Ten Dollars

Last Sunday we began a four week mini-series on the things Jesus said about wealth. During the service we watched a video called “God Pie” and I delivered a sermon from Matthew 6 entitled, “God wants His piece of the Pie - Our Treasure follows our heart”. If you were in the service or happen to listen to it you will notice that we did something unique…..we took up two offerings. However in the first offering, the baskets were full of $10 bills and I asked everyone to take $10.

As you can imagine, there was a catch, you couldn’t spend it on just yourself. You had to use it to build a relationship….the rest was up to each individuals imagination.

Well, I spent my $10 on Tuesday. Late in the afternoon I started walking around downtown waiting for someone to ask me for money and couldn’t find anyone. I did get to spend some time with a few people waiting for the bus, but knew I wouldn’t really have time to sit down for a cup of coffee so I decided to let the money continue to burn a hole in my pocket. I ended up at YJ’s coffee shop and soon found out that it was the starting point for the Mardi Gras parade downtown.

I spotted three guys who were unique to say the least. Within a few minutes we struck up a conversation. One of the guys had a dog, and so when he (not the dog, the guy) bent over and started drinking from his dog bowl, I figured it may be a good time to offer to buy them all a drink. Two of the three took me up on the offer and so I threw in some other goodies (not to be legalistic, but I had to spend my $10).

It felt so good to buy for those guys. They were honestly surprised that I would offer it to them. I never did finish counting the number of piercings they all had, it appeared that they had not bathed or changed clothes in weeks. They could see that I really didn’t fit in and asked me what I was doing there….I told them I was a pastor of a church just a few blocks away and that I enjoy coming to YJ’s on occasion because it help me to feel out of place. I told them I didn’t want to just be around people like myself. They really liked that and quickly began to open up. I found out that they are a part of a bookstore that specializes in radical politics. They are strong believers in community with no hierarchy and mutual service to the whole.

It was pretty awesome that after an hour of great conversation, there were really a lot of similarities between what they wanted out of life and New Life….which brings me back to my mini-series of finances. These guys were reacting to the lavish, comfortable lives we pursue….they wanted something more meaningful. Two of the guys had pretty noticeable holes in their shoes, and I pointed out that they could probably get another pair for the price of the coffee they were drinking. And that opened up a discussion about how he was trying to get his feet so calloused that he would not need shoes this summer. I certainly received a valuable education for my $10 and hopefully was able to bless those guys as well. I have promised that I will go find them at their bookstore and continue our conversation.

As I reflect on the week, I am more grateful for so many blessings I experience. My cell phone was acting up a little yesterday and I was tempted to get frustrated, but honestly I remember when I was younger and we had a rotary phone and we had to stand next to it and dial….I always hated the numbers with 9’s and 0’s. Monday, I ran into a few problems changing the oil in my van and got frustrated, however, at least I have a van (90% of the world’s population does not own a vehicle). Earlier this morning the baby grunted her way to a full diaper and just as I was about to think a complaint, I realized that at least I have disposable diapers (I meant Paiton, not me :))…when I was a baby, my mom washed them out by hand—WOW!

Maybe you could take just a minute to reflect on some of the things you take for granted and even cause you frustration and thank God for his multiple provisions. Hopefully you will be able to join in the service this week—I can’t promise $10 for everyone, however there may be a few surprises. I am confident that we will all be challenged from the words of Jesus in Luke 12:13-34. He makes the point that you can have a lot of money and still be poor. The great news is that we can all be rich in the value system of the Kingdom.

Socks

I love a good pair of socks…and I have some really good ones. It is getting close to an obsession for me to start the day off right with a good pair of socks. So when I open my drawer and don’t find the quality of socks I want, it makes me a little frustrated.

I don’t like socks with holes in them. I don’t like ultra-thin socks. I don’t like patterned socks (you know with the super sized paisley pattern). I don’t like socks that have very much polyester in them. I am on the verge of becoming a sock snob.

However, there is a problem!

Leigh-Ann likes good socks too…and I own most of the good ones. Yes, we are married and everything in our household is joint (i.e. checking account, house, etc). The truth is when we married, we both vowed for better and for worse…we said nothing about socks.

So you can imagine my frustration, when I end up settling to wear a less than desirable pair of socks and late in the day, I notice that she is wearing MY GOOD SOCKS!

This really socks!

I know you are all probably wanting to say, “Dude, she’s pregnant…just let her use the socks.” For some reason that doesn’t work with me…she may be carrying my only boy, but that doesn’t give her a free pass to wear my socks.

So at the risk of driving this story into the ground, why is it so difficult for me to give away the control of the sock drawer? Why do I try to hoard all the good ones?

1. I like what I like and I don’t like it when people mess with what I like.

2. I know how it makes me feel when I get to wear my good socks and my good socks make me feel good.

3. WARNING: This is my spiritual answer: When I feel good, I can help others feel good. So now, wearing my good socks is a ministry to myself and ultimately to others.

Unfortunately, this is how I reason with other things too…I have a natural tendency to rationalize (and even spiritualize) my personal desires at the expense of others.

THIS SUNDAY, I am beginning a 4 week series entitled, “The Teaching of Jesus on Wealth.” YOU WILL NOT WANT TO MISS…It will be different than you expected, in a good way!

It’s no secret that talking about money is a difficult topic. My goal for this series is to give you encouragement and hope for difficult times and a challenge to live beyond our finances for life.

I hope you can come…if not the sermons are posted on the web: http://newlifekc.org/resources/deploy/.

And for the record, I did find a good pair of socks for today and hopefully Leigh-Ann did too.

