It's late...

OK - its about midnight and I should probably be asleep. The reality is, whenever I have a lot going on at work, I tend to have difficulty sleeping as I tend to over analyze and get a wee bit paniced.  Anyway, all that means is I am currently awake, and had some thoughts I probably shouldn't write, but will anyway.

I dislike Marcus Borg. OK - that's not true, I don't know him. The reality is, I'm sure he is a fine person. I think he probably cares about people, etc. Where does my dislike come from? Honestly, from my perspective, he comes off as being Christian. In fact, that is how he presents himself. Ok, your right, who am I to judge who believes in Jesus and who doesn't. But that is the problem. I read some of his stuff and watched him on youtube, and from what I can tell, he is no Christian. Here I am, preparing for what I believe is the most important day of the Christian year (Easter) and Mr. Borg is telling Christians that you can be a Christian without believing in an actual resurrection (I'm pretty sure he doesn't). I'm not referring to having doubt. What Borg talks about is the idea that Christianity is not centered around the death and resurection of Jesus. Ugh. As Christians, that is where we are centered. All Christian churches, while we disagree on things such as sexuality issues, communion, baptism, etc., we come together when it comes to the Apostles Creed. Not to mention the fact that Paul thought it was a big deal.

If somebody doesn't want to believe in the resurrection, that is fine, don't. But please, oh please, be careful to willy nilly change the meaning of what the word Christian means. If Jesus wasn't divine and you want to focus soley on His teachings, fine, do so.... but come up w/ a different name for your religion.

As I was leaving church tonight, I began to walk by a lady. She said "where are you coming from?" Being the friendly guy I am, I said, "oh, it's Good Friday, and church just finished." She said "I KNOW what day it is..back in my day, all the churches had church together." Me - "yea, but it just doesn't work well anymore, so we do it seperately." Her - "Church looked really black tonight." (BTW - she wasn't there, she was just walking by on the street as we were finishing).  I said "What?" Her - "You heard me.". I kept walking.

Awesome.

Hey - but on the other hand, I am really excited about Easter, so that's good, right? When I say excited, I mean nervous, horrified, etc. Our worship band w/ a few youth, is playing at the 6:30 a.m. service. Other students are doing a drama. It should be really cool. I'm excited.

Anyway, I'll probably have to edit this post later, but I'll put it up for now. Have a great night!

Easter is coming...

Ok, as some of you may know, I am a very big Twins fan.  In fact, going in to this season, I had very high hopes.  Alas, in a week of games, they currently have 2 wins and are currently getting walloped by the Evil Empire.

Along those same lines, we are in the midst of lent, and it feels similar.  Granted, lent is supposed to be non-joyous time..you know, giving up stuff, not able to say alle...ia, etc.  For me, it usually means having to send out emails and phone calls begging people to make soup, serve soup, clean up soup, etc.  Its part of my job that I really don't look forward too.  Don't get me wrong, I really do enjoy the actual time visiting and serving with students and parents.  Its a great time for me to get to know people, and I really enjoy it.  What is not enjoyable is hearing from people how busy they are and how they don't have time to help.  Its not that I don't understand, its more just a frustration.  I don't get angry at anyone, it just creates more of a hassel and I feel as though I have to beg to get people to be here.

A little bit ago, I received an email from a couple of parents informing me that both of their boys have to work tomorrow night, but they would be here to help serve soup.  Is this a big deal?  Well, yes and no.  Now, I am not a part of a country club, nor do I see myself joining one. However, what I do know is that the first men's night is sort of a big deal. Typically, it has to be something pretty important for somebody to skip it. The dad from above is part of a country club, and will be here instead, serving and cleaning up soup.  I know him, and to be honest, I know it is not a huge deal for him that he is doing this, but it is to me.

Right now, in all honesty, I am sitting here thinking that Easter is coming. In our darkness, there is hope. The dad is making more than just a statement of "I want to be helpful", but rather he is also making a statement to his sons that his church, his faith, is important enough that he will prioritize it over other things in his life.

Anyway, no, the Twins season isn't over after 6 games.  Soup suppers will finish at some point and time.  And in a few weeks, we will have a chance to celebrate the resurrection.  There is hope...

Opportunity or Despair?

Video is Brook Fraser...I'm a fan...enjoy it!

For Christmas, my brother got me a red Star Trek shirt.  Until a little bit ago, I thought this was a great gift.  A little bit ago, my pastor came up to me and sad "You know the person in the red shirt always dies".  That hurts.  It hurst a lot...

On a positive, I am excited about doing a presentation a week from Saturday in Waverly about the current landscape of youth ministry and what we can do to help kids in their faith.  If you are able, come down.  If nothing else, come for the free lunch!

