Having a Bad Day?

Questions from Horse Camp Youth

This week I am at Camp Allegheny, participating in the Extended Wrangler Program. It's been an outstanding week so far, and we have some great kids in this camp! The first night, I asked them all to think of a question they have about God, the Bible, religion, Christianity, church, life in general, etc., and to write it down on a slip of paper. Throughout the week, we've been spending time together discussing their questions and trying to come to a better understanding of these important issues. With 36 teenagers, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Would they take it seriously? Would I get a bunch of (or even a few) ridiculous questions? Would I be able to answer them? I am amazed to say that every single one of the campers took it very seriously, and asked GREAT questions. I can't answer them all, but we've had a great time exploring life together as we wrestle with them. Let me share some of the questions with you:

Does God really forgive you for any mistake you've done in the past?

Why is God so demanding? How did he be God?

I feel so close to God here at camp. I feel very connected. But when I leave I feel I lose some of the connection. How can I change this?

How was the Bible formed, and who put it all together?

What race were Adam and Eve?

I read somewhere that the Bible is degrading to women. Is this true?

Other religions that don't believe in Jesus - are they going to heaven?

How do I get to heaven?

Why do people die?

What defines a good Christian?

It's said that God is so loving, but also that we should fear Him. How do we do both well at the same time?

This is just a third of the questions that they came up with. Perhaps I'll post the rest later, but this gives an idea of the type of things that are on these teenagers' minds. If any of you have insights into any of these questions, please feel free to post them! Thanks!

Sunday Night at the Movies!

This Sunday we started something new at Bethany - outdoor movies projected on a huge sheet on the outside wall of the parsonage! We have a perfect setting for it, with the church parking lot right next to the parsonage, and a nice grassy area for people to sit on. We also have a popcorn machine, and everyone had a nice, relaxing time together watching Raiders of the Lost Ark. People invited their friends, and we had some new people come and check out what we were doing. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we'll be able to do this again as a fellowship and outreach event.

St. Matt's - Do We Need Mattresses in Worship now?

Here's an interesting news bit from this week's paper:

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A man says he was so consumed by the spirit of God
that he fell and hit his head while worshipping.
Now he wants Lakewind Church
to pay $2.5 million for medical bills, lost income, and pain and
suffering.
Matt Lincoln says he is suing after the church’s insurance company
denied his claim for medical bills.
The 57-year-old has had two surgeries
since the June 2007 injury but still feels pain in his back and legs.
He says
he was asking God to have “a real experience” while praying.
Lincoln says he
has fallen from the force of the spirit before but has always been caught by
someone.
Lawyers for the church say other congregants saw him on the floor
laughing after his fall. They say he failed to look out for his own
safety.

Better invest in plush carpet or something, folks!

R. I. P. Grandma

My Grandma Vanderhoff (the taller one on the right, wearing the white sweater - the other Grandma is alive and well) passed away last week, and we buried her this Tuesday. It was such a bittersweet day. She was 92, and had lived a wonderful life full of love, happiness, and faith. The past couple of years she has had Alzheimer's, and has not been aware of very much. Still, even as her mind was slipping away, she was happy, physically healthy, and was a blessing to us and to the people in her rest home. I want to share an incredible story about the last time Karen and I saw her before her death. Mom and Dad had called and given me the news that Grandma wasn’t doing well. Karen and I drove in to see her right away. She wasn’t herself. She was sitting in a wheel chair, her head against her chest. She barely looked up as we came in and tried to talk to her. She definitely didn’t know who we were. We talked to her a little, and told her how much we loved her. She wasn’t very aware of what was going on, and seemed to fade in and out of consciousness. Just before we left, Karen and I prayed with her. As I started to pray, saying, “Dear Jesus,” Grandma suddenly became alert. She interrupted my prayer, and with excitement in her voice, she looked at me and said “He’s talking to me.” She smiled and continued. “He says He’ll be so glad to have me come!” After saying those words, she said "Amen" at the end of my prayer, her head slowly slumped back down to her chest, and those were the last words I heard her speak. What a powerful testimony to such a life of faith and love! I am sad that she is gone, but I rejoice that she is with Jesus. May she rest in peace.

