Pastor's Point: Who Moved My Cheese?

SHIFT HAPPENS.  It’s been said that the most dependable aspect of life in these times is that things change.  Somebody “moves our cheese.”  Shift happens.  Just when we think we’ve got all our life neatly organized (right!), something changes.  Sometimes, it’s really big.  A boss says the company needs you in another city.  Or another department.  Or not at all.  A child leaves the “nest” for school or a life on their own.  A spouse walks away.  A doctor gives a not-so-welcome prognosis.  Worse, someone we love dies.  This shifting happens even in the church.  Worship styles change.  New staff come and go.  Different kinds of people start showing up.  We are asked to share the role we once thought was uniquely ours. 

For me, as a creative person, I usually greet change with excitement, enthusiasm.  But not too long ago, I experienced a change in my life that rocked me more than I care to admit.  The little 5½  dog that shared life with Deb and me for 15 years, needed to be put down.  And “Sammie” was no ordinary dog (I know we all say that).  She was like a furry angel God placed in our life for the very reason of providing stability and unconditional love through the many changes we would navigate during her lifetime.  Her death left a bigger hole in my heart than I imagined was possible from a non-human.  Occasionally, she still shows up in my dreams.  Our house feels different.  It’s a noticeable shift, and one which will never return to the way it was.

As a person living in an increasingly unstable and changing world, I am beginning to weary of it a bit, seeing more and more of change as not so much for the better, but just because we can change.  Technology is shrinking our world and enabling us to get places faster, do things cheaper, and do whatever we can dream.  In fact, human kind appears to be growing more and more restless.  So I find myself simultaneously excited and uneasy.  Stimulated, but suspicious.  Eager, and yet a bit dreadful. 

Where do we turn, when, as the ancient hymn writer once wrote, “every earthly prop gives way?”  Lately, I’ve been finding comfort in Psalm 34, penned by another artistic type, King David himself. 

I will extol the Lord at ALL times. His praise will always be on my lips.  My soul will boast in the Lord: let the afflicted hear and rejoice.  Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together.  I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.  Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.”

From these five little verses, my 3½ lbs of brain conclude:  I need encouragement, I need a community, I need faith.  Or better said, WE need encouragement.  WE need community.  WE need faith.  If I am to be delivered from all my fears, I need to be urged forward, to keep joining myself with others, and to keep trusting the One who is the same Yesterday, Today, and Forever.  And so do you.

Who are the ones in your life that God consistently uses to do just that in your life through their encouragement, their friendship, their faith?  Take a moment to thank God for their part in your life. Better yet, drop them a note, an email, a text message and let them know how God is using them to help ground you, when so many things in life are shifting.  It may come in handy the next time someone moves your cheese.                                                                                                                                                              tad       

Pastor’s Point: Food for thought

The wisest of kings once wrote: “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” Solomon recorded his thoughts in the Old Testament book of Proverbs, and even a cursory reading of its contents gives evidence of their timeless value. What we say matters, and as those who sing a lot of words over the course of time, we would do well to weigh their importance in our song selection for corporate worship.

Here’s a question: Generally speaking, what draws you to a piece of vocal music first—the lyrics or the musical content? For some, it is a provocative melody or a funky or driving beat. For others, it is the turn of a phrase, an expressed thought that seems to resonate with one’s reality at the moment. I remember years ago hearing a tune by Billy Joel called Honesty. It contained a cryptic chorus:

“Honesty is such a lonely word.

Everyone is so untrue.

Honesty is hardly ever heard.

And mostly what I need from you.”

I recall the song really “grabbing” me at the time, because it was part of my experience at that moment.

By contrast, I can remember songs that I used to love to listen to or even dance to (yes, they danced during the Cro-Magnon age!) because of their beat, only to be surprised later to realize I was moving to some pretty raunchy or dubious lyrics.

What’s the point? Music has the power to engage us on a very visceral and emotional level, sometimes because of the message it communicates and other times simply by how it makes us feel. Put in the wrong hands, it can be a very manipulative and even destructive influence. But used judiciously and for a higher purpose, it can lift us, inspire us, comfort us. Look at the lyrics to this simple praise song:

This is the Day

Father, I am weary; I am pleading for your mercy

I am waiting for Your answer,

And I’m struggling with surrender.

But I’m trusting through the darkness that surrounds:

This is the day the Lord has made

I will rejoice I will give thanks

And live my life to bring you praise

This is the day the Lord has made.

