My New Blog

I've started a new blog called Life According to St. Mark. It's a fun play off my namesake's Gospel letter.

I hope you have enjoyed The Lotus, but after a few months, I will shut it down. Please, please, join me over on Life According to St. Mark!

One Party, Three Churches

After Ordination service May 31st, my home church, Rossville UMC, hosted a big party. It was a great reception. Steph and I really appreciated it.

What was really neat was that they invited the church I'm serving, Columbia City UMC, and the church I will be serving, Winchester First UMC.

It was a somewhat surreal moment to have the church that shaped my faith journey hosting the first church I was appointed to and which helped shape future ministry. Then the church to which we'll be moving soon where I will get to "try out" all this stuff I've been learning and growing into as pastor.

It was a cool moment, and it was yet another reminder that we are not islands of ourselves. We are interconnected in ways that we don't often see or even know. It was humbling to know that I am and will be a connectional bridge in the history of these churches. I wonder who else was that bridge? How many bridges are there!?!

That party was a symbol to me of the Church: We are all in this together. We celebrate together. We cry together. One church shapes the other and vice-versa.

We often talk about being a connectional church as United Methodists. Rather, I say that we just admit to it. In reality it's the connectional Church, One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism.

Thoughts on Ordination

Sometimes we look forward to moments, and we expect a moment that is transcendent. Often, those moments fail to live up to our expectations.

Not so, Saturday. I will always treasure and remember May 31st, 2008. On the last day of our Annual Conference session 10 of us were ordained Elders in Christ's Holy Church. After years of mentoring and examination, it was an incredible moment to have the Bishop lay his hands on my head and set me aside for the Church. Having Jack Hart place the stole around my neck was surreal. It truly was a transcendent moment.

A few weeks leading up to ordination, Bishop Mike Coyner led all of the ordinands in a 2 day retreat. There we read and discussed the meaning of being ordained. I appreciated the reflection. Though little was "new" to me, it was a great (meaning both good and big) reminder of the weight of yoke of ordination. It is not something done lightly. The tradition of ordination came from the concept of Apostolic Succession.

In the Early Church, growth was rapid, leaders were few, and the only Scripture was the Old Testament. As disagreements in theology arose, it became evident that there needed to be a process of preserving and transmitting the historic faith. This became ordination. The Disciples of Jesus had disciples who had disciples who had disciples who...you get the picture. The concept of Apostolic Succession is that there is a trained, mentored, and educated group of people set aside to preserve and transmit (sometimes the word "guard" is used) the historic faith. This line of ordination, in theory, goes all the way back to Jesus himself. This is why we ordain clergy and set them aside.

On Sunday morning, June 1st, I kissed my ordination stole, offered up prayers that in humility I might be a servant of God to CCUMC, and I put on a stole that carried an impossible weight. It was the weight of being a servant of the Church, a faith and a people that extend millenia in the past and innumberable years ahead. It didn't feel good or bad, but there was a real sense that I was now different.

I am honored. I am humbled. I feel good. I am carrying a burden. In all these feelings, still there is something that is true. That always was true and always will be: The love of God. I pray that always my stole is a reminder that ordination is a calling by God to the Church and entrusted to me that I might serve and in so doing offer God's Love to a hurting and broken world.

The Appointment Process

I've had a few people ask me about the appointment process in the United Methodist Church. It's a fairly involved process, so I invite you to read about it here.

Thanks to everyone at CCUMC who have wished us well. It's been an adventure, and we are humbled by your love and support.

Going with God

This week was a very busy week. Two funerals, a wedding, and seeing our new home !! :o

Yes, our new home!

Thursday night, Stephanie and I met with the PPRC of FUMC Winchester and District Superintendent Dale Mendenhall. Stephanie, myself, and the church agreed that we are a good fit, and the appointment became official.

This morning, we met with CCUMC's SPRC sharing that we will be moving. It will be announced tomorrow morning in both churches, but it is now official...and we can talk about it!

Stephanie and I are very excited, and we look forward to the ministry we join in Winchester. We are also sad to leave Columbia City, the church, and our friends.

