Jul 29, 2009
Destination:Unknown Pictures!
Check out the recently-updated Flickr account we share as a church for new photos of the youth's recent outing at Turner Field!
Jul 24, 2009
Meet Your Maker, Vol. V (The Long Awaited One)
Sorry, O gracious and ever-thirsting audience of the SOTH blog, for the absence of this particular post from the page you no doubt check everyday! I have been away both of the last two Fridays. Forgiveness is mine, though, so its time to move on.
In today's Wesleyan wisdom, I read his explication on Ephesians 2:8 which reads like this:
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith..." (TNIV)
Wesley, after stating the scripture, poses this question:
What faith is it through which we are saved?
An interesting thought that may not have crossed our minds previously. He draws out four different "kinds" or "levels" of faith and determines whether or not each is the faith by which we are saved.
"The faith of the heathen" - This is merely an idea of who God is, largely based on heresay. Wesley states: "A Greek or Roman, therefore, yea, a Scythian or Indian, was without excuse if he did not believe thus much: the being and attributes of God, a future state of reward and punishment, and the obligatory nature of moral virtue." Though we may have this faith, it is, quite obviously, not the grace by which we are saved.
"The faith of a devil" - This is knowledge of who God and Jesus are. In Luke 4:34, you can read the account of a demon that declares: "I know who you are - The Holy One of God!" In this one exclamation, that demon shows knowledge of the Father and the Son. But it is silly to say that this kind of faith, though we possess it, is the faith by which we are saved.
"The faith of the apostles while Christ still walked the earth" - This is faith by seeing and not faith of heart or belief. Sometimes we find ourselves convinced that had we walked the earth when Jesus did and followed him around, watching him perform these miracles of which we read, we would, no doubt, have greater faith. But if you read the story of the disciples closely, we see quite the opposite from time to time. Wesley cites one instance in particular, Matthew 17:14-21, where the disciples are unable to cast out a demon. They ask Jesus why, and his responce is, "Because you have so little faith." This, again, is not the faith by which Wesley believes we are saved.
"The faith in Christ" - This is to be distinguished from the knowledge of Christ. Wesley says, "it is not barely a speculative, rational thing, a cold, lifeless assent, a train of ideas in the head; but also a disposition of the heart." So this is the "everything-and" faith. It is the sum of the first three with an addition - belief coming from the heart. Wesley leans on Romans 10:9:
"If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (TNIV)
Where in the faith-chain are you?
Its great to be able to tell me who God and Jesus are, but I know athiests, agnostics, and even Muslims who can tell me as much, and are we not claiming to be different than they? The faith by which we are saved is that faith which comes from the heart; a faith that is more than academic, it is essential in the definition of who we, as individual Christians, are. It is a faith that calls forth the desire for devotion to the one towards whom it is directed.
Jul 23, 2009
Seven Years
The title to this post is not to be confused with the chilly line from the horror movie The Ring. It does, though, carry with it some significance.
During my devotional this morning, I read Deuteronomy 15, the first eleven verses read like this:
1 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. 2 This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the LORD's time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. 3 You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you. 4 However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, 5 if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. 6For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.
7 If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. 8 Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. 9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: "The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near," so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.
The ideal set forth about the cancellation of debts is a difficult one for us to wrap our heads around in our day and age. If enforced today, everything from credit card debts to student loans and even whole home mortgages and car bills would be wiped clean every seven years! That just doesnt seem sensible, does it? I mean, it seems very appealing to us, the folks with these kinds of debts, doesnt it?!
And did you catch verse 9? It hints that there will be times when debts are incurred right before the seventh year, and we are still to oblige. Everyone would be purchasing their new cars and homes and maxing out their credit cards THEN, wouldnt they?
None of this seems logical in today's economic world. We do, admittedly, operate is vastly different ways than the world did back when Deuteronomy was written.
But I think that the seventh year isnt the point. The point trying to be made here, I believe, is this:
God has blessed us all with much, and He doesnt want us to mistake His blessing for our property. This exercise for the Israelites was one of humility and recognition. It wasnt intended for financially sound reasons, but for spiritually sound ones. And God calls us to much the same. Even beyond that, He promises in verse 10 that He will not leave us with empty pockets should we choose to empty them for the right reasons for which He details in this passage.
Old school economics: Less reliant on our hands and more reliant on His.
