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May 23 2012
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Articles and Ponderings

Q&A on Pentecost

Q: What is Pentecost?
A: I’m so glad you asked! We’ve finally bumped into a Christian festival that isn’t adapted from a pagan one. It’s adapted from a Hebrew one!

Q: Which is?
A: Pentecost.

Q: Thanks. That clears everything up.

A: Hey, it’s what I do. The ancient Jewish festival of Pentecost, also called the Feast of Weeks, is when the Hebrews brought the first fruits of their harvest to the Temple. To this day, Jews use this festival to celebrate and remember the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai.

Q: So what’s with the name?
A: Pentecost happens the day after you count seven weeks from Passover, hence “Festival of Weeks”. Seven times seven is 49, which means the feast falls on the fiftieth day, hence “Pentecost”.

Q: What does that have to do with the Christian celebration of Pentecost?
A: The disciples were Jews. And like all observant Jews, the gathered together to celebrate Pentecost. But this time, it was different. This time, instead of bringing their gifts to God, God gave them the gift of the Spirit. Instead of receiving the law on tablets of stone, God wrote it on their hearts.  That’s why Pentecost is called the birthday of the Christian church.

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May 14 2012
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Articles and Ponderings

Pics or it Didn’t Happen

Online communities require habits and courtesies, just like face to face communities. But since this is all so new, we’re making them up as we go.  We’re newcomers to this strange land, but our kids will be natives. By then, they’ll either have a solution, or be used to the problems, of online life and it won’t be a big deal.  In the meantime, us tourists (or pioneers if you prefer) need to learn some new habits. One of them is: pics or it didn’t happen.

Suppose a friend tells you a story, face to face or over the phone. You automatically know how much credence to give it, and how freely to share it, based on a whole slew of context cues we take for granted, like shared history and tone of voice. The text-based, relative anonymity of the internet means that verifying a story needs to become a is a much higher priority, a habit.

Therefore, from today until something better comes a long, when someone tells you a story online, you knee-jerk response  is going to be, “pics or it didn’t happen.” Which translates, “Verify your story, or I refuse to engage in this conversation.”

It’s actually not a bad guide for real life. Don’t say something is true. Live in such a way that it’s obvious.

 

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May 01 2012
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Articles and Ponderings

Bible Interpretation Tip: Remember the Readers

Here’s a tip that has transformed the way I read scripture. Any time you read Paul say, “Don’t do this…” what it means is, someone is already doing it. Any time you read John say, “This is how we know…” what is means is, someone isn’t sure.

What difference does this make? All the difference in the world for me. Instead of feeling like I’m not good enough, or my faith strong enough, I realize that the first readers of these words were just like me.  Christians have been fighting these problems for 2000 years!

Does this mean we should quit? Of course not, but it does mean we can cut ourselves a little slack. The authors are not writing to beat us into the ground but to pick us up and get us back in the race.

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Apr 24 2012
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Articles and Ponderings

Being a Dad is Awesome!

One of my favorite parts of being a dad is when my eldest gets up early and sneaks into bed next to me. He’s already awake, so he can’t help it. He has to start talking. “Daddy, why do go to work? How’d you meet Mommy? Why is the sky blue? What is it mean, you’re half Dutch?” But the game is, I’ll only answer one of his, if he’ll answer one of mine.

“Hey, buddy. Can you move a mountain?”
“No.”
“You’re right. Now ask me.”
“Can you move a mountain, Daddy?”
“Yup.”
“Cannot!”
“Wanna bet?” (He won’t bet me anymore because he’s lost too many times.)
“How?”
“If I wanted to be boring I’d use a spoon. If I had enough money, I’d use a laser. That would be awesome! If I didn’t want to move it very far I’d use explosives and make it jiggle. If I wanted to be funny, I’d tell the entire world that world that rocks are cool, and the very coolest rocks of all come only from this mountain. Then they’d come and take all the rocks away for me. If I had a long time, I’d just sit on top and wait. And if I didn’t have any time at all, I’d remember that the earth is spinning, and the mountain already moves. There are a billion ways to move a mountain. But first you have to believe you can. As soon as you say you can’t, you’re right.”

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Apr 06 2012
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Articles and Ponderings

Easter: Yet another messed up Christian “holy” day

Q: Isn’t Easter supposed to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection? How in the world did we get from resurrection to egg-hiding chocolate rabbits that cluck?

A: The answer is in the question. It’s precisely because we’re in the world that all of our holy days have become cultural holidays.

Q: For example?

A: First, early missionaries co-opted ancient festivals to explain Christianity using forms and traditions they already knew.

Q: And second?

A: When the Roman Empire fell and the church stepped into the power vacuum, church custom became the cultural norm. Entire nations full of Christians in name only? That’s a recipe for half-baked theology.

Q: Then why not ditch all those holidays and only do the ones in the Bible?

A: Some folks do, and I don’t hold it against them. But I think being “in the world” is one of Christianity’s greatest strengths, growing from one of it’s deepest mysteries.

Q: Huh?

A: The incarnation means that God wasn’t content to hang out in heaven and wait for us to figure out how to climb up. God come down to us, entered our lives and our times. In Jesus, God explained himself in a way we could understand. Every time we do that, every time we step into someone else’s culture instead of stepping on it, every time we stand in the gap when things fall apart, I think God smiles. And when it results in clucking, chocolate, egg-hiding bunnies, I think God laughs.

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Apr 02 2012
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Articles and Ponderings

Do One Thing

Christians are called to be simple people. Not simple-minded. Not simplistic. Focused. Self-aware. This has been huge lesson for me, this Lent. Some of you already know I added a new habit. Instead of lunch, I spent time in the chapel, studying and praying. And you know what I discovered? The world didn’t end when I stopped paying attention.