This is the bittersweet experience of any move, and to be honest, I don't know what all I'm exactly feeling other than excited to go to a church and community with a lot of potential, nervous about being new, and missing friends already. This is the journey of missional life: Moving where God calls us...even when where we are is fun, good, and comfortable.

The Spanish have a saying: Vaya con Dios. Go with God. And so we do. We go where God directs us, and we pray that we always do...and that is my prayer for all of you as well.

Vaya con Dios.

What is a Pastor?

In several of the comments about the "Perfect Church," I noticed comments about the pastor. From a cursory glance, it seems that the perfect church needs a certain kind of pastor. From clergy and laity responses alike, I heard a vocal outcry that the pastor live up to his/her end of the bargain.

Perhaps another question is in order: What is the pastor's role in the church?

I personally believe the pastor, which literally means shepherd, is to lovingly lead the church. They are resident theologians that must administrate, train, comfort, and help guide the church.

One of my concerns is the "cult of personality" that exists in so many churches. Often "being fed" means that someone was entertained by music or someone's oratory skills. Rarely, if at all, have I heard someone say, "That sermon was really good, and God spoke through it...even though it was poorly given." Why is that? Has the USChurch programmed ourselves out of the Word of God into an hour of vocal and oratory entertainment? My fear is that it has.

Jonathan Edwards was one of the greatest preachers and theologians the United States has ever seen. His sermons are considered classics that gave birth to the Great Awakening. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is the most intellectually frightening piece of literature I've ever read. Contemporary texts said that his parishioners would be wailing and crying in response to his sermons. What few people now know is that Edwards would literally read from his text is a fairly monotone voice...He rarely raised his voice. He never used jokes. He didn't use movies to illustrate points. He also spent 8 hours EVERY day studying the text in Hebrew and Greek.

Is that the icon of the pastor? Or is the pastor who is always visiting, counseling, and holding hands the preferred? Maybe there shouldn't be a prefered!?! Perhaps, the pastor should be allowed to be who they are. Perhaps they should lead as God made them to lead.

One of my dreams for the Church is that it would be an egalitarian group of Jesus followers. No one would come to a church or leave a church because of the pastor. No one would ever leave on a Sunday morning saying "I'm not fed," instead they would be saying "I enjoyed bringing my praise to God today." I dream that one day people will be trimming an elderly persons hedges in an effort to say, "Jesus loves you, and so do I."

Then the Church will have shown up and worship was good.

The Perfect Church

Ah, the perfect church...that elusive, yet widely sought after Holy Grail. Sunday after Sunday people leave churches, visit churches, even look at church advertisements in their quest for "the perfect church." Perhaps that can be the next Indiana Jones' movie title: Indiana Jones and the Sunday of the Perfect Church.

The scary thing is, though, none of us will admit that we are looking for it or even expect it...even though we do.

Here's my Perfect Church v1.0:

1. The perfect church understands that its primary purpose is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

2. The perfect church loves her Groom, Jesus and runs with desperate passion to His arms.

3. The perfect church loves each other.

4. The perfect church submits herself to the Holy Scriptures as contained in the OT and NT.

5. The perfect church understands that the building serves the church...it isn't the church, nor does the church serve the building.

6. The perfect church understands that its pastor is not the minister: The people are all ministers. The pastor is merely a resident theologian and administrator.

7. The perfect church does not hate, gossip, slander, or back stab each other.

8. The perfect church knows that worship is not about "being fed." Worship is about declaring the worth of God.

9. The perfect church believes that worship is a verb.

10. The perfect church has structure and rules that are firm enough to maintain stability, but flexible enought to be creative, fresh, innovative, and faithful.

11. The perfect church understands that culture is a medium. The Message of the Gospel, the Logos, can be put into any culture relevantly and faithfully...and this is NOT something to fear.

12. The perfect church would not be interested in doctrinal arguments; rather, it would be interested in how our theology compels us to love God and Neighbor.

13. The perfect church would understand that the above statement doesn't mean anything goes.

14. The perfect church would have staff on board with the mission of the church and a clear vision of what God has done and is doing for them in their personal lives.

15. The perfect church would be a place of laughter, play, seriousness, joy, sadness, weeping, anger, and any other human emotion.

