Bird on the Wall

You might wonder on a lazy day - what do those church elders do?  How do they lead?  This is what you might observe as a bird on the wall:

(1) You would see how much we love each other. I believe that, ‘as goes the leadership team so goes the church’.  We seek to model - not only Christ-like behavior but harmony on a team. We have even signed a covenant pledging to speak no ill of each other, forgive freely and care for each other in difficulty. We take seriously setting a good example.

(2) You would see us most Saturday mornings at Mimi’s. I can honestly say that it is the best 3 hours of my week and it passes quickly. Some pastors dread stressful monthly meetings or see them as a necessary evil - meant to deal with difficulty or follow an agenda - like a business meeting. We meet weekly and find our meetings refreshing, as we share our lives and calling to serve Jesus.

(3) You would see an informal gathering with lots of rabbit trails and laughter that ends up covering all the necessary bases; like finances, oversight of the church, and prayer for individuals and the community. The relaxed unhurried atmosphere & frequency of meetings help us respond to the Holy Spirit and see church in the context of life.

At our last meeting we strategized about signage and advertising for our new PPSEL home. We want the community to know that we’re here! We do this to support our primary conviction; that you, Aspen Ridge Church, transformed from the inside out by the Holy Spirit, are our best advertisement, and God’s ambassadors!  

The fastest, most productive, 3 hours of the week just breezed by again!

My new bike

Been preaching on contentment versus envy. I’ve been making do with my old Scwinn bicycle. I do mean old. Bought the bike about 24 years ago (don’t exactly remember) when we were having babies. Recently I brought it out of the mothballs. The inner tubes and tires were cracked and ruined.  I made myself proud with new rubber and I was on the road again. The old chain soon popped so I replaced that too. True the shifters & brakes weren’t the best but I was doing pretty well.  

One day after a trip to the local coffee shop I had just made it home when the back wheel locked up.  I pulled the axle out and these 7 ball bearings jumped out and sprinted down the sidewalk.  So I went to a bike shop and discovered that the axle was no longer made (surprise!).  I was, however, able to purchase some new inner parts to repair the battered axle. My friend Gary came over to pack the bearings and I was back on the road again.  Barely a week went by and one day I flew over a piece of terra firma (my sidewalk had been torn up for construction) and as I landed on mother earth (not literally, there was a bar between usL) my seat bent backwards almost touching the rear tire.  I was unsuccessful in bending it back. A friend suggested I go on a diet which wasn’t very helpful but brought me full circle as to why I’m riding the bike in the first place!  Anyhow - the next Sunday at church my good friend Gary the fix it guy - said to me, ‘I’ve got something to show you.’  There in his pickup bed was a very nice, very much newer ‘Diamondback’ bicycle!  A friend of his had been trying to sell his bike. When he heard the sad tale of my bike he wanted to give it to me!  So, there I was enjoying my old stuff and being content and God just gives me a gift to enjoy.  Joy snuck up and bit me! Isn’t that just like God?  Thank you Raymond and Louise for being the very hand of God!  As Hannibal Smith used to say, ‘I love it when a plan comes together’!

Not about me

Don’t read this if you want to hang on to that tired belief that pastors walk on water!  So here’s the deal; my wife had outpatient surgery on her foot and they sent her home for me to care for. What’s so hard about that? Right!?  She's been at home 24/7. I'm timing her medications, making sure she has water within reach, keeping ice in that cooling mechanism that sooths her foot, and mealtimes kept rolling around like clockwork. It's funny. You think you're humble until something like this happens and you realize just how self-centered you really are. I had gotten used to just taking care of myself but now I get to think about, even anticipate her needs.

I have always respected men who took care of wives slipping into Alzheimers and such. I love the sentiment in ‘Notebook’ where James Garner keeps reading their love story to his wife who doesn’t know who he is or why he takes an interest in her. But serving someone else in real life isn't the same thing as warm sentiment from a distance! My wife and I have raised 3 children together - so I knew how to put myself aside and engage in mutual responsibility together. But now it is just me and her, and we both have full-time jobs. I guess I've been just kind of expecting her to take care of herself while I take care of myself. 

Having her around has reminded me how selfish I am and how rewarding it is to make her daily needs a part of my world. I like it. Me taking care of me bores me anyway. :(  Perhaps I'll never go back!

God's timing

He is in a hurry to leave but suddenly he wants to share his story.  We meet at the coffee shop once a week. I’ve known him for about a year. Trust takes time. He begins with his son and daughter-in-law who are getting a divorce.  “I tried to help them the last few years, giving advice, looking up counselors for them, but they didn’t follow up,” he said.  “My 8 year old granddaughter and 11 year old grandson break my heart.  My grandson told me that he’d rather grow up with me - he thought he’d turn out better.  I came from a broken home too. My dad left when I was 5.  At least my younger brother who was a baby can’t remember them fighting,” he stated.
 
