Dirt between the toes

An old professor of mine in seminary once told me that good theology should smell like fish and have dirt between its toes. In other words, it must be real and applicable to every day. It needs to be down to earth and not fancy. It needs to be understood in a way that the every man can understand. It should smell like fish and have dirt between its toes.

I think the same applies to the church. The church needs to smell like fish and have dirt between its toes. It needs to be real. It needs to be tangible. It needs to be something that represents and shows the work of the Holy Spirit. It needs to be approachable by the every day person. Not just the everyday Christian but also the everyday non-Christian. You know the one. The one who didn’t grow up with Christianese as their primary language. The one who didn’t know what in the world a narthex was until he was told he was standing in one (Okay, that one was me…it took me two years to find out what a narthex was). The every day person that thinks organ music is used for Spangoli and Elvira bad movie nights. The church needs to be authentic and real. It needs to be something that everyone is able to find the dirt between the toes and smell the fish of Christ…I mean see the works of Christ.

I’ve been reading blogs about the church from the Young Adult Leadership Task-force (YALT) and they’ve had some great things about the church. They really have. And I’ve been thinking about the church. What it is. How it is the body of Christ. How it is a verb. Something that is done not something that just is.

They’ve also been talking about the future of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC). Is there a future for the CRC? I say yes. But we need to do somethings to retain and hold on to this future by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Here’re some thoughts:

1. Stop defining ourselves by what we’re not–I’ve heard people in churches say that they’re not like some of those other churches with large numbers of people. They don’t have a praise team. They don’t have programs. They’re not retaining the young adults (by the way, what exactly is a young adult. I’m 35 and still referred to as a young adult. May I grow up please now baby boomers?). Stop defining by what we’re not and start defining ourselves by who we are.

2. Play to our strengths–What are we good at? Who are we? I think one of the things we need to do is look at what we do well. Stop defining ourselves by what we’re not and start defining ourselves by who we are. And the CRC is good at a lot of things. We’re good at teaching. We’re good at having a tradition. Yes. I said it. Tradition (insert song from Fiddler on the Roof  here). We have a strong tradition. A good tradition. And during this time of spiritual searching that the Gen Xers and Millennials have, something that has stood the test of time is something good to have. A rock. A base. A thing not changing in a ever rampant changing world. Let’s play to these. Let’s embrace these and define ourselves by these.

3. Keep it simple–We don’t need a lot of huge programs. We don’t need a lot of fancy things. We don’t need a huge amount of books on being missional or church growth. These are helpful and give great ideas, but do we need them all? Instead, we need the beauty of simplicity. Simplicity and authenticity. We need a simple laser like focus on what we want to do. And then we need to do it. Play off of our strengths. What are we good at? Let’s narrow it down to that. And then simply find the need that needs to be filled. We’re not going to be able to fill every need. But, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the right need can be filled by the strengths that we have. So keep it simple.

What about you? What are some thoughts about the church today? What are some thoughts you have about how the CRC can not just survive but thrive today and in the future?

Technique

God’s been finding some wonderful ways of keeping me humble while at the same time keeping me wanting to keep keeping on. In previous posts I’ve talked about taking guitar lessons. I’ll tell you this, it’s hard. I’ve been practicing until my fingers hurt (and my brain can hurt for a little bit after practicing too). I’ve been having to learn new things, new ideas new concepts. Learning about music is harder than learning Greek or Hebrew.

But I’ve also been learning the importance of playing and practicing. One thing I need to do is to practice my technique. My G and D can get sloppy. I’ve been learning how important it is to hold my fingers as close to the fret as possible. My teacher was able to show me how I needed to hold my fingers to get the best tone and quality out of each strum from the chord.

What gets me is that I didn’t even notice it. It wasn’t a problem to me when I didn’t realize just how bad it was. I thought I was doing it right. In fact, I’d been practicing my way of doing it for 20 minutes a day 6 days a week. And I strummed one chord and he could tell my technique was off.

And I feel humble. I can’t just pick it up and play it like I thought I could. I couldn’t just play some songs. I could hardly keep up with the metronome.

