Monday musings

I came across this article from one of the texts that I studied while in seminary. The class that I was taking was one of those greek terms Diaconia which incorporated the idea of church in society. The text was “Social Theory: The multicultural and classic readings, edited by Charles Lemert.” There are writings from some of the classic and modern sociologists. I was researching information about families. I found the following article interesting. I will not write the entire article but will write from the intro of the article. The title of the essay was “The Post-Work Monifesto” by Stanley Aronowitz, Dawn Esposito, William DiFazio, and Margaret Yard.

I did not include the date as I will do so later.
“The bottom is falling out and with it our sense of well-being. For two centuries, despite depressions and wars, America was the “golden door” behind which beckoned the call of the Good Life. Yet, today the United States is more accurately characterized as the home of downsizing jobs and lost security, of disappointed hopes and expectations. For many, recent economic and political developments point to the withering away of comfortable full-time jobs “with a future.” With jobless futures have also come deteriorating and lost benefits, from quality health care to assurances like social security that were once guaranteed—in only minimally in the United States—by the employment contract. If the current situation is allowed to continue on its present course, only the few will be able to enjoy life without the constant stress of economic worries…It is anxiety—certainly not the economy—which becomes democratized as the quest for secure paid labor consumes more of our time, uniting people in divergent job and class strata from blue-collar to middle and upper managements as perhaps not for centuries before. For no one is immune as these distinctions themselves commence to collapse, and are rendered increasingly meaningless by the immensity of socioeconomic transformations emblematic of our age.”

The authors go on to tell of some of the results of this turn around. Employers will be demanding employees to pay more for their benefits or do away with them entirely. Employees will be less willing to challenge decisions for fear of losing their jobs. This even affects people such as physicians who are working for HMO’s who dictate what treatment and what pay the physicians will receive. Even academics are affected as tenure is no longer a guarantee of employment. The only ones that seem less affected are “the multimillion dollar salaries and stock options of corporate executives which will remain in effect.”

I remember talking to someone about our current recession two years ago. I pointed out that our nation seemed to be heading to a recession. This person guaranteed me that we were not. It was shortly there after that the economy tanked. As I was reading this article and some written around the same time pointing to the future problems, it seems very prophetic. The article was written 1998 eleven years ago. This was pre-2001 and written at time that the economy had all the appearances of being robust. Little did people pay attention to what was happening. This has quite an effect on what is happening with families and the stresses that we face today.

Sometimes we need to pull back and reflect on our lives. The authors do point out that there is hope. We also know of a hope in Christ. What we need to do is remember to make our spiritual lives the priority and place our dependence on God.

Wednesday

Sometimes it is amazing in the ways that I can not use my time effectively. I must admit that I have been caught up in the college world series this year especially with Arizona State and Texas. Both teams seem to have this ability to never give up and to come back just when it seems that the game is over. What is interesting is that LSU is also a team that doesn't give up. What was interesting is that all three teams though they have their stars played more like a team. There were players who were not as well known during the regular season who have shone in the series.

As I have been working on Sunday and what I want to say about our annual conference, I want to believe that our church (not just Springfield but the church in general) can learn about what it takes to play until the last out. Paul talks about the need to complete the race so that we can claim the crown of righteousness. What I bring back from our conference is the message that we do have to re-think church. Also that it is not just one person's responsibility or even one committee's responsibility but that it is each of us who need to come to the plate and to perform by sharing our story with others. It is also up to each of us to welcome and invite those that we meet into a relationship with Jesus.

need to read my email

I tell you God works in mysterious ways. Just as I wrote about taking time to rest, I looked in my email and received the following E serving Strong about rest and work. I hope that there is something for you in what it says.

YOUR SWING

The rubber band. Used to be produced from the sap of the rubber tree, now made from synthetic rubber. It's a process of mixing petroleum byproducts in a reactor with soapsuds which produces milky liquid latex. This liquid coagulates into rubber chunk and sold to manufacturers who melt the rubber down into molds for various products - such as the rubber band.

Interesting thing about the rubber band is when stretched it produces heat (try it - stretch out a rubber band and press it against your lips.) Releasing it will produce an endothermic reaction, causing it to appear "cooler" (relax the band and press it to your lips and it seems cooler.)

YOUR SWING

Stretched, it becomes hot. Relaxed, it becomes cooler.
Stretch - relax - stretch - relax
Hot, cool, hot, cool.

