The Valley Blog

A Great Start Toward Christmas

2011-12-05T06:07:00.000-08:00

My Christmas season got off to a great start last night. I attended a concert by the combined choirs of Middletown Christian Church, that included folks from The Valley campus. It was wonderful. I love the focus on traditional carols that were done beautifully. I always thought "O Holy Night" was my favorite carol, but I've come to hear others that do my heart good. They include "The First Noel," and "Angels We Have Heard on High." Then there is also the beauty in the simplicity of "Silent Night." I can't hear that song without having a picture of candles raised near midnight on Christmas Eve and the voices of the church raised in holy worship of the newborn Son of God.
Yes, Christmas is coming and my heart is ready for it.

Are You Sure You Want to Hit "Send?"

2011-11-10T11:18:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you have to stop yourself from hitting the "send" button when you write things that will be seen on the Internet. Last week I was feeling overwhelmed and defeated and looking for someone to join my in a pity party. For some reason I thought Facebook was the place to post the emotions that were flowing through me. I was quite eloquent and self-righteous at the same time. Then I read what I wrote for a third time and then I realize just exactly where this was going to be read. I immediately hit the delete button. There is a time and place for everything, this was neither. I'm glad I didn't hit "send." In the days that followed my near meltdown I had some new insights into the situation that was about to send me over the edge. These insights were hidden by my anger and frustration. Sometimes anger and frustration blind us to what needs to be seen and understood. Hitting the send button would not have improved the situation...and could have made it much worse.

In Matthew 15 Jesus tells a crowd of people, "It's not what goes into the mouth that contaminates a person in God's sight. It's what comes out of the mouth that contaminates the person." He goes on to say a little later, "Don't you know that everything that goes into the mouth enters the stomach and goes out into the sewer? But what goes out of the mouth comes from the heart. And that's what contaminates a person in God's sight."

What comes out of our mouths not only contaminates the person, but it can also damage those to whom words are directed and even the innocent who are part of the collateral damage done. We have the ability to damage ourselves and so many others when our mouths go unchecked. Before we speak we need to make sure whether or not we want to hit the "send" button. We may not want to, but quite often the better button to his is "delete."

Brought to My Knees

2011-10-26T14:23:00.000-07:00

When I survery the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain i county but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ, my God;
all the vain things that charm me most I sacrifice them to his blood.

See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small;
love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

These words were written in 1707 by Isaac Watts. 304 years later they brought me to my knees when I heard them again in a contemporary song from 2003. The image of sorrow and love mingling down in the blood shed by Christ for me, for you, for the world is an image that shatters my heart and shakes me from the shackles the world would place on my soul. Why would God do such a thing? Why would Jesus submit to such cruelty? Why would I chase after the vain things of the world when so much has been done for me for such a greater good? On my knees I confess I am a sinner in need of a Savior, a Savior who loved me so much He allowed His sorrow over my sins and his love of my soul to mingle with His blood. In this life I will never fully comprehend what was done for me.
Love so amazing so divine demands my soul, my life, my all.

Civil War 2.0

2011-07-28T10:34:00.000-07:00

I've written about this before but I'm more convinced than ever that while I am very happy to live in such a prosperous country, we are a nation that is teetering on the brink of a 2nd civil war. No, I don't think there will be armies at war with each other between regions or states, but we are a deeply divided country that has little tolerance for anyone who isn't a part of the far left or far right politically, theologically, or even patriotically. At times we've taken the slogan, "America, love it or leave it," to the extreme. Those who do not align with the tea party are deemed a threat to the American way of life (a way of life they define for themselves and everyone else) while those on the extreme left believe those on the right support tyranny. There is no room for middle ground which is why our government is so divided. There is no room for compromise, which is why our nation is in economic peril. I see this coming to life in a recent report that the economic disparity in America between whites and blacks continues to expand. It is because our nation tends to favor the haves over the have nots, the haves can influence legislation while the have nots can only look from the outside in. How long will it be before the have nots decide they will take what has been withheld from them.
The same philosophy seems to have invaded our churches. The division is between fundamentalists and liberals, those who say every letter of every word is infalible to those who believe the Bible is a collection of writings about a divine being. Those who are somewhere between those views are becoming fewer and fewer. The middle ground is disappearing. Why?
And it seems we are divided about what it means to be a patriot. Growing up in the 1950's and 60's I remember being proud to be an American. Let me explain that. I was proud because I wasn't Mexican, I wasn't French, I wasn't Russian, or I wasn't some other nationality. I was proud because I was told how much better it was to be American. The message that was sent and that I received was that I was better than other people in the world simply by reason of my place of birth. Later in life I began to see how arrogant I had become about my nationality.
I think this really came to the forefront in my mind during a church youth group meeting when I was an adult leader. We were talking about how much of the world doesn't have clean drinking water while we in America take it for granted and seldom try to conserve water. One of the kids said, "Why should we (Americans) worry about other people's water. We're smarter than they are or they would have clean water too. If they were smart like us they wouldn't live like they do." My heart broke when I heard that. The youth was only parroting what he had heard at home and elsewhere. I love this country, but I am not blind to its faults.
So we are a nation at odds with each other. At times I believe we literally believe that we are at war with anyone who doesn't agree with our political, theological, or patriotic point of view. We have started to see ourselves as enemies. A next door neighbor, a liberal, is not to be trusted. A co-worker, an evangelical fundamentalist, wants everyone brainwashed. A family member believes his version of America is the only way. All who disagree are enemies. If this is true then we are fighting Civil War 2.0.
I don't know where this will lead us. Maybe the destructive tendencies we have will lead us to a new and better world...but it won't happen until we start to listen to other people instead of doing all the talking.

2011-07-25T07:09:00.000-07:00

I am reading John Ortberg's "The Me I Want to Be." Its a fairly easy read but Ortberg, a Presbyterian pastor in Menlo Park, CA, always has a way of saying things that catch my attention and cause me to think a little deeper. At the conclusion of chapter 2 he writes, "Jesus once said that with God, all things are possible, and the great thing about life with God is that your next step is always possible. That step toward God is always waiting, no matter what you have done or how you messed up your life."

I meet and talk with people who have the very stated position that God could never love them or accept them because they have messed up too often and too deeply. They are convinced that a loving God doesn't have enough mercy and forgiveness to ever offer it to them. While they point the finger at God's inability to forgive I think the real issue is quite often our own inability to accept forgiveness and mercy. Some of the folks I talk with say they want out of their problems but they aren't willing to do what it takes to overcome them, so they find ways of being content in their misery. This breaks my heart and I know it breaks the heart of God whom I believe calls out to them to accept his love and his deep desire for their lives to be better.

A better life is what we all want. If I want a better life then I must first decide I no longer want the life I am currently living and begin to change the way I am living and the way I make decisions, even little ones. This is called transformation. Its about change. Possibly the hardest part about change is that we have too tight a grip on our past and are unwilling to let go of it because the future is at best uncertain. But with God our future is not uncertain, accept God's forgiveness and mercy and we can begin to experience life to the fullest.

It begins when you and I make the decision to change who we are into what God calls us to become.

The End of the World

2011-05-23T16:35:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems we're all still here. The end was supposed to have occured on May 21st at 6pm, at least according to a man who said he had "done the math" on the dates he lifted from the Bible. This man caused two things to happen (probably more but two I'm willing to write about). First, people in our churches actually got out their Bibles to see what is written about the "end of times," and at least at The Valley there was some real discussion about what that means and what the scriptures tell us.

Second, this claim brought untold ridicule upon the church. Why is it that some religious zealots believe they can outwit God? What is their point? Aren't there bigger issues we need to wrestle with than the "end of the world." I heard more about people planning "end of the world" parties than much of anything else. Unfortunately, there will be many who will use this incident as grounds for not believing anything the church has to say about life, in particular their life.

With these "religious leaders" who claim to know when the end will come I'm afraid it will cause non-believers to see us as crying wolf. They won't believe there is any real reason for them to consider placing their faith in God and becoming a follower of Jesus.

Yes, I was among some of the people who were making sport of this "end of the world" claim. I had to make light of it, especially among non-believers, in hopes of letting them know that this claim was not a claim supported by scripture or the faith I proclaim.

And, O by the way, we get to do this again next year. 2012 is when the Myans say the world comes to an end...at least we can blame that on an ancient people. Unless they're right!