Thank You

Thank you... 2 simple words. They don't take that long to say. And when we do say them, they go a long, long way. But how often do we say them? I just finished writing out a bunch of thank you cards to various people who have helped in ministry in different ways over the past month. It is incredible to see how many people can come together to accomplish wonderful things in ministry. People volunteer, and work hard, to serve God and their church. I often tell them 'thank you,' but I also try to send along a card just to let them know how much I appreciate them, not just appreciating what they do, but appreciating them. I don't send these cards out nearly as often as I should. It's something that I need to do more, and to do better. But when I do make the time to send out that little .50 card with those 2 simple words on it, it speaks volumes to people. So to all of you in blogland who read my random thoughts and various musings, I say "THANK YOU!" Thanks for walking this road of ministry together. God bless!

Teaching vs. Learning

For Father's Day, I got a 2 volume set of magic books by the late Tommy Wonder, entitled "The Books of Wonder." Great stuff, and what better content to post on "Musings of the Magi" than something from a magic book? So, here goes. In the introduction, he says: "I firmly believe magic can't be taught. It can be learned, but it can't be taught. You must do it yourself; there is no other way. There are no short cuts to real results, no matter what some may try to make you believe."
I was struck by the statement, "It can be learned, but it can't be taught." What do you all think of this, not as it relates to learning magic, but to learning anything? I think it's still important for people to teach, and for others to sit under the tutelage of able teachers. But the greatest teacher in the world cannot make his/her students learn. The students have to take an active role in learning, only then will education take place. Spiritually, how can we inspire people to learn about and experience God? How can we get them to want to learn (active), not simply be taught (passive)?

The Good Life

My Dad gave me a copy of "The Good Life" by Charles Colson, and I've finally had time to start reading it. So far, it's a great book! Colson uses a variety of compelling stories to demonstrate that the good life is not found in money, success, and power, but rather in living a life of significance. I haven't gotten to the end yet, but I'm sensing that ultimately he'll point to living a life of significance for Christ as the ultimate answer to living the good life. He hits a little close to home when he talks of our pursuit of happiness through materialism and consumerism, the desire not just to have, but to have more, and more, and more.

There may be saints immune to these siren songs, but I am not one of them,
and I doubt you are either.... We all recognize the battle within
us: One part of our nature says life has a higher purpose, and the other
part wants to indulge all our desires. We want instant
gratification. These temptations pull hard on us in this consumerist era
in which the good life is constantly portrayed in terms of possessions and
goods.
The problem is, if we give in to our basic desires, we sink deeper and
deeper into self-indulgence -- and feel worse and worse about ourselves.
It's like drinking salt water; the more you drink, the thirstier you get.
You will keep drinking, believing that more liquid will satisfy your thirst, and
instead, of course, it will eventually kill you. The more we have, the
worse we feel.

What a succint portrayal of the human condition! At least, a portrayal of MY human condition at certain times and stages of my life. Most of you know that pastors aren't the highest paid people in the community! And yet, with 4 kids and the rising cost of living, I often find myself worrying about finances, and wishing I had more money. I get caught in the trap of thinking, "if only I had more money, everything would be ok." I really don't feel I want in excess, I just want enough so that I can break even at the end of the month instead of playing catch up all the time. The writer of Proverbs says it well:

Proverbs 30:8-9 "Keep falsehood and lies far from
me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.
[9] Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and
say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so
dishonor the name of my God."

It is not only something I wrestle with as I consider my personal finances, but also as I see the overall state of the church, both Bethany UMC and the Church in general. It seems like money is constantly an issue, and I continue to fall into the "if only..." way of thinking.
Chuck Colson responds to this struggle with these thoughts that I'll reflect on and leave with you now:

"The task in life is to subdue our lower nature and govern ourselves by what I
would argue we intuitively know to be our higher nature. Then we need
to redefine for ourselves and our culture what happiness really is."

