Busy Week

I'm not complaining, but it's been a pretty busy week. Debbie and I finally got to take in that movie we tried to see last Friday (see my last post). I recommend "Invincible." It was one of those underdog-comes-out-on-top kind of movies. I think even people who might not be football fans would like it.

I've been trying to get ready for a ministry trip to Midland, Texas this weekend. (If you are so inclined, I'd invite you to join us in prayer for this time of ministry. We will be at First United Methodist Church.) In addition to that, I've had about 80 sets of homework to grade, preparation for Wednesday night's class, and preparation for a new class I will begin to teach in less than 2 weeks. All in all, I'm a little dazed these days...Get it? Dazed these days? It's a play on words. Never mind.

Have you ever come to the point that you have so much to do, and you know you'll never get it done, so you just begin to lock down and don't do any of it? I'm almost there! But the Lord is faithful and He will give me everything I need to get everything done! So now that I've settled that, I can go back to bed and get some sleep.

Surprises Are Tough To Pull Off

Yesterday, September 22, was Alicia's birthday (she's our second born). Marisa (our first born) had planned for some weeks to fly from Kansas City to Madison, Wisconsin (where Alicia and her husband, Ashley, and daughter Aria live) to surprise Alicia for her birthday. The plan was set: Marisa would arrive in Madison around 6:30 pm - just at the time Ashley had planned conveniently go to pick up "pizza" for dinner. When he returned from his pizza run, he would have Marisa with him. Alicia would be surprised - the girls would both cry - it was going to be great. I was the designated driver to get Marisa to the airport. I carried out my job with great skill and efficiency. We left the International House of Prayer parking lot at precisely 1 pm. I drove the speed limit. Marisa and I had a great visit on the way to the KC International Airport. I dropped her off a little before 2 pm - plenty of time to check luggage and make it through security for a 3 pm flight. The plan was working like clock work! I was congratulating myself on several fronts: #1) I didn't spill the beans and kept the secret from Alicia, #2) I drove the speed limit and avoided a ticket from the friendly police officer who was lurking on the shoulder of the road just north of the Missouri River bridge - did I mention that he was on the opposite side of the highway so I wouldn't have gotten a ticket from him even if I had been speeding, but that's beside the point, #3) I delivered Marisa to the correct gate and terminal, #4) I remembered that friendly police officer's position so I avoided a ticket on the return trip, too, and #5) I didn't call Alicia until late in the evening so that I wouldn't spill the beans while Marisa was en route.

This was a truly great day ... Until the phone rang at 4:30 and Marisa was still in Kansas City! It seems the weather was not cooperating in Chicago and so they were holding all flights. Not to worry - she could still make her connecting flight from Chicago to Madison if the plane left KCI in the next half hour. We prayed. 5:30 comes - the phone rings - it's Marisa - she's seated on the plane which is being held at the gate. It will be at least another hour and 45 minutes before her plane can take off. Now, she is certain to miss her connecting flight from Chicago to Madison. "What are you going to do?" I ask. "I don't know," she replied, "I guess I'll wait and see what happens." She hung up, and Debbie and I settled down at Uno: Chicago Grill and Bar for pizza and quesadillas (I had the pizza, Debbie the other). We, of course, discussed Marisa's situation and how disappointed she would be if she didn't get to pull off the surprise of the century.

At 6:30, the phone rang again. "I can't talk long, my phone's battery is about dead and I packed my charger in my suitcase," were the first words out of her mouth. "They canceled my connecting flight to Madison," were the second. "I have to decide if I am going to go on to Chicago tonight, and catch an early flight to Madison in the morning, or if I am coming home and leave Kansas City early enough to make the connection. What do you think I should do?"

Dads love it and hate it when their kids ask those kinds of questions. We love it because they still value our opinions. We hate it because we might give the wrong advice. So I said, "I think it might be better to go on to Chicago and catch the earliest flight you can to Madison in the morning. By the way, is the surprise still in tact?"

"I think so. I've got to go check with the gate attendant." And she hung up. Meanwhile, Debbie and I are trying to decide, "Do we go on to the movie we planned to see, or do we just wait on Marisa to call." Debbie said, "Let's go sit in the movie parking lot and wait on her call." We did that. It was now 7 pm - the movie was to start at 7:10 and still nothing from Marisa.

