It's not what you might have thought. When I heard about the death, and surrounding circumstances, of Richard Stabone, who played "Boner" on Growing Pains, I was saddened. Yes, I liked his character as Mike's(Kirk Cameron) goofy friend, but that's not why I am saddened. Read about it, if you don't know, before you continue with this.
How much of a difference does positive human contact make in a person's life? I'm not saying Richard didn't have positive human contact. It's just that when someone feels so (whatever the right word might be) that they don't see any options for vitality in life and, thus have no hope, something is not as it should be. Greg's personal philosophy, that keeps coming round and round to me, is that Jesus had it right - we can change the world for the best by loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
Can any of us honestly say we don't like positive influences in our lives? No, we can't. Do they make a difference? Yes, they do.
Our culture, unfortunately, seems to thrive on insults, put downs, and making someone feel bad about themselves. We rarely recognize the fact that whether it's in fun or not, it always has a negative impact.
Everyone needs hope! Hope is nothing less than someone feeling as though they are loved and will be loved unconditionally no matter what. That's really all God wants any of us to know!
Yes, I know I don't get it right all the time. No, I don't like that. What can we do to help someone feel loved? Do we understand that accomplishing that is truly a priceless gift we can give one another?
Dear God, I pray that we find the strength and courage to follow You by doing the best we can to make people feel loved and experience hope. As You know, nobody should die because they feel hopeless. We should, as You said, have life and have it abundantly because we have found hope in Your love. Make it so! But it's not simply about "me" or "us", Lord. We pray for anyone and everyone who feels unloved and are losing, or have lost, hope. Fill them with love and hope and give us whatever we need to be Your helpers in that respect. Amen.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
The Tigers, Baseball, and the Church
Well, baseball season is almost here. The Tigers have signed yet another player with lots of experience, if you catch my drift, and we hope this is a good year. As I reflect on baseball, we can see that the teams that have quality seasons year after year, generally have a great, quality system in place. Well, enough about baseball. What do I know, except that I'll also be rooting for the Reds this year because Chad Reineke is in their system and will make a difference for the Reds this year!
Now, to the Church. What kind of system do we have? Is our system designed to follow our mission from side to side, top to bottom, and everything in between? Do we have people at every level who know the mission and are pumped to make it happen? Are people at every level motivated to move up to the next level, as often as possible, for the rest of their lives?
Sometimes, okay, often, I think we're (the Church) like a baseball system that spends money bringing in players with years of experience (hope you catch my drift) without trying to develop quality clubs and players at every level. We focus on worship (Please, I do know that worship is very important!) and keeping members happy instead of working (hope you catch my drift) to develop and form disciples. Our primary mission is to make disciples who will love God with all they are and love their neighbor as themselves. Yes, we want to have quality worship and all that, but if we're not developing and forming disciples at every level, we are failing big time!
At Grace Church, the number one ministry we have right now is a free soup supper every Tuesday night at 5 pm. The food (soup and other things) is top quality and mostly homemade. It doesn't cost a centot eat it, and anyone can take a healthy portion home with them. We deliver meals to those who need it (about 14-15 households every week). There are people from various churches, those who don't go to church, and from Grace church who are helping Lila (the 80+ year old originator of the ministry) to make it happen every week. There are various people in a wide variety of life circumstances who enjoy the great food every week. I have gotten to know most of them on a personal basis. I've developed relationships with several, which has allowed me to have some very meaningful conversations of the spiritual and non-spiritual nature. There isn't a person involved in this ministry in any way who doesn't know this is a God thing through and through. The really cool thing is that I am just one of many people who take part in this ministry.
I am so proud of Lila and the others from Grace church who make this happen every week (I would start naming names, but I would forget somebody and I don't want to do that.)! If this was a baseball system, the soup supper would probably be seen by many to be a single A club. But, this single A club could be thrown into the World Series any day and hold their own against any of "the bigs!"
No ministry in the Church is more important than another, not even the soup supper. When we focus on being a system full of teams all working together we become a life giving part of the Body of Christ. When we're only trying to create little kingdoms, others can't see God and we lose our saltiness, as Jesus said.
