Monday, November 24, 2008
Now is a good time to examine your holiday traditions. Take a look at each of them, and ask the question: “Do they really honor the birth of Emanuel – God with us?” A lot of them do . . . when kept in their place. Jesus liked a good party, too. It honors God for us to get together with friends and family. The Bible even commands feasts for special days. Of course overindulgence has no place on Jesus’ birthday. Presents have their place, too. God wants us to enjoy the good gifts he has given, but spoiled children and months of credit card debt do not honor Jesus. Keep it simple!
Make sure to include the poor in your gift giving. Extravagant gifts for your family, while others starve and go without shelter do not honor Jesus. Keep your gifts to your family within your means, so that you can be extravagant in gifts that truly meet basic human needs. The $239 that you might spend on a Play Station 3 could buy 400 subsistence meals for people in Northern Africa who will die without them. It could pay an electric bill for a family in which mom or dad has lost their job.
Make sure to include advent in your “Holiday Season.” Advent is a time for preparation and expectation. What would you do if you knew Jesus was coming in four weeks? Decorating the tree and baking cookies would move way down on your to-do list, wouldn’t they? You would work on preparing your heart to be worthy of the presence of the Son of God. Advent is a time to do that. If you don’t currently practice daily devotions, now is a good time to start. There are devotional materials available in the back of our sanctuary, and plenty of good ones on the internet. Scripture reading and prayer are a must in preparing for Christ. Daily devotions with your family will help to make sure that your children are expecting Christ more than they are Santa!
May Christ come into your heart anew this Christmas, and may he find you a ready and willing disciple!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
November
About ten years ago, I bought $2,000 worth of a particular stock. That was a lot of money to me back then – it still is. I owned it for about two years during which time its value doubled.
I had a preaching professor who warned me that a pastor should never tell a story in which s/he comes out as the hero. This looks like one of those stories . . . except . . . what I want to stress is that I checked the value of that stock every day. Sometimes I checked it twice a day! Sometimes I would get up in the morning and during the time when I usually do my devotions; I would get online and check my stock. Even when it went up, I worried. Should I sell now? Will it drop? Will it keep going up?
After I sold it, I decided that I do not have the temperament to own individual stock. Investment gurus would say my risk tolerance is low. I put my little bit of investment money in broadly diversified mutual funds, and made a commitment not to check it every day. In fact, I consider it a spiritual discipline to read my quarterly statements, and that’s it.
I broke my own rule last week and checked my investment account when the economic crisis came to a head. (Has it come to a head? I have to write my Pastor’s Page two weeks in advance!!) My little portfolio doesn’t look good! You know what I’m talking about? You do now! Just like you, I wish my risk tolerance had been even lower – as in Treasury Bonds or a hollowed out mattress.
I’m intrigued, though, that in the midst of rotten economic times, there were two very successful banks in a bidding war to buy Wachovia. (Chris Kaup used this metaphor first – I’m just running with it.) Truly successful institutions know that the crisis is the time to take a risk, to do something bold.
The Presbyterian Church is in crisis. We have been bleeding members over the past several decades. We have churches that have closed and many more that seem destined to. Orangewood has grown slightly over the last year, but the tenyeartrend is down about 20%. Statistically it doesn’t end well . . . or last very long. Here I am – your pastor with a low risk-tolerance!
The question is: “Which bank are we?” Are we a failed bank, just using creative accounting to stretch things out a little longer? Are we a sound bank, but one that doesn’t want to take a risk in these hard times? Or are we Wells Fargo – willing to step out and take a risk when the time is right? We have substantial resources of all kinds here at Orangewood. Are we risk intolerant, or are we ready to put them on the line for investment in the Kingdom of God?
Truly, the Kingdom of God does not fully lend itself to statistical analysis or investment metaphors – as if its success is up to us. The Holy Spirit is in charge here. It’s not our job to save the church or the Church or the Kingdom. Our job is to use our resources to join the Spirit which blows where it will in ministry. That’s risky! Especially in hard times, our natural inclination is to circle the wagons, but God wants those wagons headed outward. We have a special opportunity to reach out to a world that is anxious and hurting right now. I have found great comfort and courage in our Lord and in the fellowship of God’s people over the last couple weeks of crisis. This crisis is a great opportunity to bring others to God!