Father, through the shadows, I will seek you, I will follow for your glory, for Your Kingdom;

For redemption, and for freedom,

In my weakness, through the power of the cross:

This is the day…

I will carry my cross, carry my cross,

And You will carry me

I will carry my cross, carry my cross,

And You will carry me. This is the day…

What initially drew me to this song was the fact that the worshiper appears to be “singing through” his circumstances, bleak though they might be. He confesses to being “weary, needing mercy, looking for answers…through the darkness.” The words to Psalms 42 and 40 come quickly to mind:

As a deer gets thirsty for streams of water, I truly am thirsty for you, my God. In my heart, I am thirsty for you, the living God. When will I see your face?

Why am I discouraged? Why am I restless? I trust you! And I will praise you again because you help me, and you are my God.

Every day, you are kind, and at night you give me a song as my prayer to you, the living LORD God. You are my mighty rock. Why am I discouraged? Why am I restless? I trust you! And I will praise you again because you help me, and you are my God.

I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

For those in the worship ministry to stand before the Church week after week and sing truth through our pain, doubts or fear, it is a powerful way of reaching out to God and encouraging the saints. The psalmist says that through the public proclamation of praise, “many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.”

In conclusion, love your favorite kinds of music for personal recreation—it’s what makes you unique! But when it comes to music ministry, give me a powerful, truth-filled lyric any day, one which nourishes my soul and “drives the dark of doubt away.” Long after the initial feeling created by the music itself, the words will refresh like ‘apples of gold.’

                                                                                                                             tad

Trees Talk

Pastor’s Point:  Trees Talk

Usually when someone suggests to you that they are having conversations with inanimate objects, you begin to wonder if the porch light is on but nobody’s home. What’s that you say? The trees talk to you? I suppose the flowers whisper your name, too, right?

Actually the notion is not all that far-fetched. Throughout scripture it is suggested that God has intended all along to reveal Himself—to speak to us—through His handiwork. Consider just a few passages:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 19

The seas have lifted up, LORD, the seas have lifted up their voice;

the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.

Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea—

the LORD on high is mighty. Ps. 93

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities— his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Isaiah 55

As the summer months allow for us to interact more freely with our natural surroundings, it’s a good time to be a little more intentional about what nature can “say” to us. Consider with me the connection between the tree and the four seasons: summer, autumn, winter, and spring. Here in this one beautiful symbol of life we have all the stages, the actual rhythm of the human experience. And ultimately, we have the reminder that through the use of a tree, God’s redemptive plan for his fallen creation was accomplished, and we are restored. We are made right with Him.

I am reminded of the lyrics to one of my favorite Nicole Nordeman songs, Every Season.* Read along and see if you don’t agree that God’s creative handiwork has a language all its own.

Every evening sky, an invitation to trace the patterned stars.

And early in July, a celebration for freedom is ours.

And I notice You in children’s games, in those who watch them from the shade.

Every drop of sun is full of fun and wonder. You are summer.

I think of the summer of our days as the best of the best. And it’s not necessarily a confined season or stage of our life. It’s just when life is good, when we’re hitting on all cylinders, and all seems right with the world. This experience comes and goes, but when we’re in the middle of it, we don’t want it to end. It’s also a time filled with discovery and awe.

And even when the trees have just surrendered to the harvest time.

Forfeiting their leaves in late September and sending us inside,

Still I notice You. When change begins and I am braced for colder winds,

I will offer thanks for what has been and what’s to come. You are autumn.

Personally, autumn is my favorite season of the year. The colors, the smells, the cooler temperatures, the activities unique to fall: they all remind me that just because something changes does not mean it can’t be beautiful or purposeful. And I have learned the longer I live, that something wondrous happens even in the process of dying—if I look for it.

And everything in time and under heaven finally falls asleep.

Wrapped in blankets white, all creation shivers underneath.

And still I notice You when branches crack and in my breath on frosted glass.

Even now in death, You open doors for life to enter. You are winter.

I can honestly say this is probably my least favorite season of the year and of life in general. It is often used to describe that stage which precedes our own death, when we fall asleep and are no more. We hear the phrase the winter of our years. Actually, I usually greet the start of winter with enthusiasm. Certain elements, the snow, the warmth of a fireplace, even the beauty of dead trees and vegetation against a white backdrop intrigue me…initially. But then comes the waiting, the frustration of life slowed down, the lack of freedom, the lack of life, the sameness of it all. At times the bitter winds and uncertain conditions seem actually to oppose me in my journey, blocking my forward momentum. But then, it happens:

And everything that’s new has bravely surfaced, teaching us to breathe.

