Well, I have been a bit disappointed today. I thought that I would be able to have deep thoughts. That I would ponder great mysteries and have enlightened ideas. I thought today I would sense an intellect within me that would rise above it's usual pitiful output. But alas, it hasn't happened.

I turn 40 tomorrow. According to my kids my brain cells will now start to die as I descend the far side of the "hill". Today I am at the peak of my mental abilities (several other abilities left several years ago) and it just isn't that impressive.

Oh well, according to my elders I now get to enjoy a diminished capacity to remember things. I believe that will be a blessing. To be wronged, cheated and abused by others and not be able to remember it is a beautiful thing.

How important is innovation in the business world? David Pollard gives the data of what businesses said.

20% said innovation is the top priority
69% said is was part of their top three list
90% put innovation in the top five

I wonder what would happen if the same survey was done in churches.

It is not difficult in such a world to get a person interested in the gospel; it is terrifically difficult to sustain the interest. Millions of people in our culture make decisions for Christ, but there is a dreadful attrition rate. Many claim to have been born again, but the evidence for mature Christian discipleship is slim. In our kind of culture anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged freshly; but when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap. There is a great market for religous experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christinas called holiness. -Peterson "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction"

This is why I think it is helpful if pastors stay at one church for a long, long time.

I finally got my digital camera and I am thoroughly enjoying it. If I can only keep Kim's hands off of it! It is a 3 megapixel camera and I am pleased with the resulting photos but I came across an article that kind of ticked me off.

I have been under the impression that the more pixels the better. I couldn't afford a 4 or 5 megapixel camera so I settled for this one. Then I read this article that talked about the great pictures the mars explorer is sending back. Guess what! The rover camera only has 1 megapixels.

Apparently the key is in how good the lens is and how good the sensors are. NASA can afford lenses that I couldn't even think about being able to afford. Oh well, I'm happy that Canon makes fairly decent lenses.

It got me to thinking though. How many times do we not take into account all the factors that bring about a desired outcome. Some folks think happiness is all about the amount of money they have. They are frustrated when people with less money seem to have a better happiness. Apparently there are other factors involved!!!

It would be a great tragedy if I were in the bathroom when the UPS man came seeking my signature for delivery of my new digital camera. Oh the stress it causes.

I am hollow man. I am shallow man.

I just got off the phone with one of the biggest whiners I have ever heard. He seemed so needy and he seemed really upset that I didn't want to continue a relationship with him. It seemed he was willing to do anything to get me to stay. But I saw through it all and was resolute. How come he never acted that way before I threatened to end our relationship?

Oh well, that's what happens when you cancel your wireless service I guess.

"...the working environment of pastors erodes patience and rewards impatience. People are uncomfortable with mystery (God) and mess (themselves). They avoid both mystery and mess by devising programs and hiring pastors to manage them. A program provides a defined structure with an achievable goal. Mystery and mess are eliminated at a stroke. This is appealing. In the midst of the mysteries of grace and the complexities of human sin, it is nice to have something you can evaluate every month or so and find out where you stand. We don't have to deal with ourselves or with God, but can use the vocabulary of religion and work in an environment that acknowledges God, and so be assured that we are doing something significant.
With programs shaping the agenda - not amazing grace, not stubborn sin - the pastor doesn't have to be patient. We set a goal, work out a strategy, recruit a few Christian soldiers, and go to it. If, in two or three years the soldiers haven't produces, we shake the dust off our feet and hire on as captains to another group of mercenaries. When a congregation no longer serves our ambition, it is abandoned for another under the euphemism of "a larger ministry." In the majority of such cases, our impatience is rewarded with a larger salary. - Peterson, "The Contemplative Pastor"

I'm taking our leadership team through this book. Sometimes I feel that I am pressured to do exactly what Peterson is saying here. Sometimes by my church because it is the default way church is done in America but mostly by those higher up the conference and denominational chain. They don't do this directly but it just seems this is what we are organized to do.

Go where you may, you will find no rest except in humble obedience to the rule of authority. Dreams of happiness expected from change and different places have deceived many.

Everyone, it is true, wishes to do as he pleases and is attracted to those who agree with him. But if God be among us, we must at times give up our opinions for the blessings of peace.

Furthermore, who is so wise that he can have full knowledge of everything? Do not trust too much in your own opinions, but be willing to listen to those of others. If, though your own be good, you accept another's opinion for love of God, you will gain much more merit; for I have often heard that it is safer to listen to advice and take it than to give it. It may happen, too, that while one's own opinion may be good, refusal to agree with others when reason and occasion demand it, is a sign of pride and obstinacy.

Imitation of Christ - Thomas a' Kempis

I think we often find long term obedience boring. When we think of perseverance we often think of enduring suffering. But perseverance in long term obedience is severely lacking in today's Christian.

It has been facinating to listen to people across our denomination discuss the potential of us joining the Missionary Church. On the one hand there are those who feel that they have been left out and that they should have equal say in the matter. On the other hand there are those who say we have elected leaders and therefore we should submit to their authority.

