Sunday Night Mind Dump

• I came today thinking the big news would be the paint on the walls in the sanctuary. Then it turned out to be a big “homecoming” day!
  • Several people who have been away from worship because of illness or recovering from surgery were BACK. Erna Eischen, Audrey Barrett, Darlene Helming.
  • Dan and Amy Mahl were here. They live in Albany, but have gone to Haiti with us a couple times.
  • A couple people who just haven’t been in worship, and I’ve missed them were here.
  • The paint is cool. God’s people? Way way way cooler.
• I am sure there are people who don’t care for the paint, but the only reactions I heard today were positive. VERY positive.  As Tim Hartnett said, “lots of superlatives”.
• Kingdom Quest had a special guest, today. Margaret Talboys from Habitat for Humanity came to thank the children for making wreaths that will be shared with Buffalo Habitat homeowners in the coming year. Very cool.
• Also in Kingdom Quest, I had a blast watching Christopher Hartnett play the part of a builder who explained the whole construction of Solomon’s temple. The large group team had even set up some  cones and stuff to show the size of the Holy of Holies.  They do a FANTASTIC job in Kingdom Quest!!
• I am in the bulletin as the “Director of Transformation Services”. That tickles me.
• Getting more and more passionate about helping people get into the Word on a daily basis.  How to do that most effectively??!?
• Mission madness is getting very exciting. Three new baskets left in my office today: night’s stay at The Lodge bed and breakfast, ice cream toppers and an Entertainment Book. You aren’t going to want to miss this event (Saturday November 14, 2pm – 5pm). And all to help us serve others in the world in Jesus’ name!!
• Gosh, I thought the band sounded great at 11:15 today. I found it very easy to sing along and felt caught up in the beauty of the music. Really enhanced my worship. I stayed after to sing “Happy Now I Know” with them.
• 16 couples at the Couples Retreat this weekend. I love that. Can’t wait to hear more about it. Big thanks to the Dosters and the Chamberlands for planning it. Made finding communion assistants at 11:15 a little tricky.

 

Focus on this…

Seth Godin had a great post today, titled “Notice Me”! He talks about how important it is to look beyond the goal of being noticed to “far better” goals like being:

• Trusted
• Engaged with
• Purchased from
• Discussed
• Echoed
• Teaching us
• Leading

Here’s another plea (this time from God’s Word) to put the focus where it belongs:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

- Philippians 4:8-9

 

Prayer to start the day…

This has long been one of my favorite morning prayers:

Jesus, I desire to start this day with You. And yet, my mind keep flitting to so many things: the projects I want to accomplish, the people I want to talk to, the people I wish I didn’t have to talk to.

I wonder. Are these things distractions to spiritual concentration or invitations to see God in the ordinary?

I’m not sure, Jesus.  I know that You are that Center who knows no distraction. So I offer up my mental fragmentation to You, O Lord my God. May my scatteredness become Your gatheredness. As I am contemplating a thousand things, Jesus, may I somehow be contemplating You. Amen.

- Richard Foster, Prayers from the Heart

 