Wake Up to Grace

2011-05-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

I read a story recently of a father and his two-year-old son who was in-between crawling and walking. The child could crawl up the stairs to the 2nd floor of their home, but couldn't get back down. This was cute the first few times, but became a real pain when it kept happening and the child crying out, "come get me." The child kept going up the steps knowing that he wouldn't be able to get back down. The child knew better but couldn't stop himself from doing it. The child could only focus on one thing, getting up the stairs. He was too young to understand that the same intentional act would always have the same results.

We are much the same. We know there are sinful temptations in our lives that are too much for us to resist, so we act on the temptations. We know the result, or maybe we just hope the result will be different this time or we won't get caught. If we aren't caught we quickly find out the result is still the same.

In Ephesians 2 Paul lays out for us a vivid picture of who we are and what God has done to wake up our lives to the fact that we will go nowhere without him. We will not find real purpose or value to our lives outside of a relationship with him. We will not find the glorious life (chapter 5) God desires for us unless we accept God's grace as a gift, a gift we did not earn through hardwork or following all the rules. Grace is not a paycheck to be cashed. Grace is a gift freely given by God and to be freely received by us.

Ephesians 2:8 remains a verse that remains close to my heart. "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, it is the gift of God."

What Kind of Nation Are We?

2011-05-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

The banner headline of the Courier-Journal, and I'm sure nearly every newspaper in America, this morning read "bin Laden Dead". Banner headlines in every paper, lead story on every television network, and local response on television and radio. Everyone is talking about it. As much as I hear people talking about the death of this terrorist leader I hear people talking about the response of people to celebrate bin Laden's death like America had just won an Olympic gold medal...shouting U-S-A, U-S-A. I am bothered by our response, as a Christian I cannot celebrate the death of anyone including people who are considered an enemy. Am I sorry that bin Laden was killed. No. I'm sure he would not have permitted himself to be taken alive. He and his followers will no doubt see his death as the death of a martyr. Our celebrations will only fuel that emotional thinking.

I cannot help but shake my head at some of the things that have been said, including a local radio talk show host who suggested bin Laden should have had a formal burial in the ground so his mourners could come pay their respects and we could use snipers to kill every one of them. What kind of hate is this? If this is our thinking they we are no better than the terrorists. Who have we become? If this is our thinking then we can not make any claim about being a Christian nation. Just drop that from the discussion. If this is our thinking then we have nothing better to offer anyone else in the world.

The next step in this story will be the political football that the killing of bin Laden will become. Which politician or political party will lay claim to his death and thump their chest in order to win votes in the preseidential election. Democrats and Republicans will both lay claim to the bullet that punctured bin Laden's skull in the hopes we will see them as who brought him down. I can't wait for the first commerical with the soldier who fired the shot endorsing his choice for president.

Yes, the threat of bin Laden is over. But who will be the next to take his place?

When a Great Day Arrives

2011-04-18T06:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was just one of those days. Wow! The Spirit was moving in and through our people in some really powerful ways. Our praise band was spot on and I knew the day was going to be special when our worship leader's morning prayer was so filled with passion and love of God that it grabbed my heart and wouldn't let go. The message challenged people that we must live into our vision of being a ministry that gives people something to give their lives to and living out their ministry wherever they are. It never has been about pew sitting and theological debates...its about accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and our response to it. In response one family made a commitment to Christ, another man stepped forward for prayer wanting the Spirit to enter his life and be open to what God is calling him to do, and another family that had left the church some time ago said if this is what the church is about then this is where they need to be. Wow! The day was topped by a great concert last evening by the Motet Singers of Louisville who dedicated the concert to Carol Browning, a former member of The Valley who passed away recently.

Sometimes God gives you a day to just see how great a God he is. Yesterday was just such a day. It makes all the long and hard days worthwhile when you have days like yesterday.

I'm an Auburn Tree Hugger

2011-02-18T05:48:00.000-08:00

I'm disgusted. Apparently a University of Alabama football fan allowed his hatred (and this must be a real hatred) of Auburn University to do something that greatly disturbs me. He poisoned a grove a old tree on the Auburn, AL campus, an area of campus where Auburn fans gather to celebrate football wins. The trees cannot be saved. Yes, I know that Auburn and Alabama are bitter sports rivals, but killing a grove of trees because your rival won the national championship and you don't like the fact their quarterback was cleared to play in the game by the NCAA is off the charts stupid (and that word doesn't even fit what I'm trying to express). Why take your hatred out on trees? Trees didn't score any touchdowns. But because Auburn fans like them it was deemed they should die. Senseless acts of violence when it comes to sports allegiances will not end because people in our country, the United States, is becoming more an more intolerant of anyone with who holds a different opinion, political stance, or allegiance.
I am a University of Tennessee sports fan. The Universities of Alabama, Florida, and Kentucky are our rival teams. But I don't hate their fans, I want my teams to win those games but when we lose I don't lose sleep or think I need to cause them harm. That being said, I have had conversations with people who upon learning I'm a Volunteer fan have expressed themselves clearly that they hate Tennessee. They hate Tennessee. Hate?
I feel sorry for the people who enjoy Auburn and celebrating wins around those old trees. Someone's uncontrolled hate over college sports teams has damaged something very special, a grove of trees. Trees are living things, trees that provide nests for birds and shade for people. Trees are creations of God and one man's hate will kill them. For that my heart aches.

Bibles, Bibles Everywhere

2011-02-17T12:10:00.000-08:00

OK so I see where there is a movement among some leading conservatives to put out a new Bible, excuse me a translation of the Bible that more closely reflects their understanding of what the scriptures say. The old NIV Bible was getting to be cumbersome to many and in 2001 a group of evangelical theologians put out the TNIV (Today's NIV) Bible. I was used to using the NIV and the NRSV Bibles and purchased the TNIV and really liked it. It uses inclusive language that I feel made the scriptures reflect more of the writer's intent. But it seems conservatives say the TNIV went too far. I'm still going to use it, I believe it reads well and meets my needs. But now I am interested in reading a newer more modern English Bible that is being translated, the Common English Bible. The CEB New Testament is out and the rest of the CEB is expected to be released later this year. From what I've read I like it a little better than The Message (which I do like) because it's more of a translation instead of a paraphrase.

So I look at the book shelves in my office, how many Bibles do I have. Let's see there's good ol' King James, NIV, TNIV, NRSV, ESV (on my cell phone), and now the CEB. There's Good News in all of them! But you have to open them first.

My Heart Aches, My Mind is Numbed

2011-01-10T08:42:00.000-08:00

A man described as a social outcast, a loner, and a man with wild beliefs pulled a trigger Saturday and six people died and more than a dozen wounded includeing a member of Congress. The dead include a nine year old girl and a Arizona Supreme Court Justice. The finger pointing is already underway. The man was a lone gunman and not part of a conspiracy. It was the man who killed and not the gun. The shooting occured because our political debate in America is turning to the point where our guns are more deadly than our words. Fingers are pointing in all directions. All I know is that an unstable man convinced that our government was to blame for all his problems became violent. I am deeply afraid that this will not be the last time someone will use a gun to remedy their feelings of mistrust and paranoia.

My heart aches for the families of the victims as they try to come to grips with the reality of this senseless violence. My mind is numbed by trying to understand how a person can respond so violently toward another human being, no matter how much they disagree.

We are a nation that has always used violence as an answer to our fears and now it is being lived out in individuals who believe violence is the answer as well. Unfortunately I do not see an end in sight. The shooting will be condemned by all, but it will not move us toward a resolution of how we solve our differences. We call people who disagree with us our enemies or morally bankrupt or many other names that detract from their humaness. There are no real debates anymore, just shouting matches that are now being drown out by gunfire.

My heart aches. My mind is numbed.

Human Bombs

2011-01-07T06:39:00.000-08:00

I read this morning a short piece written by Erwin McManus in his book "Soul Cravings." His topic is "The Danger of Loving Nothing." In it he writes, "We live in a time when the most terrifying bomb is not a nuclear one, but a human one. This is where humanity has come. This is how far we've evolved. We strap bombs around our chests, lure innocents into our presence, and then consider ourselves heroes as we destroy everything around us. If this were not bad enough, for some it has become proof of spirituality.
There are people around us waiting to E X P L O D E! How many of us are walking around with fuses already lit? With the danger of oversimplifying, you are a danger to the wrold when you love nothing, and you are even more dangerous when you love the wrong things. When there is a vaccum of love within your soul, hate, bitterness, envy, and racism rush in to fill the empty space."

