iGens and Nobody's Happy

I was listening to the Net @ Night podcast with Leo Laporte and Sarah Lane (standing in for Amber MacArthur) the other night. Somehow the subject they started talking about was a portion of the Conan O'Brien show from earlier in the week. This was an interesting, because Scot McKnight, a theologian and blogger that I regularly read just got done with a series about the book Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before. Both of these hit on the unique subject that with everything we have, people are more miserable. I see this with the youth group kids and the some people in church. Listening to the podcast Money Life with Chuck Bentley, he has been hammering the fact that we have put ourselves into debt to buy things that end up making us miserable. So we keep trying to earn money to buy our happiness, only to be unfulfilled. I won't go into details, but there are people that I am close to that they haven't figured that out yet. In fact, they once told me that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. I think that in the coming years, that America will realize that we need to change...

Not works driven, but...

I know that Christianity isn't works driven, but as it says in James, a faith without works is dead. The other thing that most don't realize is that when you do good deeds, you usually have good feelings and vice versa.



Indexed » Blog Archive » Don’t do it for the tax deduction.

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How True - Barriers to Innovation video

I saw this on the UMNS reporter's blog yesterday and heard about it on an NPR podcast yesterday as well. An astronaut within NASA made a point about the barriers to innovation within NASA. It has been shown to senior NASA personnel, they thought it was funny and painful to watch, because it was true.

This is so true not only in NASA, but in the UM church as Amy Forbus points out. I say that most organizations that get large get into this rut. I think that Christians in general get into a tradition to the point that it is made into doctrine. All need to work at  breaking down those silos of compartmentation.

As funny that I could point at NASA, but my own agency can suffer from it as well, although I have seen some changes in recent years. I also see it in agencies that I have to work with as well, not only in the Federal government, but the state and local levels as well.

So, is this rampant in your own company or organization?  Look for ways to change. The end of the video has probably the best way for change...Servant Leadership.

If you have a light, You can't hide it

The Daily reading from a podcast and a separate website that I read for Today (Jan. 29)...

Mark 4:21-25

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Would you bring in a lamp to put it under a tub or under the bed? Surely you will put it on the lamp-stand? For there is nothing hidden but it must be disclosed, nothing kept secret except to be brought to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to this.’
He also said to them, ‘Take notice of what you are hearing. The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given – and more besides; for the man who has will be given more; from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away.’

A statement in the podcast was, (paraphrasing here) Jesus would heal someone and then tell them to remain quiet about it, as if to hide it, but they never seemed to be able to do it. It was as if He was the living example of this passage. "Would you bring in a lamp to put it under a tub or under the bed? Surely you will put it on the lamp-stand? For there is nothing hidden but it must be disclosed, nothing kept secret except to be brought to light." He could no more keep himself hidden because He was a light to the world.

Are you being a light? So if you tried to remain quiet about things that you do that would please God, would they be shown to the world anyway?

My dad's encounter with an atheist

A conversation that my dad had with an atheist was brought to the forefront recently, while attending my uncle Bruce's funeral.

Anyway, it was a wake-up call for me that came alive again this past week as I traveled to Southwest Virginia to honor the memory of a fallen comrade, my sister’s husband, Bruce. The Fort Hill UMC was packed…300 strong, to honor this man who had only been a part of their congregation for five years.

A portion of the poem that was read at his funeral:

Not – How did he die? But – How did he live?/Not – What did he gain, But - What did he give?

These are the things that measure the worth of a man, as a man, regardless of birth.

The whole post is here:View Original Article

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I love C. S. Lewis!

If we retain only what can be justified by standards of prudence and convenience at he bar of enlightened common sense, then we exchange revelation for that old wraith Natural Religion. - C. S. Lewis

Rick Warren Interview: On Gay Marriage and Divorce - Beliefnet.com

Rick Warren Interview: On Gay Marriage and Divorce - Beliefnet.com

Rick Warren nails my views on gay marriage. My thought has been that gay and lesbians can have civil unions, but as a church, we do not have to bless them, just as we need to deal with two heterosexual people living together before being married, or deal with someone who is doing x. Sin is sin we should not bless it. We should love the person, respect them, and pray that the Holy Spirit will convict them of their sin.

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I'm not as frustrated

I feel blessed this morning. I have a post that is brewing about justice and Christmas, but that can wait for a day or two. I was beginning to feel frustrated lately with the media again. It has to do with the typical things that are job related. Public perception of the forecast, the media's role in causing the confusion, and trying not to call someone a moron over the phone, while representing the government.