I have called it the "Church" with capital letters because I'm not just talking about Grace church, I'm talking about the Church in general! I love God and the Church through which God's disciples operate! We can do it because God is with us and we are God's disciples!
Now, to the Church. What kind of system do we have? Is our system designed to follow our mission from side to side, top to bottom, and everything in between? Do we have people at every level who know the mission and are pumped to make it happen? Are people at every level motivated to move up to the next level, as often as possible, for the rest of their lives?
Sometimes, okay, often, I think we're (the Church) like a baseball system that spends money bringing in players with years of experience (hope you catch my drift) without trying to develop quality clubs and players at every level. We focus on worship (Please, I do know that worship is very important!) and keeping members happy instead of working (hope you catch my drift) to develop and form disciples. Our primary mission is to make disciples who will love God with all they are and love their neighbor as themselves. Yes, we want to have quality worship and all that, but if we're not developing and forming disciples at every level, we are failing big time!
At Grace Church, the number one ministry we have right now is a free soup supper every Tuesday night at 5 pm. The food (soup and other things) is top quality and mostly homemade. It doesn't cost a centot eat it, and anyone can take a healthy portion home with them. We deliver meals to those who need it (about 14-15 households every week). There are people from various churches, those who don't go to church, and from Grace church who are helping Lila (the 80+ year old originator of the ministry) to make it happen every week. There are various people in a wide variety of life circumstances who enjoy the great food every week. I have gotten to know most of them on a personal basis. I've developed relationships with several, which has allowed me to have some very meaningful conversations of the spiritual and non-spiritual nature. There isn't a person involved in this ministry in any way who doesn't know this is a God thing through and through. The really cool thing is that I am just one of many people who take part in this ministry.
I am so proud of Lila and the others from Grace church who make this happen every week (I would start naming names, but I would forget somebody and I don't want to do that.)! If this was a baseball system, the soup supper would probably be seen by many to be a single A club. But, this single A club could be thrown into the World Series any day and hold their own against any of "the bigs!"
No ministry in the Church is more important than another, not even the soup supper. When we focus on being a system full of teams all working together we become a life giving part of the Body of Christ. When we're only trying to create little kingdoms, others can't see God and we lose our saltiness, as Jesus said.
I have called it the "Church" with capital letters because I'm not just talking about Grace church, I'm talking about the Church in general! I love God and the Church through which God's disciples operate! We can do it because God is with us and we are God's disciples!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
What is "higher intelligence?"
We continue to marvel at how quickly our nearly three year old grandaughter masters playing games on the computer. She can maneuver the mouse wherever it should be, left click at the right time, click and drag, etc. As we talked about it tonight, a couple of the things we mentioned were: 1) All kids have that innate intelligence, and computers provide a vehicle through which this intelligence can operate. 2) Kids, the younger the better, don't have enough learned experiences to close off the great sense of imagination and possibility.
Our artist friend, Bob, once told me that he likes teaching art to people who don't think they have any artistic aptitude. He likes them because they don't typically have any preconceived notions about anything and are very open to learning, imagination, and creativity. When he told me that I was inspired and impressed. Thanks, Bob!
I see the static consequences of not thinking this way every day. I see people who seem resistant and/or closed to possibility, new learning, and wide open creativity because everything is skewed by fixed thoughts created by what they already know.
There's a reason we only use a small percentage of our brain power. God left lots of room for imagination, creativity, and possibility based learning. The firm rules of today, when opened up and given air to breathe, expand into a million new ideas and incredible inventions of tomorrow. Every wonderful convenience of every type that we enjoy today came out of someone's wide open, no boundaries, thinking.
Of course there are things a three year old doesn't no that can inhibit their learning or put them in harms way, or some other less than ideal situation. Imagine what happens when you combine your knowledge with the wide open possibility thinking of a three year old. Could that be the difference between the great creative people of history and those of us who aren't so creative?
I remember an episode of Sponge Bob Square Pants in which Sponge Bob and Patrick used their "imaginations" and any thing was possible!
