Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Living Catholic - Observations of a Lay Catholic: Transfiguration - Imagine What is Possible.

I've just checked out Rob Hatch's Lenten Blog, Living Catholic - Observations of a Lay Catholic.

Check out this quote:
During Lent, it is common to be asked the question "what are you giving up?" What would happen if we asked "what are you letting go of"? What if we focus on what is possible?

What a cool concept! It reminds me of the gist of my Breaking or Being Bound post.

So, how about it? What are you letting go of during this Lenten season?

Shameless plug

I've really enjoyed Audible.com.

I've listened to books on everything from Roman history to Seth Godin's thoughts on business to John Eldridges wonderful "Waking the Dead." It's a great way to occupy my mind while I'm doing deskwork.

Well between now and March 31, they're running a "tell a friend" contest. If you sign up and mention my name, I may win a 60gig video-capable iPod and fixins. (Check out the link at Audible.com - audio that speaks to you wherever you are.)

Yeah, this is a shameless plug. But a 60 gig iPod would be sweet! *grin*

PS If you don't like the monthly rate, you can sign up for a much reduced, no frills-or-perks annual rate. They don't seem to advertise that option. I think you need to contact them directly to do it.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Breaking or being bound?

The difference here is that we think of sin as the breaking of laws, whereas
Jesus thinks of sin as being bound. Why would anyone with goodwill condemn a
poor man bound with chains or tied with a heavy rope? Would he not rather want
to free him?

Emily just introduced me to this quote from Catherine Marshall's book The Helper.

That's how I want to live my life.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Are you sinking?

An Austrian friend just sent me the link to the German Coast Guard - Google Video.

What a riot!

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Somewhere between Egypt and the Kingdom

My wife is so cool.

In describing how we were doing today, she wrote
Whining like an Israelite on a steady diet of manna.
Isn't that an awesome?!

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Fact or Urban Legend

I rarely read any forwarded emails. So many are old myths, aka "urbanlegends," and not worth the time it takes to read. (Like the awful, "Magalyn Murry O'Hair is going to take 'Touched by an Angel' off the air." As far as I know, it is off the air already.)

If I do read them, I check Snopes.com or About.com's Urban Legends & Folklore page to verify the truth. Then I reply letting the sender know this is an old myth. (See why I don't read many forwards?!)

Today a co-worker sent a forward about a prayer a pastor prayed in Kansas that caused quite a stir. It had many of the earmarks of an urbanlegend, so I checked it out. Happily, this one was true.

For the entire story, go to: Urban Legends Reference Pages: Inboxer Rebellion (The Wright Stuff)

Heavenly Father, we come before you to ask your forgiveness. We seek your direction and your guidance. We know your word says, "Woe to those who call evil good." But that's what we've done.

We've lost our spiritual equilibrium. We have inverted our values. We have ridiculed the absolute truth of your word in the name of moral pluralism. We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism.

We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.

We've exploited the poor and called it a lottery. We've neglected the needy and called it self-preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. In the name of choice, we have killed our unborn. In the name of right to life, we have killed abortionists.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it taxes. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, oh, God, and know our hearts today. Try us. Show us any wickedness within us. Cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of the State of Kansas, and that they have been ordained by you to govern this great state.

Grant them your wisdom to rule. May their decisions direct us to the center of your will. And, as we continue our prayer and as we come in out of the fog, give us clear minds to accomplish our goals as we begin this Legislature. For we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Snopes.com's article goes on:

What to make of all the fuss? Syndicated religion columnist Terry Mattingly probably explained it best when he wrote: "The easy answer is that he read a prayer about sin. The complicated answer is that Wright jumped into America's tense debate about whether some things are always right and some things are always wrong."
I'm sure we each may take issue with an item listed. And it'll be different for each of us. But I'm sure we can each identify with many of the others.

I want to be around people willing to call our sin "sin," not just their sin. (However we define "their.") Then we can confess it, asking God to forgive us. And then we can receive His forgiveness and the subsequent freedom.