However, as I was on my way into work, I was listening to my usual string of podcasts. My mind was way too distracted during my Bible reading podcast, but when I got to the Pray-as-you-go podcast, I payed attention for some reason.

Matthew 11:28-30 © Jesus exclaimed, ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’ - Universalis Mass reading.

I realized that my frustration stemmed from me wanting to labor on my own projects, rather than letting go and laboring on the projects that God has given me. I have learned to let things go. After discussions with Brandon today, and yesterday, I don't worry as much about him. We still have some financial problems, but they are manageable. So I am making sure that I have Christ's yoke on me.

My twitter posts et al

I don't know if my twitter posts being summarized is bothering anybody, but I like them. For one, I actually talk about things weather related. That was always something I did rarely, in the past. Also, I sometimes wonder aloud some of the things on my mind. I try to get too mundane with the twitter posts, but I can't help myself sometimes. One thing that it has done, is spurred on my blog writing. I was sputtering for a while. Now, I am writing a post at least once a week, sometimes more.

On a slightly different thought, I'm glad the elections are over. I know hope that people are moving on with their lives. I thought that the tenor of the whole election got a little too muddy for my liking. Actually, I know some conservative friends who were freaking out over the Obama election, but I knew it was a done deal. I relaxed as I heard all sorts of things that are supposed to happen with the Obama election. However, a lot of the news sources I read the progressive are a bit perturbed at his picks for cabinet posts.

I have to say this, I vote. Sometimes for the winner and sometimes not. I participate. However, I continue to live my existence based on something totally different. If the government comes and takes my 401k (something one of my conservative friends said) oh well. While I may not be that complacent about it, my hope is not placed in the government to bail me out. I will live a life of significance no matter who is in the White House.

This wouldn't fit on Twitter

I have a Google gadget on my iGoogle page that daily gives me C. S. Lewis quotes. Sometimes if I like them I twitter them. In this case it is too big to fit the 140 characters. Here it is:

If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair. -C. S. Lewis

Advent Conspiracy for this year...

Theosis -- according to John Wesley

I commented on Pastor Brian Zahnd's blog recently when he talked about a reformation. I agreed with him. I have been looking at the fact that those who want to be othrodox don't always do anything after the initial salvation.

Here's a great quote:

"Revivalist altar calls have given too many people the impression that anything beyond initial conversion is optional."

As one commenter said on his blog was that there are people from all denominations trying to put the orthodox and the othropraxis. In this case, the article comes from Christianity Today via the UMC Reporter's Blog.

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Am I really a fundamentalist?

I don't do a word for word literal interpretation of the Bible.

I do believe in Jesus dying for my sins and rising on the third day to give me a new life.

I do believe, that life begins at conception, not because its in the bible (because it's not), but because as a scientist that is the conclusion I have come to.

I believe that a Christian should be generous and that our hope is not found in the government.

I'm not sure that I agree with the redistribution of wealth that Obama proposes. I think that like the Hebrews began to enslave Hebrew during Jeremiah's time that American corporations are enslaving Americans through debt.

I don't agree with McCain in the campaign finance, doesn't that limit the freedom of speech?

I'm beginning to see that I am more libertarian and I am conservative or liberal. Although, I'm not 100% sold on the libertarian ideas either.

I get tired of the name calling, the half truths and things taken out of context. Like Obama being  a Muslim and Palin being as right wing as they say.

I get tired of the conspiracy theories, on the left and the right. But I can see how some things appear to be like they do.

I guess this last month of the election has tired me out that I don't want to approve either side. I want my voice heard.

I'm tired of the making fun of the other side. It is leading to anger in this country. An anger that we cannot afford to have.

I love all. I try to help all. I try...

C. S. Lewis Quote

I saw this on my C. S. Lewis Quote Google gadget the other day:
"In the midst of a world of light and love, of song and feast and dance, [Lucifer] could find nothing to think of more interesting than his own prestige."
--A Preface to Paradise Lost

I think about that with our youth group kids as they struggle with things. A lot of them just want to be popular, when there is so much more to experience. In my experience, you will become popular if you learn, listen, and experience the things that God has for you. Experience life, don't be interested in your own prestige!

A great quote from a podcast today

"I wonder how many people in the Body of Christ are grouchy, just because they don't spend time with God."

Leading a horse to water...