Within
Ephesians 3:20-21 (Message)20-21 God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!
He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
During my seminary years, I had the amazing privilege of taking a class taught by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
I'll always remember many things that he had to say. He is a breathing piece of history, and his life is a testament to how love and justice can always overcome hatred, oppression and darkness.
Today's scripture makes me think of what he told us about how God relates to people.
"God is a gentleman," he said. "He does not force himself on anyone."
In my life as a pastor, I've encountered lots of folks who seem to want God to abuse them. They look for an authoritarian who will force and dictate. They want to be overpowered by God.
That's just not the case. Even in God's most overwhelming appearances in scripture, he still chooses to leave us humans a choice.
When we choose to allow him, he works within us. What a beautiful thing that is. And, it's the only way to real, lasting transformation.
Grace & Peace,
Adam
Jul 22, 2009
Stupid fast food
Psalm 14 (The Message)1 Sickening and bloated, they gas, "God is gone."
Their words are poison gas,
fouling the air; they poison
Rivers and skies;
thistles are their cash crop.
2 God sticks his head out of heaven.
He looks around.
He's looking for someone not stupid—
one man, even, God-expectant,
just one God-ready woman.
3 He comes up empty. A string
of zeros. Useless, unshepherded
Sheep, taking turns pretending
to be Shepherd.
The ninety and nine
follow their fellow.
4 Don't they know anything,
all these impostors?
Don't they know
they can't get away with this—
Treating people like a fast-food meal
over which they're too busy to pray?
5-6 Night is coming for them, and nightmares,
for God takes the side of victims.
Do you think you can mess
with the dreams of the poor?
You can't, for God
makes their dreams come true.
7 Is there anyone around to save Israel?
Yes. God is around; God turns life around.
Turned-around Jacob skips rope,
turned-around Israel sings laughter.
Have you ever said it?
You can admit it. It happens to almost everyone. In our most human and least spiritual moments, we definitely think it, and maybe say it.
"God is gone."
It's not true, but we can feel that way. What is our spiritual state at that moment?
We like to use words like, "frustrated," "disillusioned," "broken," "angry" or "hurt." Those are good words, and they probably are all fair descriptions of what goes on inside us sometimes.
But how does Psalm 14 describe us in those moments?
sickening
poisonous
bloated
foul
stupid
pretentious
impostors
too busy
You know, I may not like hearing the words in that list...but I hope I remember them.
The next time we're tempted to say, "God is gone," just remember: don't be stupid.
Spiritual food isn't fast. It's slow, and it's the good stuff. It's the real stuff.
Grace & Peace,
Adam
Jul 14, 2009
Flickr Update!
Hey, all! I just uploaded a bunch of pictures of the youth's Summer Camp to the our Flickr account. Soon to come: VBS photos!
Jul 8, 2009
Forever
From Psalm 48 (The Message)
We pondered your love-in-action, God,
waiting in your temple:
Your name, God, evokes a train
of Hallelujahs wherever
It is spoken, near and far;
your arms are heaped with goodness-in-action.
11 Be glad, Zion Mountain;
Dance, Judah's daughters!
He does what he said he'd do!
12-14 Circle Zion, take her measure,
count her fortress peaks,
Gaze long at her sloping bulwark,
climb her citadel heights—
Then you can tell the next generation
detail by detail the story of God,
Our God forever,
who guides us till the end of time.
What things have permanence in our lives?
What things last forever?
For some reason, I've been really enjoying the new TLC series, "Life Without People." It imagines a world where human life has just instantly vanished...and then shows how time would take its toll on our most "permanent" human endeavors.
Kind of morbid, I know...but really fascinating. I think it actually helps us spiritually to spend some time reflecting on the transient nature of our lives and the stuff that surrounds us. It helps me understand that really only one thing is forever:
"Our God...who guides us until the end of time."
Ponder that "love-in-action" and let it teach you to depend on the one permanent thing.
Grace & Peace,
Adam
Jul 3, 2009
Meet Your Maker, Vol. IV
If you recall the last Wesleyan blog I posted, I talked about this third-party being's perception of what our purpose on this world might be. I challenged you to consider what that being might guess your purpose to be based on how you spend your time. If this isnt ringing any bells, peep this link: Link.