Sunday Night Mind Dump

• There are some Sundays that just have a crazy feel to them. This was one of them, with a capital C.R.A.Z.Y.
• There was a mouse in the chancel (the chancel is the whole altar area–everything behind the communion rails)!  Pete Bulger told me that Pastor was looking for me right in the middle of the 8:45 service (that gets my attention)…so I quickly went over to the bathroom hallway, and there he stands in his robe, holding a broom and a dustpan and asking “Any suggestions what I should do about the mouse in the chancel?” This, my friends is an all-service Pastor. Anyway, he decided to wait until the service was over. When I warned the acolyte (Brandon)  who was getting ready to go out to put out the candles that there was a mouse in the chancel (didn’t want him to be afraid), he said, “Cool.”.  Brandon’s dad Russ captured the little thing and let it go outside.
• Kingdom Quest had several missing Shepherds, which is a challenge.  Cathy and her team pulled it off in magnificent fashion, as they always do.
• I got to be in the skit for Kingdom Quest today. Pretty fun. I got to scream and cry–and I won the baby. If you’re wondering what in the world I’m talking about, check out 1 Kings 3:16-28.
• Jason and Tim (on behalf of the Renovations Committee) asked me to be the Foreman for the moving project after church to get things ready for painting, which starts on Monday morning. They thought it might take 30-40 minutes. Took us 10. Wooo hooooo!! We were basically moving things in the balcony and Cry Room. Big thanks to Pam Jones, Steve Frazier, Jeff Bruce, Randy Wert, Mark Mongielo, Dan McCollum and Dave Phillips. You guys were great!
• I always love hearing youth in the worship band. Today I thought Jake McCollum sounded especially good. So fun.
• I found the Bills game to be very disheartening. I will always root for them, but man are they terrible. Terrible.  And the Twins lost, too. Sigh.
• I really resonated with Jason’s sermon today. Presence, Rest, and Forgiveness. Those are some great promises from God. I also loved the passage which I hadn’t read in a while that says, “if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13. I’m going to be praying that one a lot this week.
• Seems  like there’s an awful lot of really tough sickness stuff around. I was especially aware today of Erna and Cindy who I know were not at worship this weekend because they are fighting BIG battles with cancer. I think of their loved ones who are ministering to them and with them on a daily basis. I pray for the medical professionals in their lives. Friends and relatives, too.  I can sure say this, the faith of both of these women is a shining light for me.  I hate that disease, but I love the way it drives me to my knees. It’s the only peace I find when it comes to that. God is faithful.

 

New motivation: your dead Homie Jesus. Yowsa.

*Thanks to Becca Calvin…this pic was on her Facebook.

P.S. I have to admit I would love to hear the Beulah Baptist Gospel Choir!

 

Big laughs, pasta buffet, F.U.N. –and all for a dollar!

First Trinity’s Special Events ministry (called Impact), has a doozy of a good thing coming up and I wanted you to know about it! Here’s the deal:

• Sunday October 25th at 5:30pm at First Trinity…1570 Niagara Falls Blvd. Tonawanda 14150
• The dinner is a pasta buffet (including alredo, baked ziti and mac and cheese). This is the same awesome team that brings us Monday’s Meal–they are GREAT cooks.
• The entertainment is a guy named Nels Cremean, show called “In Jest”. He’s a Christian artist into juggling, humor, and lots of tricks and other fun stuff. His website says: Experience side-splitting, gravity-defying fun with clean comedy, flying objects, audience participation, incredible stunts, and amazing yet useless skills.
• AND YES, THE TICKETS ARE ONE DOLLAR. In fact, if you bring a child, your ticket is free. That means the tickets are 50 cents (they are also taking an offering to help cover expenses).
• I have talked to several people who have seen this guy in person and really loved him. Highly recommended I show up. So I’m going to.
  

Isn’t there a child you’d like to come and laugh your brains out with? We all need more lightness in our hearts and lives. I hope you’ll come. PERFECT for bringing a friend (your child’s or yours).

 

Sunday Night Mind Dump

• We had 462 people in worship over the weekend. Yowsa. Thank You, Holy Spirit!!
• I got the chance to attend the Discover First Trinity class. Lots of people in there–if you’re reading this, I challenge you to find out who they are and introduce yourself to one of them. Pastor Chuck taught about the Bible today. Great stuff. I got to explain what Transformation Ministries is–but I forgot to mention Everyday Faith and the Preschool. Doggone it.
• Got another comment of surprise about my office today.  Being clean that is. It’s been this way well over six months, but it’s still shocking to people.
• I thought the skit in worship was great (although I was at a Bills party later in the day where the people didn’t feel quite the same way). I loved the concept that the church was designed to have a balance of “in” actions (focused inwardly) and “out” actions (focused out to the world where people don’t know Jesus yet).  I liked how it set Pastor Chuck up to share the ways that First Trinity focuses out. I learned some things (like I didn’t know about the literacy program for women in India…makes me want to give over my pledge).  Joe Zimmerman and Karen Cassidy have pretty perfect comedic timing!
• Kingdom Quest used a lesson I wrote to go with the “Nations Matter” theme. Wish I could have seen how it worked out. They sure have a great team in there!!
• We had Life Group last night and I always feel more connected to the larger worshiping community after I’ve spent time in that smaller group.

