MIscellaneiaio and off to work we go
It’s been a while since I cleaned up my “blog starters” file - that place where I put snippets of random “Dale thoughts” that I think might someday make a good blog. Most of them are incomplete and some of them I would have done better to leave on the cutting room floor but I didn’t. They are random, not associated with each other, disparate. They are separated by ---. Feel free to use these as you wish or not, but it does me good to do a “flush” every now and then, so here goes.
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Do you think Jesus prayed that Judas would not betray him... that he would chose differently?
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We want our “heroes” to be in heaven. Years ago I preached a sermon I stupidly titled “Mother Teresa and Lady Diana” I never condemned them to hell but talked about how they would be judged not by the popular media but by the God of Heaven and by His Word and their respect for and obedience to it. I got a “firestorm” out of it. In 2009 it was Michael Jackson and Steve McNair who folks placed on the “other side of the pearly gates. In McNair’s funeral one of the speakers talked about how he could “see him now, making passes to the angels” Sorry, I thought one of the angels might be saying to him - “you go long...real long.” In our politically correct society it is not a sin to have multiple affairs, to father children you don’t raise, to abuse and misuse your talents or money but if you judge someone or show yourself intolerant - watch out!
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Courage is seeing what is, imaging what can be, and taking action.
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My challenge in life has been learning to live on a margin: When we live on a margin we will have time to pray, time to rest, money to give, energy to share. God has given you all you need, the challenge it to use those resources wisely.
Those who know me know I like simple! I used to say that “Preaching is communicating truth to people”, let’s simplify even that. Preacher your job: “Tell truth.”
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This one isn’t mine but I don’t know where I clipped it from: On August 30, 2009, 79-year-old Jud McKinney was driving a white pickup truck along a rural road in Winterset, Iowa. Riding a bike on the same road was 54-year-old Mark Grgurich. In a tragic turn of events, McKinney steered his truck into Grgurich, killing him. McKinney suffered from a vision problem known as macular degeneration—a blind spot in someone’s central vision.
I wonder how many of us are a wrong turn away from devastating consequences because of a vision problem? Vision is a picture of an unrealized future. It’s where or what you’re headed toward (how you get there is what mission is for).
Walt Disney passed away before Disney World in Orlando was built. At the opening dedication in 1971, five years after Walt’s death, someone commented to Mike Vance, creative director of Walt Disney Studios, “Isn’t it too bad [Walt] didn’t live to see this?” “He did see it,” Vance replied. “That’s why it’s here.”
If you or your team is stumbling, fumbling or grumbling for lack of clear direction about the future, it’s time for some vision correction.
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I’ve been there, people looking at a fat middle-aged guy and then Melanie and wondering: “Why would ‘she’ be with ‘he’? Graceful, poised - she’s together...and I’m, well...not. Only one thing could cause it, she loves me. For whatever reason she loves me.
God is holy, just, fair, forgiving, full of grace, giving, all wise, ageless, merciful...why would He want to be seen with me? Just more proof of His goodness. He loves me.
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Foyers and inconsistencies - A strange little thought:
Church buildings, a term not even mentioned in the Bible, cause so much fighting: “we spent too much”, “we didn’t build big enough”, “we built too big”, “it is too formal and fancy for me”, “It’s somehow not inspiring enough”, “I don’t believe you should eat/run/play/laugh etc. in the church building”. People judge us by our buildings: some judge you if you have one, some judge you if you don’t.
The craze the last twenty five years of so has been to blast out at spending so much on a building you only use one or two hours a week - a statement I’ve never seen to be true. I’ve never worked with a church that used their building that little. But even if it were true I might counter: We also spend an awful lot on our bathrooms in our houses but we don’t spend that much time in there a week.
I’ve also noticed at the same time as people complain about the issue of spending so much on the auditorium that a concurrent craze of building “large foyers” has occurred. People talk about and show off - foyers. Foyers. They complain about how small their foyer is and spend big amounts to remodel and enlarge it. They say: “We need a big one where people can visit.” And, while I don’t disagree about a nice, inviting, spacious foyer, those are typically the same people who are complaining about the amount wasted on the auditorium...and I’m thinking of the foyer - we only spend a few minutes in it each week.
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This one was from back late last summer when I’d heard more than my share of bellyaching and was a tad discouraged: “Can I be down and it be OK? Sometimes I don’t give myself permission to do that. I get exhausted, miss the hardware store, tired of the gripping, don’t like the ________ situation (just looked at that one again, it was not a curse word there, but a specific situation that I won’t mention), feel like I’m not communicating, broke.” Can I be down sometimes?
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People play follow the leader. So leaders, where are you leading?
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What is it about us that makes us so insecure? It is one thing, a lack of trust in God’s willingness, love for or ability to care for us and take care of us. Be honest about it: We want a life where if God doesn’t arrive on the scene we are fine, we got this covered. Secure, safe, steady, stable. But think of the heroes of the Bible...do those words describe their lives? Paul, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Peter, Jesus? What are you doing that is pushing you to faith? We want to get it all in order, to have it all together, to figure it out...But faith is...well, faith. What are you doing that unless God shows up on the scene it will fail? What are you dreaming that is bigger than you?
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Why do I feel this need when I meet new people to show them I measure up? To begin reading my resume to them as if it validates who I am or impresses them? I don’t do that literally, carry a copy or two of my resume around with me, “now follow alone...” but I usually find a way to rattle off interesting tidbits about myself - preached at Granny White, left there to help with a church plant that has grown to...” I wonder how that makes God feel? I wonder if He thinks, just being My child isn’t enough for you? You think you can impress people with your accomplishments more than with Mine? You think the piddling little you have done in any way matches My “weakest” endeavor?
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I suppose we have to have them but it seems “programs” and “process” get in the way of people. And that sometimes they seem to become more important than people. Examine “your” programs carefully and see if that is correct.
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I saw one of those “questionnaire’s” the other day that churches put out. They always make me almost sickly nervous. They smack of creedism. Why should your pet doctrine or the doctrine de-jour be make the list? Know what I’m talking about? And the list of positions grows and the list of uses for the document expands.
What should we do when what we are trying to do conflicts with what we must do? Here’s one: “Do you believe in the direct operation of the Holy Spirit, which is that God speaks to man in other ways than through the Bible today? (i.e., feelings, voices, signs, etc.).” I know what they are trying to do by asking the question, I know the answer they are looking for...but it conflicts with the scriptures clear teaching. “The heavens declare (proclaim-NLT) the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. Their line[a] has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world” (Psalms 19:1-4 NKJV)
This most often happens when we try to make a law or keep something from happening that is not in the Bible. Our trust in the scriptures needs to be the trump card when discussing anything that deal with faith and life.
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Well I had to do it again yesterday, spend 10 minutes explaining and justifying my decision on my scoop blog to not list a church as looking for “a sound, conservative preacher”. You see the problem with that is that those terms are arbitrary. We say: “He’s a sound preacher” - “Oh, really, by whose standard?” We tend to make ourselves the standard as if if I say he is sound that means he is. I’m awaiting the ad that says: “We are looking for a preacher who is not sound...” I’ll do the listing, and let you do the vetting.