Fraser, Worship and Soup

So, I was listening to Pandroa (love it!) and a song came on from an artist I had never heard of and I found myself in love with it. Loved the lyrics and the sound. The song was C.S.Lewis by Brook Fraser.  Anyway, I have now officially "liked" her on facebook. If you like good music, I would recommend checking her out.

This last Sunday at church, we continued our journey into the "contemporary worship" world. Why? We, like many other congregations are trying to figure out ways to reach people who are un-churched or are members, but don't really come to church on a regular basis. Me?  I like it.  I enjoy playing the music. I enjoy singing it. I enjoy listening to it. The question is, what makes this worship "contemporary". (FYI - I am using the term "contemporary" b/c most people understand what we are talking about)  Anyway, what makes this style contemporary?  Is it the music? The format? Language used?  Space it is in? The other question is what are "sacred cows" at our worship? What are things that can't be touched or changed? I wish there were some easy answers, but there aren't. The fact that we are at least trying is a big step. We as a church need to figure out how to change "for the sake of the Gospel". We need to navigate how to change without changing our core values.  Anyway, good times...


Finally, Soup season is officially upon us.  I'm not sure how, but 6 years ago I got suckered into planning and organizing all of the suppers during Lent.  Honestly, I do enjoy them.  Ok - I don't like the planning part of it, but I really do enjoy working w/ families during the meal and giving people the opportunity to come together before worship to share a meal. If you are around, stop by between 5pm and 6pm for great soup and stay for Holden Evening Prayer after!

ELCA Youth Gathering

I'm currently at an event for the 2012 Youth Gathering in New Orleans.  Ok - so, they are currently playing Human Bingo (hence the reason I am blogging), but I have to say I am really excited about the work that is being done.  I am most impressed with the emphasis on training adults, not just for this event but for adults who work w/ youth is really great.

Oh, they are going to talk about budgeting now..need to go, will say more later :)

Twinkies

The following is an article I wrote for our church newsletter...thought I would put it here.

But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children - Deuteronomy 4: 9 - 10

In the summer of 1984, I recall going to my first ever Twins game.  To be honest, I don’t really remember much about the game itself.  The only part of the actual game itself I recall, is watching a very short and pudgy Kirby Puckett get caught stealing.  The things I remember most were asking my dad about a dozen times whether or not he remembered the tickets as we were getting in our car to leave, the awe of walking into the gigantic metrodome with what seemed like millions of people cramming their way in, and just the pure excitement of being at a professional baseball game.  Thus began my love of baseball.

It was not an accident that I now love baseball.  My dad (I would say parents, but I really don’t believe my mom is a huge baseball fan) spent time with us boys, talking about baseball, playing catch outside, sitting in our car in the garage at night during the summer so we could listen to the Twins play on WCCO 830 with Herb Carnieal and teaching us how to keep score during a game.  This was something that was important to my dad and he passed this on to me.

A few years ago, I remember the joy and excitement I had when I took Luke to his first ball game.  He didn’t really care about the game.  He was more excited about the giant bear running around and the huge bag of cotton candy that I bought him during the game.  This past summer, we were able to attend a few baseball games together, and I love the fact that he now has a love of baseball (and now believe any time we go to a game he gets a bag of cotton candy).  He likes playing catch.  He loves the Twins!  Why?  It was something that I felt passionate about and have now passed it on to him.

I’m sure all of us have stories of things we have either have passed down to us and have or want to pass down to our children.  Our faith is passed down the same way.  If it is important to you..if you not only talk about it on Sunday mornings, but live it out on a daily basis, your kids will see it, and will be more inclined to want to know more.  As great and wonderful as I am (kidding!), you as parents and grandparents are much more influential in the lives of your sons and daughters.  So when you choose to bring your kids to worship, when you choose to pray at meal times, and when you choose to pray with your children at night, it goes far beyond anything that we at First Lutheran are able to do. 

You have all received the discerning our Future Together document in the mail.  I am personally excited about this.  I am excited about looking at how we can do a better job engaging families and youth in worship, outreach, and evangelism.  While faith formation starts at home, we need to be proactive in reaching out and bringing people into First Lutheran to help them on their journey.  This may include looking at ways we need to change to help meet the needs of the people in our community.  As we continue this conversation, I pray that we, as a community of faith, can find ways to work together to help bring healing and hope to a world in need.

Ping Pong, Pancakes, and snow!

Seriously, great day so far.  With the snow and school being canceled, was able to enjoy a great morning w/ Denny and Paul Olejenzac (sp?) and a few of the sophomores.  After some great buttermilk pancakes, butterscothc and chocolate chip cookies, and fruit, we played ping pong and pool.  (I won 2 of 3 ping pong games and made a sweet shot to go 2 for 2 in pool).

One of my passions is to "connect" youth w/ other adults and it was awesome to watch Denny, Paula, and the youth interact. 

Oh, and I get to call all of this work!