“My daughter started cutting when she was a teenager. We looked for help.  The counselor was a Christian although we didn’t know it.  After one session she said to me, ‘You’re looking for something aren’t you?’  I thought, ‘How did she know?’  She went on, ‘I shouldn’t do this but I’m going to mix my profession with my faith. You need God. Why don’t you join my husband and me for church this Sunday.’” He couldn’t convince anyone else in his family to go. He went alone. He cried through the whole service.  “Wait,” I interrupt, “I thought you said you went to counseling for your daughter?”  “Well,” he admitted, “I had also just had a very tough business partner breakup. I was broken.”  He found Christ.  The church is a place of grace for broken people. We plant seeds. We water plants. We live life. God brings the growth in His time.

Never give up hope.

Recently someone in another state was telling me about his wife’s father. He explained how 'they' had sent him home with inoperable cancer. My friend’s wife decided that she wasn’t just going to wait for her dad to die. She took an interest in him and his diet. She researched alternate means of fighting cancer.  They’d never been emotionally close but as they spent time together she felt like she was developing a different kind of relationship with the father she'd never known. 

Most of his life he’d spent kind of estranged from God and experiences in the church had left him critical.  She said to him one day, ‘Dad, when you face Jesus he isn’t going to ask you about all those other guys, He’s going to ask you about you.  Are you ready to face Him?’  He responded, ‘I tried accepting Christ a long time ago and it didn’t work for me.’  She asked, ‘Would you like to try again?’ and He did.  After that he softened.  He would ask her how she was, about her life. One day he stopped her as she was leaving and told her that he loved her. God was at work in his life. It seemed as though she had her father back!  Sunday morning he went to be with the Lord he’d so recently become reacquainted with. God is good. Be patient. Never give up hope!

First Day at PPSEL

It is Aspen Ridge Church's first worship service in our new location. The energy is palpable. Set up, sound, worship and ‘Kids for Christ’ folks are figuring out where things should go or even be plugged in.  The ingenious wrap the drums in wrestling mats to quiet their volume in a gym that tends to echo.  KFC teachers are figuring out which room is best for what. Ron is discovered, standing in the gym listening for noise bleed, from the room next door. The refreshment folks are finding the right place and the right table to set up their array of sweets and energy boosters. Same be said for the Communion and critical books arrangement. The energy and hustle & bustle about the place is electrifying, electrifying! It strikes me that this is so like the Holy Spirit working through Christ's body, the church! Sometimes, it seems, we drag our sorry butts to church hoping that God will somehow miraculously supersize our energy. Or we do the Sunday morning debate - ‘should I even go to church today’? Have we considered that simply arriving at church is not the end game? Participating in church is a celebrative overflow of God’s goodness in my life.  Make an offering of worship before the King of Glory! Engage God's Spirit in service and worship. I pray each Sunday during worship that God will energize my preaching and open hearts to His Word. I pray that out of the riches of God's glory He would grant us inner power that Christ would dwell (be there!) in and among us, so that we would recognize the breadth of His love. (Ephesians 3:16,17) What a gathering - when we come expecting Christ and engaging in ministry! 

I hear noise in the gym. Set up is going down. Refreshments are being set out. Children are about! I hear music playing. The sound and joy of worship is rising. Praise God - it's Sunday!

Tragedy and Hope

As a resident of Colorado it seems that we have had our share of tragedy this summer.  The ‘Waldo’ fire destroyed 346 houses and cast a pall of ash and fear over the city. Then there was the movie theatre massacre in Aurora on the edge of Denver.  The cause of the Waldo Canyon fire is still being investigating but pure evil inspired the attack at the theatre that took 12 lives and sent scores to hospitals. I will not try to resolve the God versus evil difficulty. I will refer you to people like Randy Alcorn (“If God is good”), who have written excellent tomes on the subject.  (Or Augustine’s: ‘On the Nature of Good’ if you prefer a classic - written in 404AD!) But don’t overlook God’s greatest act against evil - the cross of Jesus Christ and I will state simply, ‘God is good, all the time.’ Beyond that I’d like to ask a question: 

When was the last time that our firefighters and policemen were honored like this?

I saw people holding signs that said, 'Thank you police force'. One sign suggested they deserved a raise! I seem to remember my generation calling them 'pigs' once upon a time! I saw signs in restaurants offering firemen discounts. One sign gushed, 'We love you, firefighters!' A local TV station called them 'signs of appreciation'. When was the last time we so passionately appreciated these men and women who place their lives on the line each day? Perhaps not since the aftermath of 9-11. Courage often shines most brightly against a backdrop of evil, personal tragedy, or loss. So let us be grateful and courageous with each opportunity God gives us to shine. Let us honor our heroes shamelessly! And remember - Augustine suggested that evil is the absence of good - so come Lord Jesus, our greatest good & blessed hope!