Starting the Brainwashing Early

I went to my daughters 4th grade Open House at school last night. They sang a song entitled "A little Hoosier I am Proud to Be" or something to that affect. They then backed that up with a poem about Hoosierland that contained a line about the Wabash river winding through paradise.

I've seen the Wabash winding through something but the word paradise never crossed my mind. I began to wonder if Indiana was experiencing a massive outflow of young people and if this was a state sponsored attempt to get the kids to stay. I suppose if you tell them enough times that this is paradise a certain percentage is bound to believe it. Even more worrisome, my daughter didn't seem to doubt it for a minute. Where have we gone wrong.

I suppose in the end (or maybe I should say the beginning) this whole earth was God's creation, including this little slice here. Maybe I should hold back on what I think of it just a bit. Maybe it isn't so bad after all.

I kind of felt bad when Dan had a musician from Nashville give a concert at his church. The guy was originally from Illinois and he kept remarking about how beautiful the bean field behind me looked. I thought I must have missed something so I turned around to have a second look myself. Lo and behold, it looked just like.... a bean field. Apparently when you grow up around this neck of the woods you develop an attachment to it. I wonder if he sang songs about bean field paradise when he was a kid.

I can't say I really get it but I do think I should try to appreciate it more. I have a strong feeling that God has led me to this little corner of the world so in that sense I suppose it is my promised land. At least for now.

I think I'll go take a walk in paradise and see what I can see. I sure hope the meat locker isn't making jerky today. It would be nice if it smelled like paradise too.

Jesus in a Boat

I baptized three people yesterday in a pond. I checked the weather at the beginning of the week and they said Sunday would be perfect. That was enough to convince me that it would probably rain. It rained all week but the forecast for Sunday stayed the same. Lo and behold, the forecast was right. It was sunny and in the low 80's.

I waded out into the pond and turned around. We had a good sized crowd and I asked them to come down closer to the water. The pond had a very gentle slope to it so by the time I got waist deep I was a good way out from shore. It was beautiful looking back across the water to friends and family on the beach waiting expectantly. The water temperature was perfect and the acoustics were great so I didn't have to yell. (The pond has high banks around three sides so I think that's why the acoustics were good.) I just felt very much at peace.

After the baptismal service was over I just stood there enjoying the water while people drifted away. I was tempted to go for a swim but didn't. I eventually followed the crowd up to eat and enjoy the rest of the day. But one thought kept running through my mind.

I wanted to invite everyone back next week for our worship service right there at the pond. I could lead from the floating raft in the middle. It reminded me of Jesus preaching to crowds from a boat. I'm not saying I can preach like Jesus or anything but I got to thinking that there may be more to it. I couldn't get over the sense of peace that came from being near the water. There is also something about people watching from the shoreline. At church I never get the idea that anyone wants to come up on the platform and join me. But at the pond it seemed like a good number wanted to jump in too. Their expectancy or yearning or whatever it was felt good.

I think I'm going to start a new church called "Church at the Pond." I just don't know what I'm going to do in the winter though.

Buzzing Guitar

With all the rain we've had in the last week the humidity has shot through the roof. That means m guitar is starting to buzz. Guitars are sensitive to weather and I don't take very good care of my guitar in that regard. I'll have to readjust the truss rod again which I don't like to do because it takes a few days for everything to settle down and be stable again.

I'm not an expert by any means but I think I would rather have the humidity than having my guitar dry out. My guitar is one of the cheapest solid tops Alvarez was making at the time so I kind of expected it to be less sensitive to weather and I think it is. I've seen dried out guitars and it is not pretty. I think Taylor Guitars had a video on their website demonstrating how to restore a dried out guitar and it was pretty graphic. I would hate to have my guitar go through that.

Humidity has done more damage to my guitar but it has been nothing major. I had a brace come unglued once and the neck moves around a bit as I've already mentioned. Those are things I think I can handle.

Maybe, if I had a nicer guitar I would take better care of it. I might even pay more attention to climate control. At the very least you can buy sound hole products that help control the humidity levels inside the body. But my friend Dan has a pretty sweet Yairi and he probably doesn't do anything with his guitar either. I'm pretty sure that if he doesn't do anything neither would I.

I have my eye on a Martin for my next guitar (I love the tone) but maybe I should go with an Ovation. Sometimes there is nothing quite like technology to overcome nature. In the end I'll probably stick with what I've got. They say guitars get better with age so maybe I should just be patient. I should also quit thinking a better guitar would make my playing sound better. As much as I hate to admit it the real weak spot in my music is not the guitar. It's the guy that plays it and he definitely doesn't seem to be getting better with age.