"Hey, I know what we can do. The same movie starts at another theater at 7:40. Let's forget about the 7:10 showing and drive over to the other theater. That will give Marisa time to call." Sometimes I scare myself I'm so brilliant! We arrived at the (relax, I didn't mean that brilliant thing)...We arrived at the OTHER theater at 7:20...Still no call from Marisa. Debbie asks, "Do we go in or do we wait?" I convinced her to wait a few minutes longer. It's now 7:30...Nothing! We walked up to the ticket window and discovered that the movie didn't start until 7:45 ... Five extra minutes. "Let's go stand outside and wait for just a few more minutes before we buy the tickets," I suggested. 7:35 the phone rang again. It was obvious that she was in tears as she asked me to come pick her up and she would try again in the morning.

Debbie and I headed for KCI to retrieve our very hurt and disappointed daughter. 8:15 we arrive at Terminal A and locate Marisa who is pacing up and down the sidewalk. "It takes 10 minutes to walk from one end of the terminal to the other," she said, "and I've done it 4 times." The ride home was quiet except for Marisa talking to Ashley, finding out that the surprise is still a surprise, and trying to figure out how to keep it that way just a few more hours. We arrived home around 9 pm. At 9:30 I suddenly realized that I had not called Alicia and wished her "Happy Birthday!" So I called, sang the birthday song, and she said, "I wondered if my dad was going to call me today!" If she only knew what I had been going through! But once again in a flash of brilliance, I resisted the urge to explain my evening.

She said, "I kind of hoped all day long that y'all (she still says "y'all" even though she lives in Wisconsin...I raised her right!) would pop in and surprise me!" I said, "How do you know we aren't all standing outside your door at this very moment and I'm calling you just to throw you off?" "I'm going to check right now." "Well, are we there?" "No." (She said that with true Wisconsin flavor...I can't protect her from everything!) We had a good conversation - she heard Marisa's voice in the background - and so she knew her birthday would come and go with no suprises.

Marisa immediately went to bed, and at 4 am she headed back to KCI to catch a 6 am flight to Chicago, then a 10:30 connection to Madison, a short taxi ride from the airport (Ashley was going hunting so he couldn't pick her up at the airport) and the birthday surprise would be just a few hours late. Marisa called at 9 from Chicago (phew!) saying she had gotten on a standby flight at 9:30! She was excited. At 10:30 she called Alicia. As soon as she answered the phone, Marisa rang the doorbell. "Oh no! Someone's' at the door and I'm not dressed! Hold on." She quickly grabbed her robe, looked through the peep hole, saw Marisa's gleaming smile and the whole surprise finally worked!

We called around 11:00 and asked, "What are y'all going to do today?" "GO SHOPPING!"

Happy birthday, Alicia. And happy surprising, Marisa.

Time to Re-engage

I've been out of the loop the last few days. We celebrated the 7th anniversary of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City (my last post). Then on Monday, we traveled to Dallas for that dreaded event - moving my dad into an Alzheimer's Care Facility. We did that on Tuesday. Fortunately, the entire experience was covered in peace. I think my mom was so overwhelmed by it all that she just didn't know what to do, so she seemed to just watch. In some ways, she was just a distant observer - not really believing this was happening to her and her husband of almost 64 years. A couple of times my dad said, "I don't want to stay here." That was expected, but overall, he was cooperative and peaceful.

As soon as we got my dad settled, my sister and brother-in-law rushed Debbie and me back to Love Field so we could catch our flight back to Kansas City. We arrived in time to rush back to the House of Prayer's final moments of celebration on Tuesday evening. That night, we fell into bed exhausted -- physically and emotionally spent.

All day Wednesday, I "crammed" to teach my inductive Bible study class. Following class, I arrived home about 9:30 and called my sister in Dallas to see how the first real day of separation had gone. She was a bit distressed. Apparently, after we all left my dad on Tuesday, he stayed up until 2 am telling the care givers that we (all his family) were still out in the parking lot waiting on him and that it was just not right that we were having to wait that long in the hot sun. Finally, they convinced him that we were not in the parking lot and he went to bed. Wednesday morning, he got up and ate a good breakfast and made it through the day quite well.

Mom, on the other hand did not fare quite as well. She seems to think that Dad doesn't need to be in "that place" and she tried to convince my sisters to bring him home. She settled down a bit by bed time Wednesday, but we realize that the adjustment will take some time.

It is now time for me to re-engage and get back to the "discipline of blogging." I'm sure that somewhere in the Bible that is listed as a spiritual discipline.