Anywho, I also dropped the hint that Wesley posited what our one concern, our ultimate aim should be:
"All his actions are the result of pure choice: the thing he would, that he does, and that only. Love is the health of the soul, the full exertion of all its powers, the perfection of all its faculties. Therefore, since the enjoyment of these was the one end of our creation, the recovering of them is the one thing now needful. May not the same truth appear, secondly, from hence, that this was the one end of our redemption; of all our blessed Lord did and suffered for us; of his incarnation, his life, his death?...Therefore this, being the one end of our redemption as well as our creation, is the one thing needful for us upon this earth."
This decree should come as no surprise to us. Wesley, though the author of his own thoughts, pulls significantly from the established Word of God. If you recall from Matthew, a Pharisee questions Jesus:
"Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:36-40 (emphasis mine)
As you can clearly see, love was important to Jesus. These two commandments are priorities for Christ. And, in being Christians, "Christ-like," we should adopt His priorities as our own.
This is precisely what Wesley is getting at. Just as Christ's entire existence and purpose was love, so, then, should ours be.
Imagine how vastly different the world would be if we lived to love.
Take a closer look, too, at Jesus' life. He did not just love those that loved Him; He loved all - completely and unconditionally, and He calls us to much the same. In His famed Sermon on the Mount, he says:
"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?" Matthew 43:47
We are called to be different. If we were no different than the rest of the world in the ways that Jesus calls us to be, why have our own, separate title (Christian)? We are called "Christians" to set us apart, and we stand out most drastically when we love unconditionally - those that love us and those that dont.
Love is our design. Its our purpose. So how much of our intended purpose are we fulfilling?
Jul 2, 2009
Well
Mark 5:25-30 (The Message)
25-29A woman who had suffered a condition of hemorrhaging for twelve years—a long succession of physicians had treated her, and treated her badly, taking all her money and leaving her worse off than before—had heard about Jesus. She slipped in from behind and touched his robe.
She was thinking to herself, "If I can put a finger on his robe, I can get well." The moment she did it, the flow of blood dried up. She could feel the change and knew her plague was over and done with.
30At the same moment, Jesus felt energy discharging from him. He turned around to the crowd and asked, "Who touched my robe?"
"If I can put a finger on his robe..."
What amazing faith!
But maybe the most incredible part of her statement is its conclusion..."I can get well."
How many times have I met with people who just didn't believe that they could "get well." It's not just a matter of physical illness. Folks all over have decided that there are spiritual and emotional broken places that they'll carry to their graves.
They haven't even begun to consider how to "put a finger on his robe," because they're not convinced that even God can make them well. The anger will never subside. The loneliness will never go away. Joy will never come. Pain will never be made easier.
If we can learn anything from the amazing woman in this story...maybe it's the truth of our own answer to that question. Can we get well?
Faith always says we can.
Grace & Peace,
Adam
Jul 1, 2009
Heart
From 2 Corinthians 8 (The Message)
So here's what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart's been in the right place all along.
You've got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it.
Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can't. The heart regulates the hands. This isn't so others can take it easy while you sweat it out. No, you're shoulder to shoulder with them all the way, your surplus matching their deficit, their surplus matching your deficit. In the end you come out even.
As it is written,
Nothing left over to the one with the most,
Nothing lacking to the one with the least.
Paul is out "stumping" for an offering in this scripture, right?
He's just told the Corinthians about the generous giving of their brothers and sisters in Macedonia.
He is encouraging the Corinthians to give, and to give generously from their abundance.
Why give?
Well, based on Paul's words, it seems that giving, when you have the opportunity (or more truthfully, the inclination...everybody has the opportunity), helps things "even out." And that makes God happy.
Giving isn't just an action. It's an attitude of the heart. It's an inclination. It's a way of life, a posture of gratitude.
For Paul, it is "finishing what was started," among the Corinthians. It is the natural outgrowth of grace in the life of a maturing disciple.
Let me put it as plainly as Paul did. Here's the deal: the heart regulates the hands. So let's look at our giving...it's a window into our hearts.
Grace & Peace --
Adam
Jun 30, 2009
Waiting
Psalm 130:3-6 (The Message)
3-4 If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings,
who would stand a chance?
As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit,
and that's why you're worshiped.
5-6 I pray to God—my life a prayer—
and wait for what he'll say and do.
My life's on the line before God, my Lord,
waiting and watching till morning,
waiting and watching till morning.