Human Rights And Democracy

I've been following the presidential and parliamentary elections held on August 11 in Sierra Leone. They are almost done counting the vote now and there will be a runoff as no candidate has reached the 55% level to avoid one. So far it seems to have gone remarkably well.

It appears that there was high voter turnout and very little violence. There have been reports of some intimidation and ballot stuffing but very little compared to the recent elections in Nigeria and in Sierra Leone's past. I am sure that whoever ends up losing will claim massive fraud, but so far the process seems to have been largely free and fair.

There are a few wrinkles in this election. The ruling party suffered a split a little bit over a year ago and the runaway faction appears to have taken a significant slice of the ruling party's voter base. This has landed the ruling party in second place, behind the main opposition, in the national election. Additionally, the new party has crossed tribal lines and already thrown its support behind the opposition for the runoff. The question now is whether the party faithful will follow their leaders across those lines or scurry back to the party of their fathers. It makes for a very interesting story but it also raises the possibility of violence.

Only in stable democracies do you see a ruling party give up power peacefully. Should Sierra Leone's ruling party lose the runoff it will be a good test of the country's democratic development since the end of the war. Of course, many would say that the ruling party will never allow themselves to lose the runoff and will tamper with the process before it even gets that far.

Distrust is a major factor in Sierra Leone politics. Many believe that it is impossible to find clean hands on any side in politics and that this exercise is nothing more than a game that has been played out to keep the western democratic countries happy. After decades of going backwards at the hands of both parties how can anyone think that suddenly there will be an improvement?

Western countries are fond of saying that everyone should have a right to choose their leaders. But we also say that everyone should have a right to food, shelter, a job, health care, etc. But which should get priority. I imagine that many would argue that in a country with Sierra Leone's democratic history it is impossible for the average Sierra Leonean to have all these rights at the same time. It seems that having the right to choose the leaders almost guarantees they won't get the rest. That is what history seems to tell us at least.

I am by no means advocating that they do away with elections. History has also proven that they will not get those basic needs met without democracy either. I'm just saying that we tend to think that as long as a country has democratic elections everything will be okay. It just doesn't work like that.

I don't have an answer. Sierra Leoneans themselves will give you an answer but it will only be a guess. Debating the issue is a national past time they engage in when and wherever two or three Sierra Leoneans are gathered. But real solutions seem far away. I pray with all my heart that somehow they start heading down the right track. A beautiful people and a beautiful country deserve that much at least.

Greener Grass

Gun fire shattered the morning rustle our sleepy little village. It was louder than the AK-47s we were used to hearing and the silence that followed let you know that everyone was worried. There had been rumors that the rebels were heading our way and we could hear the fighting in the distance. I thought of my wife with our kids back at our house knowing she was probably terrified.

A friend and I edged our way out of the police station where we had been and crept along the outside wall hoping to find a clear path toward home. We got to the corner and peered toward the town center half expecting to see a group of rebels taking over the town. Instead we found a newly mounted, and obviously tested, .50 caliber machine gun in front of the makeshift army post. With a sigh of relief we headed home to let everyone know everything was okay.

This happened when we were missionaries in Africa. But here is the point. Every time I write about it it seems more dramatic than it actually was. Yeah, my heart did a few flips at first but it just wasn't as dramatic as it sounds.

I think I kind of get that same thing when I think about my ideal church community. I often dream of being involved with a group of people who love God and love each other. They won't be perfect people. I have no illusions of that. They will fight from time to time but they will get back together again. They will disappoint me and I'll disappoint them but it will be okay. We will deal with each other's frailties. We will have different points of view on issues yet still come together as a body. We may even dislike each other for long periods of time but we'll work on it.

The funny thing is that I all ready have all that. Why is it that I always dream of something else. I could see it if my dream was a perfect community but I wouldn't want that anyway.

I think the reason I feel that way is that our community has so many ordinary moments. It just isn't exciting all the time. For some reason I expect my dream to be so much more fun. Peterson talks about how difficult it can be to be a follower of Christ in the ordinary, everyday moments of life. I think that is what I find in my community. I just have to realize that my dream community is just never going to be as exciting as my imagination makes it out to be and what I have is pretty good.

Waiting For Sex

As a pastor, every now and then I get someone asking me in all seriousness why they should wait before having sex. These aren't people looking for scripture that condemns premarital sex as much as they are looking for a good reason why other than "Because the Bible says so."

For me the clue is found in the bond that we see in Genesis 2:24. This verse talks about a man leaving his father and mother and becoming one with his wife. I think this describes what happens with sex and I think it is good advice for Christians and non-Christians alike.