But at the same time he’s been encouraging me. I brought in a hard song to play, he made it easy for me to play and then encouraged me as I’ve been playing through it. He’s been encouraging me as I battle the metronome and all it’s evil beats.

And so, God keeps me humble.

He keeps me in line. He reminds me of things I have no clue about. He places me at the same level (or lower) than that kid who had lessons right after me. I have to admit what I don’t know. Admit that there are things I can’t do. And admit that only through God’s grace can they be done.

So thank you God, thank you for the humility you continue to give to me. And please, a little help on the F chord would be appreciated.

Practicing the beat

ADDevil

Okay, so it’s not really evil nor of the devil but sometimes it just feels that way. It’s an annoying part ADD. The impulsivity part. The forgetting part. The lost in thought part. Now and again (on a regular basis really) I’m told that this is normal; that all people do this (is that the proper use of a semi colon?). But when it gets in the way of every day living then it’s not a good thing.

As I’ve been doing this ADD experiment, I’ve notice that my filter is gone. My mouth stops moving three sentences after my brain just shouted “for the love of all that is holy shut up!” I’ve said things that just popped out of my mouth. As my brain began to say it my lips moved and vocal cords did that vibratingthing. And I say something that should’ve been staying in my head.

Sometimes it’s fun. Like today. Once again I’ve found myself at a Starbucks and blogging from my phone (pardon all typos and spelling errors). I let some words blurt out that became fun. But if I hadn’t caught some other things I would’ve looked like a total jerk.

One of the perks of being a pastor is that I get to ring the bells before the church service. I’ve realized that once the bell has rung, I cannot unring the bell. The same is true when something just vomits out from my vocal chords vibrating. I can’t undo it. I can’t unsay it. And if it was hurtful or a bit standoffish, I can’t take it back.

This is what makes it hard. And this is why it humbles me. I can wrestle with it. I can manage it. But it is always there and part of me. It can be fun. It can be debilitating too. And so it is part of me and always will be.

So now back to reading my book and drinking my chai lattee (I keep aounding pretensious, I know. Sorry). Even this post was a bit spontaneous.

The Adult ADD Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven…
…why is he “who art” in heaven. That’s a funny word, “art” it sounds like a seal barking…that would be funny: a seal barking.. art! art! art! …

Sorry, God…ah, hem… who art in heaven…
…I wonder if heaven’s purple?
I wonder if it’ll be fun there…will they play rock n’ roll or some of that old time Gospel music I heard once at that barber shop.
He really cut my hair short that day…
…man I hate it when you wear that shirt you wore the next day…
…that shirt you wear when you get your hair cut and then put it on the next day and it’s all itchy. ….

Sorry God…ah, hem…sorry sorry…hallowed be thy name…
Is it hollowed? … Or Howard?
Why hallowed? Is it up? Is it down?
Would hallowed be polka dotted or more of a valor feeling to it.
I think my grandma had something that was valor once. I should call her.
She sent me a birthday card last week. …
…no…
…I was supposed to send her a birthday card last week

FOCUS.
FOCUS.
FOCUS.
…

Oh yeah…hallowed by thy name…I’m sorry, God, I keep getting off track
…your kingdom come…
I was always told that I wouldn’t actually do what I was told until kingdom come…is that what I’m praying for?
If it’s kingdom come why shouldn’t I do what I was told…

…did I feed the cat this morning?
…

I am so sorry, God…your will be done…
…
… …
What in the world does that mean?
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…
I really have to wonder if heaven’s purple? Seriously God, heaven just seems like it’d be purple to me

focus
focus
FO CUS.

Give me this day my daily bread…
Or pizza…why do they call it pizza? What’s with that ‘tsza’ sound…
…why can’t they spell it phonetically….
…why isn’t phonetic spelled phonetically…
…how would you phonetically spell pizza…
…would it be peetzsa?
What about give me this day my daily peetzsa…would it be okay to also pray for help with my check book…did I pay the car payment?

