Family Correlation

This is not related to the last post. ;-D

This morning at CC we talked about the passage in 1 Timothy that qualifies leadership in the church based on leadership at home (within the family). Here are the verses - chapter 3, verse 4 & 5.

He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)

Tall order! I am now looking back since my 3 children are adults. But I can see where I've been and what I've gained. The rigorous dynamics within the family are useful in leadership settings - especially in a multi-leadership context. You learn the virtues mentioned in the other verses preceding these verses (especially in the rearing and upbringing of the various mutations revealed in offspring).

It occured to me that before I became a husband and a father, I thought I had keen insight that qualified me for effective leadership. I didn't know how sophmoric I was until I began to work with other young developing leaders. I realized they didn't have the needed domestic resource that is critical in honing the virtues of "temperance, self-control, respectability, hospitality, teachability, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money" (vv 2 & 3).

What a valuable staple spouse and children are. No wonder God said to be fruitful and multiply. Survival of humanity has much broader benefits than merely occupying the earth.

Guys and Godfather

Less than a week ago, one of my umpire friends tagged a Godfather trivia question at the end of one of his multi recipient posts (he's the secretary of our high school group and the assignor for our summer games). There were about half a dozen responses to the question.

Out of that, he lumps together a small group of guys to swap GF trivia. It is beginning to network to others. I added my brother, and he added one of his friends. There is some talk about trying to get a group together to watch the movies with food and beverages (almost like a bunch of girls watching a Hugh Grant/Julia Roberts genre flick).

What is it about this story that grabs so many men? Is it the combination of conquest with rivalry and family-on-the-side mixed in?

Such a curiosity.

Ciao!

Jeffy "Big Ears" Stewartini

Non-Fiction TV

This morning at Cholesterol Cafe, we talked about what the concept of "survivor" is and discussed the meaning of Jesus' words about giving us life "to the full."

The conversation began by talking about the popular television program "Survivor." I would have loved to contribute to the banter, but I just can't watch that show. I watched it once and thought - "I see the formula and it looks like broken and redemptive humanity on display." I can't get past the knowledge that the show has a producer, and a crew influencing every "spontaneous" event that unfolds before millions of viewers. No thanks - it bores me! Same thing with all the fuss about "Lost." I heard someone I work with state that they "tivo" every episode and sit down to watch it later in the week "and please don't tell me what happened."

Whatever floats your boat, but that ain't me!

As you can see by the title of this blog, I don't quite blend in with the particular and contextual "mainstream" on this. I seem to be in the minority.

If I try to converse with others about the shows I watch (like Mythbusters, Forensic Files, North Mission Road, Dirty Jobs, The Investigators and other real "reality" shows), it usually results in a polite and ignorant nod - or the third-eye look. I feel like I'm in a very small minority when it comes to TV entertainment.

Let's see if I can explain my wiring - which is subject to scrutiny and correction or resonation and understanding. I've tried to do a self-analysis on this quirkiness of mine - and this is what I have concluded. This is me...

Non-fiction is not subject to manipulation or conniving. It simply displays things they way they happen or are. Long-held notions can be dispelled and insights gained by passive observation. This is more consistent with how we live our lives. We can plan to decide certain things, but our decisions are most often reshaped so that we navigate according to conditions before us.

"Survivor" and "Lost" are productions that simulate reality. Viewers find themselves drawn in to the drama of adaptive human behavior, but forget that the people are there based on recruitment and audition. The settings are chosen dependent on advance research and those involved have to be monitored (especially in our litigate-happy culture).

It's artificial humanity. Recent history has shown that those who gain fame (or infamy) on how they adapt and thrive through difficult challenges on the small screen, fall flat on their faces with mundane challenges away from cameras and selected remote locations.

I guess I'm much more entertained with the latter. Case in point: I'm actually enjoying the current situation with Paris Hilton's jail sentence. There is much more intrigue for me to hear she and her mother cry "foul" - for this petition to the Governator to pardon her and commute here sentence - to hear Rosie O’Donnell slough off the irresponsibility of driving under the influence. I'm actually gaining more insight and pleasure from this, than any production which requires my time and attention for several minutes when networks schedule its "airing."

Enough rambling (I love the freedom of blogging for this reason. It's up to you to make sense of what you read). It is my belief that salt and light become more intensified by looking at what we do and who we are from the perspective of the One who "emptied himself."

Make any sense?

Shalom,

Jeff

dialogismos with myself

His fictitious name is Patrick Morris. I met him when he and his fiancée came to seek premarital counseling. She had been attending our church for a few years. She became a follower of Christ within those years. Both had been married before.

I enjoyed our times together. We talked about our mutual trust in Christ and other mundane things that we enjoyed in life (he liked archery).

About a month before the scheduled wedding, they decided they could not wait and hold off on their affections for each other - so they went to Reno and eloped. They informed me at our next session. I told them that it was virtuous of them to do so, since biblically it is stated that it is better for them to marry, than to have an intense fire of physical expression held in check.

So we opted for a ceremony that would be a "blessing of a civil marriage." It was a very festive event. They even treated my wife and me to a night at a fru-fru hotel in CA wine country with body massage included.

