Recalculating: GPS for Active Adults

The title of this post is the name of an upcoming conference scheduled for June 9th at Holmeswood Baptist Church.  Here's a link to some further information found on Holmeswood's home page (that's kind of alliterative, isn't it?).  Four different Kansas City-area Baptist churches have been planning for this event for many months now and it's shaping up to be a great conference.  The Baptist Home has also taken a key leadership role in conceiving and designing the conference with outstanding contributions from Frank Fain who heads up their educational ministry and is a specialist on aging.  This conference however isn't focused primarily on traditional "seniors" but rather on emerging boomers.  The goal is to help many of us who are in that category to be better equipped as we move toward retirement years, deal with aging parents, seek to stay abreast of the latest advances in technology, etc.  There is an outstanding line-up of conferences that will be offered that day with something of interest for everyone.  

Baptists can't meet without eating of course, so we've also planned a catered Italian lunch into the program at a nominal cost of $5 for those who pre-register before May 31st.  Folks who fail to pre-register can still do so at the door and enjoy the meal at a cost of $7.50.  Following lunch, there will be an opportunity to attend some optional Q&A sessions with experts in the fields of financial planning, Social Security and Medicare issues, and caregiving.  Those who are interested can also pay a visit to the Forest Avenue Homeless Shelter in Kansas City that will be receiving donated items from conference participants.  Here's a list of some items that the shelter needs and that attendees are encouraged to bring with them that day.  We're also exploring the possibilities of some future missions projects that these churches can do jointly with Forest Avenue.

I'm grateful to my colleagues who have labored faithfully for several months in organizing this event.  It promises to be an outstanding experience for all who attend.

UMKC Conservatory Choir

The UMKC Conservatory Choir performed last night at 2nd Presbyterian Church in Kansas City.  One of my favorite numbers was the spiritual, "My Soul's Been Anchored in the Lord."  Click on the link below to hear and watch them.

http://youtu.be/3YdA7eneAvI

ChurchNet's annual meeting

I had the enjoyable experience on Friday and Saturday of traveling to St. Louis to participate in ChurchNet's annual meeting, held at Fee Fee Baptist Church.  Fee Fee has the distinction of being the oldest Protestant church west of the Mississippi River, having originally been founded in 1807.  We didn't have huge crowds present but the sessions were all great, beginning with the missions banquet on Friday evening.  Three members of a team from Parkade Baptist Church in Columbia, MO and my colleague, Verlyn Bergen, shared about their recent experiences of traveling to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala to conduct dental clinics and a variety of other outreach efforts with two different congregations.  They also had a chance to visit the Tabitha Ministry in Guatemala City.

Later that evening we were blessed with some great music by the Missouri Baptist University Chorale and a bell choir from MBU as well.  John Upton, president of the Baptist World Alliance, brought an outstanding message on the theme of this year's gathering: "Share Hope: The Journey Continues." 

Saturday morning we attended to some brief business before moving to a time of breakout sessions.  I had the privilege of facilitating a couple of sessions on Cowboy Churches.  Those leading the session were Tommy Goode, pastor of the I-70 Cowboy Church in Sweet Springs, MO and Steve Reed, a friend who has been engaged in cowboy church ministry for a number of years in Guatemala and more recently in the adjoining countries of Honduras and El Salvador as well.  When Steve isn't leading teams to Central America, he's engaged in planting churches in the Kansas City metro area.  He also leads a ministry in the jungle areas of Guatemala among the Kekchi.  He jokes that he's still playing cowboys and Indians.  Both Tommy and Steve did a great job of sharing stories and strategies about their ministries among cowboys.

It was great to get to fellowship with many friends engaged in ministry across Missouri this past weekend.

Stones Surrounding Avebury

While visiting Stonehenge, we learned of a lesser known archaeological site in a nearby village called Avebury.  The stones that completely surround this village are placed inside a moat and a fairly tall embankment that also circles the town.  The stones come from the same area as those found at Stonehenge and from the same period.

Humorous sign

This sign at Bath was hilarious.  It's a quote from the first-century Roman historian Seneca.
I have this image of a guy doing a cannonball into the Roman baths.

Europe Photos

KJV 1611 edition in church where Shakespeare is buried

Church in Stratford-on-Avon where Shakespeare is buried

St. Anne's College at Oxford where Josh studies

Family standing by the river in Oxford where Josh rows competitively

Back in the Saddle

That title is a figurative one of course.  My family and I just spent an enjoyable 9 days abroad in England and Ireland, visiting our third son who is studying at Oxford this semester.  We thoroughly enjoyed the trip--relishing in the lengthy history of so many places.  There's nothing quite like a trip to Europe to put things in a bit of historical perspective.  While the earliest English settlers arrived in Jamestown, VA a little over 400 years ago, and the U.S. is not even 250 years old yet, we visited churches that have been standing for between 800 and 1000 years.  