…did I feed the cat

FOCUS

Dear lord, I was trying to pray for someone…not I can’t remember. I was told to pray that you forgive others as you’ve forgiven me…but …wait…no, that’s why I was praying…

You know what Lord just please help me to focus on you. Forgive me from wandering. Help me not get distracted by shinny objects when I try to look to you.

…help me to focus on praying to you
… help me focus living for you
… Help me focus serving you
… keep me from wandering

…

…oh yeah, and Amen.

(Reposted from Spiritual Musclehead)

Spiritual Musclehead

Our Father who art in heaven…
…why is he “who art” in heaven. That’s a funny word, “art” it sounds like a seal barking…that would be funny: a seal barking.. art! art! art! …

Sorry, God…ah, hem… who art in heaven…
…I wonder if heaven’s purple?
I wonder if it’ll be fun there…will they play rock n’ roll or some of that old time Gospel music I heard once at that barber shop.
He really cut my hair short that day…
…man I hate it when you wear that shirt you wore the next day…
…that shirt you wear when you get your hair cut and then put it on the next day and it’s all itchy. ….

Sorry God…ah, hem…sorry sorry…hallowed be thy name…
Is it hollowed? … Or Howard?
Why hallowed? Is it up? Is it down?
Would hallowed be polka dotted or more of a valor feeling…

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Waffle House and the Holy Spirit

On Saturday, on my way home from a prayer retreat, I saw something. It was beautiful. I saw a sign. Of course, it was a sign along the highway. It was a golden sign. It was a Waffle House sign. The last time I saw one of these I was in Mississippi.

I was driving through Kansas (and yes, I did play Dust in the Wind) on my way home from Buffalo Ridge, a hospitality and prayer retreat center for pastors and missionaries and their families. I took some time walking with buffalo and praying.

On my way home, I saw the sign for Waffle House. And so I stopped. Why? Because I felt the urge. I’m doing this ADD experiment: Is it ADD or the Holy Spirit. Is it ADD that gets me all impulsive to do something sometimes weird and out of place or is it the movement of the Holy Spirit moving in my life leading me to do God’s will and advance His Kingdom?

While in my room during the prayer retreat, I saw this banner:Which, if you have ADD, this can be a hard decision. Is it self control to not do what you’re feeling prompted to do or is it God’s Holy Spirit moving you to do something. And so, I’ve created this rule: If it is something that will benefit someone else and advance the Kingdom of God then it is the movement of the Holy Spirit.

Back to Waffle House (I just like “saying” Waffle House). I had already eaten a nice healthy breakfast (bagels and low fat cream cheese) and was just 20 miles into my journey home. But when I saw the sign, I felt the urge (prompting or impulse?) to go to the Waffle House. I came in, sat down at the counter and struck up a conversation with whom we’ll call Waitress #1. She wore a button that said “I speak blarney.” I started talking with her. Then I started talking with Waitress #2 as well. She had an ear infection. I know a little something about that. We talked some more. We talked about Waffle House. We talked about coffee. We talked about a bunch of stuff under the sun.

Then some older ladies from north central Iowa came in and sat down. Some how I started up a conversation with them and Waitress #2. I told some groaner jokes and we laughed. Soon the eventual question came up. What did I do for a living? Me: I’m a pastor. And then I apologized for one of my groaner jokes that embarrassed me a little bit.

And for some reason, they kept talking with me as if I never mentioned what I did for a living. In fact, I stayed there for an hour or so just chatting, about 40 minutes after I stopped eating.

Now, here’s the question: Holy Spirit or ADD? Who benefited from this? I know I felt good about it after leaving. I felt calm and happy. It was something I needed I think. But I don’t know about them. Did they need someone like me showing up to make their day better or did I annoy them and they were just nice and polite to me?

Was this prompting of the Holy Spirit or just me and ADD?

 

Lemon Shark Very Pretty

Years ago, my parents made the wise decision to allow us to pick music from the Columbia house music people. You know, the one before iTunes where you could order tapes and these things called records and pay only 1 cent per album after the initial purchase of some other albums or something like that. And so my wonderful lovely and caring sister got the best of Peter, Paul and Mary album. And the song that played over and over and over and over on it was Lemon Tree

Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.

