THINGS I KNOW

December is upon us…and the whole world is having a party. While my favorite holiday remains Thanksgiving, I really enjoy Christmas. The lights, the decorations, the music—there is a festive atmosphere that permeates the air.

As I ponder the very real impact of the Incarnation upon human history (and upon my history), I am not above having a celebration, a party, a time of fun and enjoyment during December. But every year, there is at least one individual (or group of individuals) who wants to remind me or inform me of the “truth” about Christmas, in order to dissuade me from enjoying the holiday. Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to set forth some things I know:

I know that Jesus was probably not born on December 25. I am puzzled as to why the Scrooge patrol thinks this is a devastating argument against celebrating Christmas. If you have the exact date of Jesus’ birth, let me know and I’ll adjust my calendar. Until then, I have 365 choices, so I’ll stick with December 25.

I know that December 25 was appropriated from non-Christian observances. For that matter, so was Easter. For that matter, so are the names of the months and the days of the week.

I know that the wise men were not at the manger. And before you say anything, I know there weren’t three, they weren’t kings, and they were not from the Orient. But since they set out to find the One who was born King of the Jews, I’m willing to cut manger makers a little slack. As the old saying goes, “Wise men still seek Him.”

I know that bad people decorated and worshiped trees in Jeremiah’s day. The only creatures in my house that venerate our tree are the cats…and I wish they would stay out of the branches!
I know that Christmas is a time of great materialism. But I like the atmosphere of the mall at this time of year. I like gifts. I like the lights.

I know that Santa Clause does not exist (sorry, Virginia). But in my humble opinion, this make-believe fantasy character is not the epitome of all that is wrong with celebrating Christmas.

Christmas is a party. Part of my job--my commission--is to let people know about the One they are celebrating. I'm more than happy to share what I know, but please don't throw lumps of coal on my holiday fun! This December, I urge you all to relax...and have fun.

HALLOWEEN THOUGHTS 2009

I can’t stand Halloween.
I really don’t mind Halloween.

Yes, I’m conflicted. I guess when it comes to October 31, I have a love-hate relationship. Naturally, as a child, I looked forward to the annual foray into costumes, especially the plastic masks with the tiny eye, nose, and mouth slits that made me look like my favorite hero. I anticipated the sugar filled loot that would fill my bag after making the rounds of the neighborhood. We got freshly baked cookies, apples, and brownies with no fear of horrible people trying to poison us. One lady even gave out enchiladas! As I entered the teen years, I participated in church groups’ haunted houses and enjoyed the experience of passing off peeled grapes as eyeballs to unsuspecting visitors.

But as I got older, I began to see the other side of Halloween. I learned the murky history of the day. I discovered that some people take Halloween a whole lot more seriously than my friends or I ever did. The world that seemed so safe and innocent growing up had been transformed into a dark, ominous place full of strange grown ups who were very possibly and literally hell-bent on hurting children and puppies.

So how do I feel about Halloween now? Frankly, I feel like life would be easier if we could skip October 31. Unlike Christmas and Easter, Halloween has never shed its pagan pedigree. It has never been successfully transformed into a “Christian observance.” And even though Halloween in America is largely a secular observance, there is an undertone of scariness. I can’t even channel surf without being bombarded by commercials for gross horror movies. I can do without all that, mainly because there are enough real-life terrors around without the distraction of manufactured ones.

But do I fear Halloween? No. To be sure, as I said earlier, there are those for whom this holiday holds a deep and sinister significance. And we must be ever vigilant to protect our children as they roam the streets. But if we think that the devil is alive and active and on the prowl on October 31st, but ignore his schemes and devices the other 364 days of the year, we have, in my opinion, missed the point. The fact is, my God is greater than the devil and there is a plethora of Scripture to back up the fact that, through Jesus, we win the war! God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. I believe quaking in fear and hiding out on October 31 sends the wrong message that somehow this night belongs to the devil. No way! This is the day the Lord has made…we will rejoice and be glad in it.