Dancing in the rain!

This week my brother Trent sent me a quote that has been timely and I have shared with multiple people.

“Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain.”

There are plenty of storms…

Today, you may be in the middle of a hurricane…which means you are in survival mode. You are hoping that at some time the wind will die down and then you will assess the damage-that is if you live through the day. Your basis for making decisions is purely survival and you have lost all sense of vision for the future.

Today, you may be in a thunderstorm, pretty good chance of survival barring a lightning strike. There is always the potential for things to get worse and always the potential for things to get better. The heavy rain and wind is causing real damage, though it is not life threatening. You hold on to the hope that when it passes you will be able to pick up your life again.

Today, you may be in the middle of scattered showers – manageable storms that can be annoying but also can be very useful. You have a clear picture of what it will be like when the sun comes out again, though it may not be out now.

So the question waiting to be answered, “Is it possible to dance in a hurricane, thunderstorm and scattered showers?”

I have an opinion…..I know that may be surprising. (What I love about writing these e-mails is that I get to talk the whole time, never get interrupted and what I say always makes sense-to me at least :)).

When in a hurricane, we can dance vicariously (big word, but it fits the point I am making, so look it up http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vicarious #3) through those who we trust.

When in a thunderstorm we must be smart about where and when we dance, but we can certainly dance with caution.

When in scattered showers, this is your time to shine. Get wet and when the sun comes back out you will dry off quickly and always look at your time in the rain as most memorable.

Tomorrow is VALENTINES DAY!

You may read this and want more than anything to have a valentine—dance in the rain!

You may read this and have an overwhelming amount of regret when you think of your valentine—dance in the rain!

You may read this and remember good times and bad—dance in the rain!

This year I have four valentines:

Paiton-Thank you for giving me perspective. When you look at me while eating your bottle, you help me recognize the value of simple faith and satisfaction. You show me that God is amazing!

Sophia—Thank you for your spontaneity. I love your random thoughts and laughter. I love to see your big brown eyes dance with mischief and wonder. You help me anticipate the unexpected and walk by faith. You show me that God is mysterious!

Alexa—Thank you for your consistency. I can always count on you to give me a hug in the morning or when I walk in the door. You are naturally so sweet and thoughtful. You keep me cognizant (I just know you will ask me what that means) of what is important. You show me that God is faithful!

Leigh-Ann—Thank you for bringing out the best in me. I can always count on your loyalty and support. You deserve to be celebrated as a wife and a mother and a friend. I knew when we met that you were a keeper and after three years of dating and almost ten years of marriage that feeling is stronger than ever. You show me that God is gracious!

So, no matter what our Valentine status or the type of storm we may be in—we can always cherish the present!

No Motorcycles Allowed

Today I am going to share a story from my past that reminds me of God’s grace and my own stupidity. One summer while in college I was able to do a part time internship at my dad’s church in Minnesota.

One of my responsibilities for the summer was to lead Vacation Bible School. In the effort to leave a legacy I was always trying to think of ways to make it memorable for the kids.

I certainly didn’t disappoint!

At the end of every evening session we had two clowns who would come in and perform a skit to get everyone all riled up for their ride home. It was pretty obvious that I had no parenting experience.

Every night we attempted to find ways for the clowns to make the “Grand Entrance.” They had been known to appear in the baptistery, in the 2nd floor AV window and behind any and all props. In an effort to be creative one of the clowns suggested that he ride in on my motorcycle.

I loved the idea!

Imagine if you were a kid and the clown came roaring in on a motorcycle……

One problem – the clown had never operated a motorcycle. I decided to give him a lesson. After a few minutes he was ready to go……

The end of the night finally came and the clown rode up near the front of the church building and waited for his cue.

This is when everything started to take a turn for the worse.

The driver was a grown man and the clown on the back was a large grown man. The plan was to drive through the exterior glass doors and stop in the foyer just outside the second set of doors leading into the auditorium.

As he was idling on the 550cc motorcycle, the throttle stuck (it did this sometimes and all you had to do was give it some quick gas and then let off), and the signal came for him to make the appearance.

At the moment I hit the throttle to fix the idle, the driver let go of the clutch, bounced up a 4 inch curb, and speeded into the tile foyer. The large clown hopped off the back (probably fearing for his life) totally changing the balance, the bike hit the slippery tile just inside the doors and spun out.

It was at this moment that time stood still for me…….my motorcycle was careening out of control. The kids were going crazy…..and all that separated them from the motorcycle was glass.

By God’s grace the front wheel crashed into an oak beam just inches from the glass. It didn’t take long for reality to hit me hard with the smell of gas leaking and people running and the motorcycle still idling way too fast.

We finally got the bike turned off, picked up and dragged it outside (the front wheel didn’t turn due to the impact).

My first words trying to break the silence were, “That was close.”

If there was ever an understatement, that was it. I am still surprised that no one was seriously injured and the motorcycle missed the glass. Afterwards, my dad simply said that we probably shouldn’t try that entrance again.

This story relates to a few different things:
1. This Sunday, I will finish a mini-series on faith. We will look closely at the life of David and the affect of relational faith in a sterile world. We must have faith to do hard things, however we must be rational as well. Crashing a motorcycle at VBS is not martyrdom.

2. I will not be leading the children’s ministry any time soon at New Life. However, Big City is Coming soon to New Life. This is a very special church service just for kids. At Big City, they will meet the nicest people and hear about A GREAT BIG GOD who really loves people in the Big City.

I guess maybe that is why God has put us on the 4th floor, so when the weather is nice, I won’t be tempted to make an entrance on a motorcycle.