The song is about a father trying to give his son some instructions on love. He was trying to give some guidance to his son on how relationships sometimes work. He was trying to guide his son.

So what does this have to do with a lemon shark? Lemon sharks are sharks that have poor eyesight and need electroreceptors to help them find their way around the lagoon shores which they live finding prey. They need these censors/receptors. If they don’t have it, they would have to rely on their sight alone they wouldn’t eat. They need the electrorecptors to live, to eat, to exist. Without the electroreceptors they’d be swimming around in circles getting lost all the time and very hungry. They need it for direction and guidance.

We need something like this as well. We need something that helps us know which direction to go. We need something that gives us guidance. I think Tim Allen calls them iron booggers.

Jacob needed direction and guidance. He didn’t really have it at first. His father wasn’t the best example, favoring Esau over Jacob. And then his father-in-law wasn’t the best example either. Jacob was smart, cunning and way frakin savy. Yet he didn’t use his power for good, only for himself.

It wasn’t until he  met and wrestled God did he fully understand the need for guidance, the need to be guided by God.

And that’s where I’m at as well. I need, we all need, spiritual iron booggers to help guide us. We need a spiritual electroreceptor to help us find our way around…oh, wait…that’s the power and work of the Holy Spirit.The  It is his job to do such as that. He’s not the iron booggers but he leads us by our buggers… wait.. that didn’t sound right did it?

We need guidance. We need direction. Jacob was given his limp and then given direction and guidance by God.

Do you need guidance? Are you in need of spiritual electroreceptors? Are you in need of having the Holy Spirit lead you by your boogers? The lemon tree is very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet, but you need to know when you’re about to bite into something sour. Do you need this guidance to know the difference? The Holy Spirit, he can give you this.

Walk softly

I’ve been reading through the book Ecclesiastes lately (I’ve mentioned this on Spiritual Musclehead a week ago or so…) and I came across this passage that made me think.

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Ecclesiastes 5:1

Snap. I know.

Then it gets more snap

Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words. Ecclesiastes 5:2-3

I’m screwed.

Okay, that’s a bit extreme but c’mon. Wow. This sounds as most anti-ADD as I’ve seen. I mean, how can someone like me NOT have a hard time guarding my steps and not watch my mouth. That’s stinkin hard for me. As it is, I’m having a hard time with my dyslexia right now as I type this.

One of the things I struggle with when it comes to ADD is that my mouth usually stops about three sentences from where my mind said “For the love of all that is holy, shut it!” My mind and my mouth are a bit out of synch. And I’m a bit impulsive while at the same time….where was I? Oh yes, forgetful (you see what I did there?..yeah, never mind).

Yet here in what is called Wisdom Lit we hear these wise words about coming before God with soft steps, shut lips and a quiet mind. How many kids with ADHD do you know who can do that?

But I also know that the ADD doesn’t define me. It humbles me. It forces me to think twice. It’s fun. But it doesn’t define me. It isn’t who I am. It is very much part and parcel of who I am but it isn’t my definition. My definition is “Child of God, saved by grace through Jesus Christ.” Now, it just so happens that I’m all that and ADD.

But this brings something up that’s important. This isn’t about running a mock in the house of God (which my kids tend to do on any given Sunday after church) but about coming before God with a contrite, penitent, and humble heart which steps out following by faith to worship Him (Okay, I just so thought of that scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where he enters into the cavern where the Holy Grail is kept…ooohhh ooohhh that cold be a Spiritual Sci-Fi Friday…back to this post). It’s what’s in the heart. It’s how we approach God in our worship each and every day.

Yes, I just worship each and every day. This is where the Teacher of Ecclesiastes (I’ve never been the best student when it comes to teachers…but I’ve gotten better over the years and I’m trying hard to learn from him) is leading us. The main phrases that pop up through the book are “under the sun” and “meaningless” and usually both together. Yet what is important to the Teacher is that we come with worshipful hearts unto God.

