Category: Random Thoughts…

Community…

Last summer I took a group of youth on a short-term mission trip.  We had the opportunity to travel to El Paso, Texas and run some soccer camps.   As I look back I have to laugh at this for two reasons:  First – only a few of us had any experience with soccer and that was mainly with watching it on ESPN, and Second– we were holding camps in a community where children seem to be given soccer balls at birth.  Yep – most if not all – of the kids we worked with probably learned to kick a soccer ball long before they learned to walk…  Regardless, we had fun.

One of the things I noticed while there was how the families and the churches participated in community – they were WITH each other outside of their individual homes.  It seemed that no matter where we were, there were big groups gathering together, something that just doesn’t happen where I am from.  You just don’t see it here in the Pacific NW like I saw it there.  You can call it cultural or whatever you want, but me, I will call it awesome.

Last night we got together as a church outside of the building and in a local park.  It was great.  Many families were there and we brought games, food, and just hung out.  There was no agenda, no schedule, and no pressure to do anything but just be with each other.  It was intentional and it was fun (except for the part where I failed miserably in the game of kick ball – I will blame it on my age).  We scheduled it and made a point to gather together…

It got me thinking.  What does it mean to be in community with someone?  What does it mean to experience it?  Do we throw around the word community too much?  Has it lost its meaning?   I would like to know your thoughts.  What do you think?

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

My Way…

I have a confession to make. I like to count and find the patterns in things. Don’t ask me why – because I don’t know. It’s wierd really – I naturally see the relationship of things to each other…I see their number and I see patterns. And when I see wholeness or completeness I just feel a lot better. I suppose it is a little “Monkish” of me – or in reality it’s a lot “Monkish.” (And if you don’t know, by “Monkish” I am referring to the television program – Monk.)

My wife still teases me about my oldest daughter’s Fisher Price Farm. You know the kind with the round little people with big cheeks and infectious smiles. The toy that curiously comes with animals that are out of proportion to each other…really they are…those bunnies are half as big as the horses…that’s a monster bunny.

Anyhow, I love that thing. In fact, I think it was secretly developed to provide hours of enjoyment not only to preschoolers, but also to their parents. (After all they should be interacting with their children but that’s a different post.)

Here’s the thing about that toy – after my daughter would get through playing with it – I would HAVE to arrange each of the pieces, make sure they were all there, and put them back in their place. If there was one missing then the world had to stop until I found where it was. Sort of like the parables of the Lost Things in the Gospel. No…just like those parables, because when I found a missing piece there was definite rejoicing!

The good news is I have graduated from the Fisher Price Farm. I now resist the urge to check and see if all the pieces are there – call it having a third child! That toy has run its course and has been replaced by the infamous Mr. Potato Head. Make that two Mr. Potato Heads.

The other night my 19 month old got them out and began to play with them. As I watched her, I could hear my name being called out incessantly. Barry….Barry….  So I joined the party. We were having fun until, silly me, I directed my daughter to put the ear where the ear should go. This did not go over well. You see, she had a plan and a design in mind and it did not match mine. After a long discussion that looked more like a game of keep away I let her put the ear where she wanted to put the ear. What I discovered is that she had a definite plan – and it wasn’t at all like mine.

At that moment God chose to remind me that, when left to my own will, this is my natural tendency for how I want to live my life. I want to do the things I want to do, when I want to do them, and how I want to do them. But, it’s not my life anymore. Sometime ago, I made the decision to not live for myself or for my way or for my desires. Sure, they are still there – they don’t magically go away – but I chose to yield them to God’s plan, His timing, and His way.

So that night, as I sat and looked at a Mr. Potato Head with two sets of eyes, a mouth under one ear, and a nose under the other, I was reminded that I have to yield my desires. We all have to yield our desires. Often, because what we desire, or what we are planning, do not match up with what someone else is planning.  It happened that night….and if we are honest with ourselves it happens more often than we would care to think about.  It truly is like the Bible tells us – there should be less of us and more of Him.

Father God, would you grant me the wisdom to know your plans for me, the courage to follow them, and the patience to wait on you… Lord – it’s not my way but your way! Thank you and amen.

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

Dangerous Church…

The other day I picked up a copy of Dangerous Church, a book written by a pastor in the same town where I minister.  The author, John Bishop, is an unapologetic crusader for the Kingdom of God.  I am glad to have been able to witness his life and ministry firsthand and to call him my friend.  With that said, I want to tell you that I loved this book, and not just because a friend wrote it.