7 Years of Non-stop Worship and Prayer

Today we began a three day celebration of the 7th anniversary for the International House of Prayer of Kansas City. Seven years ago on September 19, a group of people started worshipping and praying and it has never stopped since that first chord was played. Nick Syrett was the man who played that first chord (I learned that this morning in our worship service). He and his wife and son are now part of the prayer movement in Israel. Speaking of church service this morning, we watched a video of reminiscence and congratulations. Some of the people that had been part of the beginning of this ministry shared their fond memories. Others who have watched this ministry from afar (people like Jack Hayford, and Jack Deere, and Rick Joyner, and others) offered congratulations on leading the way into night and day intercession.

After church, we all headed out to a local park for an afternoon of fun and food. Speaking of food, Mike Bickle (IHOP director) has told us that during this three days there will be no fasting! Now for those of you who do not know Mike, let me tell you, that alone is a sign and a wonder. Mike is the most prolific "faster" I have ever known, and for him to tell us to NOT fast is moving into miracle territory. Anyway, we headed for a park to eat and play together. There were a couple of thousand people gathered for the celebration. It was like watching a multi-ring circus. Event coordinators had organized football, soccer, basketball, volleyball, softball, kick ball, extreme Frisbee, horseshoes, and more. There were giant inflatables for the children to romp in. There was even a first aid station manned by a real doctor, who unfortunately had a little too much business with sprained ankles, and possibly even a fractured wrist. But they were all handled with care and efficiency - and of course prayer.

We had a wonderful time remembering and celebrating what God has done in just 7 short years. The thing that continues to amaze me, is the dedication of all who are part of the ministry of intercession. And I'm not just talking about here at IHOP. There is a great prayer movement exploding across the face of the earth. Sometimes we lose our way and try to turn prayer into a program -- something we tack onto our existing church programs (we have a tendency to want to package what we've learned about prayer and turn it into a simple and easy to follow formula; we're great at organizing the life out of things) -- but overall, God keeps us pointed in the right direction. And I'm not just talking about Kansas City! The prayer movement is exploding in Atlanta, and Chicago, and Dallas, and Houston, and Singapore, and Hong Kong, and New Zealand -- EVERYWHERE -- and I continue to be amazed at the commitment of intercessors around the world.

My New Favorite Book

That title may be a little much, but I really do like this book -- maybe not the book itself -- in fact the book is not that impressive -- only 92 pages and paperback. But what's inside the book is good. The title, The Mystery of God's Word, is a little daunting, but the author has done such a good job of placing before us what it means, not only to read and study God's written Word, but also what it means to proclaim that Word with excellence, clarity, and power. Raniero Cantalamessa, the author, has been the Preacher to the Papal Household (that's right, he preaches to the people that are closest to the Pope) since 1980. For those of you who may be a little skeptical, thinking "Can anything good come out of Rome?" I assure you that there is an entire mine of great nuggets of truth in this book.

On Preaching and Preachers he says:

• Preaching is easy enough; practicing is the hard part...preaching is as easy as throwing stones from the top of a church tower, whereas putting into practice is as hard as carrying stones to the top of the tower on your back. Ideally we should only throw those stones we have manhandled up the tower in the first place, or in other words, preach only what we have already put into preatice. but such perfect consistency between the Word and life is pretty rare... Meanwhile, the Word of God cannot wait... Should we keep quiet? St. Paul's words cheer us on: "We do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord" (2 Corinthians 4:5). ... We ought to sink into the dust for shame at the distance that separates us from the Word, but even so we cannot keep silent about the Word, and there lies our punishment and humiliation.

On hearing a Word from God he says:

• If the words of God are few and far between, it is because there is too little silence. The Word of God always issues from silence...so we have to fast before receiving the Word: fast from our own and from other people's words.

On Studying God's Word he says:

• Seemingly the Word of God is within arm's reach; it is at hand in the Scriptures. But in fact it is like those alpine flowers that grow on jagged and precipitous rocks; one has to tear one's hands and fingers to go and pick them.

There is much more -- perhaps I'll share a few little tid bits some other time.

What Do You Think

Well, yesterday's blog entry got a couple of interesting comments. It got me to wondeirng what others might be thinking. One of the things that intrigued me was that both of yesterday's comments were from outside the US. So what do you think? Look at yesterday's post (Religion in America), read the 2 comments and let me hear from you. How do you react to either the article, or the comments. What do you think about the church in America? Which picture best depicts your experience of the American church? I know that none of these is a complete or accurate picture, but honestly, where do you see the state of the church in the United States?

