Church

I recently started reading Anne Lamott's book, "Plan B," a book that offers an insight into her personal spiritual journey.  Last night, I came across this line: "Things are not perfect because life is not TV." What a great line - and a great lesson. Since the 1950's, we've been raising generations who tune into the tube.  While the lineup has increased from three networks to unlimited cable and YouTube, the same temptation exists: to define reality as something other than it really is. Reality is not perfect, white teeth and unblemished skin. Reality is that the good guy (or girl) doesn't always win; in fact, it's hard to find on TV a really "good" guy or girl who represents sound Christian values or morals. Life is not TV.

Over 22 seasons as a major leaguer, Bill Buckner batted just under .300 and had over 2,700 hits.  But he is best remembered for a ground ball he failed to field. It was Game Six of the 1986 World Series and the Boston Red Sox were up 3 games to 2 over the New York Mets.  The game went into extra innings, with the Mets having the winning run at second base. Mookie Wilson tapped a slow-rolling grounder towards Buckner at first base.  What should have been a routine play turned out to be the black mark of Buckner’s career.  The ball rolled under his glove and into right field, allowing the winning run to score. After twenty-two seasons of professional baseball, the mention of Buckner’s name brings to mind his failure – not his many successes. Life can be that way. Jimmy Swaggart.  Bernie Madoff.  Lindsey Lohan.  Ted Haggard. …

Do you fold your hands when you pray? Is closing your eyes during prayer a prerequisite to receiving God's answer? If you're like me, many of us maintain certain rituals even when we don't fully understand why. Not all of them are bad. We might say "God bless you" or "Gesundheit" when someone sneezes; what we may not know is that this originated from a belief that a person's soul might fly out of their body when they person sneezed. Most religious rituals are comforting and provide a consistency to life. A family tradition might be appropriate for birthdays, but when a religious ritual replaces personal faith in God -- then we've wandered into dangerous territory. This weekend we will be exploring the tension between placing our faith in rules and rituals instead of God. I hope you'll join me as we dig deeper into Romans chapter four!

William Dixon was a widower who lived in Brackenthwaite, England.  In addition to losing his wife, he had also lost his only son. One day the house of his neighbor caught on fire.  His neighbor, an elderly grandmother who was caring for her orphaned grandson, was able to get out.  Her grandson, however, was trapped inside the house. Dixon climbed an iron pipe on the side of the house and lowered the boy to safety.  Unfortunately, the hand that held on to the pipe was badly burned. Shortly after the fire, the grandmother died and town council gathered to decide who would care for her grandson.   Two volunteers appeared before the council. One was a father who had lost his own son and volunteered to adopt the orphan as his own. The other volunteer was William Dixon.  When it was his turn to speak, instead of saying anything he merely…

This morning our men's ministry sponsored free oil changes for single moms in Westwood.  Nearly 20 guys showed up to help -- and it was a great deal of fun.  Of course, someone had to supervise ... so I volunteered.  Kudos to everyone who helped!