Do you see the rhythm? Do you see the swing?

As people helpers, we are at our strongest when we can do 2 things well:

* GO FULL OUT. When you are doing that thing you do in your profession (preaching, counseling, giving care, responding to emergencies, assisting in surgery, etc.) give it your best. Give it your all. Be the best people helper you can possibly be.

* GO FULL IN. When you are off work, make rest a true priority. Throw yourself fully into recreation. Make a clear and distinct break from work. Enjoy your family. Get lost in your hobby. Invest in your rest. Do something TOTALLY NOT related to your work.

That's proper SWING. Go from give-to-take; from dance floor to balcony; from stretch-to-relax; from hot-to-cold. Try it. It's what strong people do.

I'll "see" you right here next week.

Another tuesday time

Sometimes I am amazed as to how fast time goes by. It seems that Annual Conference in Lincoln was just yesterday. There is something about going and being on the go 12-13 hours each day and then coming back to Springfield days trying to prepare for services for Sunday is plain exhausting.
but what a Sunday it was. We had special music by C.T. and Carmen Thongklin. They were so great that it brought tears to my eyes. I was preaching on the anointing of David as King. The focus was on the verse that states that the Lord does not see as man sees. For man judges by outward appearances but the Lord sees what is in the heart. The reflection was what would God see in our hearts?
So I am in the process of trying to catch up with my sleeping and getting back on track with my eating choices. Eating out does not do well especially with the lack of sleep for either my blood sugar and weight. I did try to walk at least 2 miles each day of conference.
Now I am preparing for this Sunday about David and Goliath. The focus is on the many Goliaths that we have in our lives. Also Wednesday will continue to reflect on verse 2 of the 23rd Psalm.
Also this week I will be spending time with both of my children and their spouses and all of my grand kids. Talk about a fun time but one where little rest will happen.

Forgive our debts

How often we say these words and yet many of us are mired in uncontrolled debt especially financial. Dave Ramsey with the Financial Peace University talks alot about the need of reducing and eliminating debt. Through the reduction of debt we can free our lives to better serve Christ in this world. Jesus warned about that one cannot serve two masters. Too often money becomes our master epecially when we have credit debts.
My E Serving strong had a message today about debts. Maybe it can help us with the concept Forgive our debts. We need to be able to do that so that we can free ourselves from the tyrant of credit cards.
Serving Strong eNews
A Tuesday morning minute just for you because you care for others.

Debt

Finances are a great concern to many people helpers today. This saps focus and energy. We are called to serve others; yet a large portion of our mental capacity is consumed by worry and fear. Debt is among the largest part of this problem.

FOCUSED INTENSITY

Dave Ramsey recently spoke at a college commencement. He was speaking of college debt when he said...

"Focused intensity is how you get out of debt. Just because it's a small interest rate and a small payment doesn't mean you don't need to hit it and get mad at it, and knock it out."

So how do we blaze a path toward debt-free living? How do we slay this focus-sapping monster and set loose our ability to serve others? Here are some ideas from Dave Ramsey you can start implementing TODAY:

1) Emergency Fund
__ Save $1,000 and put in a separate emergency fund account. Use ONLY for unforeseen emergencies

2) Snowball Technique
__ List all your debts from smallest to biggest
__ Begin paying off the smallest debts first
__ Once the 1st debt is paid off, take that payment and add it to the next debt
__ Continue until all debts are paid off

3) Buffer Fund
__ Figure the amount of monthly expenses it takes to run your household
__ Save three to six months times this amount (in case you lose your job, have a financial emergency or other large catastrophe)

4) Retirement, College, Mortgage
Then turn your attention to retirement investing, college funds for your kids, pay off your mortgage, etc.


I've talked with some of you who are living debt free today. Good for you! You already know the freedom this produces. Perhaps you can email me with tips you've learned from your journey. If I get enough responses, perhaps I'll post it on the Serving Strong Blog or the Serving Strong Facebook Group. Some of the best learning is what we learn from each other.

Monday

Talk about a busy weekend. I had an outdoor wedding Saturday and spent two nights in Nebraska City. With the Nebraska weather being what it is, there was a lot of concern about whether or not the rain would cooperate with us. It did though it was warm and humid. The wedding went well and my prayers are with David and Lyndsey.

Sunday was also iffy with the weather. I left Nebraska City at 4am and drove in rain and fog. First time that I ever experienced heavy fog during a rain storm. Made for some exciting driving. Certainly was awake throughout.