I watch TV news and read the newspaper and what do I see? Almost everyday I learn of another human being whose fuse is lit or a human being who has exploded. We live in a short fuse culture. If people don't get their way then they believe the only recourse they have is violence. If people see a threat, whether it exists or not, the only recourse is to act against the threat. Our government passes many laws out of fear, we fear so much in this country and our shoot first ask questions later mentality has cost America the lives of many wonderful men and women. I see it in the apathy of people in our own community who seem content to allow violence to be a way of life in certain neighborhoods as long as it doesn't spill over into my neighborhood. We have lost our love for what it means to be human when the loss of life doesn't affect us anymore.

I have been affected by this as well. How many stories of rape and murder have I heard in my lifetime or even in the past year? Hearing about it so much desensitizes me to the pain and anguish this violence causes and how it impacts our whole community. If I lose the ability to care, then my fuse may be just as short as the next guy's and I may become as big a threat as any other. Or possibly, my biggest threat is not that I may become violent but that I become apathetic to the violence in my world.

2011 - What's in Your Box

2010-12-29T12:25:00.000-08:00

A former family tradition in my wife's family was for each person to write down at least three things they wanted to accomplish in the new year. Those potential accomplishments were then placed in a box and sealed with candle wax for security purposes. Then at Christmas each year we would open the box and have our hopes and dreams for the year just passed read out loud for all to hear. Then as a group we would vote whether or not the person had accomplished each objective. Yes, this could be rather embarrassing at times, but it was a great deal of fun.

My "to do" list for 2011 won't go into a box this year...but it will make for interesting reading at the end of the year. This year my list will include (1) re-establishing my relationship with my son. I miss him dearly and want him to be the best person he can be. (2) Use the skills God has given me to empower more people at The Valley to take on real leadership roles in our ministry. (3) Fulfill my a commitment to physical and spiritual renewal.

I don't really see these as New Year's Resolutions but as a commitment to a better life. I'm really hoping that by the end of 2011 I will get a thumbs-up on all three. If these are the things I really want and hope for in the coming year it is up to me to make them happen. What about you? What's going in your "to do" box this year?

Christmas Angels

2010-12-23T10:39:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of angel appearances in the Christmas stories found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Angels appear to Zechariah (father of John the Baptist), Mary, Joseph, and those shepherds...and by the end of the 2nd chapter of Matthew Joseph has been visited three or four times. Those angels were racking up some frequent flyer miles between heaven and earth there for a while.
Angels appear a great deal in the scriptures...it seems like I read somewhere that there are about 350 instances of angels appearing in the Bible (I did not count to verify this myself, I'm taking someone else at their word). I have never seen an angel, at least not one that looks anything like the winged creatures we see in Scripture. I have experienced human angels who have comforted me during times of great distress or chaos in my life...but I can't say I've ever seen an angel "in the flesh."
However, I have talked with people who say they have seen angels. It seems the angels were seen at times when the person was experiencing a very difficult time in their life or were suffering greatly. I have no reason to doubt them. I believe angels exist even though I have not seen one. I mean, why would angels stop coming to earth or why would God stop using them to communicate with people on earth just because the writers of the Bible finished their work (or just because the timing of what was included in the Bible came to an end). Just because John put the last period at the end of Revelation did God say, "OK that's it, all my angels are now in retirement except when we celebrate in heaven. No more trips to earth."
Maybe there are angels that watch over us. How else could I even try to explain some of the things that have happened in my life, especially one instance when I should have been killed but wasn't. I have a harder time believing in dumb luck in those instances than I do in the presence of angels.
But what about angels from God who appear to people in the Bible to deliver messages from God? While I appreciate the fact an angel may have saved my life, sometimes I think it would be awesome and frightening at the same time for an angel to appear and tell me directly what God wants me to know and do. I know the Holy Spirit is active in the lives of followers of Jesus and it is the movement of the Spirit that should lead and direct our lives...but an angel could take the guess work out of things.
Until I get my first angel visit I'll just keep on doing my best to discern the Spirit's lead.
"Angels from the realms of glory wing your flight o'er all the earth; you who sang creation's story, now proclaim Messiah's birth. Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King."

The Beatles

2010-12-15T16:10:00.000-08:00

The Beatles are now on iTunes. I remember buying my first Beatles album when I was a 8 years old. It was "Introducing The Beatles" and released by VeeJay Records based in England. The majority of that record was later released in the US and was retitled "Meet The Beatles." That record captured the heart and soul of my young life. And of course my mom and dad thought it was the worst bunch of noise they ever heard and had little good to say about their "long hair," which at the time barely touched the tops of their ears. That was 1963 or so. I have never tired of listening to their music. At times I prefer the music prior to Rubber Soul and at times all I want to hear is Rubber Soul and later.

I realize The Beatles were not without controversy. Lennon's remark that they were more famous that Jesus, the drug use, and in-fighting all caused some people to frown on them. People may not like what they did in their private lives but their music remains powerful even today. Listen to the music and hear the message in songs such as Let It Be, Elanor Rigby, Yesterday, All You Need is Love, Come Together, Something, and so many more...we can learn from them and their spirituality. No, they were not Christian, but Christian values are clearly present in some of their most meaningful songs. Of course some of the songs are just simply fun songs to sing about love and love lost and so much more. I mean how can you not smile while listening to a song like Everybody's Got Something to Hide but Me and My Monkey.

It's interesting that 40 years after the band broke up they sold 450,000 albums in their first week on iTunes. Simply amazing. It's too bad that only two of the band's members are still with us, Paul and Ringo. Paul is still writing and recording songs and I just wonder if John and George would be doing the same. The Beatles were an integral part of life during my formative years...how I longed to be the next John Lennon, unfortunately I never could master playing a guitar so I settled for playing a record player and eventually became a radio disc jockey. I've listened to The Beatles on records, 8-tracks, cassettes, CD's, and now iTunes and satellite radio. I just wonder what the next format will be that the band will sell more than a half-million units.

Counting the Days

2010-12-01T11:49:00.000-08:00

One of the Christmas traditions I grew up with as a child was a Christmas countdown calendar...it counted down the days to Christmas Eve (when Santa would come down our chimney). The calendar was made of wood and each number hung from the main piece with a small hook. We now have a similar calendar at home that has been a part of our Christmas for 30 years. But I remember as a child that it seemed like it took several months for the numbers to go from 25 to the Santa-faced block that represented Christmas Eve. My brother and I would hide the "Santa" piece from each other so we could be the one to hang it on Christmas Eve. Thinking back to that time of my life I realize that the calendar added to my anticipation of the big day...and with each day's countdown my expectations of what Christmas would bring grew exponentially.

Christmas is different now. Not only am I an adult but my son is an adult as well and things are just different. We still put up our countdown calendar, but this year I'm feeling very different about Christmas than in past years. I am working to prepare myself for Christmas Day. As the numbers count down my anticipation of what God will do this Christmas is building inside me...and my expectation that God will act in my world is getting me excited. I am listening to Christmas music with a different spirit this year...I am feeling joy in my heart for Christmas and the celebration of God coming to earth. Even though my family is going through a difficult time right now, I feel joy growing daily in my heart because I want the Christ Child to be born in my heart again, I am anticipating a newness to my life and expect God to act in amazing ways. I know this may be one of my best Christmas's ever because I am thinking more about what was in a manger in Bethlehem instead of what may be under the tree. I am counting the days until I can sing with the angels, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill to all people."

Now That Halloween is Over

2010-11-01T06:20:00.000-07:00

Last night was Halloween night. It was a busier night for Trick or Treaters in our neignborhood than its been over the past few years (although my wife and I took last Halloween off and went out to a late dinner). There were a lot of kids coming by...some of them put a lot of effort in to their costumes, others showed up with a plastic Kroger bag and nothing else. I guess what got me again were the number of parents with infants who were less than one-year old taking their babies around Trick or Treating. I mean really were the parents going to give their newborn some of the candy? What's up with Trick or Treating with a child too young to even know what's happening? Are the parents just trying to show off their baby or is it just their way of getting enough candy to last them through the winter?

All that aside...now that Halloween is over we start to turn our attention to Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm enjoying the cooler temperatures and seeing the leaves blow across the roadway, it tells me to start getting ready for winter. While it's time to start making plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas, I think it's also time to start preparing our hearts and minds for this very special time of year. Too often I get caught up in the events and don't spend enough time appreciating what it is we are celebrating and what it all really means in my life. This Thanksgiving I really want to be thankful for my family, my friends, my church, and my life. This Christmas I realy want to experience something more than gift giving...maybe this year is the year to be self-giving instead. To give myself to others as God gave Himself to us.