See you all at Annual Conference!

Putting ON the blinders

I've been trying a new approach to my personal study of the Bible recently, and it has given me some new insights. I've put ON blinders, rather than trying to take them off. Let me explain. The way we study the Bible is strongly influenced by our preconceptions, our knowledge of other parts of the Bible, our life experiences, etc. This is rightly so, we should use as many resources as we can to determine the context in which the Bible is written, so that we can correctly interpret God's Word. But right now, what I'm trying to do is to approach the Bible as if I have never read any of it before, and have never heard of Christianity, church, etc. What if someone had never heard of any of this stuff before (an alarming number of people in our own nation, in reality), and just opened the Bible and started to read? What understanding would they come up with - of God, of Jesus, of Christianity, of the church? I've started with the Gospel of Mark (It's the oldest, and, let's be honest, the shortest!) and have been recording my observations of what Mark tells us about God and Christianity, as well as writing down some questions that come up for me as I read. And (at this point) I'm not looking to other parts of the Bible for those answers, I'm just taking what I can from Mark. I'll continue through and begin to piece it together as a whole, but right now I'm purposely seeing it with 'tunnel vision' and not trying to make sense of it all in the context of everything else. It's been an interesting exercise so far, and has given me a fresh perspective on some very familiar passages and stories that have become a bit too familiar. It's nice to see them again with a fresh perspective.

Everything is brighter with the top down!

This weekend, Karen and I celebrated our 11th anniversary with some time away from the kids, and my uncle generously let us borrow his cherry red Miata convertible! It was a beautiful weekend to be outside, and it is so much more fun to drive around with the top down in weather like that! Every year we make time for ourselves to be together, away from the kids, and have time to enjoy with each other. It is amazing what a difference this makes in our relationship. We are very blessed with 4 wonderful children, and I love being a pastor and working in the church, but it is important for us to get away from everything a couple times a year and reconnect as a couple. We spent an afternoon at Twin Lakes Park in Greensburg, floating serenely in a rowboat and watching the ducks swim past. Our anniversary is May 24th (Aldersgate Day, being the good Methodists we are!), and it was nice to see that all around the area, people were launching fireworks to commemorate our anniversary! Now it's back to church work, with a funeral, hospital visits, and other situations to have to come back to. But it's nice to get away for awhile, and see the world from the driver's seat of a cherry red convertible Miata with my wife beside me!

Dismantling Racism

I attended the first of 4 Dismantling Racism events that will be offered throughout our conference as part of ourBelieve Again! plan for ministry. Here are a few of my thoughts.

First, I think we NEED this. Racism is definitely something that needs to be dismantled in our denomination, in our churches, and in our communities. I'm glad to see we're doing SOMETHING. Second, I'm not sure how effective this training was in accomplishing the task. It ran longer than I thought was necessary, and the presenters, though good and knowledgable, lost most of us in the afternoon session, IMO. One of the revealing things to me was, often throughout the presentations, the leaders would ask for a show of hands regarding different things: how many of you have been to the home of someone of another race in the past 6 months, how many of you have worshipped in a church where you were the minority, etc. The presenters were consistently impressed and surprised with how many of us had done these things. Surprised enough to comment on it repeatedly. Now, perhaps they were just being overly affirmative, but I think they were genuinely impressed. The bad part about that is, I think it shows that we as clergy ARE doing some things to dismantle racism and raise our level of awareness and sensitivity, but it's still not working. I think this first seminar was too basic - it showed that we're already trying to do the basics but they're not making much of a difference. We need more depth, and we need more laity to be involved. I think the bigger problem with racism in our churches is not the pastors, but the laity who struggle to accept racial diversity in the pulpit. And let's face it, if certain laity are harboring racist feelings and attitudes, they're most likely NOT going to attend a racial diversity seminar with us. So, how do we address this? That's one of the major questions that, sadly, this first seminar did not answer for me. Hopefully the next ones will offer a little more, because I definitely agree that we need a lot of work in this area.