Which bank are we?
Monday, October 6, 2008
October
A bunch of times since I have been at Orangewood Presbyterian Church, I have been asked:
• Are you okay if the ___________ group reads __________ book?
• Is it alright with you if “they” have a speaker on __________ topic from ___________ perspective?
• Do you have a problem with an adult education class on _____________ taught by _______________?
Almost always, my answer to these questions is going to be “I’m fine with it!” Of course there is such a thing as truth, and God has revealed much of it to us, but there are also many issues where good Christian people differ. I’ll probably veto it when Satan wants to teach a class, or the Thursday morning Bible study wants to study the Kama Sutra, but mostly, I don’t feel the need to rule on such things. I trust you! You have wonderful brains and beautiful souls, and you will not be ruined by hearing/studying/reading about something from a different viewpoint. I do not perceive you as fragile souls that need to be protected from possible untruths. Rather, I view us all as spiritually discerning individuals who will almost always be strengthened and nurtured by a broad range of perspectives.
Actually, one of our strengths at Orangewood is a breadth of viewpoints. We come together in the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the desire to be his disciples, and because of that we can love and respect each other in the midst of differences. I will remind you that since I have been at Orangewood, I have preached on hot-topics as broad ranging as immigration; homosexuality; church and state; extreme poverty; war; “Should We Mess Around with Genes;” and “America – Right or Wrong.”
We’re still here! No one has gouged out anyone else’s eyes. There have been no charges of heresy before the courts of the church.
In a world where some churches have a party line on every issue, we are blessed to sometimes embrace differing points of view. We try hard to be a church where truth is often proclaimed, but also where truth is sometimes humbly sought after by listening to varying views. You are trusted to think for yourself. Your opinions are valued. Hopefully you will be challenged to listen to the perspectives of others and encouraged to test those perspectives against Scripture. Then, pray about it, seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead you and all of us into deeper truth and faith.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Ghost Ranch Preaching Conference
Our instructors were Jana Childers, Dean of San Francisco Seminary who is also a gifted preacher and stage actress; and Bill Carter, who is a pastor in Pennsylvania and the founding member of the Presbybob Jazz Quartet. Our focus was weaving music and culture into Biblical preaching. Particularly enjoyable were the parallels drawn between jazz music and preaching, as well as the discussions of creativity in preaching. We did preach for each other and it was wonderful to see how many different styles and personalities God can use to convey The Word.
Okay, now that I’ve proven I actually learned something – back to the picture. The best part of the conference was the collegiality: Meals together, hiking to the top of the Mesa, popping a cold . . . um . . . milk. It was a blessing to share struggles and joys, ideas and experience, laughter and pain with others who are on the same journey.
It got me thinking about the church – how so little of what is significant in what we do together happens in an hour on Sunday morning. So much more important is our hiking together: The meals, the watching each others’ children, the pouring of concrete at Rocky Point, the games of Mexican Train, the casserole brought after surgery, and the sharing of a conversation over cold milk.
If you truly want a mountain top experience, find some brothers and sisters in Christ and start hiking!
Friday, August 1, 2008
August plumbline
Along much of the journey, Lori was reading a book to the children and me in the car and in the camper about a family who traveled the same countryside in a covered wagon. We thought about those “Whose stern, impassioned stress a thoroughfare for freedom beat, across the wilderness.”

We visited Mount Rushmore and were moved to consider those who “More than self their country loved, and mercy more than life.” Each time the song would come into my head for these reasons the song would continue into a prayer for our nation:
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
I was also taking a vacation from the news. Didn’t read it – Didn’t watch it – for 2½ weeks! And I’m a news hound! I’m sure there are major happenings that I still don’t know about, but I know the kind of things that happened: Soldier killed by IED; So-And-So Criticizes So-And-So’s Stand on Such-And-Such; Tornado Hits Trailer Park In _____; Gas Prices Up, Economy Down; Teens Videotape Selves On Rampage. It’s a fallen world.