And what was frozen through is newly purposed, turning all things green.

So it is with You and how You make me new with every season’s change.

And so it will be as You are recreating me, summer, autumn, winter, spring.

You and I, along with all of God’s creation, are reborn, given a fresh start, awakened to life as it was always intended. Solomon once wrote: “Lo, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone; flowers appear on the earth, and the time for singing has come.” It reminds us that even the bleakest of periods in our lives have an ending point. God is always at work moving us forward. He has made seasons to illustrate the spectrum of our human experiences. And He has made trees, including the one that was used for His own son’s death, to remind us, that in whatever stage we find ourselves, He is at work for our good.

[Jesus] Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins,

might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. 1 Peter 2:24 NKJV

Let the seasons speak to you. Listen to the trees. And be reminded, God is not finished with you yet.

                                                                                                                                       tad

*“Every Season” © 2000 Ariose Music, Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing

Pastor’s Point:          (Corner) Stone Soup

As “Papa” to eight grandkids, I’ve rediscovered the joy of a great story. I am well aware that these little rugrats’ efforts to get Debby and me to read them not one, but several, stories before their bedtime is more of a devious ploy to stay up longer than to be enthralled with our skills in oral interpretation. Still, I find it one of my current challenges to be on the lookout for new material, hoping that someday soon they’ll discover the profound lessons to be learned in a good ‘yarn.’

As I sat out in the congregation Sunday, not as a leader but as a participant, one of my favorite childhood stories came to mind: “Stone Soup.” And I quickly thought of two things: 1) I need to add this to the little “nose-miners” bedtime repertoire, and 2) it actually has something to say about corporate worship. For those of you unfamiliar with this little gem, here it is:

There once was a traveler who came to a small village, tired and weary from his long journey. The traveler did not have anything to eat and hoped that a friendly villager would be able to feed him. He came to the first house and knocked on the door. He asked the woman who answered if she could spare just a small bit of food as he had traveled a long journey and was very hungry. The woman replied, “I’m sorry I have nothing to give you. I can barely feed my own family.”

So the traveler went to another door and asked again. The answer was the same: “I have nothing to give you.” He went from door to door and each time was turned away. Undaunted, the traveler went to the village square, took a large tin cooking pot, filled it with water, started a fire and dropped a stone in the pot. As he boiled the water, a passing villager stopped and asked him what he was doing. The traveler replied, “I’m making stone soup. Would you like to join me?” The villager said yes, and he asked if carrots were good in stone soup. “Sure,” said the traveler. The villager went home and returned with carrots from his garden to add to the boiling water. Soon, another curious villager came by and was invited to join them. She went home and returned with some potatoes. A young boy passed by and soon joined the group, bringing his mother and dinner plates from their home.

In time, a crowd gathered with everyone offering their own favorite ingredient: mushrooms, onions, salt, black pepper, acorn, squash. Everyone wanted to be part of the creation. Finally, the traveler removed the stone and declared, “The stone soup is ready!” And the whole community joined in a feast where there was none before.

To point one, I thought the kids would enjoy the kind of “magic” that takes place when plain water “turns into” soup! And kids like stories about cooperation. And if they’re anything like me, they also like to hear about food. If you don’t believe that, talk to the creators of VeggieTales. Finally, there is a great before and after quality to this illustration: Apart from each other—living in isolation, so to speak, everyone struggled with a sense of poverty and want. But when they decided to work together and pool their collective resources, a banquet awaited them. 

                                                                                                                                                 As to my second point about public worship, here’s what I observed. As I looked down on the congregation last Sunday (not condescendingly-I took in the service from the tech balcony), I was struck by how many of the “worshipers” seemed disconnected from each other. You get the sense in Scriptures that God intends for His people to accomplish something collectively and connected-ly (not a word) in corporate worship that is impossible anywhere else. There should be a sense of synergy in our corporate praise, and that the whole should be greater than the sum of its parts. By observation at least, many in attendance were not engaged at all—not singing, looking around, easily distracted, appearing to be alone in a crowded room, so to speak. I realized how challenging it is for us up-fronters to help engage such a diverse and potentially disconnected lot.