We enjoyed visiting several sites in England including Oxford, Stratford-on-Avon where we took in the Shakespearean houses, ancient Bath, Stonehenge, and a lesser known but larger stone circle at Avesbury.  We also toured Windsor Castle with all of its pomp and circumstance.

In Ireland, we journeyed southward to Cork where we climbed the Blarney Castle and kissed the Blarney stone to gain the gift of eloquence (we'll see how that works), enjoyed the scenery of the beautiful countryside, took in a concert of classical and Gaelic music in Galway, and enjoyed a couple of days in Dublin including attending the St. Patrick's Day parade in which the Notre Dame and Mizzou bands were marching.  

We arrived safely home with all of our luggage last night and will undoubtedly be coping with a bit of jet lag today after getting up at 5:00 a.m. yesterday in London.  All in all, it was a wonderful trip.

Struggling with the Devil or Struggling with God

I read a great article this morning on Ethics Daily by Chuck Queen that shares the story of a young man who goes to live for the summer in a monastery in the mountains of Greece.  There's a famous old monk there named Father Makarios and Nikos, the young man, engages the monk in the following conversation:

One day, Nikos asked Father Makarios, "Do you still wrestle with the devil?"

Father Makarios said, "No. I used to wrestle with the devil all the time. But now I have grown old and tired, and the devil has grown old and tired with me. So I leave him alone and he leaves me alone."

Nikos asked, "Then life is easy now?"

Father Makarios responded, "Oh, no. Life is much harder now. For now I wrestle with God."

Nikos exclaimed, "You wrestle with God and hope to win?"

"No," said Father Makarios, "I wrestle with God and hope to lose."

There's a real sense in which this struggle with God is one in which we all participate, hopefully with the same desire to lose.  The yielding of our lives completely to His will and greater purpose for us is something we battle daily to achieve.  That anguished struggle is echoed by the Apostle Paul in Romans 7 with his confession that the good he wants to do he finds himself not doing, and the evil that he wishes to avoid he finds himself committing.  The only hope for victory in this arena lies in the daily surrender of our will, our desires, our time, our energy, and our actions to the control of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  When we do so, we can say together with Paul, "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place" (2 Cor. 2:14).

Frank Viola interviews Scot McKnight

I wanted to call your attention today to a couple of great blogs to which I subscribe, as I find each of the authors provide some great insights into the Scriptures as well as interacting with modern evangelical thought.  Frank Viola's interview with Scot McKnight allows McKnight to respond to some questions that have arisen about his book, The King Jesus Gospel.  I hope you'll click on the link above to read the interview.

Annie Dillard quote

I’ve been seriously pondering something I read last week and referenced in the previous post.  The imagery of the quote has been bouncing around in my head for several days.  It’s from a book by Annie Dillard entitled, Teaching a Stone to Talk.  She asks the penetrating question about our worship, “Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke?”  In other words, do we approach worship with a ho-hum attitude and no expectation of God actually showing up?  Her response is that if we really took seriously what we say we believe, we should all be wearing crash helmets—and ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares and lash us to the pews. 

I’m not advocating chaos and disorder, for Paul writes in 1 Cor. 14:40 that all should be done properly and in an orderly manner.  And yet, I can’t help wondering what a difference it would make if we entered into worship in a spirit of expectancy, anticipating that God would meet us in all of His power and majesty.  Psalm 22:3 says that God inhabits or is enthroned upon the praises of His people.  As we praise Him in spirit and in truth, we can anticipate His power and presence to be displayed among us.  May it be so this and every week as we gather to worship Him!

Worship at Gate A-3

Let me encourage you to read this piece from Bill Wilson about an experience of worship he had at an airport as a family gathered to receive the body of their military son who died in Afghanistan.  You might want to make sure you have a Kleenex or handkerchief at hand.

I was reading along in the article, still caught up in reflecting on the quote from Annie Dillard about churches needing to pass out crash helmets at the door and install seat belts in the pews if we were really serious about what we say we believe regarding worship, when Wilson shifted his focus to his experience of worship at Gate A-3 in the Charlotte airport.  I wasn't quite prepared for the emotional impact of reading about what he witnessed, but I'm grateful that he shared these thoughts.

A Symphony Performed by Misfits

The title of this blog post comes from a blog by Ian Ebright on the Red Letter Christians blog.  The final paragraph of that post reads as follows:

"The body of Christ is not intended to be a singular noise hummed by perfect people, but rather a full symphony performed by misfits, and that’s going to include some subtle tones that take a little extra effort to hear, and some sour notes that are initially uncomfortable. But God is speaking, also through people and in ways that we may not prefer."