Enough Already

2010-10-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

I realize we are less than two weeks away from the General Election of 2010, the mid-term elections. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir when I say, "I've had all I can stand and a can't take it anymore!" I'm talking about the political commercials on television and radio. I remember thinking at one time that I would vote for the candidates who were the least negative (because I knew they would all throw some mud). This election cycle is horrible. How is the public supposed to decide which candidate to vote for when the commercials only tell us whom to vote against? The candidates smear their opponents to the point that I think I have to choose between the lesser of two evils instead the best Ameridca has to offer.
Yes, there are candidate debates, but they are little more than extended commericails with some finger-point thrown in. The only time the debates really seem to matter is when one of the candidates says something really dumb or one of them gets to make a very witty remark...even with that is that enough evidence to vote for or against a candidate.
I'm sorry. I really don't think I've had enough information to cast an informed ballot during an election in years. Do I really know Rand Paul or Jack Conway? Did I really know which was the better person to be president two years ago other than what I could see of Barak Obama and John McCain on television? And just because I'm registered with a particular political party doesn't mean that party's candidate is the best of the people on the ballot.
I think part of the reason the negativity has gotten to me this year is because our political culture is working very hard to move us all to the extreme, extreme conservative or extreme liberal. There is very little room for people in the middle. The parties want to fight for the people in the middle so they can claim more people from the middle embrace their points of view. I'm sorry, I don't think Rand Paul is anti-Christian nor do I believe Jack Conway is out to destroy America by supporting healthcaare reform. Both candidates need to get a grip.
What would be great if each candidate had to prove the claims they make against their opponent with something more than fine print at the bottom of the screen, and prove it within the guidelines of reasonable doubt. We need elected leadership who will put people first and not political agendas. But then, I'm usually not in step with political reality because of the way I tend to view the world.
I think the house and senate should be selected at random from voter registration rolls to serve one term...the president would be elected from among those chosen at random to serve in Congress. That way we avoid nasty commercials and the term "career politicians." Yeah, there would be some incompetent people who would be in the house and seante...but how is that any different than what we have today?
As for the 2010 elections...I've had enough already.

The Bible

2010-10-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

I'm told the Bible is the bestselling book of all time. It is my opinion the Bible sales do not reflect the number of people who have read it all. Not that there is any significance to having read the entire Bible than there is to having read the entire Encyclopedia Britanica (does that still exist?). The Bible has been used to start wars and to form the basis of groups committed to peace. It has been used to support and condemn slavery and to keep women subservient and to set them free from male dominance. It has been quoted by groups that hate and by groups that love. The Bible is many things to many people. Friendships have been formed and lost over interpretation of the Bible. Churches have been formed, divided, and killed by the disagreement over interpretation. It is dangerous in the hands of people with whom I disagree and it is helpful and supportive when used by people with whom I agree.

All of this tells me I must be very cognizant of the lens with which I read the Bible. I see the Bible through the experiences of my life. I read and understand the Bible through the circumstances and forces that have shaped my life, the good and the bad. I have to be very aware that not everyone reads the Bible with my heart, eyes, and mind. Some have told me if I could just see how they experience the Bible then I would understand their point of view when our opinions don't match. But I can't. I may understand how they formed their opinion, but I can't read the Bible in light of their experiences because they are not mine.

Yes, there are some passages of scripture that the vast majority of Christian people will find agreement on. We may reach agreement that God is a God of love when we interpret John 3:16 to mean that God acted on that love when he sent His Son into the world. We may not be as agreeable when it comes to Paul's admonition to women not to cut their hair because it is their glory (1 Cor. 11:15). Seldom do we find people who want to plumb the depths of where they agree but are willing to spend hours debating points on which they disagree. I rarely known debates (arguments) over the teachings of the Bible to sway one person away from their stance.

There's an interesting word, stance. Stance is a position we take from which we are often unwilling to be moved. It is the ground we claim and the ground we hold. The stances people have held are the basis for division in churches, denominations, and the whole church. We care more about holding our ground than we do about what ground we may hold in common with others. I have witnessed this from both sides of the conservative vs liberal division. I have seen conservative Christians denounced anyone leaning to the theological center or left of center as enemies of God. And, I have witnessed liberal Christians denounce people in the middle or leaning to the right as non-thinking robots. Is it any wonder people outside of Christianity shake their heads at those who claim faith in Christ as Lord and Savior?

For me the Bible is a guide, a gateway if you will, in my effort to understand God and my relationship with God. I can learn from the poetry, the history, the parables, the stories, the songs and all parts without an internal debate. The Bible is what it is, the story of the revelation of God to human beings, and more specifically, the revelation of God to me.

Ed

Ricky Bobby and Jesus

2010-09-16T14:14:00.000-07:00

This Sunday I will be attempting to answer the qustion, "Why follow Jesus when there are so many paths? Among other things that this question has brought to mind is that we first must decide which Jesus we are talking about. Are we talking about your Jesus, my Jesus, or the Jesus of next door neighbor? They might not be the same person. Too often we see Jesus as the person who agrees with our opinions, our prejudices,and our fears as the Jesus everyone else should follow. It seems we want Jesus to follow us instead of the other way around.
You may or may not have seen the 2006 comedy "Talledega Nights" with Will Farrell. Its about a ficticious NASCAR driver, well I'm not going to get into all of it here. In one scene Ricky Bobby is presiding over the dinner table with his family gathered round and he blesses the food. He prays, "Dear Lord Baby Jesus...we are thankful for this bountiful harvest of Dominos, KFC, and the always delicious Taco Bell." He continues to pray to "baby Jesus" when his wife interupts to tell him that Jesus grew up, but Ricky Bobby prefers the infant baby Jesus of Christmas. Other family members jump in to say they like Jesus with a "tuxedo t-shirt" because that makes him a "party Jesus," others see him as a ninja fighting evil sumari. Another sees Jesus with wings singing lead vocals for Lynyrd Skynyrd.
While this is over the top, many of us do see Jesus in our own ways...we see Republican Jesus or liberal Jesus, we see Right to Life Jesus or Pro-Choice Jesus, we see a Jesus who seems to say "my way or the highway" or the Jesus that says "come one come all no matter what you believe."
For me it comes down to this. Jesus is not a character in a book (the Bible) that I learn about. Jesus is a life that I am called to follow. I am called to live my life as close to his as possible. Which means I need to not only know I am to "love my neighbor" I am to make it a part of my life. It means I am to not only know the Good News, I am to share it with others who do not know. It means I am to turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, wash another's feet, forgive those who sin against me, offer mercy to those who need it, and love the Lord my God.
I have learned I will never fully know the path of Jesus until I walk the path of Jesus. It's a challenging path to walk because it's not the easy path or a simple path...it is a path of daily transformation and sacrificial living. I do have to admit, there are times I slip off the path of Jesus...but I always find a hand to guide my return.
The only way to know if Jesus is the right path is to experience the life of Jesus for yourself.

That's Good Enough for Me

2010-08-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

As I was having some quiet time this morning before jumping into some early preparations for this week's message I got an email from my friend David Emery. We are using Jeremiah 1:4-10 for the basis of our sermon. He paraphrased verse five so very well, "Before I was good at anything, God decided that I was good for what He is doing." I read those words at least ten times this morning (I do that when I believe God is trying to get something through my thick skull). It made me think about the first time I believe God spoke to me, even though I wasn't listening.
The previous night I had been involved in a very serious car crash. No one was severely hurt but the roof of my car was crushed and I missed a natural gas pipeline by about 18 inches. I was walking to the garage when the car was towed, I knew I wasn't going to like what I saw. On the way the thought crossed my mind, "Thank you God for saving my life." Almost immediately God's words came to me, "Serve my people." I knew that was crazy because at the ripe old age of 23 I had no clue what that meant. But in the back of my mind I felt it meant God wanted me to become a pastor.
Well, 23 years later that happened.
Before I was good at anything, God decided that I was good for what He is doing. Wow! Is that incredible or what. God knew what He was telling me, I just didn't get it. God knew what I could do for the kingdom long before I realized there was a kingdom, or had a real idea I wanted any part of it.

Years later God would speak to me through the pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, Bill Hybels. It was his mantra that God used to put on my heart a passion that has never eased up. Bill still says, "The local church is the hope of the world." But that year I heard him also say, "If not you, then who." If not me, then who would lead people to Jesus Christ and his saving grace. Now today, God speaks again to offer me comfort during a very difficult season of my life. "Before I was good at anything, God decided that I was good for what He is doing." That's good enough for me.

Escucha a Dios!

