Perspective

Rolf Zettersten (quote date unknown) …

“America will change when the hearts of its people change. That process will not start in the White House. It will start in your house … It will not begin with politicians standing before Congress. It will begin with moms and dads and (sons and daughters) down on their knees before God”

With it being an election year I thought it would be nice to gain some perspective when it comes to faith and the presidency. While I have yet to decide who I will even begin to vote for, I know ultimately it really does not matter. My faith is not in the government, my faith is in God.

Values

Ran across awhile ago, I do not know where it originated from but I am posting it here for info. It is billed as “Core Values for every Christian”:

1. Lost people matter to God, therefore they should matter to the church.
2. The church should be a real place for real people, allowing people to be transparent and authentic.
3. The church should be culturally relevant while remaining doctrinally pure.
4. The church is a place of grace, serving as a trauma center for wounded people and a safe place for questions and searching, regardless of where one might be on his or her spiritual journey.
5. Life change happens best in community.
6. Ministry happens best in teams.
7. Worship is a lifestyle, not an event or a program.
8. The church should be a place of missionaries, not consumers.
9. Excellence honors God and inspires people.
10. The pursuit of full devotion to Christ and His cause is normal for every believer.

Dinnerware

Every now and then we get out and get a chance to go bargain shopping. Laura is the queen of this. More often than not when it comes to the “luxuries” of life we try to find it as a bargain first. Check the ads for a yard sale (although we never have the funds when we see something as we drive by one), go to a consignment store for play clothes (why pay full price for something that will eventually be covered in dirt?), or a favorite of mine is Goodwill. If you never have been … picture a store where everything is donated and they mark everything at one price, which is a pretty good discount off regular prices and to that half off days and a little melody plays in Laura’s ears about the good times at Goodwill.

We have found books, clothes, toys, mugs, and containers galore. I always though seem to wind up though looking through the dinnerware. We have a gremlin, I think, when it comes to silverware, for some reason the gremlin likes small spoons. So the first thing I usually look for is something that can replenish the gremlins findings. The most fascinating part to me though about this section is the glasses and the plates. You see, because the items are donated, these items come from a variety of places.

A glass mug from the Kentucky Derby.
A plate representing a family reunion.
A glass from a company function.
A bowl that has those annoying ninja turtles.
A cup from a charity fundraiser.

I wonder what stories are contained in them … I wonder what was talked about as the item was emptied or cleaned off … I wonder why they are there, maybe a divorce and that many plates are no longer needed, maybe a single person getting rid of clutter as they begin a new life with their spouse. I wonder what stories are contained in you … stay with me for a moment please.

Be brave look in your cabinet. Look at the cups and the plates. If you are anything like us the idea of matching dinnerware is found only in a magazine. Let me share for a moment about our plates … in the order of acquisition …

The orange plates – AHHH, the first set of plates from our first apartment. We were just get settled in and realized we had nothing to eat with. It was the summer and stores had their picnic packs out so for I think $10 we got a setting for four plates, utensils, bowls and cups.
The Martha Stewart Set – These were our wedding plates lovely blue swirls. Some people do the fine china with the individual pieces paced in high density foam … ours came in a shrink wrapped box.
The hand-me-downs – My grandmother had just passed away and we were still in need of plates. Enter lovely white Corelle with brown flowers. Yeah, we are gaining quite the matching set aren’t we?
The theme plates – Laura was making some food for a get together at church with a Mexican theme and wanted plates and bowls that looked somewhat Mexican. Hopped in the car to the local Dollar Tree and found some plates that looked the part as well as an awesome bright yellow one with red chilies and in big letters “Fiesta”. You get the point.
The kids plates – these are a motley of different styles. Cartoon characters mainly. They are also in different styles sectioned and no sectioned, as well as different shapes, squares, circles and silhouettes of the aforementioned cartoon characters.

I digress when it comes to stories about our cups …

Next time you look at your cups and plates think of the verses:

Cups … John 4:13-15 (New King James Version)

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” 15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

Plates … Ephesians 4:11-13 (Today’s New International Version)

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,
12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Cups provide refreshment … plates serve food. Christians are a lot like cups and plates I think.

As cups, we are to provide people with a message of hope that can refresh their soul. A message that when one begins to start drinking, that cannot help to not stop. Think of a person lost in a desert and getting their first big gulp of water.

As plates, we are to serve others. Be it through teaching, be it through fixing a lasagna for a potluck, be it through a hospital visit.

Here is the kicker … The church is exactly like your cabinets of plates and glasses. You see hope and service can come from anyone: young and old, married or single, kids or no kids, single family or blended family.