So many times we think it’s the words we say to God that make him happy. And so after a while we start blabbering on and on and on and on and on and on an…I’ll stop now but you get the point. And then we don’t focus on God. That is why we worship, to focus on him. And each and every day we are to come and focus on God in worship through Jesus.

This is what the Teacher is trying to teach us. He is teaching that it is wise for us to come humbly before God. To walk lightly, to listen quickly to him and to watch our words. He doesn’t want a bunch of words, he wants our hearts. He wants us completley–heart, soul, mind and strenght… even when the mind get’s a bit distracted…

And so, come softly, come humbly. Come with a quiet mind and quite steps. Come with few words and much awe and worship our God through Jesus each and every day.

The ADD experiment

So, I’ve been fiddling with this whole idea of “is it ADD or the Holy Spirit?” thing this last month or so. I’ve been wanting to see what or how much of it is basic ADD impulsiveness (you know like.. “oooohhh shinnnnnyyyyy” or like when you’re told to do a job and next thing you know you’re riding bikes and you’re in your 30’s?) and how much of it is the work of the Holy Spirit (you know the third Person of the Trinity,He who sustains us and guides us). And so, I’ve been paying attention to my impulses. How much is it just me wanting to laugh because the plastic ketchup container sounded like it farted and how much of it is the movement of the Holy Spirit leading me to do God’s work.

A few weeks ago when we were in California for my grandmother’s funeral, I put it to the test. Being on central time and needing time to myself to process everything, I decided to go to the most comforting and solace place I know–Starbucks. But I didn’t feel like going to the one which was around the corner from the hotel. I felt the urge to go to the one where an old friend worked at. As I came through the line, she saw me and reached over the counter and gave me a huge hug. (You should of seen the stares from people. I just looked over and said “What? They have great service here.) I was able to get heartfelt tears of love from a woman who she and her husband played a major role in my faith development.

As I was sitting at Starbucks working on one of my blog posts on my iPhone (yes, I am making this statement, I have an iPhone) for Spiritual Musclehead. As I’m sitting there drinking my pumpkin spice Chai latte (okay, now it’s sounding pretentious, I know. I’ll stop with specifics) I noticed a woman with a huge order trying to figure out how to carry it to her car. I felt the impulse to offer my help.

Me: “Would you like some help taking that to your car, ma’am?” (totally forgetting that I’m not in South Dakota anymore but southern California wear the words “help” and “ma’am” aren’t heard much)

Lady: (looking at me very weird like if I’m going to mug her or actually help her) “No, I can handle it.”

Me: (trying to put worries and fears to ease) “It’s okay, I’m from South Dakota and we like to help people out there.”

Lady: (skeptical look) “My grandfather grew up out that way. His back yard went right up into the Badlands.” (little did she know where I was at last October). “I can’t remember the name.”

Me: Sounds like either Kodoka or Interior to me.

She had a huge smile on her face. I think I passed the test. She told me thank you very much for the offer but she had some help coming in. I guess I made her day and showed her that there are still good people in the world.

And so I went back to working on my post when a guy in a suit and tie and laptop bumped my table as he was looking for a plug. He was short. I’m not. As he was apologizing for bumping my chair, his eyes kept going up and up and up and his jaw dropped just a tad bit. I smiled and asked him if he wanted my seat so he could be closer to the plug. He said he was okay. Again, I felt the urge to talk with him. So I began a conversation.

To tell the truth, I’m not sure how the conversation started. It was probably about the lack of plugs in that particular Starbucks or how busy the morning rush was. And then it went to weather and then it went to why we were both sitting there and then to where we were from. When he learned I was from South Dakota, the applicable question came up: Why? When he heard it was for my grandmother’s funeral, he was polite and offered his condolences.

I told him thank you and that I had the comfort knowing that she is now with her savior. And then a spiritual conversation sprung up. And then he learned I was a pastor and a pastoral situation came up and we talked for a good half hour.

So, in my own impulsiveness, God led by His Holy Spirit to where I needed to go. I was given comfort and at the same time was able to be used to give comfort to others.

I’m going to keep up this experiment. Is it ADD or the Holy Spirit?