Do we remember to pray for our country enough? Pray because America is sometimes a lone beacon in a dark night. Pray because sometimes America is going to hell in a hand basket. Pray because America has people in harm’s way every day. Pray because America has great power, and with that power comes great opportunity for good and for evil. Pray because America is one great experiment in democracy and human rights and righteousness and it’s still up in the air which way that experiment will go. Join in praying for our nation!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!
Friday, May 30, 2008
Honduas - 4/26 to 5/8/2008

Our flight into Tegucigalpa from Miami was short, just 2 hrs. 20 mins. We forget how close we are to very different places. Landing in Tegucigalpa is quite an experience! On approach, just a hundred feet or so above the ground, the plane makes a sharp bank around a mountain. It looks as if the wing-tip is bound to hit the ground. Then the runway is short – really short! The pilot sets it down right at one end and is on the brakes immediately. Still, there is less than a 100 yards left at the other end. Everyone claps!
Tegucigalpa is full of smoke. Hondurans practice slash and burn agriculture, and this is the burning season. Burning the jungle and the crops is a double whammy for global warming – and not too great for my asthma either! Still it’s hard to blame people who are living so close to the edge of survival.
I had to make a “gift” to get through customs. Not sure if it was a demand or a request, but I hope the tube of antibiotic ointment really was for her niƱos.
One of the first things we noticed upon leaving the airport was a school bus from Chattanooga, TN. Lots of old school buses from the US find their way to Honduras for use in public transportation. Of course, this was only the first of many means that we were to see that Hondurans have of improving their lot.
We were driven to Villa Gracia, northwest of Tegucigalpa. It is the retreat center for Heifer project and the PC (USA) and it is lovely: Dorm rooms, meeting room, kitchen, two dining rooms and a long porch. The mountain views are beautiful, though smoky. The only drawback is the major road with a steep grade that makes straining engines and jake brakes a regular companion.
Mario Argueta, a professor of Honduran history gave us an introduction to Honduras. A hard man to look at, with a hemangioma covering half his head and body, he has a beautiful soul. He told us that there is a group of well known lawyers on hunger strike right now – protesting corruption in the justice department. They are on day 17! Mario wrote an article in the paper in support of the strike, appearing today. He may face reprisals from the rich and powerful . . . and corrupt.
Poverty has gotten worse in Honduras over the past 10 years, broadening the gap between the rich and the poor, according to Mario. Corruption is a big part of the problem, as are the foreign corporations who own many industries and take a lot of the profits out of the country.
Nine AM found us back in the bus and headed to Tegucigalpa. First we went

Then we took a short walk to the square where the hunger strike is taking place. The strike started with young lawyers from the justice department who are frustrated because they are not allowed to pursue corruption cases against the rich and powerful. A large evangelical church had moved their whole worship service to the square. When we got there, they were singing “How Great Thou Art,” and then moved into “Onward Christian Soldiers.” The police were visible, but not in an oppressive manner. As we lined up to sign a petition in favor of appointing an outside panel to review the files from corruption investigations, the TV media discovered us and before we knew it, we were being interviewed on live national television!
Our next stop was the National Art Gallery. What a rich history is chronicled there: From the impressive Mayan culture, through the colonial period, independence, and finally the modern struggle for development and progress. We learn so little of this in US education!
We continued our walk through Tegucigalpa, with the contrast between the haves and the have-nots being the most notable feature.
In the afternoon, we had a workshop with Norma Mejia from Fundacion Simiente, a non-profit involved in community development. They have developed an innovative manner of community development which starts with grass-roots organization of the community and then moves on to self-assessment of strengths and weaknesses. They partner with Heifer and the PC (USA) on livestock and an innovative type of stove that has reduced fire-wood use by more than 70% and eliminated soot and corresponding respiratory problems from homes which use them. Norma is becoming an internationally known consultant in the field of community development.
After the workshop we got to see one of the stoves and to make tortillas on it. Yum! What a tremendous boon they are to the people for their health and workload and to the environment in slowing down deforestation and greatly decreasing the smoke released into the atmosphere!
