Looking to the New Year

It's the way I'm wired. I enjoy coming to the end of a year and "closing the books." As a self-employed minister of the gospel I discipline myself to keep track of my time as preventative against sloth and as a corrective against what Oswald Chambers warned, " The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for Him." I've seen pastors who seldom talk about Jesus, but talk a lot about their ministry. I've also seen too many pastors who allowed the church to become their mistress, cheating their wife and family out of a relationship with him as husband and father.

I also keep track of books I've read through the year. This helps keep me balanced by showing me the genres I'm gravitating to. If I've read several novels in a row, I choose a non-fiction book or a book of poetry. If I've read several minisry-related books, I choose a novel or biography. If I've read several contemporary novels, I choose a novel that is at least 50 years old. (Note to my Margarita friends: While I'm not back to a book a week, I am reading a book every two weeks rather than once a month, so I must be working through the transition to southern California.)

All this to say, I am coming down the home stretch and then on January 1 I have new pages to begin filling in with hours worked and books read. I'll let you amateur psychologists figure out what this all says about me.

I Wish I Had Thought of That

In his book, Take and Read, Eugene Peterson writes, "When my children were young, I was full of devout idealism regarding ways in which we as a family would replicate the church as we gathered around the dinner table. Especially on Sundays. When we returned home after a morning of worship and sat down to Sunday dinner, I would attempt to initiate and direct a discussion that would bring the prayer and praise from the sanctuary into the eating and drinking at our dining room table. I would ask what they thought of the second hymn, or how they liked the introduction to the sermon. Did they notice the novel twist the assisting elder had given to pronouncing Melchizedek in the Scripture reading? No real conversation ever developed. One Sunday, in a moment of inspired desperation, I took another tack. I said, 'After the pastoral prayer, Mr. Green, head bowed, never straightened up. Those around him thought he was still praying. After the benediction when he still hadn't moved, he was discovered dead. Murdered. How was it done, and what was the motive?' Conversation developed. Real conversation. What it lacked in devoutness it made up for in liveliness. We searched the Scripture readings for clues, sifted the hymns for evidence, examined the possibilities of sin behind the congregational facade of Presbyterian rectitude. Each week there would be another victim."

Now why didn't I think of that? "Family devotions" with a twist. Give it a try some Sunday soon and then let me know how it works out.

Gentlemen, Stay Out of the Doghouse

Occasionally I receive a forward worth watching and sharing with others. This is one. There's still time before Christmas. Let this be a warning from a friend.

Ripples

One of our favorite missionaries uses the imagery of ripples in a pond when she speaks of the part that we play in people's lives. We toss our stone into the pond. Sometimes the rock makes a big splash. Sometimes rather small. But either way there are ripples that continue to move out from the initial event.

I got misty-eyed Sunday night at a children's musical directed by my middle daughter. Not only because of the usual distracted child in the front row of the angel chorus or the almost-on-pitch soloist or the brief moment one of the dance numbers was reminiscent of "one Grecian urn", (Tip of the hat to The Music Man) but also because the entire production was a ripple of the years that other adults invested in my daughter's life, particularly in using her talent in the arts.

Seated two rows behind me were my son and his fiancé. In four weeks he will be preaching to his local church. A church much larger than most churches I've preached in. Ripples of those adults who saw his gifts, communication among them, and encouraged him.

Arriving next Tuesday, my oldest daughter will spend the holidays with us and with people who are part of the support team who make it possible for her to work with a school in western Europe, recruiting godly men and women who will help educate children of missionaries which, in turn, allows them to continue their ministry. Ripples of those adults who saw her creativity and administrative talents and encouraged her.

I thank God upon every remembrance of my children, but also the myriads of adults who took the time to affirm their gifts and point them to Jesus.

The Power of a Changed Life

Forwarded e-mails are usually met with much cynicism and a quick finger on the delete button when they arrive in my inbox. But today I received a forwarded e-mail from my friend and colleague, Dennis Baker (whom you all know because everyone knows Dennis Baker). It is a short video entitled "Cardboard Testimonies" from Richland Hills Church of Christ in a suburb of Fort Worth Texas. I wouldn't presume to forward it to all 14 of my readers, but if you are inclined to view it, first grab a box of kleenex, then click on this link Cardboard Testimonies.