16. The perfect church would be a safe place to say anything.

17. The perfect church would be a refuge for the hurting.

18. The perfect church would be a place where we take off the plastic smiles and are real with each other.

19. The perfect church would be interactive.

20. The perfect church would understand and use technology appropriately.

21. The perfect church would not be too big, yet always planting sister churches as it grows.

That would be some church.

Alan's Thoughts

A friend of mine who attends our church, Alan Boggs has a Caring Bridge site. On this site, Alan journals quite frequently. I have treasured his thoughts and his sharings. They are an inspiration for those of us who take life a little to much for granted...

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/alanboggs

I invite you to check out some of his writings, which have inspired me.

What is your perfect Church?

We all vent about our churches. We like some things. We don't like others. This music was great. That music wasn't. This sermon excited me. This one didn't. We could go on and on praising or complaining about our churches.

I have a question to all of you who read my blog (what about 5 people now:):

What is your perfect church? Describe it to me. What is it like? What does it say? Not say? What does it sound like when it worships? What are the sermons about? How are they given?

I am REALLY interested in your views, so please respond!

Methodists reach the 21st century

Today, the United Methodist Church in Indiana had a live webcast in all 92 counties of Indiana. We are discussing the unification of the North and South Indiana Conferences into one new Indiana Conference. We feel this to be an important step to reorganizing ourselves for a new day in order to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

It is also a surprising statement by our Conferences' leadership that we are committed to using relevant, new technologies for communication. The webcast was well planned with information coming in appropriate time. The support and methodology was simple yet very solid. It was done well. The tech team was also very responsive to technical questions and potential difficulties.

I am glad to see that we have taken a leap of faith and tried, successfully, to communicate to all 92 counties across Indiana with a live webcast. As United Methodists, we are woefully behind accessing and relevantly using modern technology and communication. Hopefully, this will be a catalyst to even better use of existing and future technologies and communication methods here in Indiana. Being a connected, heavily structured church, it is imperative for us to grow in this useage.

I would like to offer some positive comments and some constructive criticism for future communications.

Positive:
1. The very idea of the webcast.
2. The identification that we needed to hire a company to help us do this.
3. The technology and support staff were well prepared and excellent at resourcing the host churches.
4. The live and interactive model allows virtual real-time communication across the state of Indiana.
5. The answering of questions was done well...the persons seemed very comfortable.

Things to Improve:
1. This is a state-wide communication; therefore, we needed to be purposeful about those communicating the info. Perhaps using prompters instead of notes, rehearsing more, more eye-contact with the cameras would have been much more natural. It was obvious that the presenters were not comfortable with the process.
2. We had a static coming through the webcast. We're not sure from where it was coming. The sound was also a bit muffled; though that would be part of the very streaming, is there a way to sharpen that a bit?
3. There was a slight blink whenever we went from video to slides. This was distracting, but minor.
4. Why were there so few people in attendance...especially from other UM churches?

Things to Consider for the Future:
1. Make it a two-way webcast...of course for 92 counties that would be a bit much; however, we need to train our churches and MANDATE our pastors to learn how to do this effectively.
2. Make it flashy...this is very important for a media savvy culture/society.
3. In a day where communication is THE vital "structure," perhaps we need to staff more around communication and communications technology.
4. Live webcasts need to be in EACH church. That is the very point of these new technologies.

These are just some of my thoughts as I sat in the webcast. I was proud to be a part of a church trying to catch up to new technologies. I was saddened a bit by the lack of attendance from the different churches. 3 of 25 in attendance where from a church other than ours. Overall, though, the webcast was well done, and it communicated the information effectively.

I look forward to this becoming standard practice for meetings and conferencing in the future. Welcome to the 21st century Indiana United Methodist Church...It's a fun and exciting time to do ministry. Let's get to it!

D-....I PASSED!

Just kidding....

I did however pass...my ordination interviews that is! I have been approved for ordination, which means that, Lord willing, I will be officially ordained on May 31st. Yeah!

I was commissioned in 2005, and now, three years later, I will be ordained an Elder in the United Methodist Church. This means that I am a servant ordained to Service, Word, and Sacrament. It has a few techinical differences compared to the Probationary status: The biggest being that I can baptize and serve communion outside our facility...as well as I am now guaranteed a pastoral appointment.