My Teenager is Driving!

My daughter Gabby turned 18 in April, and just passed her permit test last week. I'm very proud of her for this new step forward into adulthood, but I'm also FREAKING TERRIFIED! There is so much that could go wrong, and it's so hard to know whether she is safe or not. We've tried to prepare her as best as we can, and we'll have to trust that God will watch over her when we can't. That certainly isn't easy, but hopefully we'll figure out how to do that soon! My hair is turning grey at an increasingly alarming rate! Please pray for Gabby, and for my wife and me!

Racism

Today I've been thinking about part of Eric Park's recent blog entry recapping General Conference. What got me thinking (other than the brilliant summary of "Iron Man"!) were the words about the UMC being a divided church in so many ways, one of which is in the matter of racism. This was brought to my attention on Sunday, in a subtle, yet real, way. For the children's message, the presenter did an outstanding job sharing "The Wordless Book" with all of the kids, and after sharing it, she gave all of them their own wordless book to use. I think this is a great tool to use for evangelism for kids, and I think the presenter did a great job with the lesson. I'm sure that racism was the furthest thing from her mind. However, here goes the presentation: "Ok everyone, this is a wordless book where each color represents something. First, Gold represents the streets of gold in heaven. Black represents..." (think about this a minute) ... "sin." White, of course represents purity that comes from the Red blood that Jesus shed for us. You see where I'm going with this? I don't know how else to present the wordless book, but I would guess that a black person sitting in the congregation (which we do have occasionally, but not this particular Sunday), would take notice of this representation. Some might think I'm being overly sensitive to this, but let's face it, I'm usually not sensitive enough. I don't know what alternative way there would be to present something like the wordless book, but perhaps we should come up with something. There are other subtle examples out there as well, I'm sure. What are we doing to overcome racism in our own lives, and in our congregations? I look forward to attending the training and learning what I can do.

Welcome New Members!

This Sunday, Bethany UMC will welcome a group of new people into our fellowship! These folks have taken the NewComers class, and are all looking forward to affirming their faith in Christ in front of the congregation. We as a congregation are excited to welcome them in and help them grow in their faith and serve God alongside of us. I recently read a key thought that I've shared with this class of NewComers, and I'll share it with all of you as well. Often in the church, we look to new people as a way to 'fill' our church's 'needs.' If we discover someone who works at a bank, we instantly think "Treasurer!" or "Finance Chair!" and sadly, we give little thought to where this person's gifts and interests are, or where God is calling them to serve. We see an opening on a committee, we want to plug it. Now, I'm all for getting new people involved, and helping them to feel a part of things, and use their gifts to serve. But I have to challenge myself to consider their interests, goals, and gifts as a part of that process, rather than simply looking at our church's needs and trying to squeeze them into that area. What a blessing that they are all becoming a part of ministry and fellowship! We rejoice to welcome them in!

What's your NPS?

Well, I've gotten my taxes filed (yes, standing in line at the PO on April 15th with all of the other procrastinators!), and have taken care of a few other things that have kept me away from blogland. I recently finished "The Gospel According to Starbucks" by Leonard Sweet, and want to share one of the thoughts from the book.

“The business world has a new Golden Rule. It is the one statistic that increasingly is taken most seriously by investors, and it may be the one mark of success in the future that all companies will be required by law to report. When it was first developed by Fred Reichheld, loyalty expert and author, he called it the Net Promoter Score or NPS. It could also be called the Customer Evangelism Score. It’s not an eternal question: it has to do with temporal matters, yet it reveals everything about the future of a company, or a church, on earth. So what is the measure of success? Every church, every Christian, and every business should seek the answer to this question: would you recommend us to a friend?