Try it and be amazed at what you're capable of doing, inspite of what others think about you! Be careful, though, because when you think wide openly, the ones who think they have the market on thinking cornered will get mad at you because they didn't think you were capable of leaving them in your dust! That's okay because if you move forward you will change the world in which they simply exist. And if they decide to try it because of you, then the world becomes an even better place! It becomes a big WIN-WIN for everybody!
Our artist friend, Bob, once told me that he likes teaching art to people who don't think they have any artistic aptitude. He likes them because they don't typically have any preconceived notions about anything and are very open to learning, imagination, and creativity. When he told me that I was inspired and impressed. Thanks, Bob!
I see the static consequences of not thinking this way every day. I see people who seem resistant and/or closed to possibility, new learning, and wide open creativity because everything is skewed by fixed thoughts created by what they already know.
There's a reason we only use a small percentage of our brain power. God left lots of room for imagination, creativity, and possibility based learning. The firm rules of today, when opened up and given air to breathe, expand into a million new ideas and incredible inventions of tomorrow. Every wonderful convenience of every type that we enjoy today came out of someone's wide open, no boundaries, thinking.
Of course there are things a three year old doesn't no that can inhibit their learning or put them in harms way, or some other less than ideal situation. Imagine what happens when you combine your knowledge with the wide open possibility thinking of a three year old. Could that be the difference between the great creative people of history and those of us who aren't so creative?
I remember an episode of Sponge Bob Square Pants in which Sponge Bob and Patrick used their "imaginations" and any thing was possible!
Try it and be amazed at what you're capable of doing, inspite of what others think about you! Be careful, though, because when you think wide openly, the ones who think they have the market on thinking cornered will get mad at you because they didn't think you were capable of leaving them in your dust! That's okay because if you move forward you will change the world in which they simply exist. And if they decide to try it because of you, then the world becomes an even better place! It becomes a big WIN-WIN for everybody!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Why is everything a battle?
If someone offered you a really good pepperoni pizza for free, would you argue about it? If you're carrying some boxes and they're about to fall and somebody offers to help carry them, are you going to fight them over it? Why does it seem that many positive common sense ideas and or things we do meet with what appears to be "automatic resistance?"
Today, I did 123. A few people thought I was crazy because everybody knows "you don't do that, duh!" Instead of talking about how to get through it in a positive way, lines are drawn and the feeling of an impending battle takes shape. Instead of saying, "How about doing 13 because that's a better fit." We want to make it a battle. Sure, I could have said what if we try 13. I did ask the so-called expert what could be done. No solution except anger and frustration was offered.
The truth of the matter is that 123 was done and there was absolutely no permanent or temporary damage done to anyone in the least bit. What's the point?
Okay, this is all symbolic to protect the sensitive, but the absurdity of it happens way too often in situations as ludricous as trying to figure out what 123 really means.
I recently finished reading a great book called "The Anatomy of Peace" put out by the Arbinger Institute. The way to peace as outlined in the book begins by treating each other as human beings. Not a novel concept, but one that is practiced so little that it should be a serious concern for all. For example: If someone finds out a friend is of a different political persuasion, they suddenly become a worm crawling on the ground to be stepped on. It really doesn't make any sense at any level, except, perhaps, because we truly have decided that the value of human life can be discounted on a whim.
The book suggests and then gives great steps through which we can reclaim integrity and see one another as human beings and treat each other as such.
It is written in story form, kind of like the Ken Blanchard business and leadership books only in much more detail. It's compelling and changed my way of thinking.
Using its principles allows us to look at conflicts of all levels and find practical, common sense, and compassionate solutions that benefit everyone.
In my opening scenario, when I did 123, a compassionate and human integrity focused response would have been: This is going to present problems. I know you probably didn't think about it, here's what I think we can do to accomplish what we all want...
It requires maybe taking a step back, a breath to gain composure, an attitude of win-win solutions rather than I win-you lose, and with a spirit of compassion and peace working out a solution. Everybody wins and the whole, including the others who are always involved, becomes better for it.