Even from a ninja turtle I guess … Dude

Bowling

You know the smell …. stale alcohol, lingering nicotine, shoe deodorizer, arcade games, billiard balls crashing, snack bar food being made, and the thundering roll and eventually crashing of pins. AHHHH .. the bowling alley.

Bowling is one the activities that I just never really got. I know people enjoy it, I know of family members who plan their social lives around it. But I just can’t get into it.

Instructions:
Pick up ball
Approach Line
Roll Ball (putting a spin on it is preferred)
Try hitting pins at the end
Avoid the gutters
Repeat.

My best score 120 … that was after 3 rounds. That is until I learned a little secret about bowling. Go with kids.

Annoying maybe to have kids running around but something magical happens when you have a group of kids … a bumper rail comes out and there are no worries about going into the gutter. This means you are guaranteened to hit something the first throw when all the pins are up. You can zig zag a roll, you can angle the ball off the rail, etc. You can do anything because the protection is there. No fear the gutters are out of play. Way to go Adam .. you are now knocking on the door of 200!

It amazes me when you have no worries about getting trapped in a place where there is no return until the next shot, because there is a safety barrier. How much more confidence you get. You have no worries, you approach your shot with confidence that the ball will roll on without hitting anything.

The Bible says “No temptation will overtake you except what is common to man, but God is faithful he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able”. Think of it like this … temptation is the gutter; God’s faithfulness is the rail. As long as we realize God will be faithful through our temptations, we dont have to worry about hitting the gutters.

Thats good news for me … time to grab the bowling ball bag, the towel and the rosin … and rent me a pair of shoes … oh yeah and c’mon Sam and Josh … I want to break 200 and I need your help!

Anticipation

The sign says, “Opening Soon” … this may mean nothing to you, but it means something to me.

“Opening Soon” is so much better than “Coming Soon” … you see, “coming soon” means it is being built. Foundations are being poured, walls being set, maybe even a big sketch that shows what the final building will look like. “Opening Soon” means everything is built, final touches are being made. The signs are up and lit, chairs are in place, etc.

What makes “Opening Soon” so much better os when what is opening, you already like the product. Maybe you you like a double frap, mocha, lowfat, ½ whole milk, verdi coffee. But the store is 100 miles away … you do not go as much but as soon as a sign appears “Coming Soon -here>” your mouth begins to water. Then the walls are up and settings are in place and you know that shop that is now “Opening Soon” will be available to you 5 minutes from where you live. Anticipation is weird thing isn’t it?

What do you anticipate? Do you anticipate a certain department store because they are known for great sales, a fast food restaurant because the the food there is really good? How about a child’s graduation? Your graduation? Childbirth? Worship?

Had to throw a God thing in there …

But it does beg the question … do you anticipate worship? I do. I anticipate it more being the participant than being a “performer” (someone doing something during the service be it preaching, singing, serving). To know I get to join a group of people who share a similar in getting together and have a worship time. To me, worship is the high point of the week. During the week I strive to connect daily with God. Sometimes the rigors of life (clever way of saying just some plain lazy days) prevent me from connecting. I guess it is just easier to worship with others than individually. I guess that is why I view church as an important place in a Christians life. We need it. We need fellowship. We need to be together.

So what are you doing this Sunday around 10:30 am EST? I will be in church … stop by … who knows, eventually we can get together over a java chip frap and talk.

Belonging

It is odd … I showed up for work on the weekend … and I realized I did not have two things with me.
1. Security badge to get through the initial door
2. Cell phone to call someone to come down and let me in.

What is weird is the thoughts that go through your head to try and get in … my first thought, was to throw those little decorative rocks up to the second floor window … my luck dictates I would have smashed a window … so I passed on that solution … my only other thought was to honk my car horn and see if someone might see me and I just stood outside waiting … waiting to see if someone might have been wondering where I was.

Got me to thinking. I wonder how many people go through life that way. Not necessarily being locked out, but wondering if anyone realizes they are gone. Wondering if anyone loves them enough to think “Hey I wonder where so and so are, they should be here by now”. Sure it happens if you are the guest of honor … because the party can’t start until you arrive. But what if you are the guest? Maybe the host or hostess is so preoccupied, they don’t notice you are not there.

I think church is the same way. You see, I think people come to church for a variety reasons, but one important reason is they need to be loved. We should not be overbearing with our approach … attacking them with pamphlets/fliers, cards to fill out, etc. But just a simple welcome … and it would not hurt to make them feel like the guest of honor as well.

We may be busy making certain the communion cups are filled, the greeter of the week is in position, the nursery has enough staff, the words are ready to go in Powerpoint … those things are important, but missing an opportunity to not reach out to someone? Not worth it to me.

Wondering how I ended up? Thankfully, I was able to visit a local Home Depot and call someone to meet me downstairs to let me in … others only need to feel not loved one time and they will never come back …