The great LITTLE Things of this life

In the midst of bigger is better, here are a few of the small things that make my life so wonderful.

This morning as I was drinking my first cup of coffee, I realized how good it tasted. This is not a new sensation, I sense it every morning when we have good coffee. I don't need coffee to wake me up, I just like coffee so I drink it, but the first cup from the pot is always the best for me.

Starting off my morning by saying the shema with the Jesus addition is just comforting.

Listening to a short recording of Griffin singing happy birthday to his grandmother, puts a smile on my face and a tear in my eye.

Sitting on the backporch in the evening with a glass of ice tea and a good book, pure heaven.

To look at my wife and see her smile at me is a gift from God.

My view of the Bible

The latest book I am reading is called "the last word" by N.T. Wright it is about the authenticity of the Bible. As I was reading it the thought came to me (and I had to grab it fast before it could get away) that we all look at the Bible from a certain
perspective(s). It is not possible to look at it objectively, as we always have a slant to our viewpoint. It is not necessarily right or wrong, it just is.

I remember as a young kid, thinking everyone ought to be able to agree on
what the Bible says, if they only looked at it objectively without any biases,
and of course, that is the way I thought I looked at it. Thankfully as I grew older, I began to realize that my viewpoint had a definite slant to it. Another shocker was, anything viewed with a slant has some distortion and even parts that may be hidden from view.

Today my point of view is not the same as it was before, but it is still slanted. I hope realizing it is slanted helps me to be more honest and humble in my conclusions, and patient with others in theirs.

Teaching an old dog new tricks

Well, my 62nd birthday has come and gone and it wasn't a big deal, although Several interesting events have taken place. I have decided to start drawing my Social Security now instead of waiting till I am 66. The effect is that I will get less money each month but for a longer period of time. In my case we decided it would be to our advantage. I intend to keep working but less hours each month. There is a limit you can earn and still receive SS at early retirement.

The most fun event on my birthday was the Salsa Dance class, Carol and I attended. We have a new friend who teaches Salsa Dancing and he offered to give us a free lesson because his regular class is full with a waiting list. Our friends Max and Nancy went with us and it was a HOOT! We learned five basic steps. Now if we can just remember them long enough to use them. I think we are going to practice at home to see if we can actually still do them before venturing out in public.

On the ego-boosting side several of my friends paid me a complement on learning of my birthday, by claiming to think of me as the same age as they are. They are in their mid forties. Thanks fellows.

We listen but don't believe

Going thru the sermon on the mount, has brought several thoughts to my mind. I guess the main one is how/why we can have "teachings/doctrines of the church" and yet the average person in the pew doesn't live by them or at least doesn't think they are important as in "These are important and I should live by them." When I was a young preacher and maybe even into middle age preaching, I thought that if someone didn't disagree with me then they must agree, because surely if they thought I was wrong they would tell me, not so. Now some did tell me in no uncertain terms where I was making a mistake, but that was only a few. It is really strange when I try and correct something I have taught wrongly and people say, "Oh, I never believed that anyway." So why do people go along with teachings, they don't believe? I have no certain answers, but they may include the following. Most people don't like confrontations, or there is enough that they do like so it over shadows what they don't, or they really don't consider a particular teaching as vital (no matter what the elders/preacher say).
The above choices are only important if the "teachings of the church" are from God, but what if the people in the pew are right and teachings aren't from God? Sometimes the leadership can so get caught up in their own world that they lose touch with their members and the simplicity of the Gospel. Which means the leadership needs to reevaluate their own beliefs. Another answer could be, a belief is from God, but is not important to members, then why? Has the leadership done a poor job of teaching? That is entirely possible.

I think a possible solution is there has to be more discussion among the leadership and the members. Leaders need to know what the members really believe and members need to know why a belief is important.

Blues Brothers 2006

Ron Clark is starting a church plant and he mentioned that he wanted a simple and short mission statement. He chose "We're on a mission from God" which is a quote from the Blues Brothers movie. I thought he might like a visual to go along. (Compliments to Griffin and Adam Hill as models)