Religion in America

A new survey is out - not surprising - a new survey comes out about every 30 seconds, it seems. This one is on religion in America. It was conducted by Baylor University, a prestigious Southern Baptist School in Waco, Texas. The article in the Houston Chronicle about the survey, attempts to show that other surveys have been overly pessimistic about religion in America (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4177637.html). The article states, "the survey found that 89 percent of Americans attend a local congregation or affiliate with a denomination. The finding rebuts other national surveys showing that 14 percent or more of Americans were "religious nones" — people with no religious backgrounds." The article continues, "Prior national surveys have concluded that 10 million people are not religious who actually are in church every Sunday — praying, believing in a God; 10 million Americans counted as religious nones."

The basic thrust of the article attempts to say basically, "Hey, we're not as bad off as we've been told! Lot's more people are in church than previously reported!"

What I'm wondering is this: If more people are in church than ever before, why are we continuing to hate each other, kill babies, flock to pornography, get ever-increasing amounts of our governmental revenue from gambling, and on and on and on? If more people are going to church, and society continues its skid into deeper levels of degradation, then those churches are not having as much impact on society as society is on the church.

And that's commentary for today. Back to you...

Trash Day

Today is "trash day" on our block. As we went to bed last night Debbie said, "We gotta remember that tomorrow is trash day." I knew what she meant - all week long we gather up our trash (banana peels, coffee grounds, etc.) and hold it in containers in the garage. Then on "trash day" we move our trash cans from the garage to the curb so the "trash collectors" (sanitation workers - see, I can be PC) can toss it into their big truck. We call it "trash day" but surely we shouldn't label the entire day based on one event. Maybe we could call it "trash morning" - at least that way the entire day doesn't get hauled to the curb. Or maybe we could call it "get rid of trash day" - that seems to be more positive.

On that more philosophical note - every day should be "get rid of trash day." Every day things happen to us - offenses, wounds, sights, sounds, sins - that need to be gotten rid of. Every day we should "take out the trash" so that we can avoid the stench that happens when we hang on to trash too long. Daily confession, repentance, acceptance of God's mercy and restoration is the only way to make that happen. So I hereby delcare today as the official "Get rid of Trash Day." I have it on good authority, that The Sanitation Worker will be by your house today - "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

Prayer for the Families

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

Worthy Recipient Available

Ok - time to confess. For several years I went through the "I gotta have a Harley" phase of life, when in fact, I never really wanted one. A motorcycle might be fun for a little while, but then there is the rain and the cold and the bugs in your teeth and the trucks and the people that don't pay attention and the pot holes in the road and untold other hazards. So while I said I wanted a motorcycle (maybe just to get a reaction of some kind from Debbie), I knew it was impractical and improbable that it would ever happen.

But now - I must confess I REALLY want one of these babies! This is the Honda S2000 and I'm pretty sure there is one just my size out there somewhere. It's hard to justify spending however many thousands of dollars it would take to get one. So just in case someone stumbles onto this blog and says, "You know, I haven't given away a Honda S2000 to some poor slob in a while, but I think it's about time." Well, I'm your guy!

Humility

We had fun last night in my class "Biblical Preaching 1: How To Study The Bible." We are in process of "unlearning" bad or inadequate habits of study and at the same time learning to be observant in ways that are unfamiliar and, therefore, uncomfortable to us. Observation is so hard for us. I have discovered over the years (sound like an old codger, don't I?) that most of the time we tend to read the Bible from familiar passage to familiar passage; and all the stuff in between is missed unless somehow the Holy Spirit gets our attention and forces us to stop long enough for Him to teach us something new. Of course He does that, but too often, we get new revelation by surprise rather than developing the gifts of observation God has given us. We need to remember that this is a partnership and that God won't do the things He has appointed for us to do, and we can't do the things that only He can do. One of the things God has given us to do is pay attention.

We compared Bible study to putting together a jigsaw puzzle. I asked the class what was the first thing they do after dumping all the pieces of the puzzle onto the table or work surface (maybe you use the floor). Many of them rushed to, "You find the edge pieces and put them together." I was so glad they said that. It provided a teachable moment. I responded, "No -- you turn all the pieces of the puzzle over so that the picture side is up." Then I pointed out that detailed observation of the text, finding out what words and phrases mean, making sure you really know what common words like "grace" and "peace" mean, gaining understanding of names and places, figuring out as much as you can about who wrote the book or letter and why they wrote and to whom they wrote, and all the detailed information is like turning each piece of the jigsaw puzzle over so that you can start the assembly process.