Sorry for a rambling, maybe frustrating, blog but I am extremely frustrated by the widespread attitude of "person as object" toward each other. I have changed and am working to change further because of this book and the impact it has had on my thinking and life. This blog allows me to vent, think,and clear my head so that I can better respond from the perspective of person to person. I ask for yourprayers, good thoughts, etc. not simply to help me do this, but to help all of us do this.
A world full of people treating each other as people may seem like a naive pipe dream, but it's a whole lot better than a world in which we treat each other as objects to be squashed. It just takes a small amount of effort, really.
God bless you all!
Today, I did 123. A few people thought I was crazy because everybody knows "you don't do that, duh!" Instead of talking about how to get through it in a positive way, lines are drawn and the feeling of an impending battle takes shape. Instead of saying, "How about doing 13 because that's a better fit." We want to make it a battle. Sure, I could have said what if we try 13. I did ask the so-called expert what could be done. No solution except anger and frustration was offered.
The truth of the matter is that 123 was done and there was absolutely no permanent or temporary damage done to anyone in the least bit. What's the point?
Okay, this is all symbolic to protect the sensitive, but the absurdity of it happens way too often in situations as ludricous as trying to figure out what 123 really means.
I recently finished reading a great book called "The Anatomy of Peace" put out by the Arbinger Institute. The way to peace as outlined in the book begins by treating each other as human beings. Not a novel concept, but one that is practiced so little that it should be a serious concern for all. For example: If someone finds out a friend is of a different political persuasion, they suddenly become a worm crawling on the ground to be stepped on. It really doesn't make any sense at any level, except, perhaps, because we truly have decided that the value of human life can be discounted on a whim.
The book suggests and then gives great steps through which we can reclaim integrity and see one another as human beings and treat each other as such.
It is written in story form, kind of like the Ken Blanchard business and leadership books only in much more detail. It's compelling and changed my way of thinking.
Using its principles allows us to look at conflicts of all levels and find practical, common sense, and compassionate solutions that benefit everyone.
In my opening scenario, when I did 123, a compassionate and human integrity focused response would have been: This is going to present problems. I know you probably didn't think about it, here's what I think we can do to accomplish what we all want...
It requires maybe taking a step back, a breath to gain composure, an attitude of win-win solutions rather than I win-you lose, and with a spirit of compassion and peace working out a solution. Everybody wins and the whole, including the others who are always involved, becomes better for it.
Sorry for a rambling, maybe frustrating, blog but I am extremely frustrated by the widespread attitude of "person as object" toward each other. I have changed and am working to change further because of this book and the impact it has had on my thinking and life. This blog allows me to vent, think,and clear my head so that I can better respond from the perspective of person to person. I ask for yourprayers, good thoughts, etc. not simply to help me do this, but to help all of us do this.
A world full of people treating each other as people may seem like a naive pipe dream, but it's a whole lot better than a world in which we treat each other as objects to be squashed. It just takes a small amount of effort, really.
God bless you all!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Why God loves Tiger Woods
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me." Psalm 51:10-11
Personally, I give Tiger a lot of credit for having the courage to ask the above in front of the whole world. He could have done it privately, which wouldn't have held him accountable to anyone, but himself. That didn't work too well before. Now he has told the whole world and has asked for help. What else could anyone do, even any of us?
He and his family are in my prayers, as are all of you. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest golfers to ever play the game. Almost all of us have probably watched him play, hoping he would show us that greatness. Why not hope the same thing for him as a person?
At the same time Tiger was giving the statement, I was reading a post from a friend. He was saying he watched an animated version of Dante's Inferno. The big message I got from my friend's post was that God loves us so much that, for God, forgiveness is easy. Cool! That's why I do what I do. Hoping that everyone can come to understand that.
God loves it when we believe we can do better. The number one thing God asks of all people is to love God with all we are and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Everything else is details. I choose to live toward the bigger target and let the details fall into place after that! Go for it, Tiger! Go for it, all of you!
