The A Team

I remember growing up watching the A-Team, and the key line of their leader, Hannibal, came at the end of each show when he said, "I love it when a plan comes together." This put the finishing touches on an action packed episode of intricate planning, wild explosions, drugging Mr. T with milk that made him fall asleep so they could put him in a helicopter, etc. So, with some planning, lots of luck, and plenty of blunders the A-Team would always come through at the end of the day. Well, unfortunately, real life isn't always like that. In real life, people don't always come through, and the breaks don't always go our way. In real life, it is sometimes very difficult to get very different people to focus on a common goal and give themselves away to see it succeed. But that is what makes real life so much more rewarding than t.v. When we get to be part of an "A-Team" in real life, we know what it takes to achieve the victory. And the victory is real. Well that is how I felt on Sunday as many different men came together to construct the new playground for the children of our church. Guys who would normally be doing completely different things on that afternoon all came together to tackle a monster project. Everywhere I looked there were extension cords leading to saws or drills or nail guns...so much power :) There were guys sweating, and laughing, and joking, and digging, and drilling, and having a great time together accomplishing a great task. It was a real blessing seeing so many people give up their entire day off to provide a playground for our kids. It was very humbling though when I thought about the fact that many of them would be returning to work the next day, after having spent their entire day off in the sun doing HARD work. Knowing that I would be off the next day, and have a chance to rest, I began to understand the level of commitment that these men showed even more. Some of them had also joined us all morning and afternoon on Saturday. These guys gave up their entire weekend to help serve the church- only to return to work without having had a day to rest or spend time with their family. That is humbling! That is servanthood! That is what motivates me about my church. I know that my son and daughter are going to have a wonderful, secure, sturdy place to play because the men of their church provided it. Those are the kind of men that I want my son to look up to. Those are the kind of men that I want my daughter to look for when she starts dating (at 35). Those are the kind of men that push me to be a better pastor! I am grateful for them, and the servanthood that they continue to display as our church continues to grow. Looking at all that was accomplished this weekend I can only say one thing,
"I love it when a plan comes together." ;) Now it is time to light up the cigar. HAHA.

Friends

I know, I know, 2 in one day, what is the occasion. Well, earlier tonight I had some friends over the house helping me put my pool table together. Actually, they weren't helping me, they were doing it. I was "helping" them by staying out of the way. So anyhow, after they completed the table we had just enough time to shoot a couple of games to test it out. It was fun. After they left I started thinking about how cool it was of them to offer to do this for me out of the blue. I had called to see how much it would cost me to do this. I was quoted $420 for a re-felting, set-up, and balancing. My jaw dropped! Then my buddy was at the house and noticed the table pieces. He asked if I needed help putting it together. I quickly replied, "yeah, I would love some help." Turns out he used to have one very similar and was very familiar with setting them up, balancing them, and re-felting them. The cool thing is that not only did he know how to do it, but he was excited about the opportunity to help me by doing it for me. Well, tonight I started thinking about it. He and I have some things in common, but if it weren't for the church we might never have even met each other. Even if we did meet each other, we might not have ever began talking about things because our lives are just a little different. Sure we both have kids and both enjoy hanging out, but in many ways we are very different (like the fact that he knew how to put a three piece slate pool table together and had every tool needed for the job already). But because of Christ, and because of the church, we have gotten to know each other. Through this I have discovered many things that we have in common- like knowing how to put some English on the cue ball), and I look forward to being around him. In fact, I look forward to playing many more games of pool in the living room with him, as we talk about life, God, kids, work, and whatever else comes up. He is my friend. I feel like that is what the church is supposed to be- a place where we can really get to know people for who they are, and learn more about God through our friendship with them. My friend was made in the image of God, just like I was, and in him I see a servants heart that inspires me to serve my church to the best of my ability. I have also learned what "shims" are, and liquid concrete, and how to "float" a pool table. Who knows, I might even get ambitious and try to fix something pretty soon. I love the fact that I can intimately experience so many different people because we share a common bond. If I had to categorize my "best friends" right now (at the cost of using a cheesy middle school term) I would say that they range from late 40's to early 20's in age. Their education ranges from doctorate degrees to high school diplomas. They are different colors than me, different personality types than me, and different life situations than me. But because of these men I have been made a better man. I have learned things from them that have made me a better husband, a better father, and a better pastor. We share Christ, and through that bond we have experienced the joys of looking into each others hearts.
Selah.

Emotion and Truth

Well, it has been a couple of fun filled weeks and I really don't know where to start. There have been several occasions where I felt motivated to write something, but just never really got to it. I have been realizing that most of my inspiration for writing something comes from my family or what is going on with the church. I guess that makes sense as those are the two areas that I draw my inspiration from. So anyhow, I have also found that with the changing of the weather a shift takes place in my general emotional state. I guess that could be a dangerous thing if I didn't recognize it, but it is true. Looking back, I realized that the coming of summer often effects my emotional state. I think the reason for this is that over the years huge events of change have often occurred at the beginning of summer i.e. a major breakup with a girl that I thought was "the one" :) , saying good-bye to my family when I moved out at the age of 16 (not realizing that things would forever be different after that), my wedding to my beautiful wife (June 16th 2001). So anyway, add to that the stress of the past month and it makes for a great rollercoaster of emotion and moods. I guess I sound like I am the one that's pregnant, and not my wife :)

One of the things that I appreciate the most during overly emotional times like this is truth. Truth is absolute and is not dependent upon our circumstances, emotions, or ability to acknowledge it. However, when we do, truth becomes the lighthouse in our storm. The Truth becomes the foundation by which we can stand strong regardless of our circumstances or feelings. I guess the whole reason that I am even thinking about this is because I have been spending a lot of time observing that our culture is increasingly being driven by emotion and abandoning truth. Everywhere we look, we are being taught to let our emotions be our guide, not truth. This is radically different than it was a generation ago. I read in a book somewhere how they used to sell cars based on MPG, and storage space, and facts. Now car commercials are all about experiences, like using your car as a fog horn when you get lost in your canoe. Like any of us will ever need to use our SUV for that purpose. But that image, the image of adventure is what sells the car. It is a play on our emotional tie to an experience, or our desire to connect with "that kind of person". We want to be in the same category as the person who gets lost in the fog because they are so adventurous. We know that we maybe aren't that daring, or even that athletic, but we can drive the same car as them.

When led by emotions we become the next statistic. Maybe we fall into the category of "Christians who don't go to church because the weather is nice", or "Church members who only show up for the cookouts and potluck lunches, but not to help at the garage sale". Ouch, I know it hurts, but I have heard that before...the Truth hurts. I guess that is why we are so quick to run to emotion instead. Or maybe the statistic is "the pastor who had an affair with his secretary", the list of failures goes on as we see more and more of society driven by "how we feel" and not the Truth. The prophet Jeremiah wrote in Jer. 17:9
"The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?"

I guess he knew where an emotion driven culture would lead.