The work was still there, and I knew in my head that I now had less time to do it, but in my heart I never felt that. I felt calmer, and clearer. It’s not that this world’s infinite distractions became less infinite, or less distracting. I just became more certain that one thing I was doing was more important than the thousand things I wasn’t. I wasn’t fighting distractions. I was ending them, with prejudice.

This is your homework. Do one thing. If you’re fighting with yourself, you’ve already lost. Do one thing. This is ridiculously difficult. It doesn’t make any sense at all that it should be this hard, but it is.

It seems sometimes like the entire world is conspiring against you! And the worst offenders are smart phones.  Beep. You need to be somewhere. Beep. You need to read this. Beep. Your friend Billy from high school just bought milk. Beep. Take this survey. Beep. Did you know shirts are on sale? Beep. Beep. Beep.

Think of your life like a watercolor painting. With watercolor, there is one color that you cannot paint. White. Once you cover it up, you can never get it back. But if the whole picture is white, you don’t really have a picture, do you?

The point is not to cut out everything. The point is not to focus on the cutting at all. Do one thing. Once you see that thing in your head. You’ll know where they white space has to be, and protecting it will be a matter of art and practice, instead of a matter of will or luck.

Jesus lived 30 years before he started to preach. He preached 3 years before he tipped off the final confrontation. He walked through his last week, knowing what was coming. He didn’t run to meet it, he didn’t hide from it, and he didn’t let anyone or anything get it in his way. He understood his purpose, and he lived it. Live a life of purpose, and like him, you will change the world.

Mar 05 2012
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Articles and Ponderings

What’s Lent?

Q: What’s Lent?
A: It’s the church’s 40 day preparation for Easter.

Q: Why call it Lent?
A: It’s from the Old English lencten, meaning ”springtime”, which comes from earlier words meaning “longer days”.  Not a bad description for spring, eh?

Q: What does that have to do with Mardi Gras?
A: Many cultures celebrated spring festivals long before Christianity arrived. When churches became powerful, they could socially enforce 40 days of penitence. This took many forms, but often included giving up meat, fat, and sugar. Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, was the last chance to party and to use up all that tempting food.

Q: What about fish fries on fridays?
A: If a church tried to enforce a 40-day diet of bread and water nowadays, that church would be done! Fish is a compromise. You’re still promoting some weak form of self-discipline, but in such a low cost way that people will actually do it.

Q: Doesn’t that defeat the point?
A: Yup. Mardi Gras and fish fry fridays prove the pointlessness of cultural Christianity.

Q: Then what should we do?
A: If you really want to prepare for Easter, don’t temporarily stop doing something you like. Make a real change. Build a habit worthy of God’s Kingdom, or remove one unworthy of it. We are what we repeatedly do.

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Feb 28 2012
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Articles and Ponderings

Ask a Pastor: Tough Love for Adult Children

Dear Pastor,

My adult child keeps making poor choices and asking me to bail her out at the last minute. I want to help her, but it throws my life in disarray and it means she never learns from her consequences. I’ve decided to put my foot down. I feel good about that, but guilty too. How do I tell her I’m not rescuing her this time?

Sincerely,

Not-so-super-mom

Dear SuperMom,

You are a SuperMom because you’re putting what’s best for your child above what’s easy or what feels good. Ask yourself this: “What would have to be true for me to feel great about saying yes?”  For example, what if instead of calling at the last minute, she gave you at least a week’s warning?  Suppose that would make a big difference for you. Explain it to her like this, “I want to help you, but I have a job and a family and a life of my own. I love you so much that I’m willing to rearrange all of that, but I need at least a week to make it happen. As long as you call me the day before you need help, the answer will always be no.”  She probably won’t like it, especially if the first time she hears it she’s already behind the 8-ball. But she’ll like it better than, ”I’m not helping you. You need to experience these consequences or you’ll never learn.” You want to help her, so tell her exactly what she needs to do to make that possible.

Happy Boundary-setting,

-RevSmilez

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Oct 10 2011
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Articles and Ponderings

The Lord’s Prayer

Just did a guest post on the Lord’s Prayer (also called “the Our Father”) over a Faithful Friends of God . It’s short and sweet, but I hope it will help you unlock this familiar prayer in new, deeper way. Hebrews rhymed ideas, not words. That’s why it sounds to our ears like they’re always repeating themselves. But it’s not just for show. Find out more here.

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Sep 20 2011
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Articles and Ponderings

Advice for Kids Going Back to School

Q&A With Pastor Rob

Q: Any advice for kids going back to school?
A: Be yourself. Most people spend huge chunks of their life trying to be the kind of people they think the kind of people that they want to be with would want to be with.

Q: Huh?
A: Exactly.

Q: So what would you suggest instead?
A: Decide ahead of time that you can’t please everyone, and then be very careful about who you choose as friends. We all have a built-in need to fit in, but we also have the God-given ability to choose where. What you’re looking for is a small, trust-worthy crew, the kind of people who will tell you off, and then stick up for you two minutes later. Their opinion matters. Everyone else, you take with a grain of salt. Keep what’s helpful. Ignore the rest.

Q: What about my parents?
A: What about them? They’re not going to be in school with you. This is your first taste of the real world. Your parents will always love you, cheer for you, and be there for you as much as they’re able, but more and more they’re going to step back, not because they want to, but because they have to if you’re ever going to stand on your own. Love on them and learn everything you can from them, but in school, you need a crew.

Q: How do I find friends like that?
A: You start by being one.

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