Expectations

Sharon and I continue to work through Peter Scazzero's book, "Emotionally Healthy Spirituality." The chapter for this week talks about expectations. Pete suggests that, for most of us, most of our expectations are
Unconscious: we're not even aware we have them
Unrealistic: those around us cannot live up to them
Unspoken: we've never bothered to actually tell others what we expect of them
Un-agreed upon: the others in our life have never agreed to even attempt to fulfill our expectations because the expectations are unrealistic or because they are unaware of our expectations

As a result, we are disappointed or angry with the others in our life because they have let us down. In many cases without even knowing we had expectations for them.

Pete writes that expectations are only valid when they have been mutually agreed upon. Then he asks the rhetorical question about what would happen if we made our expectations
Conscious
Realistic
Spoken
Agreed upon

The challenge for us is to either change how we view our expectations or lower our expectations.

Now here's the "what if" for those of you who graciously read this blog. The Holiday season is notorious for unmet expectations. What if we worked on making our expectations conscious, realistic, spoken and agreed upon? It doesn't take much reflection to come to the conclusion that we will probably enjoy our Holidays much more because we'll be living in truth rather than fantasy. That is my prayer for you.

Listening to Christmas Music

Beginning back in the early 70's, while in college, I began listening to Christmas music early each October. Recently it's become more like early November, but the concept is the same. I hate to waste perfectly good music and lyrics by avoiding them until a few days before the day that's been designated to help us remember that God became flesh and lived among us (and has also become freighted with expectations of family reunions and snow).

My taste in music, as well as most other areas of life, can best be described as eclectic. This year, for instance, I purchased Bela Fleck's Christmas album, "Jingle All the Way" and Sara Grove's Christmas album, "O Holy Night." Beyond the obvious difference in titles, Fleck's album includes Tuvan throat singing (Look it up. Hint: Tuvans live in Siberia, just north of Mongolia) and some fascinating combinations of instruments. Grove's album is mellow and features a wonderful reading of the Christmas story by small children. Only 4 of the 17 cuts on Fleck's album are overtly Christian while only 1 cut on Grove's album is not focused on the significance of Christ's coming ("Toy Packaging" is the title and it is a charming ode to the frustration of trying to get gifts out of the hard plastic cases where they have been sealed into an almost impenetrable cocoon.) Fleck's album contains a masterful rendition of Bach's Christmas Oratorio featuring English Horn, violin and banjo. Yes, banjo. Grove's album ends with a haunting, aching rendition of "Breath of Heaven" which can bring you to tears.

So, instead of fruitcake this year, you can get me iTunes cards so I can increase my repertoire since I currently only have 415 Christmas songs for a total of 23.9 hours of Christmas music. :)

Loving Well

My son already knows this because I've told him so, but I wanted to take a moment to reflect on what a godly young man he's become and what a wise decision he made in his choice for a wife. Like the rest of us, Jon is a sinner in need of redemption. But having received that redemption through faith in Jesus Christ, he has also become very intentional about living out the implications of that redemption. He loves God. He loves his family. He loves his fiance. He loves the Jr. Highers (now that would be amazing grace for most of us) and their parents among whom he is privileged to minister. Jon is learning to love well and is well-loved. Jon chose carefully the woman he will love exclusively for the rest of his life. And his parents couldn't be happier with his choice. (We've already decided that she is, without doubt, going to be our favorite daughter-in-law.)

A Little More Closure

Last weekend I was privileged to participate in the installation of Santa Margarita Community Church's new pastor, Robert Campbell. As Robert notes in his blog, Leading from the Middle, it is not often that the former pastor has the joy of being there and rejoicing with his well-loved congregation as they commit themselves to the new pastor and he commits to them. Robert, Julie, Caleb and Meg are already deeply in love with the church community as well as the broader community. SMCC will be well taken care of by this family. For those of you have journeyed with us vicariously through this blog, thanks for praying for us. As the peasant in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" put it, "We're getting better."