In Dangerous Church John Bishop is transparent, authentic, and inspiring.  John gives you a heartfelt journey of his experience through his successes AND his failures.  The challenges and insights, which he writes about, make you think twice about what it means to do ministry.  If you are serious about doing Kingdom work, and Luke 9:23 tells us Kingdom work is serious, then this book is a must read.

After reading you will walk away with the truth that ONLY GOD can fuel a thriving ministry and that you have to be desperate for God!

 “As we prepare to be released into our communities, we must intentionally cultivate a culture that is desperate to reach people for Jesus…To become a dangerous church, we as leaders must intentionally remind people of the truth about eternity and develop a culture that is desperate to reach the lost…Our churches will never have this sense of desperation to preach the gospel until we help them understand the reality of how short this life is and how our actions and decisions in this life affect eternity.” [excerpt from, Dangerous Church, pages 130 & 131]

 I don’t know about you, but I’m desperate!

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

Plugged In…

My family loves to camp.  We don’t do it very often, but we love it.  In fact, maybe I should say that we love to think about camping because in reality we have only camped once.  But we own all the right stuff, including a multi-room tent, which has been used more times as a Vacation Bible School prop than it has been used to sleep in.

Last summer we were able to finally use it with some good friends of ours.  They invited us to camp on the beautiful Oregon Coast.  We were jazzed and our loaded truck spoke volumes about this excitement.  We took everything!  And I do mean everything!  The truck was so full of stuff from our garage that I had to put wooden side rails on so nothing would fall out.

It was absolutely ridiculous…and hilarious….it was a scene straight from the Beverly Hill Billies.  The only thing we didn’t have was Granny’s rocker.

After we set up camp I discovered something, which I guess I always knew, but didn’t really think about.  Tents don’t come with plug-ins.  Most everything we own (and use) requires electricty and needs to be plugged in regularly.  However, in a tent that is not an option, eventually batteries run down and need recharged.

This coming weekend is Pentecost Sunday and in preparing for Sunday’s sermon I have reflected alot on this camping trip.  Mainly because Pentecost Sunday is all about power and in preparing for my camping trip I didn’t think about needing a power source until it was too late.

Allow me to segue to the Early Church.  They knew about power and they got it right.  They knew they needed something and were told to wait for “it.”  And “it” happened 50 days after the crucifixion – the baptism of the Spirit.  They got plugged in and did some amazing things…and we can too. All we have to do is tap the same power source!

At Pentecost Christians were empowered to trust an invisible, guiding Presence.  G.C. Jones puts it this way, “The Holy Spirit transforms us into more than we are, fills us with energy, and gives us purpose, direction, and stability.”

Now that’s something I want to stay plugged into!

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

Alignment Issues….

Last night was one of those great Pacific Northwest evenings – just the right temperature, no rain, and a little breeze.  It was amazing!  My wife and I took the opportunity to sit on the back deck in front of a fire and just talk.  Which, unfortunately, doesn’t get to happen too often…

We talked about a lot of things.  We chatted about family, the weather, recent movie releases, good books, the past, the present, and the future.

Specifically, one of our topics was Psalm 37:4.  This is a small verse and probably one you have heard but can’t say where it is found.  In fact,  you have probably heard the second half more than you have heard the first half.

The NLT translates it this way, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.”

Notice that this verse starts with an imperative statement.  It is an action verb.  The Psalmist is telling us to do something.  We are to do…before we receive!  We are to delight in the Lord before He gives us anything.  Delight is defined – in the noun form as great pleasure – and in the verb form as pleasing someone greatly.

Therefore, when we are told to delight in the Lord, this means we are to, quite literally, take great pleasure in pleasing Him!  This means we are to do everything for Him, to always celebrate being in His presence, asking for His blessings, eating Him up, and breathing Him deeply!

We have to do all of this before we are given the desires of our hearts.  But check this out… If we are doing all of this, our desires will be His desires, and if our desires are His desires then of course He will give them to us!

It’s an alignment issue.  So the question becomes, “Are we aligned with Him?”

How’s your alignment today?

Until next time….

Pastor Barry

In the Presence…

Let me tell you about Kara…

My middle child, as opposed to her sisters, who can go and play by themselves for hours, wants to be with people.  It doesn’t matter what you are doing, where you are sitting, or even what time it is – Kara wants to be with you.

Recently we had one of those mornings.  One where, she got up early, and crawled in bed and snuggled up close. (And then kicked and pushed and squirmed….as she tried to get close.)  As I struggled for “space” I couldn’t help but think of how wonderful it was.