Personally, I give Tiger a lot of credit for having the courage to ask the above in front of the whole world. He could have done it privately, which wouldn't have held him accountable to anyone, but himself. That didn't work too well before. Now he has told the whole world and has asked for help. What else could anyone do, even any of us?
He and his family are in my prayers, as are all of you. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest golfers to ever play the game. Almost all of us have probably watched him play, hoping he would show us that greatness. Why not hope the same thing for him as a person?
At the same time Tiger was giving the statement, I was reading a post from a friend. He was saying he watched an animated version of Dante's Inferno. The big message I got from my friend's post was that God loves us so much that, for God, forgiveness is easy. Cool! That's why I do what I do. Hoping that everyone can come to understand that.
God loves it when we believe we can do better. The number one thing God asks of all people is to love God with all we are and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Everything else is details. I choose to live toward the bigger target and let the details fall into place after that! Go for it, Tiger! Go for it, all of you!
Friday, February 12, 2010
God loves the Olympics
Why would God love the Olympics? The one line answer: Because the diversity of God's creation comes together, competes together, and lives together in apparent unity, forgetting about all the dumb things that generally divide us and pit us against one another! Hey, I didn't promise or sign any document saying it would be a simple line!
Many of us watch the Olympics, not necessarily every moment, from the opening ceremonies to the closing ceremonies and everything in between, with great enjoyment. We don't generally care whether or not an athlete, or group of athletes, is a different color or ethnic group than we are. We can't, truthfully, or generally, tell which athletes are heterosexual, homosexual, or some other such category. If we can tell, they may have very different political or world views than we have, but we'll cheer anyway. And so on, but I think you probably get the picture.
I believe with everything I am that God loves every human being, every part of creation. That doesn't mean God loves everything we do, and it doesn't mean we know what God likes or doesn't like. I have family and friends of various religious, political, ethnic, sexual, etc. status, or whatever other word fits. I love them all. The only time I really get upset is when someone of a different situation than I'm in tells me that I'm less of a person than they are because I'm different. I, truthfully and wholeheartedly, apologize for any time I've ever put anybody in the position I just said I don't like to be in. And, even more importantly, I ask God, and you, to forgive me for those times.
You see, I also absolutely believe in, and want to live by, what Jesus called "the greatest commandment": to love God with all I am and to love everyone as I love myself. Jesus didn't make any of the distinctions we make when He said this. He didn't say "love your neighbor as youself, except for ..."
No matter how tough somebody is, there will always be somebody who is tougher. That's frightening.
No matter how loving someobody is, there will always be somebody who is more loving. That's pretty cool!
On with the Winter Olympics, may we get the courage to live in the spirit!
Many of us watch the Olympics, not necessarily every moment, from the opening ceremonies to the closing ceremonies and everything in between, with great enjoyment. We don't generally care whether or not an athlete, or group of athletes, is a different color or ethnic group than we are. We can't, truthfully, or generally, tell which athletes are heterosexual, homosexual, or some other such category. If we can tell, they may have very different political or world views than we have, but we'll cheer anyway. And so on, but I think you probably get the picture.
I believe with everything I am that God loves every human being, every part of creation. That doesn't mean God loves everything we do, and it doesn't mean we know what God likes or doesn't like. I have family and friends of various religious, political, ethnic, sexual, etc. status, or whatever other word fits. I love them all. The only time I really get upset is when someone of a different situation than I'm in tells me that I'm less of a person than they are because I'm different. I, truthfully and wholeheartedly, apologize for any time I've ever put anybody in the position I just said I don't like to be in. And, even more importantly, I ask God, and you, to forgive me for those times.
You see, I also absolutely believe in, and want to live by, what Jesus called "the greatest commandment": to love God with all I am and to love everyone as I love myself. Jesus didn't make any of the distinctions we make when He said this. He didn't say "love your neighbor as youself, except for ..."
No matter how tough somebody is, there will always be somebody who is tougher. That's frightening.
No matter how loving someobody is, there will always be somebody who is more loving. That's pretty cool!
On with the Winter Olympics, may we get the courage to live in the spirit!
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