Church

Last year -- when I worked in downtown San Diego -- I walked down to the harbor and watched the Veteran's Day parade.  I stood behind an elderly veteran (probably 70'ish) who was seated in a folding chair.  He wore a ball cap, a Hawaiian shirt, and a pair of SAS shoes.  Every time a group of soldiers or the flag came by, he would push off with one arm and then the other, and struggle to his feet.  You could tell each time took tremendous effort.  It must have taken at least thirty seconds or so to get to his feet. But he stood up and saluted. It was one of the most moving things I've seen.

I grew up in the days when professional wrestling didn't have a national presence but had regional outfits.  The Wright brothers and I would go with their dad to Richwoods High School and watch sweaty men throw chairs at each other.  And we also watched the wrestlers, too. So, it was with great interest when I came across this story at Fast Company: "10 Things Corporations Can Learn from Pro Wrestling."  Here are a few worthy snippets: An Appropriate Level of Spectacle Is Crucial: In pro wrestling, steel cages are always 15 feet high. Tall competitors are nearly 7 feet tall. Crowds are always "hanging from the rafters." Wrestling shows pull out all the stops to make their shows as dramatic as possible. On the other hand, wrestling promoters can't overdo it. Case-in-point: the now defunct-World Championship Wrestling put on a live three-hour television show every week, with the announcers…

Whenever I'm not preaching at Mountainview, it's my privilege to give the communion meditation.  Or "communion med" as we call it in shorthand.  (Calling it a "med" makes me a bit queasy, like we're giving medication to the crowd). Typically, I will pick up a copy of our senior pastor's outline on Thursday and look it over between then and Saturday night.  That allows me to get a good feel for his main points and then be able to tie-in the communion thought to the theme of the message.  I feel like it helps to create a worship gathering that flows and fits together. This past weekend, I had my "prepared" communion meditation in my pocket and used it on Saturday night and at our first service on Sunday.  At second service, God was gracious to bring to mind a story that  fit well with the theme of the message…

Yesterday I wrote about two of the four common myths surrounding spiritual growth.  Here are the remaining two ... Myth number three: Spiritual growth is based on a single experience.  Our culture (especially late-night television) tells us that we can buy real estate with no money down and lose weight in only 90 seconds a day.  We live in a quick-fix culture.  Don't work, don't worry.  Many Christ-followers buy into this thinking as well.  "I’m only one video or one class or one seminar away from spiritual growth." The truth is: spiritual growth is not one single experience but an accumulation of experiences.  In Ephesians 4:11-13, Paul describes the goal for every believer as growing up into maturity.  The last time I checked, it takes 35 years to go from a newborn baby to a 35-year-old person.  There are no shortcuts. Myth number four:  Spiritual growth is about gathering information…

I was born and raised in East Peoria, Illinois.  That meant several things: my dad worked at Caterpillar Tractors, I shopped at Bergner's department store, and I routinely enjoyed three feet of snow every winter.  When we lived in San Diego, people spoke of "visiting the snow."  When you lived in Illinois, the snow visited you ... and stayed for a while. While living in California for fifteen of the last eighteen years, we didn't see much snow.  We did see snow on the news.  If I remember correctly, I think people sent us pictures of the snow.  Theologically speaking, we enjoyed the snow vicariously and was content to do so. For some reason, God thought we had experienced enough blue skies and warm temperatures and decided it was time to move us back to where it snows.  Which it did this week in a big way.  And he used…