One of the interesting things about ministry is that sometimes the line between work and play can become very fuzzy, if there is a line at all I wonder sometimes. For example, each week we play volleyball at the local school. Generally it is all people from church who play. Now the question I ask is: "Is this work, or is this play?" One that I have no real answer for.
Another example in ministry is our monthly gatherings of local pastors and spouses, (if they can make it, since a lot have other jobs.) We meet once a month on a Monday at someone's house, and then go for lunch. Usually it is a nice time of talking and also a time of prayer with each other. So, is this work or is this play? Monday's are usually my day off, so should I attend this on my day off, or is this outside of work?
Another little example is going to the Christian school spring program. Is that work or play? The reason I ask that is, would I go if I wasnt the pastor and there are 8-10 kids from church in it?
Another example is playing basketball on Wednesday nights. I go and play pick up ball with a bunch of random people, generally the same crowd. For the most part they dont know what I do. There is another pastor who organizes it each week. It is great to get to know these guys and talk with them about what is going on in their lives, but they dont go to our church, is it work or play? But if I take members from church, or meet people there from church, is it work or play?
And then another example from yesterday. I was supposed to go skiing with my wife and someone from church, but then I hurt my ankle and cant ski. So, I was going to get some more work done. My wife was going to play cards with somoene, and her husband asked what I was going to do. He called and asked if I wanted to go and shoot some gophers as he had to go to see his bees. We spent quite a bit of time shooting gophers in the field. Then went to his bees and we had to dig out some pallets of bees. There was a lot of snow around them and so we had to get at some of the pallets. I could only do a little since my ankle is hurt. I helped him with treating the bees and then we went back to shooting gophers on the way home. Is this work or play? Especially since we could talk all the way too and from the bees.
In general, I guess almost anything I do, could be considered work. The way I look at it, we are all called to be Christians at all times. Sure my job is a pastor, so then I should be who I am at all times. But those who call themselves Christians should also be who they are at all times. They should also represent Christ. For many people it is easy to distinguish between work and play. My job makes it a bit harder.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Psalms for Lent
This year for Lent I decided to use Psalms for a Lenten journey from the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship (www.calvin.edu/worship). The psalms that we have looked at so far are: Psalm 1, 34, 32, 91. This week we will look at Psalm 73.
It is amazing to me to read through these psalms. I love the psalms and love to preach the psalms. Last week I was able to read a sermon on Psalm 91 by Cornelius Plantinga Jr, which was simply amazing. It made it that much more difficult to write my own, because his was so good.
As I have been preparing these sermons, I am realizing how much I love the psalms. The biggest theme that we covered last week was that the Lord is in fact our Refuge. This phrase is a phrase that is often times over used in our world. It has become a quainte cliche that people use. But really, if we think of the image Psalm 91 gives us, it talks about complete coverage. It does seem to paint a pretty optimistic picture, some would question if it is reality or not. But the main point is that God is able to completely cover us.
As we celebrate lent we prepare ourselves to remember what Christ did for us on the cross. He is able to completely cover us and protect us because he spread his arms out for us. He took the pain so we dont have to. As long as we acknowledge him and fear him, he will protect us. What an amazing promise. It has just been a good reminder for me this year during lent.
It is amazing to me to read through these psalms. I love the psalms and love to preach the psalms. Last week I was able to read a sermon on Psalm 91 by Cornelius Plantinga Jr, which was simply amazing. It made it that much more difficult to write my own, because his was so good.
As I have been preparing these sermons, I am realizing how much I love the psalms. The biggest theme that we covered last week was that the Lord is in fact our Refuge. This phrase is a phrase that is often times over used in our world. It has become a quainte cliche that people use. But really, if we think of the image Psalm 91 gives us, it talks about complete coverage. It does seem to paint a pretty optimistic picture, some would question if it is reality or not. But the main point is that God is able to completely cover us.
As we celebrate lent we prepare ourselves to remember what Christ did for us on the cross. He is able to completely cover us and protect us because he spread his arms out for us. He took the pain so we dont have to. As long as we acknowledge him and fear him, he will protect us. What an amazing promise. It has just been a good reminder for me this year during lent.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Still learning
Yesterday I was able to go and enjoy the outdoors again. There had been some real warm weather recently, but also some new snow on Sunday, so I thought it would be great to go skiing again. I drove up to the mountain with some snow in the morning. I got to the ski hill and no one was there. It was awesome. Skiing on Mondays are perfect, no one is there.