One of the pieces we turned over last night was a real attention getter. In 1 Thessalonians 1:6 the THREE AUTHORS - Paul and Timothy and Silvanus - not just Paul as we like to think - make this comment: "And you became followers of us and of the Lord ..." Did you get that? Followers of "us." Talk about drawing a bullseye on your heart and asking people to line up to take a shot!!! When those words came out, Paul and Timothy and Silvanus must have looked at each other and said, "Are we sure we want to put that down?" That had to bring fear and trembling on their part. Some 20 years later, it was James who said, "My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment." And yet, because this trio of teachers were so confident in their own weakness and the Lord's strength, they were able to commend the thessalonian believers for becoming followers of "us and of the Lord." May we all walk in that kind of humility.

We Never Really Grow Up

Growing up is a thing we like to kid ourselves about.
Growing up is when you get to move out of your house and start living on your own -- away from your parents.
Or growing up is when you get married.
Or growing up is when you begin to have children of your own.
Or growing up is watching those children graduate from high school and start life on their own.
Or growing up is when those children get married.
Or growing up is when your children have children.
Or growing up is when your children's children have children.
Or growing up is when you have to make the decision to separate your own parents because one has become unmanageable due to Alzheimer's Disease.
Or...
I'm beginning to wonder if growing up is just a myth. My dad has become increasingly hard to handle. My sister told me that he sat up on the edge of the bed all night last night and refused to lie down. He told her that his mom and dad sat with him. He's told me many times in the past few years that his dad comes to him at night and asks if he can really afford the place he is living. Of course I know what's going on -- but the fact that my 87 year old dad still longs for his parents, and still looks for his dad's advice let's me know that perhaps we never really grow up.

I continue to pray for my parents and their deteriorating health. I pray that the transition will be smoothe...that my mom and dad will handle the separation. I pray for my sisters and me as we take our dad to "the new place" and then have to turn our backs and walk away. Can we do that? Do we have a choice? If this is growing up perhaps that's why....

Not Enough To Do

Boy, people just don't have enough to do! Would it have ever occurred to you to protest the demotion of Pluto from planet status? I never cease to be amazed.

A Dose of Reality

I was passing through Paul's letter to the Philippians today ... reading things I'd underlined and notes in the margin ... I like to do that from time to time ... sometimes I amaze myself at the insight (both good and feeble) I had at the moment I jotted down the notes. Anyway, I'm not going to tell you whether this little tidbit was on the good or feeble side, you decide for yourself, but I am going to share it. Paul was writing to the Philippian Christians from a Roman jail cell (interesting that Paul was delivered by God from a Philippian jail and that deliverance resulted in the people to whom he is now writing becoming Christians). He is talking about people who are preaching the Gospel on the outside of the jail while he preaches from the inside. He shares a real dose of reality when he says, "Some indeed preach Christ from envy and strife..." (Philippians 1:15) Then he goes on to say, "[They] preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerity; supposing to ad affliction to my chains." (Philippians 1:16) In other words, there were people out there preaching Jesus in such a way that they were slamming Paul in the process -- probably pointing out that he was in jail and of course everyone knows that only bad people go to jail. It is obvious that slander of Paul is part of their Gospel message. How's that for an oxymoron!? Using the Gospel as a platform to slander a brother in Christ!!!

But I love Paul's response. "What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice." (Philippians 1:18)

Do you get that? So people slander me in the process of preaching Christ -- it doesn't matter! As long as Christ is preached. And not only does Paul rejoice in the moment, he makes it his aim to continue to rejoice! "I will rejoice," he says. He jumps on that theme again toward the end of the letter (4:4) when he says, "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I wil say, rejoice!" Her is a man, sitting in prison, not knowing if he will ever get out, knowing people are on the outside slandering him, and rejoicing in the moment, and determining to rejoice in the furture - whether he gets out of jail or not. Now that is something I want to get into my heart. To determine that I will rejoice even before the bad thing happens to me. And not only to determine that, but to actually follow through!

I love this Bible!

Sometimes

I have a friend who is the pastor of a medium sized church in Amarillo, Texas. At one stage of my life I was his associate pastor. On his desk he had a sign: Sometimes I sits and thinks...Sometimes I just sits. I think I'm doing the latter today.


And by the way, I think I found Kristen's possum. (http://rbohlender.blogspot.com/)