It's been nearly 10 years from when I first felt the call to ministry to now, and it feels like an eternity in some regard. College, seminary, Commissioning, and the Probationary Elder period...not to mention the amount of theological writing. Wow.

However, I AM glad that we have safeguards to our pastoral system. With the Episcopal system that appoints Elders, I do feel it necessary that we have a clear understanding of our Ordained Elders and their training. It is a safeguard for every church, and an excellent refinement for every pastor.

So, in the end, this is a mini-celebration before the big one, on May 31st. If you want, come and see me ordained at the place I first felt my call: Purdue University. I'd love to celebrate with all my friends. BYODC....bring your own diet coke.


My only question is...will Bishop Mike get to wear that great hat!?!

Waiting to Die

Most of us do whatever we can to prolong our life. We try dieting, exercising, wear seatbelts, look both ways before crossing the street, etc. We want to live...as Thoreau says, "Living is so precious."

Last Friday, we buried my Grandmother's body. She was 94 and lived a great, full life. We are so thankful that she is with Jesus now. Her mind clearer than ever and her body spriter than in her youth, she walks the fields of gold with Grandpa. For those of us left behind, it is bittersweet. We celebrate her life, and we mourn her gone from our midst. Yet, as the days go by, Grandma has left me thinking...

Since Grandpa died in 2004, Grandma has missed her soulmate of 64 years. She continued to say, "I'm ready," which we all knew meant that she was ready to die. She wanted to be reunited with her maker, her family and friends, and her best friend, Grandpa. While she fully understood that Heaven is different and that we aren't married there, she also knew that the loves of her life were not here. Having raised a great family (yes, I'm biased), she was finished here, and her heart longed for a different home, Heaven, where the greatest lover of her life, God, was waiting along with many saints that have gone on before her...including "Bill."

I've begun to ask myself this question. Does my heart ache for Heaven? What things am I so attached to that I want to stay here? Are they worthy of such attachment? Do I long for God like that...enough to "go home"?

St. Paul said, "To live is Christ and to die is gain." He wrestled with this same issue, and he found no clear answer himself. Living is so precious, yet I ponder what wonders lay on the other side. Do I have faith to trust God that what waits is better than what is? And, so I ponder this enigmatic verse: To live is Christ and to die is gain.

Thanks Grandma for teaching me one more lesson as you left us. Cheers to you Grandma for you have lived Christ and gained all. We arise and call you blessed.

At what cost?

Belichick. Sampson. Bonds. Our kids.

What do they all have in common? Cheaters. Unrepentent cheaters. Oh, sure, it's alleged. Nothing is ever proven anymore. Belichick and his Patriots taped other teams' practices and sidelines. Everyone thought he was a genius. "It seems like he was in their huddle!" Well, maybe, he was! Yet, the NFL allowed him to continue on with a mere loss of draft picks, which the Patriots always trade for mature players anyway.

Barry Bonds...right, twiggy becomes Heracules in a few short seasons. Despite being on confiscated lists and a client to steroid producers, he still was able to play. What a shame that a record will be held by a known steriod user.

Kelvin Sampson gets to play Purdue this week even though he's going to be fired soon. "It was only cell phone calls!" Right, about 577 prohibited ones that he was already on violations for breaking. His recruiting practices are shady, and he seemingly can't tell the truth according to the NCAA and IU. I loved his interview after the IU-MSU game. When asked if this win meant anything to him personally, he said, "No, it's not about me." Right. Is that why he was jumping up and down nearly crying and punching the air when IU took a commanding lead? Integrity 0, win at all costs 100. Yet, he is allowed to coach one more week at IU...a week that just so happens to include Wisconsin, MSU, and Purdue. The three schools locked in a struggle for the Big Ten with IU. Coincidence?

Cheating seems to be all the rage. Sure, we say it's bad, but apparently, deep down, we think it's OK. Look at the number of Patriot fans on Superbowl Sunday. Look at the Barry Bonds fans cheering for the record*. Did you hear the IU fans chanting "Sampson! Sampson! Sampson!" when IU pulled away from MSU? After the Wiscy loss, he was a goat...now he's a savior. What's the deal. Winning. Well, more precisely, the money and prestige from winning.