I also thought about her feelings, about how secure she must have felt nestled there.  At that moment there was no other place she wanted to be…it was there she felt loved…it was there she felt safe…it was there she felt at home…

I suppose this is what we all long for – a place where we can feel safe, a place where we can feel secure.

So this all got me thinking… In whose presence is it that I long to be?  But I also thought of the reverse of this question…Who is it that longs to be with me?

I long for the hugs of my daughter and her small hand grasping mine.  Yesterday she had her cast removed and replaced on her arm.  There she sat all brave holding onto my hand for security.  Knowing that even though she was scared I was with her….and I loved it!

If I long for this and love being wanted so much…how much more does our Heavenly Father long for our presence, our love, and our lives?

After all, it’s Him who can provide all the love we could want and all the hope we could ever need.

This is not an easy world to live in…that goes without saying.  So you may be reading this and finding yourself in a bad place, in a bad time, and in a bad way…

If that is true for you, then I want you to know that there is a place you can go.  There is a place you can find rest.  There is a place you can find security.  And most importantly there is a place you can find hope!

So take a moment and crawl up into Jesus’ lap…crawl within His arms…and just let Him hold you.  It is a wonderful place to be.  In fact, there is no better place to be…

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

Real life or fairy tales….

My daughter and I (or is it my daughter and me….I never can get this right so forgive me if it’s wrong….) were having a conversation the other day about the end of the world.  Now, this isn’t all that strange except that my daughter is 9 and has some really deep thoughts on the subject.  Myself, on the other hand, gets up in the morning – checks for the sun – and then thanks God for another day.  It might be a kind of an osterich type response to not worry about the end of the world, but it’s pretty easy to just make sure I am living the way I am supposed to be living.

So at the end of the conversation, Kamille says something like this.  “Dad, the Bible tells us that we don’t know when the world will end.”

Me – “Correct.”

Kam – “So let’s say it’s going to end in 5 seconds.  I don’t know it will end in 5 seconds, but let’s just say it will.  Ok – I mean five more seconds, because I am pretty sure 5 seconds just passed and we are still here.  I mean, things aren’t all black and we aren’t in nothingness or anything.”

Me – “Pretty sure you just wasted 10 more seconds….”

Kam – “Alright – 5, 4, 3, 2, Dad I love you, the end…..  So dad, now that the world has ended am I in Heaven?”

Me – “If you loved Jesus with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.”

Kam – “But what if I didn’t?  Would it be like all red or black or something.  You know because God is light and everything would be like all lit up or something.”

Me – “We don’t know what it will be like – but I do know that you don’t want to take that chance of not loving Jesus with everything you are.”

Kam – “That would be bad…”

Me – “And thanks for thinking of your love for me in that last second of the world!”

Kam – “Your welcome.. It’s what daughters do.”

I walked away from that conversation really excited, because my daughter really understands what living for Jesus is about and because she was thinking of me in the last second of the world.  It’s the small things that really make a dad proud!

But soon after I returned to my office, I read an article about Stephen Hawking which made me really sad.  If you don’t know who Stephen Hawking is let me tell you.  He is a renowned physicist and researcher at Cambridge University, who was diagnosed with the degenerative Lou Gehrig’s disease at the age of 21.

In this article he was quoted as saying, “I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first. I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.”

Mr. Hawking if you are reading this…I am sad for you.  Because there really is an afterlife, there really is a Heaven, there really is a Jesus who wants to be a part of your life.  Can I prove it with the science that you so desperately cling to?  No.  Can you prove that there isn’t with that same science? No.  Why?  Because it’s real and it’s not a fairy tale.

How do I know? Two reasons – the Bible tells me and I haven’t been afraid of the dark since I was 9…

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

Broken bones and sacrifices…

Fortunately, I have never broken a bone in my body.  Unfortunately, two of my girls did when they were just six-years old.  Totally sad!  The worst part about the last accident was that it happened about 36 hours prior to our Disneyland vacation.

My middle daughter was pumped for this trip.  She had been taking swimming lessons and was going to finally conquet the “big” water slide.  But those plans changed on the monkey bars last Wednesday evening when a tiny little hand slipped and my little girl fell awkwardly.

She is ok.  The bone was set and a cast was placed on her arm. In fact, I think it weighs as much as she does!

But my heart is breaking for her.  I am sad when I think of how she can’t swim this trip, or ride the roller coasters that she had been looking forward to riding.  Yes, we have done special things and she is having a wonderful time, but it is still sad. However, she is resilient and is making the best of toting around a 10 pound weight in a sling around her neck.

