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Good To Be Home

Posted by Doug on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 11:15:55 PM
  I met new friends last week . . . Michael, Leon, and Lionel are now etched in my memory.  Our cultures are different, our experiences are different, but we share so much more.  We share a common faith, and a common Savior.  In other circumstances we would be fast friends, but for now we will remain people who shared a week.  Yet I know that we will share so much more, an eternity. 
   If you ever get the chance to minister overseas, don't miss it.  It is a great opportunity.

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A New President

Posted by Doug on Wednesday, November 05, 2008 10:30:11 AM
   Well, its finally over.   The nation has spoken and elected a new president.  To be honest, I was not fond of either major party candidate.  Yet that was not the choice we had.  So this morning Barack Obama is my president.  I will pray for him, honor him as president, and wish him success in being a good leader.  This is my duty.  If McCain would have been elected, I would say the same thing.
   At the same time I realize that my hope and my dreams were never invested in any man, in any party, nor in any political system.   My hope was, is, and will remain to be in Christ.  While this is not the time  to swoon with joy over the election, nor is it the time to despair either.  Remember this nation once made it through Warren Harding and Jimmy Carter. 

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A Good Day

Posted by Doug on Sunday, October 26, 2008 7:45:14 PM
   I am very fortunate.  Don't get me wrong, I could be richer.  I could live in a larger home.  I could get used to taking exotic vacations every year.  Yet I have none of these things.  This morning was one of my reminders of why I am very fortunate.  I love my church.  Even more than this, I love having the opportunity of pastoring these wonderful people.  This morning was "Pastor's Appreciation Sunday," and my family was given many notes of thanks and appreciation.  I am humbled by this outpouring.  I hope they realize how much I appreciate them, how much I look forward to seeing each of them, and how much I love them.  I am very fortunate.
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Into The Gale

Posted by Doug on Thursday, October 16, 2008 12:52:16 AM
  The year was 1985, and it was Super Bowl Sunday.  The 49ers were playing the Dolphins later in the day, but that was not the news.  The news was the weather.  It was -29F.  This was not the wind chill, this was the temperature.  I was at college, and we were stuck in our dorms.  We were pretty sure that our cars in the parking lot were dead, but we had to find out.  In the afternoon, with the temperature finally warming to -10, we bundled up, and went to the parking lot in pairs to start our cars, or at least try.  Our cars were dead, we were cold, and warmth seemed a long way off.  Yet we look back fondly on this day.  We did not enjoy the day, we enjoyed each other in the midst of the cold, even as we bundled up like Arctic explorers and headed out for the parking lot.
   We may yet have a cold spell facing us.  A spell of lean times that we have not seen in awhile.  The temptation is to look to the future in fear.  Fear of the cold wind blowing in our direction.  Yet perhaps there is potential here.  Maybe we can learn to lean on each other, maybe we can bundle up together and walk together in the teeth of this wind.  Maybe we can learn to help each other, support each other, and maybe we will look back fondly at this coming time.  Not because the time is pleasant, but because we can be something to each other that makes these times good, and productive.  I think it is possible, just maybe.

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Meeting Paul

Posted by Doug on Tuesday, October 07, 2008 12:59:43 AM
  You think I would have learned by now.  A small little restaurant, and only one patron inside.  When my daughter and I went inside, it became clear that this patron, named Paul, was a little challenged.  Maybe he was socially awkward, maybe he was a little slower than some others, but he sure was ready to talk.  I tried to ignore him at the start, hoping he would take the hint, but he missed my hint altogether.  Pretty soon I was in the midst of answering question after question, in this little restaurant in southern Indiana.   After a few questions, I began to hear a little voice, "whatever you did for the least of these - you have done to me."   Ouch.   Sure, I know the verse, and I can tell you what it means, but sometimes living what it means is another matter altogether.  In this little Indiana town on a Thursday evening, living it meant to do more than put up with Paul, but to engage him in conversation.  I like to think I was doing him a favor, talking with Paul.  In hindsight, he did me a favor, he reminded me of what it means to live with "the least of these." 
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Interesting Times

Posted by Doug on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 5:22:56 PM
    What does that old proverb say?   "May you live in interesting times."  Well, we are.  We are 30 days from an election, and our entire focus is the gyrations of the economic markets that impact all of us.  Who is to blame?   I hope we do not get too caught up in this.  The truth is we are all to blame.  If you think that your group, or your party is free from guilt here, well you are wrong.  What are we to do about all this uncertainty?   This sounds old and trite, but we need to pray.  Pray for our nation and its leaders.  Pray for our church, that we might be spared from some of the gyrations, and that we might be ready to respond and act in behalf of those who might be struggling now.   We also need to be people who look to bring people together, and meet as many needs as we can in these uncertain times.  There will be enough, no, too much, finger-pointing about who is to blame.  Let's be part of the solution.
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Understanding?

Posted by Doug on Monday, September 29, 2008 1:07:33 AM
   I did something I never imagined doing today - preaching in a baseball cap.  I hope everyone understood what my main point was this morning.  I think everyone agrees that those who follow Christ should demonstrate their faith through their life.  But the question remains, how do these qualities come?  My sermon tried to answer this question.  We follow a CHrist who promised us He would never leave us not forsake us, walk beside us, and as we said this morning - live in us.  If this is true, our Christian walk is not an attempt to live up to a certain level, not the satisfaction of any rulebook, but becomes something else.  If Christ lives in us, we then depend on His presence for guidance, grace and support.  So, instead of trying to remember what standard should apply to a situation, we can seek the guidance of the One who walks with us.  And if we follow the One who walks with us, we find that we become like Christ.  He produces holiness in us far more effectively than any attempt at a standard. 
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Wholehearted Christianity

Posted by Doug on Thursday, September 25, 2008 12:43:04 PM
  Most weeks I really enjoy the process of writing a sermon.  I like the research, putting a framework on the story, and then filling in the details.  Yet, occasionally there is a sermon that makes me a little nervous, and this week is one of those times.  In these weeks the topic is so important, the possibility for misunderstanding greater, but the real chance for change and growth  is so prominent that I cannot help be a little nervous.  This week that feeling is even greater because I am throwing in a twist, and if you read this you will know what that twist was. 
    The sermon this week reflects my own growth and development over time.  When I was younger I heard many sermons on holiness, on a wholehearted Christianity, and it left me a little empty.  There was so much attached to the message that never rang true, that seemed so in conflict with Scripture, and my own experience.  God is continually teaching me what a real walk with Christ looks like, what real holiness contains.  I hope to express it well, because a real, thriving walk with Christ is fulfilling, exciting, and deeply challenging.  I hope I communicate that, but that task seems big today.

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News From Africa

Posted by Doug on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 11:32:05 PM
   Here is some news from around the world.  It reminds you of how blessed we are, and the opportunities we have.

 http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080924/world-vision-warns-of-looming-food-crisis-in-southern-africa.htm
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A New Effort

Posted by Doug on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 11:14:40 PM
  We live in amazing days.  The ways we can connect with each other are greater than ever before.  I used to think that blogs and email were a way to avoid contact with others, and transfer it to a less intimate medium.  But I learned something a few weeks ago.  My kids are more in contact with what is going on with their friends through these new ways to communicate.  This page is an extension of church.  Each day I will add content.  I will share experiences, frustrations and interesting thoughts.  Sometimes these thoughts will not make sense, or seem out of place, but they will be genuine.  You can respond, ignore, or just read and reflect.  I am not sure where this will lead, but I will try to go where I have never gone before.  Bookmark this page, and lets keep the dialogue going. 
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