I'm very excited that on May 4th we'll be welcoming some new members into our church family, because some people in our congregation answered "YES!" to that question. I'm sure there are many different ways of growing a church. We have a long way to go at Bethany, but one thing that has definitely worked for us is having people invite their friends and others, telling them that this is a place where people can get to know God through Jesus Christ. Still, there are way too many people in our church who are way too comfortable NOT recommending us to their friends. It's not that they don't want to share about Jesus, or that they are unhappy in the church. They just aren't motivated enough to share, or they're not sure how to. That's an area we're working on. Next up, we'll be looking at how to improve our discipleship system, and how to help people get connected and involved in ministry. This is definitely an area where we lack anything concrete, and yet it is so important. Once we're recommended to a friend, we want to make sure that friend has a way to connect and grow in their faith (or find faith) once they get here!

Think YOU'VE had a bad hair day?!?!?

MythBusters (thanks Brett!)

Brett is doing a sermon series called MythBusters, based on the TV show of the same name. OK, it's really based on the Bible, but he's using the TV show as a springboard and point of contact! I'm a consultant on the fire/pyrotechnic aspect of the sermon series, but I claim no responsibility for anything that might go wrong! Anyway, it got me thinking of a sermon series I've contemplated but never done. My idea is different than what Brett is doing, but the name MythBusters triggered my memory and made me take another look at what's been on the backburner for awhile. I'd like to do a series that addresses common misconceptions that people (both in the world and, sadly, in the church) have about the Bible/God/Christianity. Some of the simple ones that I'd like to address are the Mizpah half-heart necklaces (see pic). These are purchased by well-meaning guys and gals all over the world to represent their undying love, devotion, and trust for each other, and the scripture sounds nice. "May the Lord watch over me and thee while we are absent one from another." The context, however, is not so nice! The context of the scripture reveals that Jacob and Laban made this treaty at Mizpah because they couldn't trust each other at all, and the words of the treaty are more a warning that God is watching than they are a covenant of trust and love. Read Genesis 31 for the full story. Another myth is that "God helps those who help themselves." This is from Poor Richard's Almanac, not the Bible, but a lot of people will insist that this is from the Bible. Serious subjects, such as suicide, are also things I'm planning to address Biblically and meaningfully. Many people think that the Bible teaches that if you commit suicide, you go straight to hell regardless of your life or your relationship with Christ. Not that suicide is by any stretch a good thing, but in reality, the Bible doesn't teach that it's a one way ticket to hell. Our manner of death doesn't determine our eternal salvation, it is the choice we make in life to follow Christ that determines where we will spend eternity. I think some of these misconceptions, both big and small, can be used as interesting teaching points and encourage people to really examine their Bibles and be more informed on their everyday theology. I also think these things can work as conversation starters with the world, pointing them to the truth of Scripture. Next time you see someone with a half heart Mizpah necklace, use it as a conversation starter (and shatter their sentimentality all in one fell swoop! I guess you have to tread lightly, but hopefully you get the idea on using everyday stuff to open up doors to share Christ!). I'm interested in other misconceptions you know of that are fairly commonplace in the world and the church that a sermon series such as this one could address. Thanks everyone!