2010-08-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

Hola' amigos,
Jose Torres and his wife Lily have become very dear friends. His prayers minutes before I step out to teach God's word each week are invaluable in settling my heart and mind on God. Our friendship began the day they stepped forward and answered the call of God in their lives to become missionaries from the Middletown campus to The Valley. They left behind many friends to become part of a church re-start in the spring of 2009. They listened to God speak and that was all there was to it. Last week we heard the story of Elijah on Mt. Horeb and learned that God spoke then and God is still speaking today. God spokes to Jose last year and told him to serve the kingdom at The Valley.

Since then God has spoken to Jose again, and Jose continues to listen. This week Jose, Lily, and other Latino/Latina disciples of Jesus are beginning a new Hispanic ministry. It is starting with a Bible study, which I know will include singing and worship. God has given Jose a vision of what can be if he will be faithful to the vision. I have no doubt that it will happen. My hope and prayer is that the Bible study will grow into a full ministry of The Valley, reaching the hearts of Hispanic people with the Kingdom Now message we live each day.

God bless you Jose. May others see your faithfulness and open their hearts and minds to God's presence in their lives and hear God's voice themselves. Stay on your knees and remain open to God's leading.

Dios te bendiga mi amigos!
Ed

St. Meinrad Experience

2010-07-19T06:44:00.000-07:00

I am not Catholic. So what I write may come from ignorance, if I get something wrong, I apologize ahead of time. This past weekend I lead a men's retreat at St. Meinrad Arch Abbey in southern Indiana. I have been to St. Meinrad many times over the past eight to ten years. I have attended the morning lauds and vigils (5:30am) and vespers (5:00pm). I have enjoyed the monks reading (singing) of the Psalms, it has a way of connecting me to the beauty of the Psalms like nothing else. I have always found a sense of peace at these times. This past weekend at Friday evening vespers things were very different. The Abbot and others were dressed in their vestments (for lack of a better word) with hats (I don't know what else to call them) and they came in with incense burning. I understood later they were honoring the sister of the monk who founded St. Meinrad in 1840...it was a honor called "Our Lady of Einsedeln? (sp?). There was also a great deal of attention paid to the Virgin Mary, more than I had experienced before.

The service was beautiful, the Psalms were touching, but I was distracted by all the things I was not used to seeing and experiencing. I'm sure there are reasons for what took place and not being Catholic I am ignorant of them. But it made me think. When people who don't regularly attend church get just as confused when they come to our churces and don't understand what's happening and why? Aren't they just as distracted by the "churchy" words we tend to use and the parts of worship that we do because that's the way we've always done it?

It makes me want to continue to think through everything we do on Sunday morning to make our worship very user friendly, to make our worship understandable even to people who have never been to church. If people don't understand what we do we may as well be speaking a foreign language. One of my guiding principles is to make worship easier for non-Christians to understand because we are called to reach those who haven't heard the Good News of Jesus.

However, I would like to burn some incense in church...too bad we have a no smoking policy.

The Present Future

2010-06-29T05:48:00.000-07:00

That's the title of a Reggie McNeal book I read a few years ago and am about to begin teaching to leaders on The Valley Campus. Its a book that will give our leaders a common language about our priorities as a part of the church. It's about The Valley being a missional church. McNeal says the church's mission is to "join God in his redemptive efforts to save the world." It's about becoming a part of the world and not hiding from the world behind walls of brick and concrete or behind walls of doctrine and tradition. Walls are made to keep people out and to protect those on the inside. That was never the way Jesus envisioned the church to be. Our mission, just like the mission of the first church we read about in Acts, is to live the Good News wherever we are...we are to be committed to making our community a better place to live, raise a family, and worship...we are to be involved in making people's lives better whether or not they are a part of the church. A missional church is more than Sunday worship, it is an asset to the community. Our mission is to live out the gospel in our community and not behind the walls of a building on Dixie Highway.
It is through missional lives, finding ways of serving people and our community, we begin to really serve the way Jesus did. We must become disciples who deepen their relationship with God by allowing Jesus to lead us into the world and accept his redemptive mission and lessen our emphasis on studying Jesus behind our walls. Jesus must not be kept behind our walls but we must live his mission wherever we are. Wherever we are the church is there. We are the church, it is not a building, but a life-giving way of living each day.

A Vacuum of Love

2010-06-15T06:15:00.000-07:00

I want want to share with you a piece from a short article written by Erwin McManus in his book "Soul Cravings." In an article titled "The Danger of Loving Nothing" he writes, "The human heart was not created to be a container for hate. When we allow bitterness, jealousy, envy, racism, lust, greed, and arrogance to fuel our souls, we create an environment witin us to be agents of violence. We live in a time when the most terrifying bomb is not a nuclear one, but a human one.
"This is where humanity has come. This is how far we've evolved. We strap bombs around our chests, lure innocents into our presence, and then consider ourselves heroles as we destroy everything around us. If this were not bad enough, for some it has become a proof of spirituality. There are people all around us waiting to EXPLODE!
"How many of us are walking around with fuses lit? With the danger of oversimplyfying, you are a danger to the world when you love nothing, and you're even more dangerous when you love the wrong things. Where there is a vacuum of love within your soul, hate, bitterness, envy, and racism rush in to fill the empty space.
"There is a dramatic difference between fanaticism and love. Fanaticism justifies and defines who you hate. Love embraces and leaves no room for violence."

I was touched by this article because of the people I encounter from time to time who seem to have lost the ability to love anything and because they do not love they are ready to destroy anyone, including family, who dares to disagree with them or seeks to change them. The destruction of families or friendships seldom ends in death, but it often ends in broken families, broken relationships, and lives that are torn apart.

I've seen it in the lives of people who prefer to destroy the people that love them as a response to that love. This breaks my heart more than anything. We have to find ways to disarm the bombs that people have strapped to their chests! Jesus calls me to love God and love my neighbor (whoever that may be). Loving God is the easy part but loving my neighbor who hates me is something else. How are we to love people when their response to our love is harsh criticism, mockery, and sometimes violence. Are we to return violence for violence? Are we to return insults with insults?

Our world often doesn't know how to react when violence is met with love or when bitterness is met with grace. As a follower of Jesus I must love without expecting love to be returned. It is hard to choose to live a non-violent life. It is hard not to retaliate when someone spreads lies or rumors about me. It is hard to rise above such things. It is hard to be a follower of Jesus, but it is the life I have chosen.

Hot, Humid, and Holistic

2010-06-14T08:39:00.000-07:00

Was it my imagination, but did Saturday seem more like late August (heat index of 103) than mid-June? Despite the high heat and humidity three groups of people gathered at The Valley to do some Kingdom Now work. Two groups of people went to a pair of homes in the Valley Station/PRP area to make repairs on homes as part of our annual Repair Affair mission work. I'm told things went very well at both locations and the people were grateful for the repairs that were made (neither were a part of our ministry).
The third group, the group I worked with, took part in The Valley's commitment to the Adopt a Highway program through Metro Louisville's Brightside project. Nine of us walked both sides of Stonestreet Rd. from Dixie Highway to the Gene Snyder Freeway (a little more than 3 miles) picking up litter and trash. We collected 18 large bags of trash. The work is harder than it looks when you see people picking up trash when you speed by them. By the end we were hot and sweaty and our backs were aching. But there was something very good in this for me.

It was good because I got to work with a woman from our Middletown Campus that I didn't know but whose aunt worships at The Valley. As we worked we talked and told stories about our lives. By the time we finished I felt like we were friends...a new friendship born out of the heat and humidity of the day. Also, it was good because I really felt like I was putting some sweat equity into this beautiful community of Valley Station and Pleasure Ridge Park. It really gave me a sense of pride in seeing the road free of litter and I hoped that some people would notice that there are people who care enough about the community to clean it up. It also gave me a greater appreciation for God's creation, our earth, by loving it enough to remove the things that diminish its beauty.

Yes, it was hot and humid on Saturday but it was also holistic.

Believing or Following

2010-05-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm back from vacation it's time to jump back into the ministry fray. This Sunday I will conclude a short sermon series called "What if the church...spent more energy following Jesus than worshipping him?" Let's face it, there are a lot of people who claim to believe in Jesus but the number who are willing to follow him is much smaller. Believing in Jesus is about accepting him, loving him, and praying to him. Believing in Jesus is something expressed with our lips. While Jesus wanted to turn the hearts of people into believing hearts he was not content to let them simply stay as believing hearts. Followers of Jesus are to follow his teachings and put them into practice in their everyday lives. That's what will separate believers from followers.

