg.

Rookie Mistake

So far I’ve done two weddings since being in Eagle and will be doing a third soon. I’ve really enjoyed this aspect of ministry. I didn’t know any of the couples before they came to me and asked me to do their weddings, but I require that each of them go through at least six pre-marital counseling sessions before the wedding, and I’ve gotten to know all of them through the counseling time. Even though most people my age don’t go to church, they still want to get married in a church for whatever reason. So, I see weddings as a great opportunity to witness to and influence young couples who are beginning their lives together and I sense that God has used the times of couseling to help them spiritually and to help them prepare for marriage.
With that said, I made a big-time rookie mistake as a pastor. I set my wedding calendar long before I checked my football calendar. I have a wedding on October 18th at 3pm. We live about 15 miles from East Lansing, the home of the Michigan State Spartans. My beloved Ohio State Buckeyes will visit East Lansing an average of once every three years, and guess what….they’re here October 18th at 3:30pm and I have tickets to the game!!! I’m still trying to convince the couple that they really don’t want to get married….but, it hasn’t worked. Would it be wrong if I conducted a two minute ceremony in my Buckeye's jersey to try to make the game?

Finding a Home in Simplicity

I’ve pretty much resolved in my heart that this world is not my home. As C.S. Lewis describes in his chapter entitled “Hope” in Mere Christianity, I used to be very much like the “foolish man” chasing one thing after another, thinking that the next thing would bring me true happiness. I realize that what my heart was longing for was something deeper than what can be found in this imperfect world. I was created for another world, and my heart will only be fully satisfied after the resurrection in the world to come.

With that said, I am finding joy more and more in the simple things of life like reading early in the morning with a cup of coffee or spending an evening with Jill and Jovi. I’ve also found a couple of other simple pleasures in the last month that are filling some of the gaps that I’ve had since moving to Michigan. First, a few of weeks ago I found a group of guys to play basketball with. I played ball for the first time in over a year last week, and it was a surprising blessing to my soul. They play Saturday mornings at 7am, which is a great reason to get out of bed in the morning. Second, I recently made a friend with a local guy about my age who happens to be Christian. In the midst of our conversations I discovered that he is a thinking Christian who has a passion for apologetics and likes to read and engage in the same kinds of conversations that I have a passion for.

This world is not my home, but I’m finding joy in the quiet moments of life, in time with my family, in exercise, and in friendship. I’m truly blessed.

Reentering the 21st Century

WE HAVE HIGH-SPEED INTERNET!!!!! Praise the Lord! So, hopefully I’ll be able to post again more regularly. This post was able to go up in seconds compared to the usual 10-30 minutes to upload anything with dialup. Ahhhh, this must be what it felt like to go from having a latrine to indoor pluming.

Sleepy

Here's a few more of our recent pictures of Jovi

Smiley

Jovhawk