Friday, March 10, 2006

Lonnie Frisbee

I just heard about this documentary on one of Mars Hill (Seattle) Church's podcasts. The Weird Story About Three Dudes.

I hope I get to see this documentary. Lonnie seems to be one of those "grid-busters" God loves using. Just when we think we have it all figured out, God goes in and busts our grid. Sort of His way of showing us that He's God and His mercy is way bigger than we can imagine (and His power!).

Film maker David Di Sabitino wrote an appendix on Lonnie in Bill Jackson's terrific history of the Vineyard, Quest of the Raddicle Middle.

Amazing customer service

This week I bought some perforated paper at Quill.com. It was my first Quill purchase.

When it came the next day (very fast), I saw that it was perforated in the wrong place. So I decided to return it.

The return process was incredibly simple. But what blew me away was the wonderful response I received. I've posted it below. How cool would it be if all companies were this remarkable?

--------------- Original Message ---------------
Subject: Re: Return Order
From: "info@quill.com"
Date: Thu, March 9, 2006 9:39 am
To: marc@vcwaterville.org
-------------------------------------------------
Dear Marc,

Thank you for writing Quill.com.

I apologize that your item does not meet your needs.

It is not necessary for you to return this to us.

Please donate this to the school, church or charitable organization of your choice.

I have processed a credit to your account that can be applied to any open invoice. You should receive a copy of this by mail in 5-7 business days.

If you would like a replacement, please order at your convenience. If we can be of assistance in finding an alternate item, please reply to this email.

We value your business. Thank you for choosing Quill.

Sincerely,

Jan S.
Electronic Correspondence
Representative
Quill Corporation
http://www.quill.com/
"So Fast. So Simple."

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Honest, she really did

Here's a picture of our one-year-old (as of yesterday) Sofia giving the baby sign for "more please."

Tonight something incredible happened. She did the American Sign Language sign for "book." (2 hands together, palms up, thumbs out.)

We've been getting to know a deaf woman and learning some signs. My other two kids love asking me to read history or Narnia books in sign language.

So we were floored when she did the sign for book. And she clearly wanted Mommy to read.

The funny thing is that Mommy had just said she was done reading out loud for the day! So Sofie was making a joke. (She's actually quite funny. Really.)

So then she indicates with her hands that she wants me to read. When I asked if that's what she meant, her face burst into an incredible smile. So I pulled down the Ancient History book I'm reading to the kids for homeschool. And Sofie immediately started crying. No joke.

She clearly wasn't interested in hearing any more about ancient Greece tonight. I asked, "No history?" and she said, "Nahrn!"

She wanted me to read Narnia!

I know. This sounds like an overly proud parent playing games with his imagination. But four of us saw and heard this exchange. It really happened. Honest.

So I pulled down Voyage of the Dawn Treader and showed it to her. She burst into an even bigger smile than before and started giggling and laughing. She was so pleased she'd been able to communicate!

Honestly. This really happened. I'm still in shock.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

There is no reason not to follow your heart

I just ran across this quote in a document on my desktop. It reminds me of why I'm planting a church instead of living a "normal" life or instead of waiting until my kids are out of college.

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart...Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."

--Steve Jobs, June 2005 @ Stanford


Monday, March 06, 2006

Enough Sleep?

For a couple years, I read Early To Rise's emails everyday. Something happened and I stopped receiving them. But, on a whim, I just checked out the site and saw this message on getting enough sleep. (It starts about halfway down the page.)

One quote from the article is:
Most people need seven to eight hours of sleep to perform optimally. If you sleep less than that, scientists tell us, you are more likely to succumb to illness and die young.

There's also a helpful list of tips from the National Sleep Foundation.

One of my major goals this year is to get 6-8 hours of sleep each night. I've gone from getting 4-5 to usually getting 6 hours.

It's been interesting to decide to have to give up things to get that sleep. A good prioritization exercise (and reminder that I'm still not that important--things will go on without me).

Feel free to use the comments to answer this question: how many hours of sleep do you typically get each night?