How much of our lives are spent waiting?
A lot, right?
Stoplights, waiting rooms, gas stations, grocery stores, traffic jams.
We wait, a lot.
We wait for God. Maybe we wait, impatiently, for the life, or job, or home, or person that we hope to have.
But in another sense, there's no such thing as waiting. There is really only now. We're only waiting if we're focused more on the future than we are the present.
Of course we'll sit in traffic, and wait here and there and everywhere else. But we can choose to spend those moments in the presence of God and those around us. We can be fully present, even while we wait.
Life is short, so don't miss what happens in the waiting.
Grace & Peace,
Adam
Jun 29, 2009
Crushed
2 Samuel 1:17-19; 26-27 (The Message)
17-18 Then David sang this lament over Saul and his son Jonathan, and gave orders that everyone in Judah learn it by heart. Yes, it's even inscribed in The Book of Jashar.
19 Oh, oh, Gazelles of Israel, struck down on your hills,
the mighty warriors—fallen, fallen!
26 O my dear brother Jonathan,
I'm crushed by your death.
Your friendship was a miracle-wonder,
love far exceeding anything I've known—
or ever hope to know.
27 The mighty warriors—fallen, fallen.
And the arms of war broken to bits.
Grief is one of the hardest human emotions. The pain of real mourning turns day to night, causes physical symptoms and makes the mourner think that they're losing their grip on reality.
Sometimes, we can even feel guilty that we just can't "get over it" when we've sustained a loss of some kind and "go on with our lives."
Well, here's at least a little good news. Those who mourn are not crazy. It's actually normal to feel that way.
It's even in the Bible. David was deeply mourning the loss of Saul and Jonathan. He decreed that everyone in the kingdom should memorize his verses of loss and grief.
Eventually there is healing. Whatever grief we carry...God can carry it with us. He does understand. God mourns right beside us. In time, there can even be laughter again.
Grace & Peace,
Adam
Jun 26, 2009
If Only He Knew
I will now do a bit of a review for a book I finished a week or so back. It was my toilet reader.Every time I took a shoosey-doosey, I picked it up and read. The book is by Gary Smalley, and is called If Only He Knew.
Please dont let the tag line located below the title throw you too far off of the book's true content. Its not so much a book about how to get a woman as it is how to keep the one you are with. I know, I know: "But, Mike, you dont have a woman." Yeah, well, call this read a preemptive strike.
Smalley is a marriage counselor, and in this book he shares stories of failed marriages, strong marriages, and resurrected marriages. Interspersed among the real life stories of his own and others' marriages he interjects his personal theories on the situations. He openly admits that most of what he presents is common sense, but submits that we as men (that is the target audience of this particular book) often fail at realizing the obvious and acting accordingly.
Now, time and time again he posits that all relationship problems are the man's fault and that he has yet to be shown the exception to that rule. I am not so quick to jump on board with that idea for two reasons:
1) I dislike universals because they are largely unprovable.
2) It alleviates responsibilty from the women. Marriage is an equal-share endeavor.
While most of what he outlines in the book is, in fact, very common-sensical, it is refreshing to be reminded lest we forget. And, as Smalley points out, though there are sacrifices in need of being made, the rewards outweigh them exponentially; namely those of a healthy and happy marriage, a deepened and strengthened relationship with our wife, and the presentation of a shining example of both in a world where they are too often misconstrued or abused. This book reminds us that we are not done wooing our beloved once the ring is on her finger, but that the fun is just beginning!
My biggest knock on the book is that I found it to be way too repetitive at times. You would re-read bits of information in chapter 10 that you learned at length in chapter 3. So in that vein, it feels a bit thrown together and a little less organized than a book should. It is not an overwhelming problem, but when it does rear its face, it is a little off-putting.
Im ready to pass this one on to the next willing reader. Free of charge as long as you promise to read it, take it to heart, and pass it along, yourself, when you are done.
Cowards
Mark 4:35-41 (The Message)Late that day he said to them, "Let's go across to the other side." They took him in the boat as he was. Other boats came along. A huge storm came up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it.
And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, sleeping! They roused him, saying, "Teacher, is it nothing to you that we're going down?"
Awake now, he told the wind to pipe down and said to the sea, "Quiet! Settle down!"
The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass. Jesus reprimanded the disciples: "Why are you such cowards? Don't you have any faith at all?"
