A little introspection this morning

those who know me really well know that periodically, i can go through a depressive cycle.  it’s usually brought on by life events that undermine my self-esteem or cause me to question the value or worth of my life effort.

(…as a side note, i think i ought to write a little about depression one of these days.  it is an issue that faces many, if not the majority of people in our culture.  failure, rejection, loss, fear, guilt, pain…you name it…are all triggers that can result in the paralysis of depression.  what do you think?)

i’ve gone through one of those stretches recently and when i do, i always seem to come through on the other side with new insight about myself, or about god, or about friendship, or about loyalty, …but always about truth.  this time has been no different.

truth is, i crave depth.  depth of friendship…depth of conversation…depth of meaning.  i want…and need…friends that talk honestly and deeply…unafraid to speak the truth and stay close enough to heal and forgive (when it’s required).

i love to play and laugh and hang out.  i love to talk about sports and jobs and politics and education and television shows and the best new tools for home improvement.  let’s face it, i can talk shallow and surface and meaningless stuff with the best of you!

but at the end of the day, i crave heart to heart.  i long for friendship that goes below the surface.  the relationship that goes beyond what i do to who i am is what brings me to wholeness.  i want to have people in my life who want to know about what i believe and what moves me to tears and what i’m afraid of and what grabs my heart.

i want people in my life who want to talk about purpose, and not just events…meaning, and not just effort…destiny, and not just destination…doubts and fears, and not just frustrations…the grace of god, and not just religion…truth, and not just the church…heart and passion, and not just personal goals.

i have some of those people.  i want more.  i need more.

how about you?  do you live deep below the surface…or are you skimming?  what are you offering to others?  what are you requiring of others?

go deeper.  now.

Basketball Fashion Statement

really, which look do you prefer your basketball heroes to sport?  “new school” baggy-kilt-skirt-can’t-dribble-between-the-legs-dresses…or the manly, “old school”-i’m-proud-of-what-god-gave-me-boxer-briefs of the great larry bird?

come on, don’t be influenced by the crowd!

enjoy your march madness fix tonight.

Friday is Top Five Day

i got up this morning thinking about how long i have lived in texas.  don’t ask me why.  i just did.

there are many things i love about living in texas.  a future top five day will be devoted to those reasons.  but for today, i want to list my top five names of cities or towns i have visited in the great state.   i love these names!

5.   Purves – need i say more?  this is a little town southeast of dublin (home of the amazing dublin dr. pepper)

4.  Uncertain – this is a little hot spot on caddo lake in east texas.  to be honest, i’m a little uncertain of most of east texas…

3.   Cut and Shoot - between conroe and the thriving metropolis of cleveland…a suburb of lizzy’s rockin’ hometown of tarkington.  you just gotta go there.

2.   Ding Dong – just south of kileen and copperas cove.  really…who would think of naming their town “ding dong”?  i guess you have to be one to know one.

1.   Pflugerville – not sure why, but i always start laughing every time we pass through here on our way home from austin.  it always makes me ask, “what’s a pfluger?”

so how about you?  do you have any favorite texas towns that have names you just can’t forget?

Axioms…from my perspective

i’ve decided to dedicate thursdays to giving some of my personal life axioms…truth that, from my perspective, is self-evident. sometimes practical. sometimes philosophical. sometimes whimsical. but truth, no less.

“this, too, shall pass”

this is a truth that i have held on to for years and years.  i first heard of it when i visited an alcoholics anonymous location and saw it posted on a wall.  i was struck by it’s genius and it’s simplicity.

it has a mysterious origin…one steeped in jewish folklore…attributed to king solomon.  abraham lincoln summed up the story the best in an address to the wisconsin state agricultural society in 1859:

It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: “And this, too, shall pass away.” How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!

by constantly having something to look forward to, he found himself content.  what he previously thought was satisfaction was only a superficial feeling that was brought on by his great wealth…which was only temporary…thus, his satisfaction could not last forever.  true satisfaction could only be found when he recognized his wealth for what is was.

wealth, poverty, health, sickness, good times, bad, injustice, fairness, right, wrong…it’s all with us.  and it all inevitably passes.  this sobering reality can bring freedom or apathy…take your pick.  for me, i prefer freedom.

the apostle paul put it this way:

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.  Philippians 4:11-13

Papiview

the legacy is officially continuing…

this past saturday, holden took in his first ball game.  at the ballpark in arlington, the home of the texas rangers.  that’s his daddy behind home plate.

how cool is this?