I’m a big supporter of alternate celebrations. Let the kids have fun and show some creativity, but direct it to a godly end. While I personally enjoy recognizing the launch of the Reformation (and watching the blank stares on everyone’s face), I like to take advantage of Halloween to tell people about Jesus. While it would be easier not to even bring Halloween up, it’s there….so let’s hit it head on, let’s plunder the Egyptians (Exodus 12), and maybe we can do what the historic church failed to do: transform this day to something pointing to Christ.

End of sermon….time to eat some candy!

MINI-REVIEW: THE DREAMING HIGHWAY by Bryan Thompson

I have a confession to make: I don't read a lot of books like The Dreaming Highway. My tastes run more toward Tom Clancy, John Grisham, and assorted non-fiction works. But Bryan Thompson has delivered a story that is refreshingly free of explosions, intrigue, tawdriness, politics, vampires, or Amish romance and instead paints a picture of a journey of hope.

Former seminary student Seth Reynolds is troubled by a recurring dream about a former flame. This dream propels him on a cross country journey, accompanied by his brother (who happens to be gay), a televangelist priest, and a young woman who is studying to be a rabbi. Although it may sound like the opening line of a joke ("a priest, a rabbi, and a minister go on a trip..."), each character is vested in a rich humanity that defies stereotype. The trip is infused with a subtle humor, which brings a smile at some of the odd situations in which Seth finds himself.

The Dreaming Highway wisely avoids the pitfall of pontification, while presenting the themes of following one's dream and holding on to hope in spite of circumstances. In fact, the novel reads like a movie--not the major studio summer blockbuster kind, but rather an artful indie film, the kind that wins the hearts of viewers and critics alike.

I recommend getting a cup of coffee and settling down with a copy of The Dreaming Highway. I'm looking forward to more from Bryan Thompson.

CELEBRATION ROUNDUP 09

Food falling from the sky!

School is back in session. VBS and Kid's Camp are fond summer memories. So what do we do to kick off the school year, gather our kids from the "four winds of summer," and teach them at the same time?

We had a Roundup!

Last Sunday, we held the 14th annual Celebration Roundup at our church. Part pep rally, part family reunion, Roundup stretches through a two hour block. For the parents' part, it is an opportunity to fill out some simple paperwork to register their kids for our Sunday morning program. For the kids' part, it's a chance to...well, be loud! Oh, we turn the volume up a bit every Sunday morning; after all, kids are told to be quiet all week long. But there's something about an inflatable jump house and paper plate pizza and spaghetti flying through the air that tends to up the decibel label (and yes, I learned at the board meeting that we were heard in the sanctuary. Someone on our team forgot to shut the door in the hallway. Our bad. On the other hand, the congregation heard that our kid's ministry had some life!).

Our theme was "Roundup With a Chance of Meatballs." We learned that in the book (and upcoming movie) Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, food was falling from the sky for the purpose of feeding people. From there, we pointed out that rain does the same thing...it waters the earth and makes it grow. And God's Word does the same thing: it does not return to God void, but accomplishes what it sets out to do! It clicked and they got the point: "God's Word always does what it says it will do."

We've had some first time kids wanting to come back (some of whom realized that we weren't going to have all the bells and whistles each and every week, but wanted to come anyway). All the glory goes to God and all the credit goes to our amazing team of KidServants and KREW who weekly give of their time and talents to help build relationships with our kids. If you are reading this, thank you!

The line to the jump house...always a big event!

Singing praises

Praise in dance with Dance Praise

Waiting for the next thing.....

MINI-REVIEW: G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA

G.I. Joe is back in a big budget action packed movie entitled G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. And if you have any fond memories of the 1980's cartoon series, you can forget about them. This movie charts it's own mythology in the Joe franchise.