You've probably heard the old adage that describes the church as a hospital for the broken and ill.  I really like the imagery suggested by Ebright of a symphony performed by misfits, and the notion that we must make special efforts to ensure that everyone's voice (or musical notes in this context) is heard.  Sour notes may be sounded, but that's preferable to excluding some from playing in the orchestra.  The body of Christ is rich in its diversity, and is enriched spiritually when all of its members join in the song.

Some Guidelines for this Election Season

The following are some thoughts I shared in the latest edition of our monthly senior adult newsletter.

Well, just in case you’ve been totally isolated from a television in recent weeks, I thought I’d clue you in that we’re in the midst of an election year.  It seems it’s possible lately to watch a lively debate among presidential hopefuls at least a couple of times a week if one is so inclined.  And that’s before the GOP has even selected its party’s candidate and the real political fireworks begin.  It seems we’re in for a long season of negative attack ads and impassioned rhetoric.

So where does all of this leave us as followers of Christ?  At the risk of being shot at by both sides, let me offer a few guidelines and suggestions. 

1.      Be informed.  That doesn’t mean you have to watch every single minute of political coverage, but learn about the candidates and their platforms in order to vote intelligently.

2.      Vote your conscience.  As much as possible, let your vote reflect support for the individual you feel best embodies sound principles and character.

3.      Recognize that there are no perfect people—including (or maybe especially) politicians.

4.      Acknowledge that God isn’t the exclusive possession or supporter of either major party.  This one may be the trickiest and most difficult, as we tend to assume that God is on our side.

5.      Recognize that other sincere Christians can differ with your political persuasion without being heretics or insane.  This is a logical corollary of the previous guideline.

6.      Leave your penchant for political debate at home when you come to church.  We gather to worship the God of all creation—not a political messiah. 

7.      Pray earnestly for all those elected to serve in the political arena.  That’s a biblical command.

Baptists have been in the forefront historically of the fight to ensure separation of church and state, and we do well to remember that as the political fever rises this year.  Let’s keep our focus on lifting up the Lord and exalting Him rather than the political party of our choice.

Another Great Conference in Guatemala

I had the opportunity this past week to travel once again to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala for another round of leadership training conferences with pastors and leaders in that western region of the country.  My colleague, Verlyn Bergen, and I each led 2 sessions (with me translating for Verlyn in his two), and then we combined for a question and answer time in the final session.  We usually have a lot of dialogue and give and take in these conferences, but this was the first time we deliberately planned into the schedule one entire session for responding to questions and addressing concerns that the leaders raised.

For clarification, we spent a few minutes in the initial session asking them to suggest themes or issues that they wanted us to cover in that final session, so we had at least a few waking hours to think about those concerns before covering them in our final session together. 

Altogether, we had 75 pastors and leaders from 27 different churches and missions represented.  That's about the same total number of participants as usual, but a larger number of congregations present.  As always, the fellowship and camaraderie shared was wonderful.  Many of these men and women have attended every conference for the past 6 years or so.  It's great as well to see new leaders emerging who are attending these conferences.  They are eager learners, hanging on every word and soaking up the content like sponges.  Verlyn talked about 8 characteristics of healthy churches and teaching for results, while I led two sessions talking about the missional church--seeking to define it somewhat and describing the practices of missional churches.  I borrowed heavily from a great book by Milfred Minatrea entitled Shaped by God's Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches.  It's a great resource from Leadership Network that identifies 9 practices of growing missional churches based on research of a number of churches in the U.S.

We returned home on Friday afternoon, fairly exhausted from the travel schedule, but very content with the conference and the opportunity as well to visit the Tabitha Ministry again in Guatemala City that I've spoken of in previous posts.  They are having to vacate the building they currently occupy by the end of February, but it looks like they will be able to secure a house just a short distance away to continue the ministry of providing 2 meals and early childhood education to around 90 children.  In addition, some 50 women who are mainly the mothers of these youngsters are meeting weekly for Bible study. 

All in all, it was another blessed and productive week in Guatemala.  I appreciate the prayers of those who lifted us up to the Lord as we went. 

Seeking Him

I really enjoyed and was challenged by an excerpt from Max Lucado's book, One Incredible Savior: Celebrating the Majesty of the Manger, that showed up in my email inbox this morning as a part of his Upwords weekly devotional.

Here's the excerpt from the book that he shared:

God rewards those who seek him. Not those who seek doctrine or religion or systems or creeds. Many settle for these lesser passions, but the reward goes to those who settle for nothing less than Jesus himself.

I read a couple of blogs where fellow Baptists of many different stripes engage in a lot of heated (often without too much light being shed) discussion about doctrinal systems.  The age-old Calvinism vs. Arminianism debate is one among many others that frequently generates dozens of passionate responses.  It would be surprising and amazing perhaps to see what kind of positive Kingdom impact would be accomplished if just a small percentage of the zeal that's displayed in those debates were channeled instead into pursuing a love relationship with our Savior.  Something to think about as the first week of the new year draws to a close.