I have no idea what happened to Patrick after that!

He became a pharisaical zealot. He would constantly lambaste other followers for not living up to what he thought was an appropriate expression of obedience to Christ.

At one point, his wife consulted me and expressed concern about his demeanor. She lamented that she felt he misrepresented himself while they were dating. That the true Patrick was hiding and only showed up after the wedding.

Others from our fellowship have had negative encounters with Patrick. This tempted me to be reciprocally antagonistic toward him. But I held off, knowing it was not in the interest of Christ's Spirit within me.

This morning, I am at the "Cholesterol Cafe" Men's breakfast. Each week we meet, go over a biblical principle and discuss how it is applied in our lives. Then we engage in mundane matters and mutual interest. About an hour and 20 minutes after the start of our time together, I see Patrick getting out of his car in the parking lot. He has his usual carry-on of KJV bible and some other black leather book. My first temptation is to say something negative to the others about him. God's Spirit screams "NO!" in my heart. I hear "speak to one another..." and so as he sits down adjacent to us, I look to him, wave and say "Hi Patrick." He waves back.

We continue our light conversations, when out of the blue, he pops his head over the lattice work atop the divider and asks: "How come you guys never talk about Jesus?" Looking up to see his face to determine if he means it in jest, I ask: "What did you say?" He repeats the question with even more consternation about his countenance.

"Out of the blue!" I'm discerning, as I see the downcast spirit ripple with the other men there. So I simply and confidently said: "Lighten up Patrick. Read Romans 14."

He sits back down and eventually asks the waitress to move to another table.

The brother next to me asks: "Why is it that some who believe are accounting for others and not themselves?" I explained, as best as I could, the history of Patrick's rantings with other Christians.

Now - the dialogue. Is this God speaking to us? Is this the adversary disguising as an angel of light? Is this a person who loves Christ, but has some kind of dysfunctional issue? I am hanging my hat on I Cor. 13 which emphasizes faith, hope and love and downplays knowledge.

I cannot figure this one out.

Campus Marshals?

Many opinions on how to "prevent this from happening again" - - the majority weighing in that "we can't."

"Hey Cho - where you goin' with that gun in your hand?" cannot be stopped when there is intelligence and scheming mixed in with a demented and deranged mind. I'm holding my breath in anticipation of succeeding copycats.

Among the many pundit sound bytes on the news, I heard the idea of trained and qualified teachers and students with concealed weapons. Just like the clandestine sky marshals on all domestic flights. Initially, I thought “no way” but then reconsidered. I’m sure the extreme gun opponents would resist with vigor and volume.

What about having that or at least those mechanisms that police use where barbs are fired at a suspect and electricity immobilizes them?

The way our culture is going, something needs to be set in place that will serve as a deterrent or at least create some kind of hesitation in the minds of the Cho Seung Hui’s among us. I realize that this world can be dangerous and unsafe (Mesheach warns us about “trouble” down here numerous times) – but I think we can take measures to curb this kind of extreme darkness.

Is it possible?

Jeff

You Gotta Minute?

“Pastor, I’m concerned…” These are three words coming from the lips of those under "our care" that create tension for every pastor. A deluge of subsequent words that convey a personal dismay over a church wide matter or a personality challenge most often follows these three words.

There have been times where I was grateful for a person taking the time and courage to address an issue that needed attention. In such cases, damage and unnecessary trouble were avoided.

There have also been times where the perceived issue was a result of unfounded fear, needless worry, and even unhealthy self-righteousness. The pastoral task of providing guidance and direction can be invigorating and at the same time bewildering.

In his book “Great Leader – Great Teacher” (Moody 2006) Gary Bredfeldt brilliantly likens pastoral leadership to driving in a blinding “whiteout” snow-storm (something few coastal Californians understand). I’ve driven in many-a. Since you have very little to guide you, your objective is to veer neither to the right nor the left as you progress toward your destination.

Bradfeldt states:

Leadership is especially challenging in the twenty-first century….Leadership has never been easy. If it were, leaders would be in abundance. No, leadership has always been a challenge, and great leaders have been few in number. That is because leadership demands discernment, and discernment demands a knowledge of good and evil, right and wrong, truth and error, and that which is wise and/or unwise. Discernment is the ability to choose the best among highly attractive alternatives. Great leaders know that some paths, though eye-catching at the beginning, turn out to be dead-ends – or even worse, a tragic misdirection leading to unexpected consequences.


Leadership is indeed challenging. Pastors find direction in such passages as Acts 20:28:

“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.”

Notice the care starts with self. That is something that needs to be modeled. 1 Peter 5:2&3 also gives us leadership insight:

“Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”

Combining the two principles, it is easy to see that we need to begin with looking inside our own lives and having that provide an example.

It has often been my experience that those who express “concerns” are fearful of “tragic misdirection leading to unexpected consequences.” With that, I’ll ask us to think back . A somewhat recent occurrence of “concern” came about with the publication and release of Dan Brown’s “The DaVinci Code.” I shared in that concern. What I thought might happen did not occur. Many Christ Followers were equally “concerned” that the firestorm would take time and much effort to quench and that the Church would suffer a serious setback.