The action centers on Duke and Ripcord, two soldiers who link up with the top secret G.I. Joe unit. Their mission: keep a new, dangerous weapon of mass destruction out of the hands of a ruthless terrorist organization. And that is pretty much it. The action moves at a steady pace and the stunt sequences are very impressive. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is a very LOUD movie, with explosions, weapons fire, and high-tech aircraft screaming everywhere. If you can stand the sheer sound barrage, it's not really a bad movie.

What keeps this movie from being really good or great is the sheer weight of its own material. The G.I. Joe team has dozens of members, making it impossible to highlight more than a handful. The good guy/bad guy combos of Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow and Duke/Baroness are developed a little, as is Destro. But there is a limit to how many "biographies" you can showcase in one movie. The producers are left with little choice than to either ignore or kill off certain characters.

G.I. Joe also suffers from an identity crisis. At some points, it is like a classic military drama (albeit with some sci-fi undertones). But at other points, it becomes a live action cartoon. I got the distinct impression that it was trying too hard to "be like the toys" in some cases. In my opinion, the movie would have looked better if it dropped the franchise connection and stuck to one kind of storytelling.

This new G.I. Joe is not "a real American hero" either. Instead, it is a multi-national task force, with members from around the globe. Again, just an opinion, but I believe a subtle dose of patriotism would have benefited this movie greatly. Even so, there is a definite theme of camaraderie and working together that is cliche but effective.

At best, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is a slam bang, action packed guy flick. It is not suitable for children due to the level of violence and occasional profanity. Most of the violence is action-adventure kind of violence, with a lot of explosions and crashes. Unfortunately, there is no depiction of the innocent bystanders and how they may have been injured or killed during the skirmishes between the heroes and villains. As for the profanity, it is contextual and (thankfully) limited. Not that I want to hear it at all, but I've known soldiers and sailors who can let loose with a lot worse far more frequently. G.I. Joe is more restrained, in spite of the intensity of action.

Aside from a few catch phrases ("knowing is half the battle") and inside jokes about lifelike hair (from the 70's Adventure Team commercials), there are no real nods to either the action figures, cartoons, or comics. This is a new G.I. Joe, almost a reinvention. Time (and fans) will tell whether this new Nato-friendly team will prevail over the "real American hero" version.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is rated PG-13.

A GIANT OF A SUNDAY MORNING

You'll never guess what our lesson was about at Sunday Morning Celebration?

Yup...it's the classic account of the battle between David and Goliath. It was several years ago that we asked a woman in our church to make a 9'9" giant in armor. Afterwards, we rolled him back up and stored him away. Unfortunately, in a fit of cleaning just last year, our life-size Goliath poster got tossed (reason #27 as to why I don't like throwing things away...you never know when you might need that junior high term paper or a nearly 10 foot tall poster!). I discovered the fate of Goliath on Saturday, neccesitating some last minute artistic maneuverings. And as long as you don't get nitpicky about too many details, it came out pretty good!

The best part of the morning was not only retelling the story and seeing the kids' faces light up when I brought out my leather slingshot. It was making the point that we all have problems...sometimes big problems, sometimes little ones...but God is with us and He's powerful and the things that seem big to us are not big at all to Him.

Our 3rd-5th grade small group teacher stands up to Goliath.

Big giant, but little kids with bigger faith

Nine feet, nine inches!


Having fun and making the point

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL MEMORIES 2009

This dock rocked!

Crocodile Dock Vacation Bible School was held last week. And what an incredible week it was! The church building was packed with kids each night, learning how to shine God's light. I'm sure if you ask any one of our volunteers, you would hear funny, moving, or challenging stories from the week. Here are a couple of mine:

Just a shout out to Group Publishing for their exciting, high quality VBS music. The dvd's are part of what made this such a high energy week. But also in that equation was our music team, a group of women (plus a couple of guys at times) that led the motions to the songs.