As I am still learning, I decided to take another lesson. This time I had the director of the snow school. He had seen me each time sign up, so he took me himself, and he asked how far I have come. He then told me, we are getting you to ski parallel today. We are getting rid of the snow plow. Well, It took some work, and I finally feel like I am starting to get the hang of it. It was such a nice day. He made me go faster than I had gone before, he wanted me to feel the speed to get used to it. It really seemed to help.
I hope to go again next week, and maybe take one more lesson for the year. Hopefully there will still be some good snow. It was really great to be in the Mountains again, it is so awesome there. Anyway, it is coming along. Still no expert though.
As I am still learning, I decided to take another lesson. This time I had the director of the snow school. He had seen me each time sign up, so he took me himself, and he asked how far I have come. He then told me, we are getting you to ski parallel today. We are getting rid of the snow plow. Well, It took some work, and I finally feel like I am starting to get the hang of it. It was such a nice day. He made me go faster than I had gone before, he wanted me to feel the speed to get used to it. It really seemed to help.
I hope to go again next week, and maybe take one more lesson for the year. Hopefully there will still be some good snow. It was really great to be in the Mountains again, it is so awesome there. Anyway, it is coming along. Still no expert though.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
More thoughts on the trip
This past Sunday our group from the Dominican trip was able to give a presentation in church. We had a brief slideshow followed by members of the group talking about their experience. I thought it was really great to hear what people had to say. Each person learned something different. We all experienced the same thing, but we all experienced it differently. It was really fun going through the pictures and remembering all that we had done. Hearing people describe it too, brought back good memories.
I was really pleased to talk to a couple different people who told me how the trip impacted them. It is amazing how 10 days on a trip like this can really have an impact. I think it is a great experience for people to have, but especially people who have never left home, or far from it anyway.
Like I said before, it was a great experience, it challenged me more than I realize sometimes. It really causes one to think about all the blessings that we have and how often times we take everything for granted. I would encourage anyone to go on a trip like this if they are able to.
I was really pleased to talk to a couple different people who told me how the trip impacted them. It is amazing how 10 days on a trip like this can really have an impact. I think it is a great experience for people to have, but especially people who have never left home, or far from it anyway.
Like I said before, it was a great experience, it challenged me more than I realize sometimes. It really causes one to think about all the blessings that we have and how often times we take everything for granted. I would encourage anyone to go on a trip like this if they are able to.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Trip - Day 10, Feb 20
Short night with not that great of sleep. 6:00 am the alarm goes off, a.k.k Jerry knocking on our door. Pack up and head to the airport. Mano drove us in his van, whoa what an experience. Our first flight left at 10:00 to San Juan. So we had breakfast, with Duane helping everyone order one last time. We said goodbye and off we went. Everything went fine on that flight. We cleared customs in Puerto Rico, we quickly grabbed something to eat. The next flight was scheduled for 12:45 left at 1:15. No problems as we arrived in Dallas a few minutes late. After a nice meal at T.G.I. Fridays we wait again as our plane is a bit late. It will be a late night again.
As I am flying, I finished the second book of the trip and try to sleep. It just isn't working. As I sit here I begin to reflect on the trip even more. I begin to think about the questions Kyndra asked me, "So, did you enjoy it?" This will be a question I am sure I will be asked a lot. The easy answer is yes, I really enjoyed it. The hard thing to do in my mind at least, is to answer - why? What about the trip really made it enjoyable? As I think about this more, I think it really has to do with the fact I can truly see what Paul is talking about in Galatians 4:26-28, we are all "one in Christ Jesus." We spent a lot of time talking about how in our culture, money talks. When frustrations ariseon the jobsite, it is easy for us rich North Americans to want to buy our way out of those frustrations. What I mean by that is that we can buy more supplies, we can buy more equipment, etc. But is this the right thing to do is the real question.
This trip has stretched me. I feel I was blessed in my upbringing of having a lot of diversity around me in the suburbs of Los Angeles. But this trip got me out of my little bubble that I was comfortable in. This trip allowed me to see brothers and sisters in Christ in a whole new way. Often times we can become complacent, comfortable in our faith, in our way of doing things. This trip has helped me to see how passionate people are for the Lord even though it appears as if they dont have anything.
The question I posed to the group is: "What can we take home from this experience?" Does this change how we live? Or do we jump back into our materialistic mindset and culture? Or do we challenge that mindset, do we challenge our families and friends who have this mindset?