It's encouraging to see that some things turn out right, though. I've never rooted or cheered for the Giants like I did when they beat New England. Though the season isn't over, IU isn't leading the Big Ten, and Sampson appears to be gone (once IU plays Purdue, of course...due process).

If it were just sports, it'd be one thing, but it's not. Enron rings a bell, too. Cheating stock holders and employees. How many cheat the IRS? How many folks cheat their employer?

One of the saddest parts of being a temporary youth pastor for about two years was hearing the kids talk about cheating. Great kids spoke of cheating as if it were chewing gum. Bright kids. Honor roll kids. Assanine school policies and pressure for success are creating an academic environment where what you know isn't as important as filling in the right circle on a scantron sheet. 97% of kids that I have asked point blank about this issue have responded that they cheat REGULARLY at school! When I asked if they felt guilty about it, to a person, they responded, "No."

It's easy to go off on the kids. "They know better." Perhaps they don't.

As you're cheering on your favorite sports team, as you're filling out your taxes, as you're thinking about that gorgeous coworker, maybe it's time to wonder where our kids might have learned that cheating is OK. Maybe it was us.

Co-Creators

I thought I'd share a thought about having kids...



Isaiah loves trains, so here he is with his Engineer's hat on his Thomas the Tank Engine couch. He loves his sister, too, so he asked if we'd put her on it and take their picture. Of course, Sophia loves her big brother, and she was just screaming smiles. It's amazing how beautiful they are, and it blows Steph's and my mind that we created such amazing life. What a gift from God that we have the privilege of being co-creators, bringing life into the world. Nothing has taught me more about love than having children. They are by definition blessings.



Sunday, Isaiah made us both tear up. In the shower, he and Sophie were playing. Then he tells her, "Jesus died on the Cross for you, Sister." MMMMM....The stories, the sharing, the explaining, the songs, and the prayers together actually are shaping their lives. It's humbling, yet it made our hearts burst with holy pride:P I pray that he grows up to be a fearless man of God that proclaims the Good News of Jesus Christ wherever he is.

Random Blogging

Here are some random things that I wanted to share.

Sending of the Saints
Saturday, January 26th, a friend, Jan, and I did a Sending the Saints presentation on Small Groups Ministry. It was a lot of fun, and Jan and both enjoyed the event. We appreciated the interaction of the "audience," and we are excited to be doing this again February 23rd. If you want to see the presentation, let me know by commenting. I'll get a .pdf file to you.



Yael Naim




My friend Jeff introduced me to this song and video, which I absolutely love. The naive innocence of the song springs hope in the heart. It's by Yael Naim.



Boiler Basketball!



How 'bout them Boilers!?! Purdue is now 7-1 in the Big Ten and tied for 2nd place midway through the conference season. IU has yet to play Wiscy, MSU, or OSU, while Purdue has played them all once. There is a lot of ball yet to be played, but Purdue is set up nicely to finish well in the Big Ten this year and receive an NCAA seed.



Mind you, Purdue starts 1 Sophomore and 4 Freshmen! Coach Painter is doing a superb job, and the players are responding well. Is Purdue basketball back? It sure looks that way! Boiler Up!

NCAA Football 07 and bowls

I've never written a sports blog post before, but here's my lame attempt....

Well, another year and another OSU loss in the NC. It really is beginning to look like the Big Ten has fallen behind the other conferences. Aside from Michigan thumping Florida, the Big Ten looked rather weak, slow, out-talented, and out-coached. On the bright side, Purdue won the MAC championship by defeating Central Michigan in the Motor City (toilet) Bowl.

What is even more worrisome is that some of the Big Ten programs, like Purdue, are looking from within the conference to replace coaches. If the conference as a whole is struggling, why are we recycling coaches? Wouldn't snagging a SEC or Mountain West (which went 5-1 in the bowls) assistant or coach be a better solution? I like it that Michigan tried hard to land Les Miles. I like it that Illinois went for the Zooker (even though I think he's a terrible coach). They are trying to dip deeply from the well that is the dominant SEC.