In the evening, we were invited to Tim and Gloria Wheeler’s home for wine and cheese. Tim and Gloria work for Heifer Project and the PC (USA) and are supported by us when we give to Presbyterian mission and to Heifer International. Tim is Phebe Packer’s brother, a quiet and gentle soul with a great heart for God and the poorest of God’s people. Gloria is Honduran. Although she grew up in a culture where men are dominant and women subservient, she has learned to speak up and is now a dynamo of advocacy for the poor of her country – especially the women. Both are greatly respected by many Hondurans!
Today was a traveling day, from Tegucigalpa to Copan de Ruinas in the Northwest corner of Honduras, only about 12 km from Guatemala. Only about 100 yards into the trip, our bus broke down. We are thankful that it wasn’t 100 miles into the trip! There was another bus at Villa Gracia, but it is much smaller. We had to tie a lot of luggage on the roof, and put even more in the back seat. Still, there’s enough room for us.
The countryside of Honduras is spectacular, though every view is marred by smoke. Poverty is everywhere. We saw several squatter villages where the houses are made of scrounged materials covered with garbage bag plastic. Others are still living in woven stick huts with thatched roofs.
We had the joy of stopping for a while to visit a village that has been a Heifer Project site for 10 years. They have formed a coffee cooperative of 420 families to market their coffee more profitably. Heifer has provided them with cattle, chickens, bees, pigs and a lot of know-how. To do this, Heifer doesn’t give animals to everyone in the community. They place a few animals strategically, and then the recipients are responsible to pass along the first offspring of that animal to another family in need. The farmer that we visited was so proud to show off their beautiful farm! This coop has clearly taken the philosophy of Heifer, and of Jesus to heart – helping each other and sharing their livestock and knowledge as broadly as they can. The gospel is at work!

Finally, we arrived in Copan de Ruinas. It’s the major tourist attraction in Honduras, as extensive Mayan ruins are nearby.
Today was our first day of work. The small bus made the river ford after all, and took us right into Bonete, a small community of subsistence farmers who are “reclaiming” (homesteading) land on a mountainside. Prior to building their houses, they were living in stick huts with thatched roofs. The thatch is conducive to diseases, especially dengue fever.
The leader of their home-building project, Manuel is quite a sickly man. Unable to do much physical work, he made it is mission to bring Heifer and home-building projects to his village. It wasn’t easy. Gloria kept telling Manuel that she didn’t have the budget to build 43 houses. Manuel kept showing up wherever Gloria was working month after month until he finally wore her down and she said “yes” on faith. It reminds me of the story in the Bible where a widow keeps petitioning a judge for justice month after month and he keeps turning her down. Finally he gets sick of her pestering him, so he

We spent the day laying block, learning a new skill and getting half decent at it by days end. The language barrier prevents making deep friends, but a smile translates in any language. The highlight of my day was when Steve and I played Frisbee with Carlos, a 13-year-old who can’t weigh more than 80 pounds, but who has a smile as wide as the heavens. The low-point was watching a woman deck a 4-year-old for crying too loud. Kids here learn early that life is hard!
Today, more work! The block laying gets harder as we must stand on scaffolding to do it. We are working on two houses. The one I am working on had 4 courses of block when we started – now it has 9, which is the height of the roof on the sides. Laying the peak will be harder still. The other house had 1 course and they are now up to 5. We lost some workers this afternoon due to the heat, but nothing too serious.
Joy Lawson’s presence as a nurse has been a blessing to the village. They have an 80-year-old man who fell asleep and fell in the fire. He has 3rd degree burns on his shoulders, the back of his head and his face. Today, Joy debreeded the wound, removing dead black skin and washing the new skin that is coming in underneath. His family was sure he would die, but it looks like he will make it!
Gloria really chewed out Manuel yesterday because not many villagers were pitching in to help us build. Today, there were even less! Something is going on that we don’t know about – maybe it’s as simple as jobs being available in the tomato harvest?

Today was a day off from work! We traveled to Copante, which is the village that Tim and Gloria are suggesting that OPC form a relationship with for several years to come. They are trying to reclaim land, (similar to homesteading) but it is a difficult process with 62 legal steps! The have been at it over 20 years and do not yet have title! All that for only 228 acres divided between 24 families – and they are farmers!