But like the “magic” that took place in Stone Soup, I believe we in the local church, can begin to “taste and see that the Lord is good” when we come to worship seeking to contribute what we have to the mix. What is that, you ask? Our life experience, our faith, our spiritual gifts, our honesty, our sense of need. But we must acknowledge that at its core, worship is a giving. In the process, we get many things, but only in proportion to our desire to contribute to God and one another. David says in Psalm 116:

What shall I return to the LORD for all his goodness to me?

I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.

I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.

The One we come to worship, who calls us to enjoy the collective “soup” of His goodness, is no mere stone. The apostle Peter reminds us:

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”

Stone soup, anyone? 

                                                                                                                                         tad

Pastor’s Point: 1 Corinthians 12 Reimagined (submitted by Chris Schliesman)

Dear Choir Members,

I want to write to you about the special abilities that the Holy Spirit gives to each of you, for I don't want any misunderstanding about them.

You will remember that before you became choir members, you stayed at home during choir practice (watching TV). Not one of you was singing a single note. But now you are a meeting people who claim to sing messages from the Spirit of God. How can you know whether they are singing for God or whether they are fakes? Here is the test: no one singing by the power of the Spirit of God can curse Jesus, and no one can sing, "Jesus is Lord," and really mean it, unless the Holy Spirit is helping him.

Now God gives us many kinds of special abilities, but it is the same Holy Spirit who is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service to God, but it is the same Lord we are serving. There are many ways in which God works in our lives, but it is the same God who does the work in and through all of us who are His. The Holy Spirit displays God's power through each of us as a means of helping the entire choir.

To some the Spirit gives the ability to sing soprano; others may be especially good at second or alto, and this is His gift from the same Spirit. To some He gives a special solo talent, and to others the power to harmonize. He gives powers for singing tenor, and to others the power to sing bass. He gives someone else the power to select and direct our music - that it is really the Spirit of God who is singing. Still another person is able to operate our sound system, while others are given the gift of playing musical instruments. It is the same and only Holy Spirit who gives us all these gifts and powers, deciding which each one of us should have.

The choir has many parts, but the many parts make up only one choir when they are all put together. So it is with the "choir" of Christ. Each of us is part of the one choir of Christ. Some of us are sopranos or seconds, some are altos, some are tenors and some are bass. But the Holy Spirit has fitted us all together into one choir. We have been chosen into Christ's choir by the one Spirit, and have all been given the same Holy Spirit.

Yes, the choir has many parts, not just one part. If the alto says, "I am not a part of the choir because I am not a soloist," that does not make her any less a part of the choir. And what would you think if you heard a youth say, "I am not a part of the choir because the choir loft is running out of room?" Would that make him any less a part of the choir? Suppose the whole choir was a director, then who would sing? Or if the whole choir just sang, who would play the instruments?

But that isn't the way God made us. He has many parts for the choir and has put each part just where He wants it. What a strange thing it would be if it only had one part! So He has made many parts, but still there is one choir.

The alto can never say to the soprano, "I don't need you." The choir can never say to the director, "I don't need you." And some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are really the most necessary. If one part suffers, all parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. Now here is what I'm trying to say: all of you together are one choir of Christ and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it.

Sincerely,

Paul

Pastor’s Point - Do What You’re Told

If you’re a parent, you’ve probably found yourself saying it. If you ever had a parent, you probably heard it, and maybe more than once. Do what you’re told. Maybe you can even recall the phrase, because your father said so. As those contaminated with a sinful nature, we generally are tempted to react negatively to such edicts. As those created with a free will, it is almost instinctive to resist letting someone else be “the boss of us.” But have you ever thought about how such words, when spoken of/by a benevolent authority figure, can actually bring comfort, security, even expectancy?

The writer to the Hebrews wrote in chapter 12 that Jesus, for the joy set before him, “endured the cross, despising its shame, and [then] sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” What kept him focused through all of that torment? How was he able to persevere in the midst of such grave temptation? No question, Jesus anticipated one phenomenal outcome of his finished work was “bringing many sons to glory.” (Heb. 2:10) So we often conclude it was mainly because of His great love for us. But I would contend that the gospels also strongly suggest another motivation: He lived to please His Father.

Consider just the events that transpired from Palm Sunday to his resurrection. As he made his way through the crowds, even as he listened to their shouts of ‘Hosanna’, he was aware that these accolades came from people with all kind of agendas for him. Maybe you can relate to that part of the journey—the temptation to meet everybody else’s expectations along the way to following Jesus.