Monday Morning Quarterback

i’ve taken over a week off from writing.  it’s hard to get started again.  writing is a discipline for me and when i get out of the routine, it’s like going back to the gym after my schedule has been messed up.  i know i need to go, but unless i make myself, it just isn’t going to happen.

so i’m going to suck it up this morning, get back on the writing treadmill and start exercising again.  at least my mind and fingers…

here are a few thoughts as i reflect on yesterday.

• we were certainly feeling the effects of spring break!  lots of people gone.
• the good news is that i was ready for it.
• after the big push for people to work at simple service last weekend, i was pretty sure there would be a lot of folks taking advantage of the end of spring break to spend with family.
• i had a crazy experience in the first service.  i got completely distracted (i mean completely, totally, off-the-chart sidetracked) near the beginning of my sermon.  and i never really got it back together.  i’m pretty sure people must have walked out afterward saying, “what the heck was that sermon about?”
• it’s a weird thing to be in the middle of a sermon, know you’ve lost it, and still have to fight through it.  all i can say is that god is gracious, patient, and must have a sense of humor.
• i don’t think i could go on if i wasn’t convinced that god can make good out of our messes.
• sermon in the second hour was waaaay better.
• preaching on the topic of the holy spirit is forcing me to articulate some things that are usually left unsaid.  speaking about the mysterious is humbling.
• after all those years of leading worship music, i can honestly say it’s better for me when i’m not playing an intstrument.  i have to concentrate too hard to keep from making mistakes.  boy, am i grateful for buzzy.  and brandon.
• we have become the church of “shower”.  the men are feeling slighted…
• went to a new place for lunch.  jersey mike’s is worth it.  the chipotle cheesesteak will find it’s way into my belly again.
• i’m looking forward to the next few weeks as we build some momentum going into easter.

it feels good to write again.  stay tuned.

Axioms…from my perspective

i’ve decided to dedicate thursdays to giving some of my personal life axioms…truth that, from my perspective, is self-evident. sometimes practical. sometimes philosophical. sometimes whimsical. but truth, no less.

“see the biggest picture possible”

it’s interesting as the weeks go by, and more and more of my axioms begin to surface, i find myself realizing that the most important axiom i believe in is whatever one i am currently writing about.  more true today than ever…

the difficulties of life have a way of “squeezing down” our perspective.  stuff comes our way nearly everyday.  the unexpected.  the unfair.  the unexplained.  the painful.  the heartbreaking.  sometimes you see it coming.  sometimes you don’t.  no matter…hurt still hurts.  and our nature is to “squeeze down”.

god wants us to see life in IMAX, but when our world comes crushing in (or simply tweaked), we have this unhealthy way of viewing life through a tiny, self-imposed tunnel.  we choose to see what we want to see.

we fail to see the big picture…we don’t go to the edges to get a better angle…to get a glimpse of what god sees…and to get a view of what god is really doing in the drama of our existence.  but we need to go there.

honestly, it’s hard.  it’s much easier to sit in our pain.  or carry on endless dialogues in our own minds.  or run from the truth and live in denial.  or go and find an arsenal of would-be friends who will say what we want to hear.  none of these…or an endless string of imposters…is the edge.  it’s something entirely different.

it is learning to develop the discipline of sorting out truth from fiction.  but it’s more.  it’s having the mind of christ.  nothing short of that will do.