They were truly overjoyed that we were there. The whole village turned out for prayer, singing, speeches and gifts. They had decorated the area where we met with cut flowers, palm fronds and balloons (purchased with their own money), and they had also prepared their version of tamales (meatless), and fruit drink from their meager resources. It means so much to them that somebody has noticed them in their poverty and has come to stand in solidarity with them! Blessedly, they have the support of the mayor of the township (Trinidad), and he was there and was excited about our presence.
The people are very poor, but they have more readily adopted social and agricultural reform than have the people of Bonete. The children seem less mal-nourished and better cared for, and more importance seems to be placed on school. Their faith is quite deep and clearly a regular part of their lives.
The houses in Copante are mostly stick and wattle – some with thatched roofs, some with tin. In addition to learning new agricultural methods, they have recently started Tilapia fish farming on a small basis. My heart goes out to the people, and I think it would be a blessing for us and them to work with them over several years. They seem truly eager to make the most out of a hand-up. After having seen their hope at our presence, I don’t see how we could not do it!
Today is Lori’s birthday and I miss her a lot! I’ve already tried twice on the internet and three times on the phone to reach her. Fortunately, it seems I can’t reach her because other’s from the church are treating her to a good time for her birthday. I hope they know that is a gift to me too! I’ll keep trying.
LATER I reached her! She and the kids are fine and now they know that I am too!
Today, we worked laying block only in the morning. We had even less helpers! We have been told 2 reasons why the villagers are not pitching in like they should:
1. There are jobs available right now in the harvest. Since Bonete’s harvest was not very good, they need the money.
2. They are building the last few houses in the village, and they are down to building for people who did not help others earlier in the project, perhaps even for people who are not well liked in the community. Therefore others are not pitching in.
It seems there may be some truth in both answers.
It is stinking hot and humid today! May 3 is the average date for the start of their rainy season. Hence, today is traditionally the h

In the afternoon, we visited the Copan ruins. What an astonishing site! In it’s heyday in the 700 CE, it was bigger than either Paris or Rome of the same time. 30,000 people lived in the valley. The Mayan civilization spanned about 900 BCE – 800 CE in Copan. The ruins consist of temples built on temples, each ruler building on the temple of his predecessor. There are also ball courts, houses, tombs, ceremonial plazas and the best collection of Mayan sculptures and hieroglyphics in the Mayan world.
We got to go into two tunnels, dug by archaeologists to explore the temples underneath of other ones. What a thrill it must have been to make those discoveries!
The whole valley is filled with Mayan ruins. A man in Bonete pointed out numerous mounds in the village that are Mayan houses and temples. Then he combed through the ground and showed us pottery shards. He has also found several pieces of jade jewelry just under the surface of the ground. Wow!
This morning it was back to Bonete. We were scheduled to work, but it is a National Holiday, the Day of the Cross. Is it a coincidence that it falls on the traditional starting date of the rains, or did the church decide that since it couldn’t extinguish the pagan holiday, it might as well reinterpret it?
Instead of building, we separated our gifts and made packets for each family. I counted out pills. I praise God that I’m not a pharmacist!

Lucy Sherwood has been teaching the women of Bonete some sewing skills and they have been making purses. We bought up their stock and Gloria gave them a lecture about how one half of their earnings must go back into buying more cloth! Otherwise they are out of business.
We had a wonderful meeting with the people of the village of Bonete and their sister village Belle Vista.
· A talk by the town historian, who explained the recent history of the struggle for indigenous Hondurans to gain rights, land and development.
· Two different trios played and sang on local instruments which were sort of analogous to a mandolin, a guitar and a bass.
· Lucy had taught a woman to crochet, and she showed off her first work and made a gift of it to Lucy.
· The tribal elder of the two villages apologized for the people not being unified on their current building efforts and promised to do better in the future. He also spoke of the importance of giving more status and rights to women. I hope this was more than lip service.
· We passed along a suitcase full of tools to Belle Vista who will hopefully embark upon a home-building process of their own soon.
· We were able to give each family a small bag of medicines and school supplies from the generous donations of our congregations.