 

Sunday Night Mind Dump

• Before the 8:45 service Jessica asked me to announce her parents’ wedding anniversary at the time of the Children’s Message. I thought that was pretty great.
• My PIT crew met this morning. That’s the group of people that prays for me daily. I know. So cool. It was great updating my prayer request sheet for them to see that several prayers had been answered in the last month. God is so good. It’s a good reason to write down the prayers one prays. Easier to see how faithful God is.
• We had 7 more adults in study this week than last. Love that.
• Heard it again…and it really pierces my heart. An attender in one of our Adult Bible Classes said, “you know half the time I don’t know what they’re talking about because I haven’t read the Bible very much. I just figure I should keep my mouth shut.”  Ugggh.  The crazy thing is there are lots of people in EVERY Bible class that don’t know what’s being talked about some of the time. Those of us who know the Bible tend to be the ones who speak up and then the impression is that everyone does. It’s a continuing struggle. Ask the questions!!!
• Met a family at the Change-ing Our World drop off spot outside Jason’s office before the 8:45 service. This is the program that helps you save coins on a regular basis for sending people on Short Term Mission trips. They were trying to decide whether to pour the money into the drop safe or put the whole jar in. For the record: pour it in.
• Our Kingdom Quest kids made wreaths for Habitat Homes in Buffalo (our community matters!) today. They will presented to families on the day their homes are dedicated. They have Scripture passages on them and a reminder on the back that they matter to us at First Trinity because they matter to God. The Kingdom Quest team does a beautiful job!
• O my goodness, I loved the moment at 11:15 worship  when the parents from the Bless My Baby Everyday Faith Event leaned in to whisper their blessing in their child’s ear. SO loved it. We have some great ideas about how to get more families there for that event next year.
• It must be Fall–put away the sandals and made a big pot of Taco Soup tonight.

 

Sometimes I settle…

I think sin is sneaky. I often think of sins as the stuff I do wrong. And it is. But while I’m reflecting on my need for Jesus to help me in the things I do wrong, sin is creeping in as “settling for second best.” Trading God’s best for the world’s “ok”. My friend and mentor Bill Karpenko shared this quote from NT Wright in “Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense” today, that really speaks to me in this area:

Christian holiness is not (as people often imagine) a matter of denying something good. It is about growing up and grasping something even better.  Made for spirituality, we wallow in introspection. Made for joy, we settle for pleasure. Made for justice, we clamor for vengeance. Made for relationship, we insist on our own way. Made for beauty we are satisfied with sentiment. But new creation has already begun. The sun has begun to rise. Christians are called to leave behind, in the tomb of Jesus Christ, all that belongs to the brokenness and incompleteness of the present world. It is time, in the power of the Spirit, to take up our proper role, our fully human role, as agents, heralds and stewards of the new day that is dawning. That, quite simply, is what it means to be Christian: to follow Jesus Christ into the new world, God’s new world, which He has thrown open before us.”

The pairings are so poignant to me. I see myself in all of them. Introspection is a poor shadow of spirituality. Pleasure is only a sign of the true joy that Jesus offers. I seek vengeance because it is easier than justice. There are times when I would give up relationships in order to be right. And I have settled for sentiment when God offers me beauty.

Lots for me to leave behind in the tomb of Jesus.

 

Baby Steps

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. – Romans 12:1-2 (MSG)

Did you ever see the movie “What About Bob?” That movie totally cracks me up…in the scene above, Bob (who seems crazy but by the end of the movie turns out to be sane) gets advice from his psychologist Dr. Marvin (who seems sane but by the end of the movie turns out to be crazy) about using “baby steps” to get over his problems. Baby steps says Dr. Marvin is the process of  “setting small reasonable goals for yourself one day at a time, one tiny step at a time.”

I think Dr. Marvin is on to something. Sometimes the issues we have to work on, the sin that dogs us on a regular basis and all that we wish we were seem so BIG, it is hard to have hope that we can change. And of course, we can’t really change without the Holy Spirit. And although the Holy Spirit can change us however He wants to, it seems to me the route is often through a painstaking daily process of learning to depend on Him, one baby step at a time.  As Mary Anne Radmacher wrote: ” Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow. ” With God’s help.
PS The “is this corn hand-shucked?” scene in “What About Bob?” is HI-LARIOUS!!!!