We bond to some degree with every person we encounter. Most of those bonds are extremely shallow like the nod of acknowledgment to the guy in the next checkout lane with the same University of Michigan hat you have. As you part ways with that individual that bond is broken but it is so shallow it doesn't hurt. We make and break these bonds all the time.

The more intimate we know a person the stronger the bond becomes. Eventually we move on from head nods and talking about the weather to sharing things that leave us more vulnerable. If this bond is broken there is more pain because it was a stronger bond and it will take longer to heal and may even leave a scar. These bonds happen less frequently and yet they still cause us a lot of heart ache.

Some people are lucky enough to find a soul mate. This is a person that we are willing to become the most vulnerable with. We share our deepest darkest secrets as well as our wildest dreams. We even become so close that we attempt an act that is pleasurable and yet leaves us horrifyingly vulnerable. An incredibly strong bond is formed.

But here is the word of caution. Breaking such a strong bond causes extreme injury. That injury will take a long time to heal and the permanent scars it leaves will affect you the rest of your life. Don't allow yourself to be bonded like that unless you are both ready to commit to the relationship permanently. Get married.

Unfortunately too many people believe that you can have casual sex. There is nothing casual about sex. No matter how hard you try to convince yourself that it is just an act you are creating a strong bond. A bond that will do damage if it is broken.

Bonds with other humans are a mysterious and part of being a human. They are at the same time wonderful and terrifying. We all know people who are so guarded about the bonds they form they won't let anyone get close to them. That's a shame but it is also a testament to the damage broken bonds can do. All the more reason to be very careful about one of the strongest bonds a human can make.

A Real Chick Flick

I took Kim to a real chick flick this afternoon. This was not one of those movies where a bunch of women drag their significant others to the theater and force them to watch it with them. This was a movie that only women go see.....plus me and the three other guys in the room. I'm quite sure I saw two of those guys pulled by a nose ring.

The movie was "Being Jane" about Jane Austin and I have to admit I actually wanted to see it. I thought they could have spent more time developing Jane's character as I thought what they did do in that regard was the best part of the film. The story is a bit too predictable but I suppose there is not much that can be done about that.

Overall I would give it 3 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed it and have no regrets spending the time and money to see it. But as I left the theater I kept thinking of things I wish they would have done that would have made it better. That's a sure sign that it falls short of stratospheric hit in my world.

Seeking Shelter

I love my kids. They're great and I have to admit that I try to act a lot less sentimental about them than I really am. The fact is if one of them goes away for a sleep over at a friends house I notice it and I don't like it at all. There is something about us all being together that makes everything seem right with the world.

Of course Kim and I need breaks from them every now and then and this usually takes the form of a Friday night date. It's good to get away for a few hours and know that they aren't going to pop up at any moment with a major problem that needs fixing. It's also nice to get away from the noise that kids generate so easily.

But here is the problem. Other people apparently have enough money to take their kids with them on their dates. And they usually end up sitting next to me. Arrghh. I hate feeling like an ogre but all I'm asking for is a little break from the screaming and crying.

Kim and I now automatically head for the bar when we go to a restaurant. In our state no one under 21 is allowed in the bar section so that's where we go to find sanctuary. We also live in an area that prohibits smoking almost everywhere so we don't have to put up with smoke either.

I have friends and relatives who would be appalled that we would actually enter the bar area. They'll just have to get over it. I need my break.

In The Name Of Ministry

"Ministry" is a word that gets thrown around all the time in the Christian world. There are so many definitions for it I wouldn't even know where to start. It is starting to irritate me though.

It seems that somewhere along the line ministry got separated from servanthood. In other words, it is apparently possible to "do ministry" without being a servant and I think that is perverse.

The event that pushed me over the edge on this involved someone "in ministry" who was asked to do something for the organization they were ministering to that was beyond the scope of their defined ministry. The result was a hissy fit and a pity party about how bad they were being treated when they were trying to do something good.

It wasn't like they were being taken advantage of either. It was a simply an "all hands on deck" type of emergency and they were asked to pitch in. But somehow the fact that they were doing ministry gave them a sense of entitlement to a free pass from being a servant. People like this embarrass me.

There is a scene in the movie Amazing Grace where the actor playing John Newton is mopping the floor of a church. You get the sense that he is so overcome by what Christ did for him ("saving a wretch like me")that he sees no task too menial for him. I suppose some would look at it as penance but for me it is an indication of a humble heart. I think it does my soul good to do those kinds of tasks too. It reminds me of the servant nature of Christ.

I think we should ban the word ministry from our vocabulary and replace it with service or servanthood. Maybe that will clear up any confusion regarding entitlement. Maybe we have damaged the definition of ministry beyond recognition and, for that matter, beyond redemption.