The Elephant in the Room

The elephant in the room that is so difficult to discuss is when a clergyperson (or anyone) falls, as has been reported recently in the Interlink and the WPAUMC website. I guess it's easy to discuss someone like Eliot Spitzer, who is plastered all over the papers and the news, but what about one of our own? And I don't mean 'talk about' as in gossip. I mean talk about as in how do we deal with the realities of this situation? Could this have been prevented, if the root problems had been brought to light before it got to this level? I heard Charles Swindoll preach once on the 4 causes of clergy failure: Success, Sloth, Sex, and Silver. In a nutshell, his sermon addressed these 4 issues as problems in this way: SUCCESS: when a pastor got so successful in his/her ministry that they forgot God and pride took over; SLOTH: when a pastor starts going through the motions, and slides along through ministry instead of working and learning and being challenged by new ideas; SEX: when a pastor faces moral failure, either public or private, this has a profound effect on ministry; and SILVER: when a pastor gets so concerned over the Almighty Dollar, either personally, or for the church, that ministry becomes secondary to money. I found his sermon to be very enlightening, and although I heard it several years ago, it sticks in my mind today as I consider the current situation. What are the 'outs' for someone who is caught up in one of these 4 traps? I think accountability plays a MAJOR role, but along with that comes vulnerability, and this can be a frightening thing. Awhile back, Ben Witherington's blog pointed out a website that attempts to deal with the sex issue, and I pass it along as an excellent resource that actually addresses this growing problem. http://www.xxxchurch.com/ is the website, and they really try to be open and honest about the realities of this problem, not just for clergy but for everyone. If anyone is having a struggle with this area, I highly recommend that you check out this site, and take steps toward dealing with it before it gets worse. If you're not having troubles in this area, it's still a good resource to be familiar with and to direct people to that may struggle. Finding someone to be accountable with (not "to", but "with") is very important in ALL of these areas where clergy are prone to struggle, and where Satan is ready to pounce. Success, Sloth, Sex, or Silver? What is your Achilles Heel, and how are you allowing God to work in your life to protect yourself from it? My prayers are with all of us, and especially for Steve and his family and congregations (I grew up in the Conneautville church, my dad having served there from 1978-1989).

Shades of Grey

I see everything in shades of grey. Especially my hair. It's amazing what having 4 children can do! Seriously though, everything is grey to me. I see very few things in black and white. Our preschool has a cutoff date of Sept. 1st for kids to be either 3 or 4 years old and eligible for enrollment. Yesterday someone called and asked if their child could enroll for 2008, but they won't turn 3 until Oct. 4th. For my wife, this is a black and white issue. Cutoff is 9/1, the child doesn't make the cutoff, the answer is no. For me, I wrestle with a lot of 'yes, buts...' and I want to make it work. The truth is, however, in the past when we have relaxed this standard, we've had trouble with the younger children because they're just not developed enough to take an active part (or passive, when necessary!) in the class. We've even had to remove kids from the program because of this. So, there's a reason we have that standard, and I'm thankful for people like my wife who see things in black and white and help me to keep perspective. The Preschool example is just something that came up this week, but this type of thing happens all the time, and I am constantly struggling within myself about what the right answer is. I'd be horrible as a judge or even a jury member, because every time a defense attorney made a point I'd end up agreeing with them, until the prosecutor made his/her case, and then I'd see the merit of their points as well. But, there are also a lot of times where seeing things in shades of grey helps me not to make snap judgments or quick decisions that later turn out to be wrong. I am one to examine a lot of different angles and get as much information as I can before having to make a decision. This has helped me in a lot of situations. It also helps me to counsel people, and to show grace when others might show judgment. It's not always easy (or very colorful!) to see everything in shades of grey, but that's who I am and I have learned to be aware of it and accept it. Heck, I even voted for Taylor Hicks on Idol '06, just because he had hair like mine!

Ghost Busters!

Do you believe in ghosts? I'm pretty skeptical when it comes to things like this, but at the same time, I'm fascinated by the paranormal. I like to watch T.A.P.S. sometimes, and I am intrigued by stories of UFOs, Sasquatch, and the Loch Ness Monster. To me, they're interesting legends, and they're entertaining stories, but I really don't believe in ghosts or mythical creatures. However, I know some people who do. One very dear lady in my church very matter-of-factly told me that she has heard her husband (dead for many years now) in her house, and her adult son confirmed this as well. Both of them took it as comforting to think of his spirit still in the house. I've had others tell me that as a man of faith, they're surprised that I don't believe in ghosts, because I can easily take a leap of faith in spiritual things as they relate to God, so why not take a leap of faith in the paranormal? Anyway, I'm fascinated by ghost stories and such, and just wanted to pass along to all of you - you know that prickly feeling you get on the back of your neck? That's THEM!