This is a classic demonstration of the tension that has existed since the reformation. We evangelicals insist on a personal relationship with God. This creates a tension when we add "middle men" who tells us what is right or wrong in the form of denominational authority. Do we allow ourselves to be informed of God's will by these men or do we revert back to our personal relationship with God to seek God's will?

Various individuals have some down on both sides of this argument and I think some are not even aware of the tension I just described. I think the rest of us find the tension a little overwhelming to deal with and so we spend much time in prayer.

The world is obviously filled with all sorts of people. Recently I came to the conclusion that some people just tire me out way too easily. I wish I had more compassion and grace for them.

The ones that I usually struggle with are those who are strict rationalists. They insist on measuring everything and truth consists of only that which can be objectively proven.

I guess I lack the patience for those who probably could not enjoy the luxuriousness of a great cup of coffee or the delicate nuances of wonderfully prepared fish!

Yet these folks are deserving of my attention as much as anyone. I pray for grace.

It has been a few days so I'll try to catch up. Our flight leaving Montego Bay was late departing but our pilot promised to make up time. We flew with a German crew, as we did on the way down, which provided us with some amusement. Every time the pilot would speak I couldn't get the picture that Arnold Sh. was flying the plane out of my head. We arrived in Detroit a half hour late but there was a plane still our gate so we waited. After the gate was cleared the lady who runs the jetway disappeared so we waited some more. After the jetway was moved in postion immigration held us on the plane because it was too crowded in the terminal. We finally got off the plane an hour after landing.

We ground our way through immigration and customs with little difficulty and then we waited for the guys to get the vans. We finally got under way for the trip home just before 6:30. The rest of the trip was uneventful but as Bob said our road rage returned in no time at all. Jamaican drivers are crazy but for some reason even their car horns, which they use almost constantly, seem to have a more accomadating and conversational sound than ours do. Our horns seem to be associated with yelling and threatening.

Yesterdays church service was basically a time of sharing about our trip. I really enjoyed it and I hope everyone else appreciated it too. It is good to be back in spite of the awfule weather.

Today I'm just trying to catch up on things. Fun!

The Bus was 30 minutes early this morning so we left Mandeville shortly after 7 AM. That got us to Montego Bay around 10 Am. After dropping our stuff at our hotel we all went to Pizza Hut for Lunch. Basically just like home. Then we went back to the hotel to actually check in and then we were free to roam the area. Most of us are at Doctor's Cave Beach. The snorkeling here is fun and everyone seems to be having a good time. Ben and I will do a little shopping now and then find something for supper. We will head to the airport at 8:30 in the morning and then we take off for Detroit around 11:30. Can't wait to see you all.

Last evening we went to the Salem Church in New Green, which is basically a suburb of Mandeville, for the watch night service. The program started with a time of praise songs and testimonies. The song leader was a man in his fifties that had more energy than anyone that age has a right to have. He had a good voice and he can really DANCE! The testimonies were also great. Most of them were presented with a lot of excitement and it made you just want to applaud.

After about an hour it was our turn. The quartet sang Glory Train that went much better because Sharon had a useable keyboard this time. The quartet has given Kirby the job of “playing” the train whistle so he was up on stage too. After that Kristy did her clown routine. This time the kids just wouldn’t respond to her very well. I’m not sure if it was because it was 10 PM or if they are just a stricter church and the kids are reserved but we had fun watching poor Kristy trying to get even a smile out of them. After Kristy was done we sang a few songs and then handed the service back to them. The next part was when the people of the church formed groups to give specials. The idea was to form new groups and to write original songs if possible. Some of them were very good. The bass player was also quite good and he was one of the masons who helped us at the work site so we felt so0me good unity with him.

They knew that we had been working hard all week so they arranged for us to return early. We got back around 11:45 but we heard the service went on until 1:30. Back at our dorm we waited until the New Year came and then headed off to bed.

This morning we had another great breakfast of cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs. Thank God for Francis! We only worked half a day today so we finished building a few more “cages”, did some more plastering, painted, move stone into position for mixing and mixed mortar. We got a lot accomplished but as usual we wish we could have done more. The women of the church provided lunch again and this time we had jerk chicken, rice and peas, dumplings, and slaw. It was very good.

After lunch we returned to the dorm for a quick shower and then went on a sight seeing trip. We went about an hour away to Malvern where the Jamaica Conference has it’s campground. The camp was started back when my dad was superintendent down here in the 1960’s. There is a very old British Colonial style building there and then some new buildings that a lot of other work teams have worked on.

From Malvern we drove another 10 miles to Lover’s Leap. It is basically an observation point at the top of a large drop off that goes down about 1,700 feet to the ocean on the south coast of Jamaica. It was beautiful and it was good to get out of Mandeville a little bit. We got back just before 7 PM.

Supper consisted of rice with a bean soup on top, slaw, cassava & fried sweet potatoes. I’m not sure what the bean soup actually was but it was delicious. Thank God for Francis! We followed supper with devotions and we are now packing for our departure.

We leave at 7 AM in the morning for Montego Bay. We should get there around 10 –11 AM and then we can kind of relax for the rest of the day in Mobay. Then we head on home on Saturday morning. We miss you all and can’t wait to see you.