Followers believe that Jesus is the Son of God and Savior, but they also take to heart his teachings and put them to practice in their lives. This goes well beyond wearing Christian jewelery to symbolize faith and instead the person puts on a robe of humble servanthood to serve people the world turns its back on. This goes beyond memorizing Bible verses to impress the religious but instead its opening up your heart to speak words of comfort when people are hurting. Following Jesus means reaching out to people the rest of the world deems beyond redemption. It means making peace with someone who has hurt you, truly forgiving them even if they don't think they need your forgiveness.

As Kierkegaard wrote a long time ago, "The issue before us is whether we want to move from being admirers, and even worshipppers, to being followers. If we want to take that step then teh question is 'What doe it really mean to be a follower of Jesus today.'"

If you claim to be Christian has your Chritianity changed you...I mean changed you lately. Are you still the same Christian person you were ten years ago, five years ago, last year or even last month? Being a follower of Jesus means you undergo transformation not just once but many times as you come to understand exactly what it means to be a follower of Jesus. We must make Christianity about a way of life more than a specific doctrine or set of beliefs. Can you really claim to believe if you are not willing to follow?

This is what I'm wrestling with this week.

Ed

Really, 85 People on One Day

2010-05-03T15:33:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday I told the congregation of a dream a good friend had about me. The dream went like this...the two of us were talking before a meeting and he noticed that I was a little distraught. When he asked what the problem was I told him that 85 people had joined the church on Sunday and I just didn't know how I was going to get them all involved in our ministry. That was pretty much the entire dream.

That is a powerful dream. Some might even say it's an impossible dream. How could a church that currently is worshipping about 100 people a Sunday bring 85 people into the kingdom of God on a single day? The ones who don't believe it could happen may also have been the same folks who said in March of 2009 there was no way a church that worshipped 30 to 35 people a Sunday could move Sunday attendance past 100 on a regular basis within a year. But it happened.

It happened because people believe in our mission. It happened because the Holy Spirit is making a powerful impact on the lives of people in this ministry. People believe in their heart of hearts that we can make the Kingdom of God real in people's lives today. They beleive in breaking down barriers that keep people from hearing about Jesus' love for them. They believe serving people is just as important, maybe more important, than sitting in a pew on Sunday morning. They truly believe in a radical welcome and a radical love. That's what can happen when God's Holy Spirit is alive in the lives of people and alive in a faith community.

My friend's dream is a dream that only God could give. It is a dream that will only be achieved by people who have surrendered their lives to the Holy Spirit and are willing to follow Its lead. 85 people on a single Sunday sounds impossible only because people will tell us it can't be done or our human minds can't really grasp that kind of dream, but it is the stuff of dreams that come to life. Who is to say that on a single Sunday in April 2011 that The Valley couldn't celebrate the confession of faith of 85 people? Dreams do come true, and this one can come true as well.
Then let me worry about how to get all those folks involved in this ministry!!!

Somebody say, "Amen!"

Good News

2010-04-22T12:46:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine on facebook wrote a post about a recent church sign she saw. It read, "If your Good News isn't for everyone then it's not Good News." It made me think about the Good News as it is shared at The Valley. We proudly claim that we offer a radical welcome and a radical love for all people. That every person is not only welcome to come through our doors but that we will be committed to bring all kinds of people into the kingdom. We claim our radical love is for all people no matter the depth of their poverty, the extent of their sin, or the hopelessness of their situation. Our radical welcome and radical love are given without any hesitation to people of color, to people of all cultures, to people of different persuasions, and to people of all life experiences. It is our belief that Jesus did not withhold his love from anyone including the hated Samaritans and Romans...and it included the people who deserted and denied him, it included the people who spit on him and who beat him, it included the people who shouted "crucify him," it included the people who drove the nails through his hands and feet, and it included those who gambled for his clothes. That is a radical love.

Jesus bridged all those barriers. The mission he gave the disciples in Acts 2 was to "be my witnesses in Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." That is our mission too. To be witnesses of the Good News of Jesus to all people, a witness that is made in the way we live, the way we treat people, and the way we care for those who may not care for us. Who am I to decide who should hear the Good News and who shouldn't? Who am I to remain silent when I'm with people who need to hear? Who am I to withhold love when it is something I receive but don't deserve? That is the way of radical welcome and radical love. It is Good News we must give away as much as we need to receive it. It is Good News when it is made freely available to all.

OK, I Shaved My Head

2010-04-19T05:33:00.000-07:00

Well, it's not actually shaved but my hair is now about an eighth of an inch long (maybe shorter). Cutting my hair was not a fashion statement, it was a statement about a man I love and how much I want to support him during a very difficult time in his life. Middletown campus Sr. Pastor David Emery was diagnosed with lymphoma earlier this year. His first chemo treatment was in early April. It didn't take long for his hair to begin falling out forcing him to decide to shave his head. I couldn't let him do this alone, and neither could about a dozen other close friends. We all either got shaved, a buzz cut, or a few chose to have their hair cut very short.
I have to admit, when the woman who cut my hair asked my if I wanted my usual scissor-cut and I said no, I wanted it all cut off there was a huge knot in my stomach. She pulled out the shears and asked, "Are you sure?" When I said yes, she began and there was no turning back. Let's put it this way, this was not a easy decision to make, I was really afraid that I would look like a freak (maybe I do but I just don't care now).

All this to say, I may have cut my hair but what it was about is letting David know he isn't alone, that my concern for him goes beyond a simple friendship. He has mentored me, pushed me, held me accountable for my ministry and is making me a better pastor week by week. I believe the Holy Spirit is using him as a driving force in my life.

The good part of getting my hair cut so short is that I'm saving money on shampoo! But quite frankly, I'll be glad when my hair comes back...right now it's a little too breezy on top for me.

Thoughts on Easter and the Empty Tomb

2010-03-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

Easter, like Christmas, has become a standalone event, a point in time to celebrate and move on. Our culture treats Easter like any other holiday, a day to celebrate then move on. Our culture has greatly influenced our celebration as it has other special days. When Christmas is over the greenery comes down and the manger gets put away, the same with Easter. The lilies die and are thrown away and our “old rugged crosses” get put in a storage space. Easter is more than Matthew 28:1-10. Easter is the entire gospel of Matthew; and Easter is the gospels of Mark, Luke, and John. Easter is a celebration of the life of Jesus that reached a crescendo with the discovery of the empty tomb. But Jesus’ message wasn’t, “hey look at me I’m alive!” It was, “I am still with you, now go share the Good News of all that you have seen and heard.” Having said that, without Easter the rest of the gospels carry little weight. Easter and the gospels go hand in hand. It is our faith in the bodily resurrection of Jesus that gives credence to Jesus’ teachings, miracles, and actions.

The NIB (New Interpreter's Bible) refers to resurrection faith. For me that faith encompasses all aspects of Jesus’ life from birth to ministry to death and resurrection to the presence of the Holy Spirit at work in my life and other lives today. Resurrection faith is the whole of God’s work to reconcile the world and not just the single moment. If I believe the resurrection is true then I must believe Jesus’ call to discipleship is just as real and a call I must respond to. If the resurrection is true, then I must work to incorporate Jesus’ teachings into my life. If the resurrection is true then I can be assured that the Holy Spirit that came at Pentecost is very real and active today. If the resurrection is true then I can trust all that Jesus said about himself and about God.

As I read the scripture through this morning I was taken by the angel’s words for the two women to come inside the tomb and see for themselves. I see it also as an invitation for me to come see for myself if the resurrection is real. To do my own investigation, to see for myself to remove my own doubt. Some people will accept the invitation only to seek physical evidence of a reality of a dead body being raised. Some will accept the invitation just to observe where a miracle may have taken place and to mark the place as “holy” and to have a place to be holy. Some may refuse the invitation because they fear what it will require them to believe. Entering the tomb will change everything from that time forward. Entering the tomb (not standing at the door and peering in) will cause us to re-examine our lives are require change no matter how many Easters you’ve celebrated. The empty tomb may inspire us but it is not where we will find Jesus.

Jesus says, “Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, there they will see me.” If we want to find Jesus we won’t find him in the empty tomb where he was, we will find him on the road and in the destinations he gives us. We encounter Jesus in the places where we are sent. We encounter Jesus when we are willing to go where he sends us. The empty tomb verifies the truth about who Jesus is and the truth of his teachings…it is up to you and me to respond by meeting him where he is today.