One night, one of our preschool girls wandered up on the stage. Nobody asked
her to do so, she just went up the steps and joined in the song we were singing. And she had every move, every motion, every bit of choreography down pat! Her crew leader tried to motion her off the stage, but our song leader let her stay to finish the song. It was a blessing to know that this girl...and certainly other kids...have got songs embedded in their minds that teach about God.

And speaking of the motions and our song leaders (affectionately known as "Swamp Stompers"), Friday night I made a mistake and called up a different version of one of our songs. Same tune, same lyrics, but different voices and graphics...and no on-screen motions! One would have thought it was perfectly natural, as the Swamp Stompers and the kids did all the motions perfectly as we had all week.

Another Friday music blessing involved the song "This Little Light of Mine." Crocodile Dock had a hand clappin', fee stompin' bayou version of this classic song. During the week, the music team had tiny little lights hidden in their hands (little LED "God sight lights"...if you've done the Dock, you know what I'm talking about). At the phrase, "Even when I'm afraid, I'm gonna let it shine", the girls brought out their lights and waved them around in the motions to the song. It was highly effective and never failed to bring oohs and aahhhs.

On Friday night, each of the kids got to take home a "God sight light". The plan was to hand them out as they left, but someone decided to give it to them during the closing program instead. But when it came time for "This Little Light of Mine", out came the lights at "even when I'm afraid, I'm gonna let it shine." In the darkened sanctuary, it looked like dozens of fireflies swarming around...which is a cool visual effect, given the theme.

Thursday night (at least with Group's VBS programs) is a straightforward presentation of the gospel, facilitated by a moving object lesson or dramatization in the closing program. These presentations never fail to move me...even thinking about it now, I get a little choked up. I cannot describe the scene adequately, but the point was not lost on the kids. I gave an invitation...and 20 hands went up to indicate that they were professing faith in Jesus Christ! I've heard follow up reports from some of our crew leaders that they got to talk to some of these kids afterwards. In our staff devotions after the kids went home, one of our crew leaders announced that he had made a re-commitment of his faith that night. It was an incredible evening...and one that reminded a weary VBS team why we put ourselves through this every year.

Our station leaders and helpers, our bayou crew leaders, and our support team were INCREDIBLE. I'm reminded of the corporate management saying, "if you want people to think you're brilliant, surround yourself with brilliant people." I've received a lot of positive feedback...and I appreciate each and every compliment, but I always steer it back to the Lord, first and foremost, but then to those who served so faithfully during the week. If I look talented or brilliant, it's because of all the talented, brilliant people who did the hard work.

CAMPING ADVENTURES 09: FLAKING AT WHISKEY SPRING

Up the Butte Falls Highway, past the quaint little mountain town of Butte Falls, is another portion of the Rogue River National Forest. Willow Lake is in this section, a camping. boating,and recreation mecca. If you are following twenty recreational vehicles, at least fifteen of them will turn on the road to Willow Lake. The rest will either proceed to catch Highway 140 or they will turn into the Big Butte Watershed and the pleasant campground & picnic area known as Whiskey Spring.

This camping adventure was the least adventursome so far. For me, it was a time to get caught up on a couple of projects, to think deep thoughts, to spend time in the Word and prayer, and to do nothing (not neccesarily in that order). I did not visit the beaver pond this go around...a place where in the early dawn you might catch a glimpse of furry beavers hard at work. In fact, I didn't wander far from the campsite. I was having too much fun just flaking.

Flaking is good sometimes. I remarked on Twitter that I had permission to leave on Friday afternoon a half hour early. Not only did I not leave a half hour early, but I ended up staying nearly a half hour later! "Getting away" for the weekend is a bit of a challenge. And come July, I will be on a marathon of VBS prep. But as I get more experience in this life, I'm finding that I must deliberately, willfully, stubbornly, and doggedly carve out time to do....nothing.
And I enjoyed it.

Dog on a raft?

Dog on a raft? Where? Where?

Nope...just a dog on an air mattress, soaking up the rays at the campsite (the mattress is on a blue tarp)