The thing I wonder about is how do we as a group, or me specifically as a pastor, challenge our church to see as a reality we are in fact one. That even though there are differences in culture, race, skin color, worship styles, etc, that we all worship the same Lord. This trip sort of reminded me that in North America we are very self-centered in everything we do. If worship doesn't meet my needs I will find a church that does. But we are putting the focus on ourselves rather than on God. At their church service, we were like honored guests. How do we treat others in our churches? We are one, but we tend to put our needs first in North America.
I definitely learned a lot on this trip. I am glad I went. I am sure I will add more thoughts in the days and weeks ahead. I hope to have the group over and talk about these things again in a few weeks.
As I am flying, I finished the second book of the trip and try to sleep. It just isn't working. As I sit here I begin to reflect on the trip even more. I begin to think about the questions Kyndra asked me, "So, did you enjoy it?" This will be a question I am sure I will be asked a lot. The easy answer is yes, I really enjoyed it. The hard thing to do in my mind at least, is to answer - why? What about the trip really made it enjoyable? As I think about this more, I think it really has to do with the fact I can truly see what Paul is talking about in Galatians 4:26-28, we are all "one in Christ Jesus." We spent a lot of time talking about how in our culture, money talks. When frustrations ariseon the jobsite, it is easy for us rich North Americans to want to buy our way out of those frustrations. What I mean by that is that we can buy more supplies, we can buy more equipment, etc. But is this the right thing to do is the real question.
This trip has stretched me. I feel I was blessed in my upbringing of having a lot of diversity around me in the suburbs of Los Angeles. But this trip got me out of my little bubble that I was comfortable in. This trip allowed me to see brothers and sisters in Christ in a whole new way. Often times we can become complacent, comfortable in our faith, in our way of doing things. This trip has helped me to see how passionate people are for the Lord even though it appears as if they dont have anything.
The question I posed to the group is: "What can we take home from this experience?" Does this change how we live? Or do we jump back into our materialistic mindset and culture? Or do we challenge that mindset, do we challenge our families and friends who have this mindset?
The thing I wonder about is how do we as a group, or me specifically as a pastor, challenge our church to see as a reality we are in fact one. That even though there are differences in culture, race, skin color, worship styles, etc, that we all worship the same Lord. This trip sort of reminded me that in North America we are very self-centered in everything we do. If worship doesn't meet my needs I will find a church that does. But we are putting the focus on ourselves rather than on God. At their church service, we were like honored guests. How do we treat others in our churches? We are one, but we tend to put our needs first in North America.
I definitely learned a lot on this trip. I am glad I went. I am sure I will add more thoughts in the days and weeks ahead. I hope to have the group over and talk about these things again in a few weeks.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Trip - Day 9, Feb 19
*I wrote two entries today since I was gone yesterday.
Cathedral built in 1500's
Ryan showing us what people looked like before the firing squad
The Ministry Center in Santo Domingo
This morning we went to visit some interesting places. The first place we stopped at was in San Pedro. Really cool note, real famous major league baseball players come from San Pedro. The place we stopped at was a Christian school that was built by volunteers. It is a CoCRef school (Collegio Christiana Reformada). It was really cool to see all the kids playing. These schools give kids an opportunity to go to school when otherwise they might not be able to.
We then went through downtown Santo Domingo, it was interesting to see all the traffic and the fact 3 million people live there. We went to the ministry center where most of the groups stay. We met Guido and he gave us a tour. He showed us the dorms as well as the new offices that were being built for CRWRC, CoCRef and other ministries. We had lunch there and met some of the workers and some from another group.
After lunch we drove to the colonial center. We were able to see the original fort built in the 1500's as well as the Cathedral there. We then had time to check out some stores. It was really interesting to see how badly they want Americans (or Canadians in this case) in their stores. How pushy they can be even when you say no. I had one kid who tried to polish my sandals. People will do anything for a few pesos. Kids will even was your windows while waiting for the light to change. Duane wont pay them unless they ask first.
After dinner we had a good discussion about the trip and the work. It was great to hear how everyone felt about the week. AFter Duane left, Jerry asked me my thoughts. I feel this week was really good. It truly opened my eyes to a completely different culture. We all said that someone really has to experience it to fully understand what people mean when they describe it. Some have said in the past that they feel closer to God. I don't know if I can say that, but I can definitely say it really excited me to see how other Christians live. It really excited me to see how they worship. We can learn from them in some areas as well.