I wish so much that I could take her place.  I wish that it was my arm that was broken so she could run and play and ride the rides she wanted to ride.  I wish that I could make it all better immediately.  And most of all I wish that my little girl didn’t have to go through the pain that she went through last week.

Ever wish that in your life?  For anything or anyone?

As a pastor, I can find a preachable sermon in almost anything.  This is definitely no exception…

Jesus took the place for us.  He paid the price and made the sacrifice so we didn’t have to.  He endured the pain, the torture, and death so we could be made whole!  Thank you Jesus for that ultimate sacrifice and brokenness!

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

200 Percent…

I wish I had a dollar for everytime I heard someone say, “I’m giving it 110 percent!”  Really? What I remember from math class is 100 percent is 100 percent and you can’t have more than 100 percent of something.  100 percent is perfect.  It is everything. It is complete.

At the expense of really not wanting to throw you a Jesus Juke – Let me tell you that I have discovered the one and only thing that can actually be (and is) 200 percent – Jesus.

Allow me to explain… Yesterday I was teaching from Hebrews to the Declaration! Youth.  After explaining the authorship of that book, which modern scholars agree is not known for sure, and then settling on giving the name of “Phil” to this unknown author, we looked at the first few chapters. 1:1 – 4:13 to be exact.

Here is what we learned…  Jesus is the Son, God is the Father, Jesus reflects God in everything, Jesus is far greater than the angels, and the angels are just a little greater than man (who was made in God’s image and is designed to reflect God.)  Easy enough right?  Wrong!

It was straight forward in 1:4 where we learned that Jesus is far greater than the angels, but in 2:9 we are told Jesus was a little lower than the angels….hmmmm….. Ok, follow me now. Who is greater than the angels?  God.  Who is lower than the angels? Man.  Who are we told by “Phil” is both? Jesus.

Jesus is both God AND man – He is fully both.  Therefore, if Jesus is fully both, by definition He is 100 percent God and 100 percent man, thus making Jesus the world’s first and only 200 percent being!  Wow!

If God can actually make something that is greater than 100 percent just think of what else He can do.  Really, that means He can do ANYTHING!  The possibillities are limitless.

Now that’s a God I’m glad I know and trust.  Do you?  You can.

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

Easter Sunday (a.k.a. Picture Day)…

Yesterday was Easter – a busy day around our house!  As a pastor, Sundays and the weekend are always busy, but when it’s Easter weekend the level of activity ramps up just that much more.  You have to plan for Easter…

For example – just try and eat out after church on Easter without any reservations.  You’ll find you are quickly relegated to the local Mexican Restaurant or your neighborhood McDonald’s.  (Those are great places but definitely not what your wife would hope you would choose for Easter dinner.)

Easter morning arrives and we (the pastoral staff) have an awesome service planned.  Today is the day that the “CEO’s” will be in church.  And by “CEO” I mean the Christmas and Easter Only crowd – you know the ones you see in church only twice a year.

We know the crowds will be bigger and everyone wants the service and the day to be excellent – not just the pastors.  All you have to do is watch the parade of people dressed to the nines with their new Sunday threads.  This seams to be the day that new suits, hats, shoes, dresses, sweaters, and shirts make their debut.  So much so that I have secretly taken to calling Easter by it’s other little known name – “Picture Day.”

It’s no different in my house.   I know that it’s a special day because my daughters have new dresses, new shoes, and new accessories.  Even the hot rollers have appeared on the bathroom counter just waiting for their role in this special occasion.  In fact, I have to confess, I picked out (and wore) a tie for the day…

Everyone is dressed – the car is loaded – the camera is grabbed – and off we go!

This is where the picture day part comes in.  Easter is a special day in the church.  In fact it is THE day in the church.  So it is natural that we do things extra special on this Sunday.  The kids have a small program, the choir sings, baptisms are scheduled, eggs are hunted, brunch is served, and everyone is dressed to impress!

But as I sit here this Monday morning after Easter I am actually kind of disappointed.  Not in my Easter experience – it was incredible and the service was amazing!  But I sit disappointed because next week isn’t Easter.  The cameras won’t be there….the “CEO’s” won’t be there….the fanfare won’t be there….

“Picture Day” has come and gone for another year.  As a pastor this severely disappoints me!  Why does it have to be that way?  Why can’t we as a church strive to have every Sunday be “Picture Day?”

Let me challenge you….let’s take it a week at a time….let’s make this next year a year of 52 Sunday’s all being treated as “Picture Day’s.”   The day that you roll out the very best to worship a risen Savior!  The day that everything is excellent….

Now that would be cool!

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

“Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com”