I have been struck at the number of people that I have come across recently that have expressed faith in Christ, or have in the past, but for what ever reason push it aside as if it was just the one or two hour a week thing at church. I guess that's the frustration that comes sometimes in youth ministry when you are doing everything you think is right. You think you are doing the right things, and you think they are beginning to get with the plan, but then they fall into the same patterns. A few people over the past couple of months have gotten me thinking about this.

So with a culmination of things, it has me feeling a bit down. However, on the brighter side, we are getting back a big chunk of our taxes. Which means, that I need to make adjustments to our W4's so that we can keep that in our paychecks. Besides Christ is Risen!

The Death of the Truck

Things have been tight financially, recently. I won't go into all of the long litany of things, but suffice it to say that we are running on the edge of red and black ink. Well, to top things off, yesterday (Friday), I took Brandon to the Mountain for work, it's about a 1 or 2 mile drive. About half way, the oil pressure gauge went to low. There was now smoke or anything so I dropped Brandon off and went home. I opened the hood and the oil level was full. So I didn't lose any oil. In the past, I had a bad sensor on the truck and so I thought that this was what the problem was. I was wrong. I forgot that there is a pump that maintains the oil pressure in the truck and that it failed. So when I went to work in the afternoon, the truck started, but as soon as I began to drive down Elm Street, the engine died. I tried to restart it but it wouldn't go. I called our roadside assistance and the Ford Garage in Gaylord and made arrangements.

Once at the garage, I got a rental car and proceeded to work. Then the phone call...they pushed it into the garage and tried to start it, but the engine had totally siezed. It wouldn't even try to crank like it did for me. A remanufactured engine with labor would be $4000. So we are looking at options. We have a great one from inside our family here that looks like we can do. We just have to wait until Monday to work out the paper work.

However, I'm still a little down. My little Ranger has been with me for 9 years. I've driven that thing all over the eastern part of the US. I know that it is just a truck, but sometimes you run into one that just seems special, and this one was one of those. Goodbye old friend...

After Christmas thoughts

I feel like a nearly drove Mary over the edge this year. A lot had to do with the fact that by the end of November, I was feeling a deep sense of conviction with the whole Christmas thing. It started around Thanksgiving when we were buying the food for the feast. We were in the Wal-Mart parking lot and somebody was beeping their horn for some unknown reason and I began making up some song about consumerism to the tune of "Silver Bells." Mary started to call me Scrooge. I then started having flashbacks to a time in my childhood, when Dad would make remarks and Mom would get on his case by calling him Scrooge.

I tried to explain that Scrooge in "A Christmas Carole" didn't believe in Christmas. I believe in Christmas and Christ for that matter, but I feel that we are getting so far away from the meaning of what this time of the year is supposed to mean. As Rick McKinley, pastor at Imago Dei church in Portland, OR, said in one of his sermons, imagine you are at your birthday party and everyone is giving gifts to everyone else. As I listened to various sermons, from our local church to Mars Hill and Imago, the more I felt convicted.

It's not that giving is wrong, but with all of the money that we have here in the US, I think we still do a poor job at helping others in need, whether they be here or overseas. The commercialism and the consumer mentality of the season has been making me realize that our focus is on ourselves and not on who Christ said that we are to help: the poor, oppressed, widowed and orphaned. It is there in the Bible from the Old Testament to the New.

My biggest problem was that I felt that it would be nearly impossible to bring the family on board and I grew increasingly frustrated. Well, I came to terms with the conviction after talking with Mary several times. We are going to try and do something different for next year.

To see some ideas for next year check out the Advent Conspiracy page.

My Sundays when I work

Being a meteorologist that has to work on rotating shifts, there are a few weekends when it is my time to work. Some people would ask how I do church. For one thing, I have found that my first day off from work is my sabbath. I tend to not do a whole lot on that day. Next, while I miss our church worship on Sunday, I listen to the podcasts of two other churches, Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, MI and Imago Dei in Portland, OR.

This last Sunday was interesting as I find myself evaluating how am I being part of the priesthood of all believers, fulfilling Isaiah 61, Acts 2:42-47, and wondering what more can I do. The reason that it was so interesting, was due to the fact that Mars Hill and Imago Dei had almost the same teaching with the difference being their geographical areas and the Lifespring podcast the hosts wife shared how they are trying to share God's peace with kids who don't have any peace. Coming from a Methodist, who tries to knows a little bit of the life of John Wesley, I find myself wanting to emulate Christ better.