Palm Sunday & Easter

2010-03-25T05:19:00.000-07:00

I just deleted a piece I had written about Palm Sunday and Easter because it was boring. I was bored reading it so I knew anyone else who might find it would think, "so what?" Well here's the "so what." For me, Palm Sunday and Easter are big deals. Christmas gets all the attention with gift giving, people helping those in need, singing favorite Christmas songs, office parties,family get-togethers, and more. Christmas has a baby born in a manger and a jolly old elf who dominates all things Christmas in our culture. When we think of Christmas we think of "going home" or being with family. When it comes to Christmas we think of God coming to earth in the form of a human child.
But what about Palm Sunday and Easter? In churches children wave palm branches on Palm Sunday. On Easter our churches are full to overflowing with people. Our culture celebrates Easter with a bunny that hides brightly colored eggs (that has always been a curious thing for me). Easter's Christian symbols include a man nailed to a cross, two days of darkness and an empty tomb. When it comes to fun and games, Christmas trumps Easter hands down.
Without Easter there would be no Christmas. Without the pain and suffering of the crucifixion we wouldn't celebrate the joy of a birth. Without the empty tomb there would be no manger. Palm Sunday and Easter are times of renewal. When we think about Easter we think of a family dinner after church and egg hunts. When it comes to Easter we need to think about God revealing the depth of his love for you and me. God loved us so much he was willing to allow us (human beings) to humiliate and torture and kill his Son, the child born in that manger. God's love went even further, he raised his Son from the dead and forgave us for what we did and offered us a hope of a better world and a better life if we would only believe in his Son and follow his teachings (both, not one or the other). When it comes to Easter we need to experience the resurrection of Jesus with a renewed sense of hope for our own lives. Christmas may bring gifts but Easter brings hope. Which is the more valuable gift? You decide.

Why Was I So Angry?

2010-03-15T05:52:00.000-07:00

Let's set the record straight from the start. I'm a college football fan and specifically a fan of the Tennessee Volunteers. Whew! Now that I have that out of my system I was mystified this weekend at my extreme displeasure at Kentucky's trouncing of the Volunteers in the SEC basketball tournament. I turned the game off before the beating became a rout because I was becoming upset with the referees (whether it was warranted or not), with the announcing crew, with the continual crowd shots of Kentucky fans and seldom a shot of anyone in orange; but I was especially disgusted with the way the players on both teams seemed to really dislike each other and took it out physically and verbally on each other. I guess what really bothered me was something the announcers said, that when Kentucky recruits set foot on campus they learn that Tennessee is the enemy and when Tennessee recruits step onto campus they learn Kentucky is the enemy. Do we really see each other as "the enemy?" If this is the way the players are mentally prepared to play the game (it is a game), then why are we shocked when players lose their cool and physical play gets out of hand.

I'm as guilty as anyone when it comes to "hated rivals." There's nothing I want to see more than Tennessee's football team beat Florida and Alabama, which hasn't happened often enough. I even have a bumper sticker (that I don't display on my vehicles) that says "Bama Sucks." So I'm as guilty as anyone when it comes to getting sucked into the "hated rivals"
aspect of sports. So why did this Kentucky-Tennessee basketball game upset me so? I don't think it was the final score because I didn't know the final score until later that evening. Something angered me about the whole thing. I'm feeling much better today, but I have to admit those feelings were there Saturday afternoon.

Maybe I allowed myself to get sucked into the frenzy surrounding the game. Maybe I allowed myself to get caught up in the bitter feelings that exist between the players. And I just have to ask, why do the players have such hard feelings? I played sports (basketball and baseball) in high school and we had rivals, but I don't remember disliking the players on the other team. Yes, there were teams we really wanted to beat, but there was no personal animosity toward the players I competed against. Part of it may be because fans put so much emphasis on winning...players are booed when they don't perform, coaches are fired, and fans stop buying tickets when things don't go well. Maybe the bottom line is that we take sports way too seriously (guilty as charged) but I'm learning that my life, my work, my family, my well-being, and my happiness don't depend on whether or not Tennessee or any other of my favorite teams win their games. Maybe, just maybe I forgot that on Saturday.

So I keep coming back to the question of why I became so upset. I don't have a final answer yet, but I can guarantee that I will be more watchful about such feelings in the future.

Short and Sweet

2010-03-08T16:27:00.000-08:00

Just a few words today. I am so happy that February has come to an end. I enjoy snow, but enough is enough! And I am so happy not to live where snow is on the ground three and four months at a time. Please do not take offense, but that much snow is just not for me. It was good to feel the warmth of the sun on my face today. It tells me again about the renewal of life that takes place each spring, and gives me a renewed peace that God is still at work creating something new.

Another Snow Day

2010-02-15T11:07:00.000-08:00

I am really working hard not to use a metaphor of me shoveling my driveway then turning around to see the blowing snow covering up all the work I just did as a way to say we may work hard to clean the clutter of our lives and focus on God but the world has a way of making any progress we enjoy seem to disappear. I said I wouldn't use that metaphor, but I just did.
Another snow day in beautiful Louisville. I know it puts a wrench in the works (another great metaphor) for people who really need to get things done at work or school...but maybe it's God's way of saying slow down. If that's the message, I'm trying to listen God.

I wonder if Jesus ever had a snow day, a day when the weather was just too bad to get out? I wonder if the disciples or the people who followed Jesus said the weather was just too bad for them to get out and hear what Jesus has to say. Obviously they didn't have to negotiate any interstates or other four-lane highways that hold hidden dangers like "black ice," but then few us walk everywhere we go. I mean for some of us walking around the block would be too far to go to hear the Good News. But I digress, much like hitting a big pile of slush while trying to negotiate a curve.

Back on track now. Maybe this is a day to reconnect with family, a day to reconnect with God. Find something to occupy your mind other than television, even though I know the Olympics are exciting. Take some time, enjoy the beauty of the snow, thank God for the beauty you see, thank God that you have a warm place out of the cold, wind, and snow. It breaks my heart to think that there are those right now who have no shelter or very limited shelter. It disturbs me that some of them are children. The fact that my dogs have shelter and there are people who do not is starting to weigh heavily on my heart. I may not be able to end homelessness, but I will not let that fact stop me from having even a small impact on it. I'm starting to have a Popeye moment (I've taken all I can stands and I can't stands no more), I don't know what I will do or where this will lead me but I must do something. God has put this on my heart for a reason, I will not fail God by not acting on it.

Winter Olympics

2010-02-13T05:56:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy the Winter Olympic Games, I think its because they are so different than the sports I normally follow (football, basketball, baseball, golf, etc.). And I just love the atmosphere of the games. There is just something special when athletes from around the world, even athletes from nations who are at war with one another, can come together to simply compete. It bothered me as I watched the opening ceremonies at how often the announcers talked about countries that were at war or how one country might not compete in an event that would feature athletes from a country with which there had been conflict or diplomatic issues. It's just a shame that politics and disagreements between heads of state affect the relationship between athletes. I'm just troubled that policies of a government impact how two individuals from different countries might get along. I would hope that if an American and Iranian athlete meet they could become friends without our governments telling them they should be enemies. I would like to think that Japanese and Chinese athletes could find ways to become friends. I know this is very naive, but it will only be through individual relationships between everyday people in the world that we will ever see a day when wars and violence between countries come to an end. It will only be when we start seeing each other as humans loved by God, and allowing that to be our first identifying marker before nationality or religion, that we will ever have the hope that guns and weapons of war will be a thing of the past. We must replace distrust with trust and suspicion with hope; and it must begin with me. It must begin with you. If we don't start it, it may never happen.

Signing Day for Churches

2010-02-03T17:11:00.000-08:00

For college football fans this is a big day. It's the day the nation's top high school football players officially sign "Letters of Intent" to play college football for a particular school. The players are all ranked by various recruiting services as to their overall standing as a player and also their ranking in their position nationwide and by individual states. High school players can tell a particular school they will sign with them but until the ink dries on the paper they are hounded by other schools who want them. It's all quite complicated.

Imagine if there was a national signing day for churches each year. On the first Sunday of February churches could sign potential kingdom members who would then begin study and preparation in order to do their absolute best for their team, uh, church. Imagine the battles between competing churches for the services, uh, commitment of the CEO of Yum Brands should that person's availability open up. Imagine the wooing that would take place in an effort by competing churches to get Pat Day, John Calipari, Rick Pitino, a university president, a prominent doctor, or some other celebrity to change church commitments. They would be promised valet parking, seat of their choice, advance warning of sermons on subjects that make them uncomfortable (or subjects that would never be discussed). In exchange they would allow the church to take pictures of them with the pastor and let the general public know they attend on certain Sundays. They would be PTP people, Prime Time Parishoners!!!