I preached on John 3:16. Summarizing God loves, God gives, We believe, We live. The focus is on what God has done for us and if we are willing to believe and accept God's gift then we can live now and eternally. I hope to have some new pictures of my grand daughter Makenzie and of the wedding. Tuesday I am off to Annual Conference. If I have time I will give an account of each day.

23rd Psalm

To celebrate the new Bible study on Invitation to the Psalms, I decided that I would reflect on the Psalms in the Wednesday services. I am starting with the 23rd Psalm one of the most well known psalm. I am going to take the Psalm verse by verse using various translations and paraphrases. I started with the Tanakh from the Jewish Study Bible.
"The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing." v. 1 TNK
Take time to reflect on these two ideas. The Lord is my shepherd. What does that mean to you. A shepherd is responsible for keeping those who one is in charge of safe and alive. The shepherd is the one responsible. If we believe that God is our shepherd are we willing to allow God to care for us. OR do we insist on taking charge of everything in our lives. I wonder in my life how often I say I want God to be in charge or at least central to my life, yet I will often try to do everything on my own without allowing God to be at least a partner.
The second idea and I believe ties directly with the first is that I lack nothing. In the Monday class on 30 days to live, we watched a video called Empty. The young man who did the video spoke of trying to find some way of filling a void that he felt in his life, an emptiness. He spoke of trying to do that with success, work, sex, drugs, etc. and found that even when it felt full it never lasted. It was not until he was willing to surrender to God that he was able to fill that void. The lesson included the idea that there are three things that separate us from a healthy relationship with God and those were bitterness, busyness, and burnout. I would add that if we are trying to fill our lives with anything else but God we will find ourselves feeling empty. We are not missing anything. God has given us everything we need. Not saying that having things aren't nice but they are not necessary. Do we truly believe that we lack nothing.
This first verse of the 23rd Psalm speaks to me about what is important in my life especially during difficult times. Remembering the God is my shepherd and that I lack nothing.

Tuesday musings

I have been working on my sermon and have it mostly researched. Now I need to write it and work on it. I keep having dreams about what I am supposed to say and what the Spirit is directing me to focus on. There are some things that I am excited about coming up. The first is the new bible study on the Psalms. I believe that it will be a great way to slow down my life and spend time reflecting on praying the Psalms. The other is working slowly and surely on the upcoming sermon series on family and the Bread of Life. I have the outlines done for both series and between keeping up with day to day events will be developing those themes.

As I am doing this, I also am looking at ways that we can continue to improve on our worship experiences. There have been some feedback which I greatly appreciate. Some will be incorporated and all will be appreciated. I believe that the Spirit is at work in the church. I need to be open to where it is leading me and us.

As we continue to work on these issues it is important that we continue to work on ways of being clearer about our communication. I especially need to make sure that I am clear so that it will prevent problems. My prayer is that we will continue to do so as a church as well. Part of helping with that is trying to celebrate more of what we have been doing. Not for our glory but for the glory of God. For what we do we do not do for ourselves but for the Kingdom.

What a week

I am the proud grandpa of my fifth grand child. My son and daughter-in-law gave birth to their third daughter Makenzie Grace on Wednesday of last week. Nancy and I have been busy with the other two grand daughters taking care of them and helping out where we could. Mom and daughter are doing fine.

This Sunday was also Pentecost Sunday. I had been contemplating what we can do to revamp our services. I wanted to work with the Praise Band to make the contemporary service more free flowing. Sunday was the first of those services. As with anything, there were some issues that need to be fine tuned but overall I believe the service went well. We will be working on this service throughout the summer. What we will likely do is continue this format from now on. For those who attended, feel free to give feedback as to ways that we might continue to develop this service.

I reflected on the "nevertheless" God. It was Peter Storey not Paul Storely who wrote about his time as the bishop of the United Methodist Church in South Africa. I was struck about what he had to say about the presence of the Holy Spirit in times that seem to defy whether or not God is present. Sometimes we want to have the manifest physical presence of the Spirit like what we read in Acts. What is hard is when difficult times are with us, to see what God is doing. The message to me is that even in hope unseen "nevertheless" God is there. We need to remain open to allowing the Spirit to become part of us and to continue to feed the Spirit through prayer, scripture, worship and sacraments, and with covenant groups.