They were in absolute awe, staggered. "Who is this, anyway?" they asked. "Wind and sea at his beck and call!"
Jesus wasn't just trying to belittle them. He was asking a real question about their faith.
So...why are we such cowards?
Lots of reasons. Big storms could kill us. Situations get out of our control. We could drown. We get afraid. We see problems that are greater than our resources.
And...maybe we don't really trust Him, although we'll sure go wake Him up when we get scared.
After all, "who is he?"
He is the one that we can trust, no matter what. In that truth, there is a bravery greater than our own.
Grace, Peace, and See you this Sunday --
Adam
"Unless You Change..."
Friday is usually the day I blog here about a Wesley teaching, but today I am writing on something altogether seperate for two reasons:
1) I did not really make time for Mr. Wesley this week. My badskies.
2) Today was Water Day at SOTH.
Watching the kids play in the water today reminded me of something Jesus said in the Good Ole' New Testament:
"I tell you the truth: Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 18:3)
What struck me about the kids' play today was that they were not concerned with what was not there.
You see, I found myself thinking "How in the world did I ever have fun in a foot-deep pool or with a sprinkler?" I was reminded, even, of a Mitch Hedberg joke:
"I saw a commercial for an above-ground pool. It was 30 seconds long because that is the maximum amount of time you can depict yourself having fun in an above-ground pool. If it was 31 seconds long, the actor would say "The water is only up to here. What do I do now? Throw the ball back to Jimmy or put some goggles on and look at his feet? I cant even drown my knee-caps."
But the kids were not concerned about what they did not have. I did not once hear a single kid ask where the diving board was, or complain that the slip-n-slide was too short, or that there werent enough water guns. Instead, they chose to enjoy what had been provided.
How often do you wish for more or complain about what we do not have? Especially in today's economic circumstances, right? Even when the economy is at it's peak, we find ourselves discontented.
That is why I believe Jesus wants us to be like the little children. He wants us, too, to be grateful for what we have and to not worry about what we dont. Adam will be speaking more to this idea on Sunday when he tackles the tenth commandment: coveting.
Learn to be grateful, not greedy.
Peace.
Jun 25, 2009
Expansive
2 Corinthians 6:1-13 (The Message)Dear, dear Corinthians, I can't tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life.
We didn't fence you in.
The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way.
I'm speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives.
Live openly and expansively!
We didn't fence you in.
The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way.
I'm speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives.
Live openly and expansively!
How big is the life you're living, right now?
A few years ago, I walked into a coffee shop with a good friend. Before I could say anything, he pulled out some cash and paid for my coffee. I'll always remember what he said.
"I'm feeling expansive today."
Expansive. Such a strange turn of phrase. I'd never heard anyone say that before. I still remember that little act of kindness and the odd, wonderful declaration of "expansiveness" that accompanied it.
Let's be expansive. Our lives are only small if we live them that way.
Grace & Peace,
Adam
SOTH Kids' Water Day
Children of ALL ages invited
(babies - upcoming 5th Grade)
Friday, June 26th
10:30-1:00
Each child needs to bring lots of sunscreen, swim suit, a towel and a "sack" lunch for a picnic.
BRING A FRIEND!!!
Little ones will enjoy splashing around in puddles & sprinklers and playing with bubbles while the big kids will engage in a water blast game of hide & seek!
RSVP - kim@sothumc.net
HELP NEEDED FOR THIS EVENT:
We needs lots of adults/youth to help supervise and entertain! Please RSVP if you can volunteer for WATER DAY!! We also need fun water items such as: sprinklers, plastic baby pools, fun bubble "stuff", water guns, a slip n' slide, outdoor water games, etc.
Contact Kim Rahn for more information:
kim@sothumc.net 770-845-3654
Mr. W
Some more thoughts on SOTH's Listening, Relating and Encouraging ministry of visitation into the community, from SOTH memeber and LRE leader, Jamie Blankenship:
Why do we go visit Mr. W each week?
During the weekend training for the evangelism ministry, LRE or as I like to call it, Loving Relating & Encouraging, we met the W’s. They were friendly and receptive to our visits, so we kept visiting. Some background on the W’s. They are older folks. The Mrs. has health issues that require just about constant care, and her care giver is her husband. Outside of doctor visits, they are pretty much home bound.