The thing we also talked about was how do we get more people excited about these opportunities to want to come along. I wish that there would have bee more time spent in devotions and/or prayer that might have brought the group together even more.
In general, I am very glad I went, I got to know some people even better than before. I probably will write another one after I think more on the plane. 6:00 am will come pretty early.
Cathedral built in 1500's
Ryan showing us what people looked like before the firing squad
The Ministry Center in Santo Domingo
This morning we went to visit some interesting places. The first place we stopped at was in San Pedro. Really cool note, real famous major league baseball players come from San Pedro. The place we stopped at was a Christian school that was built by volunteers. It is a CoCRef school (Collegio Christiana Reformada). It was really cool to see all the kids playing. These schools give kids an opportunity to go to school when otherwise they might not be able to.
We then went through downtown Santo Domingo, it was interesting to see all the traffic and the fact 3 million people live there. We went to the ministry center where most of the groups stay. We met Guido and he gave us a tour. He showed us the dorms as well as the new offices that were being built for CRWRC, CoCRef and other ministries. We had lunch there and met some of the workers and some from another group.
After lunch we drove to the colonial center. We were able to see the original fort built in the 1500's as well as the Cathedral there. We then had time to check out some stores. It was really interesting to see how badly they want Americans (or Canadians in this case) in their stores. How pushy they can be even when you say no. I had one kid who tried to polish my sandals. People will do anything for a few pesos. Kids will even was your windows while waiting for the light to change. Duane wont pay them unless they ask first.
After dinner we had a good discussion about the trip and the work. It was great to hear how everyone felt about the week. AFter Duane left, Jerry asked me my thoughts. I feel this week was really good. It truly opened my eyes to a completely different culture. We all said that someone really has to experience it to fully understand what people mean when they describe it. Some have said in the past that they feel closer to God. I don't know if I can say that, but I can definitely say it really excited me to see how other Christians live. It really excited me to see how they worship. We can learn from them in some areas as well.
The thing we also talked about was how do we get more people excited about these opportunities to want to come along. I wish that there would have bee more time spent in devotions and/or prayer that might have brought the group together even more.
In general, I am very glad I went, I got to know some people even better than before. I probably will write another one after I think more on the plane. 6:00 am will come pretty early.
Trip - Day 8, Feb 18
*I will post two today, since I was gone all day yesterday.*
Today we got started as usual. Everyone started by helping to take off the forms of the columns we poured yesterday. Some got started forming the last corners and some got started forming the top of the wall for the solid beam. Another group finished the last column. Before lunch we poured the two columns. After lunch there was a lot of standing around. It was really frustrating at these points, not having anything to do. Once we were able to pour the concrete beam things really moved. Then we had to pour the final column.
I got a sense that we didnt get as far as some would have wanted. We ran into problems with materials. We werent able to get as much done as we would have liked. We hope they are motivated to finish the project. Duane has told us they should have enough money to do so. All of us would love to come back and see the completed job.
Tomorrow we are heading to Santo Domingo. On the way we are going to visit a Christian school. Then we will visit the Ministry Center and a market of some sort.
Tonight was good as we had dinner then walked for ice cream again. It was an okay day, but pretty frustrating.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Trip - Day 7, Feb 17
Today we kind of expected it to be a slow day. We got started as usual with breakfast. After arriving at the job site we got to work right away. We began by taking off the forms from around the windows and columns. We got started with one more door way and a corner column and a side column. When I was finished helping in the back I went to help on the side column. I was helping Jerry and others and we had some fun. They joke with me that the only took me along because of my height. I dont need scaffolding and Jerry used me as a shade tree. We were able to pour three columns before lunch. It was hilarious to see the nationals get a bucket brigade going to pour concrete for the columns. They were having such a good time, it was great to see.
After lunch we really didn't have anything to do. We organized things and that was about all we could do. Tomorrowow we could get quite a ways but it is our last day as well.
As a result we quit early and went to the beach for a few hours. It wasnt as nice as before, but the locals use it more.
After dinner we had a good discussion again on differences between cultures, and how as Christians we are to respond when confronted with different cultures. It was a great chance to discuss these things again. We then walked for ice cream. When we got back we played some cards for a while.
All in all it has been a great experience so far. I am really glad I came and hope Brenda can come on one sometime in the future.
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