Crossing Denominational Lines

I have an interesting Christian pedigree - born and baptized into the Catholic Church, raised and confirmed as a United Methodist, sampled UMC, Baptist Church, and EV Free in college, went to a Brethren Seminary, attended an independent church while at Seminary, got married in a Baptist Church, and now serve as an ordained UM pastor. Methodism has definitely predominated, but I've worshipped in a variety of denominational settings, and I believe they each have value. Right now we send our kids to the AWANA program at the Baptist church in town, simply because it is an outstanding program for kids, and my own church doesn't have anything similar to offer. At first, I felt a little funny about my kids going to another church on Sunday evenings, but I got over it quickly because I saw the value for my children. They are learning a lot about the Bible and the Christian faith through this program, they are socializing with many other kids, and they don't have to see "Dad" in the forefront for this portion of their development. I fear that my being a pastor could be detrimental, in some ways, to my children. We've all heard of those rebellious PKs that raise so much trouble, and I don't want my kids to be that someday. But if the church where I am appointed to serve does not offer ministry to my children, do I neglect their needs for the sake of my church? I understand that I could start a ministry for them, (and we have kept them involved in many of our own church's activities and ministries, and started some as well) but the Baptist church offers a great program that they can utilize. And, Karen and I get to drop them off for an hour and a half every Sunday night and go out to dinner together! What more could we ask for? Seriously, I just wanted to post about the importance of helping my children develop their Christian faith in the best way possible, and if that means crossing a denominational line to do so, I'm ok with that. I try to keep them rooted in Methodism, but the focus for me is Christ, not a particular denominational expression of Christianity.

Theology from SpongeBob

It's my day off, and I'm watching the kids. What better way to pass the day than with SpongeBob Square Pants? Today's episode was about Mr. Crabs losing a special dollar bill to a blue lipped clam. This wasn't just any dollar bill, it was his 1,000,000nth dollar bill. So, he goes to exorbitant means to get it back. It begins with him driving the people around him crazy by getting them to pursue the clam and get back the dollar. That doesn't work, so then (in a stroke of genius much akin to Brett's gaining weight for the sole purpose of having some weight to lose) he offers a substantial reward to anyone who can help him get back his dollar. Yes, a reward for finding a dollar. I'm no math major, but.... Well, the reward doesn't work either, so he then uses SpongeBob and Squidward as bait to attract the clam, who then shows up with the dollar. Mr. Crabs still can't get the dollar from the clam, so he makes a deal with the clam - trade SpongeBob and Squidward for the dollar. What's the theology of this? I couldn't help but think of things in our lives that we desperately hang on to, or seek after, at the expense of those around us. In what ways do we cling to something of very little actual value, and in the process, we lose things of great value. What relationships do we endanger because of our overemphasis on work, or ministry, or the pursuit of self interests (or the almighty dollar)? What do we sacrifice of our own well-being, our own integrity, our own health, in pursuing things that don't really matter? What grudges do we carry, refusing to forgive others even as we watch ourselves negatively impacted by our vindictiveness and refusal to forgive? These are just some of my thoughts as I kick back and reflect on an absorbent, porous, yellow guy who lives in a pineapple under the sea. Nice to have a day off every now and then!

Right, Wrong, or Indifferent?

Back to Blogland after a very busy Advent season! The Magi came bearing gifts, I come bearing questions. I read Jeff Kahl's posts, some of which are political in nature (Poli-Sci undergrad, what else can I expect?) and I reflect on the commonalities between politics and religion. With politics, we have our parties: Republicans, Democrats, Independents. All hope to make positive changes and influence the world in positive ways, utlimately. They just have very fundamental disagreements on how to bring about such changes. Many democrats can't stand George Bush. Many republicans couldn't stand Bill Clinton. All are pretty much united against Hillary. Just kidding. But my point is, each party believes wholeheartedly that, in many areas, they are right and the other is wrong. Enter religion. Don't we see the same thing? Catholics believe they (and only they!) have the keys to the kingdom of heaven. In Methodism, the traditionalists believe they are right, the contemporary folks thing they have it right, the Conservatives believe they have the answers, the Liberals believe they do, and on and on and on. Without attempting to be divisive, I raise the question - who's right? Who's wrong? Who's indifferent? What really matters, and what doesn't?