Now, this information has been gathered over time since last August, and may not be exactly chronological. It would be hard to write about what we have learned from the W’s that way. See, it is almost a year of (on average)15-20 minute visits. It takes time to get know people, it takes time to build relationships.
At first, we didn’t visit every week. But over the course of time, it became weekly, because of their situation. It had been suggested that, perhaps, we shouldn’t go to their house so often or even change the nature of our ministry with them to something more of a “shut-in” ministry. But, I always come back to the mental picture of Mr. W, clean shaven with a fresh shirt and say, no, we need to go.
We have seen the W’s on good days and bad days. Chronic illness can be so hard to deal with, both for the patient and the caregiver. I believe it can take you to places where you question your faith. Times when you asked God, this is how my life is going to be lived out? Long days and nights full of wondering, how much longer will this last? How much more can I endure? We have witnessed this pain and suffering on Mr. W’s face.
There are times when I have felt discouraged and downtrodden over much less significant circumstances, so you can imagine the irony of me, having a bad day, downtrodden, walking up to Mr. W’s door and seeing his amazing hopefulness. More than once, our teams have been encouraged by his faith. He tells us he feels blessed, and he is taking it day by day, the best they can. His faith firmly rooted in the Lord.
We have discovered, over time, that Mr. W. was an Elder in the
He has occasionally asked questions about this ministry, of Loving, Relating and Encouraging. What we do, where we go, how many visits, how many people are involved. But last week, he laid out a very pointed “do you believe this ministry you do on Thursday’s is profitable?”
Profitable? Not financially speaking. He asked, “Has anyone ever come to your church or joined the church that you met on a Thursday night?” We answered, “yes” because some have come and some have joined. Before I could get to my full explanation on why we go, he explained it to me. Remember, he always has the answer before he asks the question!
He told us that once, when he was active in ministry, the leadership of his church went out into the community on a Sunday afternoon. He said he reported back to the church that they had determined their community was going to hell. Yes, it didn’t go well and that was the first and last time they tried it. Our tenacity is provokes his curiosity.
He continued to tell us that we were doing an amazing thing. He said the Bible tells us to “go” and he told us not to give up, even though we may never know what profit for the Lord comes from the seeds we plant. He said God would bless the work we do. He told us how much we mean to him personally. He believes God sent us to him.
It is “funny” that he this happened last Thursday. Only two team members came out to visit last week and this visit was the only one we were going to make. Yes, I would say my morale was at an all time low last Thursday and *bam* a fresh a dose of encouragement from the person we are trying to encourage. God bless irony!
The purpose of the Loving, Relating and Encouraging ministry is to “go” and build relationships in the community. To show others the love of Christ, asking nothing in return. It isn’t easy. There may be no tangible result. Sounds crazy, right?
If it seems that we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. Whatever we do it is because Christ’s love controls us.
2 Corinthians 5:13-14
Lives are changing through this ministry for Christ. God is being glorified every single Thursday. And we are all invited and encouraged to be a part of it! Just come to the ranch, Thursday, at 6:30 pm. I can’t wait to see what this Thursday will bring.
Transformers 2
Movie review time! I realize that it has been a while since I have done one of these, and that in that time I have seen several movies. My plan is this: I am going to give a full review ofTransformers 2, and then give much shorter reviews of a few others I have seen in the meantime.
Transformers 2
Where to begin? I thought this one was better than the first. For starters, the fights were a lot less of the "Im just going to throw myself into you" variety. And there seemed to be a lot more of them. It is a safe thing to say that this installment of the Transformers series significantly amped up the action quotient. There were more bots, bigger bots, and bigger "booms" than in the first. There are even a couple of bots that are made of other bots; one reminding me of my Power Ranger days.
But, with the upgrade in action came a few other unwanted upgrades. First, the robots picked up a few of our language's less-tasteful words and phrases. Actually, "a few" might very well be an understatement. For the most part, the harsher language was used for joke telling which is just unfortunate. What a great lesson to be teaching the youth of our nation, right? The rating for this one was PG-13, so a kid as young as 13 could have purchased a ticket to this one outright and been permitted to watch it unsupervised. But, being that this series is based on what is widely viewed as an older (and even recent) children's show, there were many in the theater with me much younger than that. Normally, I dont have an issue with language in movies, but being that this one is based, as I said, on a children's show and thus the audience will then be laregely comprised of kids, they should have omitted the language as much as they could. And its not like they couldnt have taken it out, either. Its one thing for a soldier on the battlefield to shout an obscenity after being shot and another thing for a robotic character to use one just joking around.