But because He lived to please His Father, it was His Father’s agenda that held Jesus’ attention. When pressed by unbelieving Jews as to his true identity, He answered: “I am not of this world…He who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from Him I tell the world. When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be, and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me…I always do what pleases Him.” (John 8: 23-29)

Hundreds of years before that final week, the prophet Isaiah had already hinted at what was to come. “It was the Lord’s [Father’s] will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his (Jesus’) life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord [Father] will prosper in his hand” (Isaiah 53:10)

So what might that final memo have looked like?

To: Jesus

From: Your Heavenly Father

Re: Things to accomplish during this week

1) Ride into town, not on a mighty stallion, but on a lowly donkey.

2) Curse a fig tree for not bearing fruit, and do it within earshot of your friends so they get the point.

3) Clear the temple of the money-changers and call these merchants a bunch of “robbers.”

4) Continue publicly debating the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the church elders, while fully aware that they are weighing every word, in order to find some reason to arrest you.

5) Endure the same political posturing with the Pharisees, the Herodians, and the Sadducees.

6) Receive a PDA (public display of affection) from a woman with a “past,”only to have its merits questioned by none other than Judas Iscariot. His PDA is just ahead.

7) Break bread with your best buds and remind them that the next time you drink wine with them, EVERYTHING will have changed. Oh, and even after three years of intense ministry with them, sadly behold their clueless expressions.

8) Visit the garden of Gethsemane, pray in agony as your very best buds fall asleep.

9) Get arrested, falsely accused, humiliated, stripped, beaten, convicted and nailed naked to a tree. (And the world will call it “Good” Friday.)

But one more thing, Son.

10) Because You will have chosen to “humble yourself and become obedient to death –even death on a cross”, by journey’s end you will be exalted to the highest place and given “the name that is above every name, so that at your name, [Jesus,] every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth, and every tongue will confess that you, Jesus, are Lord of all, to the glory of God the Father.”

So fellow disciples of Jesus, I ask you: With all the different voices clamoring for your attention, what keeps you motivated? Whose agenda keeps you focused and fulfilled? And whose power are you leaning on to finish the race? Let’s pray that each of us finds more and more delight in doing what pleases our Father simply because He said so. It’s one of the things that made Holy Week so holy. Jesus was just doing what He was told.

                                                                                                                                          tad

Pastor’s Point: Meeting the Man Empty-Handed

Probably my favorite story in the life of Jesus involves one of his last acts of ministry before His death. It is his encounter with the two thieves on the cross. One of the songs on our Holy Week CD—How Love Wins—describes the account from the viewpoint of one of those two thieves. The scripture version is brief and to the point:


Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Literally and figuratively, Jesus was the man in the middle. That is how he died, between two others, two needy ones…like you and me. Died right where he belonged, in a sense—at the center. I don’t think it’s coincidental that the gospel writer pays attention to Jesus’ position in relationship to them. One was on his right, the other on his left. Both sensed that this Jesus was no ordinary criminal. The one says, “if you are the Messiah…” The other one suspects Jesus’s kingdom lies just ahead. “Remember me” then, he pleads. And what could these two guys offer him in exchange? Absolutely nothing. Or more specifically, lives of brokenness and squandered opportunities. They are meeting The Man empty-handed, and would face Him, their Maker, again—in a few short hours.

What does this encounter have to do with you and me? Everything. I believe this scene is a kind of template for all of humankind, when we stand before The Man someday to be judged. The English hymnwriter, Augustus Toplady, wrote these words in 1763:

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee;

Let the water and the blood, from Thy wounded side which flowed,

Be of sin the double cure, save me from its guilt and power.

Not the labor of my hands can fulfill Thy law's demands;

Could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow,

All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling;

Naked, come to Thee for dress; helpless, look to Thee for grace;

Foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath, when my eyes shall close in death,

When I rise to worlds unknown, and behold Thee on Thy throne,

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.

These were the very sentiments of the thief on the cross, bringing nothing to the table: like you and me, he came naked, helpless, foul. The solution to his desperate situation was the same as yours and mine. The great apostle Paul admits this in his letter to Titus:

 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

 As we near Holy week, I urge you to take time to position yourself before Christ—willingly, not reluctantly. Agree with the thief who found the Man in the middle to be His savior and king. Admit your desperate need, and savor the grace that follows. It’s what makes Good Friday so good.

                                                                                                                                           tad