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Lady Bug Army





Emily is so cool. Check out the way we're going to celebrate Sofie's first birthday!

Who's the dip?

I have NO idea what I was thinking.

Back in January, Ken Walsh, CEO of the Alfond Youth Center, called me up and asked if I wanted to join an exclusive club of Polar Bear Dippers. I really enjoy Ken so I said I'd love to. I did ask for details but he didn't give many promising I'd get them later.

I missed the first meeting and the phone calls with two other AYC staff didn't give me much more information. Somehow I missed that this was a fund raiser and I was supposed to collect money.

So this morning, I get out there and it's freezing. Literally. To add to the fun, it's snowing!

The AYC folks had made a pool outside with mounds of snow and filled it from a local fire hydrant. Bbbbrrrrr.

Right now, Ken is really at the top of my list because he let me go right after the National Guard did. (Here's a picture of them.) Unfortunately, they did nothing to warm the water up.















So then it was my turn. Flattered, Ken interviews me for the cable channel. I'm shivering by this point.














I'm wearing a night shirt because I'd been told there was a costume contest. I'd looked for my graduation robe so I could go in as a clergyman but it must not have made the move. So the night shirt was next on the list.

I tried going in as though I were sleep walking. Here's the splash.














It's gratifying that people are laughing. I certainly wasn't.

I have never been so cold.

I remember reading in The Perfect Storm about being "oriented times zero." I wasn't at zero but I was stinkin' close.

Those who know me, know I'm rarely at a loss for words. I was speechless from the point of that splash. I really wanted to be funny but I couldn't think.

I wanted to say something but I couldn't even scream "It's COLD!" Nothing came out of my mouth.

Not even a croak or a whimper.

My entire body mutinied, rebelling against anything that kept me outside.

I did try to hug Cale but even that was done in a state of incredible numbness.

Thank God the warm pool was open. It was 90 degrees in the room and probably close to that in the pool. It felt incredibly good even though it hurt.

The funny thing is that despite the fog and faux hug for Caleb, I beat the National Guard unit to the pool!

Emily and the kids were great. They thought I did such a great job, they treated me to a Leprechaun Latte at Starbucks.

It's now 10 hours since the dip. My body is beginning to forgive me. But it still relapses each time I turn on the cold water to wash my hands.

When I told them about wanting to wear a black robe, they joked about putting a plank in the water so I could walk out on it. That would be a riot!

Friday, March 03, 2006

jason clark: I saw Jesus last night

It's hard to read Jason Clark's blog without getting inspired or challenged. Or both.

His I saw Jesus last night post totally inspired me. Especially this quote about the 10 people they baptized:
In our context, none of these people talked about praying a prayer to
accept christ (if they had that wouldn't have been a bad thing), but of how they
oriented their lives over time, and through interaction with Jesus and our
church. Baptism was for many of them the beginning of a declaration that they
were christians, and followers with us all of Jesus into his mission.

This is something we're seeing more and more. And it's something Jesus seemed really comfortable with. He didn't call Zaccheus to repentance, He instead extended grace. Z's response to that over-the-top grace was repentance and restoration. Same with the woman caught in adultery. No call to repentance.

I was telling our Alpha group last night that His grace makes me uncomfortable. But it's a discomfort I want to keep pressing in to.

To read more about recapturing a pre-20th century model of evangelism, be sure to check out George Hunter's The Celtic Way of Evangelism.

Renovare for Lent

At VCW, our corporate Lenten discipline is going to be creating a couple spritual formation groups by walking through the Renovare Spiritual Formation Group Workbook

Emily and I have done these groups multiple times over the years. I love the grace, growth, and simplicity of this format. And I'm thrilled that folks in VCW will be getting "infected" with this too!

The groups explore six streams of Christianity that the authors have identified. If VCW grows to have all six streams evidenced in our corporate life, I'll be a happy camper. *grin*

Jason Clark has good things to say about Renovare too. (I'm actually cathching up on Jason's blog...23 postings since I last checked. Oy!)

Here are the Six Streams. (Thanks for the image Jason.)