The plot was a little fantastic, too, taking a page or two out of the National Treasure movies and maybe a little from the latest installment of the Indiana Jones anthology. But lets be realistic here: Its a series being built around the idea that a talking alien race of robots that can transform into any machine they scan brings a bit of their homeworld's war to earth. If you can be okay with that much, you can overlook the craziness of the Pyramids of Giza hiding an ancient, sun-destroying machine and that a certain number of the alien race has been hiding on our planet for thousands of years.
Lamest part of the movie: LeBouf has this weird dream towards the end in which the Primes (a sort of branch or species of the alien race of machines) explain to him that they key that he needed could not be found but earned. Really? If you KNEW that, Primes, why not have just avoided the whole "the key turns to dust" schtick?
Coolest part of the movie: Optimus Prime gets a serious upgrade at the end and does some pretty fantastic butt-whooping with it. The fight between him and a couple of the Decepticons in the woods was very cool, too.
Megan Fox is still just that: a fox. LeBouf does a fine job, too; we are coming to expect that of him. I still like John Turturro's role, although you see WAY more of him than you would like, for sure, and I mean that in several senses. And then there is the new character, Leo, who I thought the movie could have easily done without. He was dropped into the mix for comic relief and that is IT. He lends, essentially, no significance to the film.
And one more thing: You are subjected to dogs getting it on twice in the span of five minutes for "comedic relief." I didnt get that.
All in all, I wasnt upset for having dropped the $9 to catch this one in the theaters. It was a bit longer than I would have preferred, but I didnt feel that it was running itself into the ground dragging on in the end. This movie wont blow you away, but it wont disappoint, either.
So far this summer, I have been disappointed by the movies Ive seen for the large part. Here are a few, smaller reviews of others I have watched:
Up - It wasnt bad, but I didnt think it was great, either. It felt very slow and a lot less humorous than I had hoped for. It was, however, a very touching story.
Land of the Lost - Okay, I tried watching this last night online and gave up 20 minutes in. This made me sad in part because I remember loving the old TV show as a kid. There was nothing there to catch and hold my attention, though. Its possible that I gave up too early, but I didnt feel guilty turning it off since I wasnt paying to watch it.
Star Trek - Even if you've never seen even a fraction of an episode of the show, this movie should easily top your summer movie list. Hands down, in my opinion, the best movie of the summer. Its closest contender was probably Wolverine, but, as I posted previously, the fan in me was disappointed in a major way with aspects of that one. Had I not been a fan or knowledgable about the comics, it would have been a serious contender.
The Hangover - Contender for one of the funniest movies I have ever seen, but ashamedly so. Not all, but a significant chunk of its humor was "inappropriate," and there was more than a few things in it that it could have gone without. If you catch it, do not, under any circumstance, stay to watch the slideshow during the credits. Run.
Night at the Museum 2 - Meh. The first was better, and I really didnt think much of the first one. This is a pass.
I still plan on catching The Proposal, Year One, and maybe The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. I will try to get those reviews up as I catch them.
Jun 24, 2009
Sanctuary
Psalm 9:9-14 (The Message) God's a safe-house for the battered, a sanctuary during bad times.
The moment you arrive, you relax; you're never sorry you knocked.
Sing your songs to Zion-dwelling God, tell his stories to everyone you meet: How he tracks down killers yet keeps his eye on us, registers every whimper and moan.
Be kind to me, God; I've been kicked around long enough.
Once you've pulled me back from the gates of death, I'll write the book on Hallelujahs;
On the corner of Main and First I'll hold a street meeting;
I'll be the song leader; we'll fill the air with salvation songs.
I love this psalm so much. It makes me feel better about myself. And, it makes me feel really good about God.
It reminds me that even the psalm-writer could feel sorry for himself. And, even he could go passive-aggressive: "I've been kicked around long enough, Lord..."
What images! God is a "safe house." In fact, it almost sounds like God is a "beach house," a place to relax as soon as you walk in.
Whatever you're up against today...a simple reminder...our God, "hears every whimper and moan." Our task? To fill the air with salvation songs.
Grace & Peace,
Adam
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