Fleeting Time

It scarcely seems possible that another year has come and gone, but here we are in 2012.  While each year we live contains the same 365 days (with the exception of leap year), our perception as we age is that each new year passes more quickly than those that preceded it.  I once heard a mathematical explanation for that which made sense to me.  As a youngster of let’s say 6 years old, the current year represents one-sixth of our lifetime.  As a senior adult of 80, that same year represents just one-eightieth of our life.  So while the number of days and the time span is identical for each, the year seems to have passed more quickly for the older adult since it’s a smaller fraction of his life.

What should we do with the fleeting years that remain for us here on earth?  I like the advice that Moses gives us in Psalm 90:12 where he expresses this prayer to God, “So teach us to number our days that we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom.”  A wise heart is a gift that we can give back to God.  We can and should continue to grow in the knowledge of God each new year that He allows us to live.  Godly wisdom comes from spending time with God in the Scriptures and allowing Him to speak to us both through the Word and in prayer.

Another verse that comes to mind is Eph. 5:17 that encourages us to redeem the time, because the days are evil.  While we cannot literally buy back time that has elapsed, we can utilize the remaining time we have to love God, love people, and make disciples as our church’s mission statement reads.  That’s a worthy goal for 2012 for each of us.

Christmas Reflection #8

This reflection also comes from Brennan Mannings' The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus and the chapter entitled "The Shipwrecked at the Stable."

"But the shipwrecked at the stable tremble in adoration of the Christ child and quake at the inbreaking of God Almighty, because all the Santa Clauses and red-nosed reindeer, fifty-foot trees and thundering church bells put together create less pandemonium than the infant Jesus when, instead of remaining a statute in a crib, He comes alive and delivers us over to the fire that He came to light."

Christmas Reflection #7

On a recent trip to California to attend a senior adult ministry conference, I had a chance to read Brennan Manning's (author of The Ragamuffin Gospel) book The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus.  The final chapter is entitled "The Shipwrecked at the Stable" and contains this paragraph.

"The Bethlehem mystery will ever be a scandal to aspiring disciples who seek a triumphant Savior and a prosperity Gospel.  The infant Jesus was born in unimpressive circumstances; no one can say exactly where.  His parents were of no social significance whatsoever, and His chosen welcoming committee were all turkeys, losers and dirt-poor shepherds.  But in this weakness and poverty the shipwrecked at the stable would come to know the love of God."

I love the expression Manning uses to describe those who gathered to witness and celebrate Jesus' birth--the shipwrecked at the stable.  For many whose ships have been dashed upon the rocks and shoals of stormy seas, the promised Messiah waits to bring hope, wholeness, and healing.  Love's greatest gift, heaven's stooping to earth to bless us with the birth of God's Son, is a priceless possession offered freely to all who by grace will accept His salvation.

Christmas Reflection #6

Here's the latest installment of Christmas reflections.  This one comes from this month's issue of Joyful Tidings, our senior adult newsletter.

When God chose to announce the birth of His Son in Bethlehem, He didn’t call a press conference or leak the news story to the Jerusalem Tribune. There was no social media network to employ like Facebook or Twitter, so God did the next best thing He could do. He sent a choir of angels to some shepherds who were tending their flocks on the Judean hillsides outside of the city of David. That might seem like an odd choice on His part if the purpose of the announcement was indeed to broadcast the news of the Messiah’s coming. Common sense would dictate that employing some official channel of communication would function better than revealing this momentous event to a class of society looked down upon by the general public. God’s plans rarely coincide with ours though.

As it turns out, God’s choice of the shepherds proved to be fortuitous. These nomadic wanderers would crisscross the Palestinian landscape throughout the year, moving their herds in search of green pastures and fresh water. Undoubtedly for years to come after the night that they paid a visit to a young couple in a Bethlehem stable and observed the young boy lying in a manger, they repeated the story of what they had experienced. The dazzling light from heaven, the angel’s astounding message of good news of great joy for all people, and the angelic choir singing God’s praises must have been topics of conversation with other wandering shepherds each time they camped and sat around a nighttime fire.

I think that’s the best possible explanation for the amazing response of the people to the preaching of John the Baptist when he emerged as the forerunner for Jesus’ public ministry. For almost thirty years the people had heard stories of that night’s miraculous events, and now they were eager to hear the one whose message pointed to the Messiah’s appearing. May we also like the shepherds never tire of telling the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

An Amazing Story

I'm interrupting my series on Christmas Reflections to highlight something that really touched me today.  If you don't regularly read Jon Acuff's Stuff Christians Like, you are missing a real treat.  Today's blog post deals with the story of how God used a flute that was included in an Operation Christmas Child shoebox to touch lives in Vietnam.  It's definitely worth reading, but you might want to make sure you have a Kleenex nearby as you read it.  Here's the link.