Rumor on the street is that Purdue will soon be naming Danny Hope the soon-to-be head coach. The speculation is that Purdue searched for a candidate willing to sit in the passenger seat for Tiller's last year (2008), ready to take over in 2009. Hope is the HC at Eastern Kentuck, and he was a former assistant at Purdue when Tiller first came. He had brilliant success coaching Purdue's o-lines 97-01 (those five years produced 7 NFL o-linemen!), and he has had pretty good success at EKU fielding teams that have beaten the likes of Appalachian St. while challenging for their conference's title.

From my perspective, I think Purdue set the bar too low as the three candidates most commonly spoken were all very under the radar. If Tiller isn't footing the bill at 7-5, shouldn't we be after a coach who has taken other teams to a better mark? Peterson at Boise St. would be a great catch. The coach at Tulsa is another example. Others have mentioned Sumlin or B. Kelly at Cincy. However, name doesn't make you famous, and Purdue is a unique school. Perhaps, Hope is the right man at the right time.

We'll see. Morgan Burke, Athletic Director at Purdue, has a long track record of picking good coaches. I really hope Danny Hope is able to take Purdue and the Big Ten by storm just like Burke's last head coach did in 97'.

Go Boilers!

Zombie!

I hate zombies. I have never seen Day of the Dead, 28 Days, Dawn of the Dead, or any other zombie movie because I’m pretty sure I would scream like a little girl. My most memorable nightmares are of me trying to flee from zombies...if they catch me, I turn into one too! Once I had the very same zombie nightmare for about 10 nights straight! So, yes, I am terrified of zombies.

However, I was flipping through the channels watching TV and I saw a humorous beginning to a movie. You see this guy’s feet lumbering, you hear moaning, and a sub-human grunt. Just as I’m ready to flip the channel (zombie!), the camera pans up, and it’s this English guy waking up and walking to the bathroom. Hilarious. Turns out the movie was Shaun of the Dead. An English spoof of the Zombie genre. It takes horrifying zombie situations matches them up with this guy’s struggle to win back his ex-girlfriend and viola…one of the best comedies I’ve seen.

After watching Shaun of the Dead and laughing hysterically (and cringing in fear), I began to wonder why I was so afraid of zombies. Why is this mythical creature so repulsive and blood-curdling to me? I had always chalked it up to dead people walking around being just generally freaky. Though true, I began to see something bigger. Mythical creatures always represent something. They are symbols for the great, real-life forces that are arrayed against us. Jungian Psychology suggests that these images represent something deep in our conciousness...

Suddenly, it dawned on me: I’m afraid of zombies because they are the living dead. They are “alive,” but they are dead. They move around. They consume people. They do their thing, but really they are dead. That is what I fear the most. Thinking that I am alive, doing my thing, but really I’m just another walking dead, consuming others in my path. Perhaps the fiends of my nightmares are a mirror for my own soul screaming out what I fear most.

Thoreau in Walden puts it this way:
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life…”

First reading this quote was a pivotal moment in my life. At that moment, I saw so many people just existing. They slept, ate, consumed, went to a job to earn money, and they repeated that day after day. Marriages, children, and friendships were neglected. The true treasure of life itself seemed lost to so many. Here we are consuming while being consumed.

What could be more zombie? What could be more terrifying?

The Cranberries' hit song Zombie was a diatribe against all those who did nothing when Ireland was attacking and killing her own children with terrorism. Dolores' voice screamed out, "Zoawmbie...Zoawmbie...Zoawmbie, ie , ie, ie," accusing, condemning. Who could let the innocent die? Who does nothing in the face of such violence? Apparently, only those pretending to live.

Are you a zombie? Are you living for something or just pretending to live? Do you treasure life and live it to its fullest? When you see wrong does your life scream out against it? Are you truly alive?

I live because I choose to live. It’s a choice I make to flee the zombie existence, and I run and struggle and gasp to keep my life. To do anything other is worse than death.

I am terrified of becoming a zombie. I am terrified of living a meaningless existence. It haunts my dreams and my waking hours. For when I die, I want to have truly lived. I start this new year as I've started many: Determined to suck the marrow out of life.

It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of every man;
the living should take this to heart.
- Ecclesiastes 7:2

P.S. I would advise against hitting zombies in the head with cricket paddles.