Now it’s getting personal…2

there has been a judgment floating around on blogs, in magazines and books, and in general ministry conversation recently.  it’s not a new discussion.  i was in on the roundtable thirty years ago.  i suppose i never really stepped away.  i’m just hearing it with new ears these days.

the judgment is one that offends me deeply.  it comes from the expository-preaching-is-the-best-kind-of-preaching camp.  it’s not their conclusion that offends me.  i actually agree with them on that one.  it’s some of their assumptions that bug me.

the assumption is that if i preach topically (or textually, as i prefer to see it), i am taking a less than sincere and a less than scholarly approach to my preaching and preparation.  that i am merely giving my opinions.  that i am bringing my own preconceived outline to the study table, rather than just letting the word of god speak for itself…in context.

the assumption is that my sermon content is man-made, rather than god inspired and drawn directly from heart of the text.

the assumption is that my sermon is shallow, because it might be flowing from a topic.  or that i might be too lazy or undisciplined to put the time into studying, in order to preach in an expository framework.

for those that care, let me assure you that i am taking due diligence!  even though my recent sermons (even the majority of my sermons throughout the year) are textual or topical, and not expository preaching through whole books of the bible at a time, my preparation is done with the same attention to detail just the same.

for whatever topic is being addressed, each scripture is studied within the context that it was originally written, so that the meaning is drawn from the text itself…rather than being dictated by the topic.   each of those scriptures are then compared with each other to draw a composite picture of what the whole bible has to say about that topic.  sometimes that can be done in one sermon, but not likely.  that’s why we will often do a “series” on a particular topic.

next time, i’ll give you some other reasons why i often preach through a topical series.  you might be surprised.

Now it’s getting personal…

i’ve been reading a lot lately.  and listening.  and i don’t think i like what’s being said.

back when i was in graduate school, i took classes on preaching.  there was always a lot of discussion about the different kinds of preaching styles and methods.  the big debate was always about the relative values of the three main ways to present the message: topical , textual or expository.

a topical message is when we select a particular topic or issue, research all relevant scripture, and then form the sermon into a logical and comprehesive presentation of the theme or subject matter.  this can be done as single message or a series of messages designed to cover the entire topic.

a textual message is when we select a section of scripture and present the theme or focus of that particular text as a series of points or observations that come directly from the flow or outline within that passage.  this can be done as a single message or as part of ongoing topical series or part of study through an entire book of the bible.

an expository message is similar to a textual message, in that the content of the sermon is formed directly from the text.  the difference in expository preaching is that the content of any particular sermon is set in the larger context of the study of an entire book of the bible.  expository preaching almost always refers to preaching systematically or sequentially through whole books of the bible at a time.

most preachers have strong opinions about the relative value of each of these methods and are not afraid to tell you.  nor are they particularly reluctant to openly judge other preachers for having a different opinion on those values.

i think i’m getting ready to join the party.  more later.

Monday Morning Quarterback

it wasn’t just a great sunday, but a great weekend.  here are some of the highlights…

• it’s monday morning and i’m still tired.
• there’s a whole unique culture that shops the parking lot sale circuit.
• we were selling stuff on friday night as we were still setting up!
• i had to turn out the lights and make people leave or we probably would have sold all night.
• awesome security guard.  we find new jobs for josh every week.
• i’m always blown away buy what people buy (and don’t buy) at these sales.
• our parking lot sale workers were amazing.  we really pulled together.
• it was fitting that the time changed this weekend.  just what i needed…another hour lost.
• had a bunch of people in the 10:00 service.  i wasn’t expecting much of a turnout.  color me surprised.
• had two ralph moments.  one involved infringement of his territory.  the other involved the infringement of mine.  you’ll have to ask me.
• if you got there late, you missed a great new song to start the service.
• i know we sing hymns that are hundreds of years old, but singing “we are one in the spirit” goes back to my high school days.  now that one made me feel old.
• this study on the holy spirit is really challenging me.  are you learning anything new?
• “the remedy” is a song we should sing all the time.
• great turnout at cabana for the fund raiser.  it was crazy to see all of our people take over the place.
• i’m pretty sure some people left before the service was over so they wouldn’t have to wait in line.
• speaking of the line…
• had the baby shower for rejoice at our house.  wanda said it was one of the best ever.  glad everybody enjoyed the new window air conditioner.  that’s another story…
• my dogs make lousy hosts for parties.
• can’t wait for monday morning quarterback next week.  it will be on tuesday, tho…