What happened…? God surprised us! Something we never imagined occurred. The surprise came about when many secular sources quickly criticized the blatant inaccuracies and revisionism used by Brown. “60 Minutes” and “The History Channel” were among those who discredited the writing and movie. Most had – at best – a waning interest in the survival and longevity of the church. The controversy had a very rapid demise. It is very likely that you had forgotten about this book and movie until I mentioned it.

A current topic that is creating misunderstanding and invigorated conversation among Christ Followers is the concept of the “Emerging/Emergent Church.” Just go to any search engine and you will have hundreds of thousands of links provided. Everyone has an opinion on it. Among the opinions you will find both support and “concern.” Depending on what and how you read, you may find yourself identifying with either.

Having read and benefited greatly from many authors who would fall into the “Emerging Church” category, I have to say that presently I would not consider myself as one that has “concern.” The majority of what I have read has caused me to look more closely and probe more deeply into the teachings of Jesus in the 4 gospels and the rest of the New Testament. I will acknowledge that having read some of the blogs and critiques online, I’ve been prompted to listen and read more cautiously. I have seen a few red flags, but not anything that should derail what I sincerely believe is the curious work of God.

Much of what I read and hear reminds me of what took place and caused the church to grow rapidly in its infancy (the “Apostolic Period”). The pages of the Gospels and Acts have been given a renewed animation that was lulled in the past. In those pages we can see the curious work of God breaking down every cultural barrier as His transforming power goes to work in the hearts and lives of men and women once considered as “unclean” (See Acts 10 & 11). We see people actually trying to live out the challenging words of Jesus by dying to self (see Mt. 19:21, Acts 2:45 & 4:32) and ministering to others. The result is that multitudes are being saved.

Even more illuminating, we can look back now and recognize how God worked his plan to invade our world by sending Jesus - outside of what we have perceived and dictated as his proper template throughout the whole bible. God visits Abimelech, the pagan king, to protect and correct Abram; Saul expels mediums from the land, yet he visits one to hear from the deceased Samuel; The Magi (astrologers) visit and worship Jesus as an infant. Yes, we scratch our heads and don’t quite get why the revealed Word contains such stories, but God is much bigger than our perceived templates. It’s all part of his sovereign way to provide the means of our redemption through the Messiah – Jesus Christ.

I could go on and am willing to discuss this at length if you have any further interest.

In my effort to obey by looking inside my own life and provide an example, I share what has helped me when I am challenged by “concerns.”

I ask myself “Why am I using the word? What is causing the “concern?” Is there an actual threat to the Body of Christ where dark consequences are beginning to take seed? If so, there should be prayerful follow up.

Or is it perhaps shrouding anxiety? I have to ask that because I have learned many times that I have been anxious (e.g. The DaVinci Code). There are times that I forget God’s insights provided in his Word. I am not casting my anxieties upon him knowing he cares for me (1 Peter 5:6&7). I become anxious for everything, not praying with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6). I am worrying about tomorrow ignoring the life and opportunities that are right in front of me with the present (Matthew 6:33&34). I keep learning that God is much bigger than my concern or even the combined concern of many. His promise extends immeasurably (Greek “huper-ek perissos huper” – literally “above and out, far beyond above”) beyond all we ask or even think. (Ephesians 3:20).

I will put myself “out there” by acknowledging that perhaps I may end up being mistaken about seriously considering the challenging innovations to clearly and relevantly communicate the Good News of new life in Jesus Christ. In my ongoing vision and passion to be consistently aware of the ever-changing culture (which God has always and can still transcend) I can seem “trendy.” That is why when I read and research, I am continually praying for discernment so that I do not drive into the debilitating proverbial snow on either side.

In concluding this post, I do find comfort once again in the book of Acts, chapter 5, verses 33-39 - where God’s immeasurable power and will prevails over human power and will.

When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. Then he addressed them: "Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."

Shalom,

Jeff

Fact or Fiction?

This is just like Columbine. I don't mean the obvious. Watching Fox News last night, the opinions - at the very least and perhaps more, matched the number of people who had to offer them. One gunman? Geraldo proffered the possiblilty (while qualifying his notions so that he can replay the sound byte and say "I never really said...") that police went arry based on shaky eye witness accounts that there was a "white man with greasy hair, leaving the scene in a black pick-up truck with farm license plate." Then he shows a website with an Asian man who owns an arsenal of weapons, but "Police say that this isn't anyone they're looking at." Why show it?

Information and misinformation. We are all prone to turn the former into the latter.

In the aftermath of Columbine, there were stories about the late Cassie Bernal. She was asked if she believed in God. When she affirmed that she did, she was slain with a bullet. "No wait! That wasn't Cassie. That was Rachel Scott."

To this day, no one is really certain.

One of my pet peeves are the number of forwarded e-mails from fellow followers of Mesheach that contain stories or pleas for money or cards that turn out to be hoaxes.

Who starts these? How do they run rampant and unchecked? And more than any other thing why do people readily buy it, if it appears to be light?

The lesson for me? I know that I am capable of only "knowing in part" and that "We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God."

Jeff