On the way back from the village we stopped at the Museum of Mayan Sculpture. Although not the largest of the world’s Mayan ruins, Copan is unsurpassed in the amount of sculpture and hieroglyphics that have been found and studied. The museum is excellent and really helped me to understand more about the Mayan culture. We also met the lead archaeologist, who happens to be from Duke. He discovered the Rosalia temple underneath another temple at Copan. It is from an earlier Mayan era when they sculpted not in stone, but in plaster. The plaster was then painted in bright colors. Enough of the pigment still survives that they can tell the color scheme: Mostly red, green, yellow and white. In the middle of the museum is a life size reconstruction of the temple, complete with paint.
In the late afternoon, we traveled to Chanco, the site of the first building project facilitated by Tim and Gloria. Perhaps the poorest community we visited, the only land they could get was extremely steep mountainous terrain. I can’t imagine trying to build on it, nonetheless trying to farm it! In order to start their building project they had to build a road into their community across very steep mountainside. By hand, they built a 2 ½ mile road – wow! Then, it took the entire community of 27 families 8 days simply to level and dig a foundation for each of the house building sites! Their commitment and their pride definitely showed. Still, their land is quite marginal, and they shared with us that they usually run out of food for about two months every year!
The women of Chanco, whom we met, would never look us in the eye, and were extremely shy about speaking to us. They seem quite oppressed by the men. Under Gloria’s leadership, the women of Chanco have started a cooperative business where they sell used clothing for very low prices. Nevertheless, they have raised about 9,000 Limpera (about $500). They would like to use it as seed money for another business, but they don’t have any ideas yet. Therefore, they’ve been making loans to the men and the men have been paying interest! That’s entrepreneurialism! We were quite moved by both the poverty and the community spirit of this community!
In the morning we went

The afternoon was dedicated to travel to San Pedro Sula, so that we could catch a flight home.
Up at 3:30 am – home at 6:40 pm! An exhausting day, but wonderful to see my family at the end of it! The trip has been fantastic. I have learned so much about Christian community and about what kinds of development efforts work, and which ones don’t. If I had to sum up the trip, I might simply resort to the old saying: “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” The efforts that I saw that truly work over time were the ones which empowered people to do for themselves. This involves the giving of some resources, but much more important is education, community development, hope and solidarity with people living in poverty. These gifts enable them to change their lot in sustainable ways. I’m so blessed by all the participants on our trip, for those who supported us with donations and prayers, and especially to Tim and Gloria Wheeler, truly missionaries for Christ!

Thursday, May 8, 2008
May Plumbline
Our spiritual lives can be a lot like my back exercise life. Our faith is well when we attend to our spiritual exercises: prayer, Bible study, worship, tithing, service. But when things are good, we can be tempted to start slacking off. A month or a year goes by and suddenly we find our faith in the gutter, struggling to stay alive.
What works for me and my back? Physical therapy. I’ve been through four stints of therapy now. This last time they didn’t teach me a thing that was new. It just gave me a regular place, a regular time, and regular encouragement to do my exercises. I won’t tell you what it cost! Recently, I have gotten back to doing Pilates. It gives me a regular place, a regular time, and a regular routine to do my exercises, and it’s a lot cheaper!
We have a regular place, a regular time, and regular routine to exercise your faith: It’s called Sunday morning worship – It’s free! But it’s not enough! Of course, spiritual discipline starts with Sunday worship, but how much would you get out of exercising once a week? A little, but not enough. Physical exercise gurus say at least three times a week is good – every day for the rest of your life is better.
It’s always a good time to begin a spiritual discipline. My advice is to find a regular place, a regular time, and regular routine to keep you in it. Our church provides opportunities other than Sunday worship. Take advantage of them! Most of us live in families that provide opportunities – think what you could get out of regular Bible study and prayer with your spouse or your children. We don’t often realize it, but we live in communities that provide opportunity as well. You would be surprised at how many of your friends and acquaintances are spiritually hungry and would jump at the chance to join you in a Bible study or prayer group, if you only asked them. Personal devotions are great, but sometimes it helps to have support.
I’m off to do my exercises.
Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20)
Saturday, March 8, 2008
March Plumbline
WORLD
COMPOSED OF BETTER
NATIONS
INHABITED BY BETTER
STATES
FILLED WITH BETTER
COUNTIES
MADE UP OF BETTER
CITIES
COMPRISED OF BETTER
NEIGHBORHOODS
ILLUMINATED BY BETTER
CHURCHES
POPULATED WITH BETTER
FAMILIES,
THEN YOU HAVE TO START
BY BECOMING A BETTER
God wants to use you to change the world!
Friday, February 8, 2008
February Plumbline
Of course, we’ve been there before. I’m sure the founding members wondered how Orangewood could be Orangewood without its founding pastor, Pat Patterson. In latter years, it was “how can we get along without Sam Lindamood?” “How can we go on without Bob and Joyce Page?” “What will we do without Brian Paulson?” In each of those occasions, Orangewood found that there were some challenges ahead, but God had wonderful blessings planned through those challenges.
One of the great gifts of the psalms is that they recall the history of God at work with his people. God has called them to be a covenant people. He has saved them from famine. He has delivered them from slavery in Egypt. He has given the law. He has fed them in the wilderness. He has raised up judges to cast out their oppressors, etc. But the psalms don’t usually stop there.
Many of the psalms use that history as a basis for faith and trust in God in the present. They cry out to God for the present crisis, and that cry is partially answered by remembering God’s faithfulness in the past. If God has always seen his people through in the past, God can be trusted to do it again in the near future.
In our personal lives, we have seen that God is at work through the hard times, giving us strength, courage, and faith and helping us to come through stronger and more faithful than we began. In our corporate life as a church we have seen how God has always raised up new leaders, blessing the gifts of ordinary people with the power of the Holy Spirit to guide the church in each new age. Now is the time to trust that God is at work in the present and will bless us through this difficult time in the near future.
I won’t panic. It’s all in God’s good hands!
Psalms 3:3 But you, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
January Plumbline
Worship has been made more presentational and less participational, because new-comers are not always ready to participate. Tickets are required for their 12 Christmas Services – you can view a seat map of the Auditorium (seekers don’t know what a sanctuary is), view available seats and obtain e-tickets online (they are free).
Willow Creek bashing has been a popular sport among main-line church leaders. Surely, there was something there that needed to be criticized, but just as surely, some of the disparagement was just jealousy. I’m jealous. Willow Creek has an average worship attendance of 17,500; ours is 260. And they have 4 spin-off sister churches! In some regards what Willow Creek has been doing, has been working! Not too many others have figured out how to get seekers, not only in the door, but to a statement of faith in Jesus Christ!
Now, they say, “we made a mistake!” That’s pretty extraordinary! From their position of mega-success, they have the courage to say “we made a mistake!” This statement comes from a multi-year study at Willow Creek that shows that heavy involvement in the church programs and activities of Willow Creek did not necessarily translate into spiritual growth and maturity. To some extent, that isn’t surprising – their focus has long been on getting new folk in the door. Fostering spiritual growth among those they already had took a back seat.
I’m wondering how we would do on the same test. Does involvement in the church programs and activities at Orangewood Presbyterian Church yield spiritual growth and maturity? As I get to know new members, I meet people at all levels of spiritual development. Some are long-time committed disciples of Jesus who engage in daily devotion and are working for God’s justice in some concrete area of the world. Others are here for the music, or because they want their kids to experience “religion.” None of these are bad reasons. We’re glad to have all of them. The question is, do we move them forward in their faith? Do our worship, our education, our mission experiences deepen our member’s walk with God?
I think the answer is a qualified “yes.” Not from a multi-year study, but from my own personal dealings with members I would say, some are progressing, some aren’t. From my own personal experience with my own faith journey, there are times in my life when I am progressing and times when I am not (Don’t tell anyone, but sometimes I even backslide!). Would there be a way to assess spiritual growth in a more research based fashion? Are we that courageous?
As fun as it is to bash Willow Creek, I think I must uneasily admit that now there are two things we must learn from them.
1. How to attract unchurched people to Christ.
2. How to examine what we do and admit where we are wrong.
After all, we are supposed to be the church reformed and always being reformed!
Ephesians 4:15
Speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.