How many churches would try to win the hearts of men, women, and children who live under our interstate overpasses, in homeless shelters, or shelters for abused women and children. What would our fans, uh church members, think if we didn't sign any five-star or four-star people but instead brought in a signing day class of illegal immigrants, poor single parents, the homeless, homosexuals, and others who are considered to be outside the norms of good society? I'm thinking the coach, uh pastor, might be looking for a new position.

Which church would have the highest rated class? Those with the highest rated recruits or the one who accepted those other churches really don't want? If the signing classes were rated by Jesus I'm thinking the class that is rated first would be last and the last would be first.

Ed

Reading to be Transformed

2010-01-29T06:33:00.000-08:00

A devotional I read this week said, "We do not always realize what a radical suggestion it is to read to be formed and transformed rather than to gather information." Of course when I read this it made me think of reading the Bible and of serveral people who have come to me recently wanting to "read the Bible" all the way through as a means of understanding what it says. While I did not discourage them from reading the whole Bible I did tell them it was important not to rush through the Bible in order to accomplish that task. The Bible must be read in order to hear what God is saying, not just to gain information. The Bible is the "living Word of God." It is not a textbook, it is not a history book, it is the revelation of God to us. So I have to ask the question, do we want to read the Bible just to be informed or do we want to read the Bible to transformed by what God wants us to know and what God wants us to do.

To use an old cliche', do we want to get through the Bible or do we want the Bible to get through to us. That's why the original statement about how we read the Bible is important. Are we reading it just to learn something or are we reading it to allow it to transform our hearts and our lives. This is why I'm a fan of a process known as "Listening to God" when it comes to reading the Bible. It calls for us to read short pieces of scripture several times, allowing a particular word or short phrase to speak to us. Then through prayer asking God to reveal to us through that scripture how we can apply it in our lives and in our churches.

We must read the Bible in order for it to speak to us. It is a living Word that has much to offer. God has something to say to us today through a very old book. Slow down and allow God to draw close to you through the scriptures.

Where is God in All of This _____.

2010-01-12T14:38:00.000-08:00

A pending divorce, an addiction, a life-threatening illness, quarelling divorced parents, a job loss, and out of control children. Within the past month I've talked with people who are facing one or more of these situations. Yes, some folks are dealing with multiple life crises at the same time. Life is hard enough these days without the added pressure of personal crisis on top of personal crisis. One person told me that a friend tried to comfort them with the words, "God won't put anythng on me that I can't handle." That is a cliche' that has been around for quite some time, but it's not biblical. It makes me wonder how we then explain the times when people can't handle "it" anymore and become self-destructive or extreme depression sets in and begins to destroy lives and families. Does that mean God does put on us more than we can handle or that we are weaker than God thought we were?

So where is God when life dumps on us? God is right there. Our problem too often is that we can't see past our crisis to see God. We become extremely self-centered when life begins to crumble around us. We are so busy trying to "keep it together" that we don't take the time to allow God to lead and guide us. It's almost like we have the attitude if God didn't stop this from happening then God sure won't help me out of it, I'll do it myself." I believe there are times that we don't see God because we don't want to see the changes that are required to put us back on the right path, if we were ever on the right path in the first place. God is there to lead us into life, but we have to be willing to follow, to change, to become a new person, to become the person God wills us to be.

And, because we decide to start following doesn't mean our circumstances will immediately change. What changes is our attitude toward our current life circumstances. People who survive difficult times are those who can find some humor in their lives, to look around and see the rest of the world, to see that life is not all about them. Some of the most impressive people I've known are people who were in the midst of their own personal crisis and were able to put it aside for even a moment to help someone else who was going through a crisis. That is where God can be found. That is where God is in times of personal disaster.

Ed

So Long 2009

2009-12-31T07:38:00.000-08:00

This has been an extremely difficult year for so many people. Ice storms and flash floods have plagued our city. There have been extensive lay-offs and work slow-downs due to the recession. We have loved ones fighting in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. For some its been a year of broken relationships and divided families. For some its been a year of just trying to pay the bills and not always being able to make that happen. It has been a hard year. I believe this is why God allowed The Valley to be born in 2009. In the midst of the tragedy, hardship, and worry God placed a ministry in the Valley Station area committed to helping people get through such heart-wrenching circumstances. While The Valley has many victories to celebrate this year the real victory is God's because God put this ministry here with the purpose of offering a radical welcome and a radical love to people who believe the world has turned against them, or at best turned its back on them. The Valley is a Kingdom outpost where people can find community and a reason to keep their lives moving forward...and a place where they will come to know that God has never turned his back on them and that God desires a relationship with them. God loves you as you are, God loves you in the midst of your circumstances. That is our 2009 victory, a victory we will claim every day in the coming year.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

2009-12-22T15:14:00.000-08:00

I think my all time favorite secular Christmas song is "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." I just love the words to that great song..."Have yourself a merry little Christmas, let your hearts be light. From now on our troubles will be out of sight." There is just something about the song that grabs my attention and lets me know that having a Merry Christmas is not based on how many times I hear "Merry Christmas" said to me but it is totally dependent upon me. I can choose to have a Merry Christmas despite my circumstances. Or, I can choose to have a miserable Christmas and be lost in my own self-centeredness. If we make Christmas about ourselves then we miss its true spirit. Christmas is meant to be shared. Christmas is to be enjoyed.

Christmas is a time that is supposed to be joyful. If we don't find a way to be joyful then we really miss the true meaning of Christmas. I realize that for some people this year they will experience their first Christmas alone. For some it will be their first Christmas without a spouse, a parent, or a child. I do understand how difficult it can be, I've experienced it. Even in the midst of our grief we must find a way to experience joy. Joy comes from the celebration of the birth of the Christ Child. It is the birth of the Christ Child that tells us of God's love for us. God's love was not only demonstrated in a manger at Bethlehem but also on a cross in Jerusalem. Our faith is based on the manger and the cross, they are symbols of God's desire to reconcile all that is wrong with our world and to bring us into wholeness with him. Luke 2:11 says, "For unto you...a Savior is born." God's gift to you this Christmas and every Christmas and each day of the year is his never-ending commitment to you, God loves you and wants you to draw close to him. There is joy to be found in God's presence. There is joy to be found in Christmas.

Merry Christmas to One and All!
Ed

If I Could Make Just One Rule

2009-12-09T13:37:00.000-08:00

A woman called the church a week or so ago. She said she was looking for a church to attend but needed to know one thing. She liked what she saw on our website, she liked the way our church looked, she even told me she liked our sign! With all that going for us I thought there was a good chance she would visit. But the one question she wanted me to answer was whether we followed the Bible to the letter. I explained that there was a lot in the Bible that would be difficult to follow even for the most devote follower. I told her that I believe the Bible reveals who God is to us and not just a set of rules we are required to follow. Well, she said thank-you and good-bye.
My heart sank. Not because we missed out on some visitors, but by the very strict nature of what she thought the church should be. I took from our conversation that the church is a place where rules are enforced, where rule-breakers are punished, and everyone who follows the rules gets to go to heaven. Unfortunately all of us are rule breakers. There is no one on earth who can even begin to claim they have never or will never violate any "rule" in the Bible. That's why The Valley is a church of grace.
If I had one rule to enforce, and I mean strictly enforce for The Valley, it would be this, "No perfect people allowed!" Our doors are open for those who are hurting and lost. Our doors are open for people who are seeking something and they may not know what. Our doors are open for people who have made mistakes in life. Our doors are open for people who have made poor choices in life. Our doors are open for everyone, except perfect people. And the reason I would not allow perfect people to come to our church is simple, I don't want to spoil their perfection by bringing them anywhere near imperfect people for fear our imperfection might rub-off on their perfection, thus spoiling everything.
It is by grace we are saved, through faith, it is not a work of our own. (Look that up in Ephesians 2 for a perfect quote)

A Christmas Carol

2009-12-01T07:30:00.000-08:00

This Sunday I'll be using Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" as the background for my sermon. The movie has always been a favorite of mine because I am drawn to the story of Scrooge's transformation. I think I'm attracted to the story because if Scrooge can undergo transformation than so can I. That might be odd for a pastor to say, but I need transformation in my life just as badly as Scrooge needed it in his. I may not need transformation from a miserly old cudmurgeon, but I do need transformation of my heart and mind when I unwittingly allow pressures of the world to distract me or pull me away from God's purposes for my life. But also I need to be reminded that the story of Scrooge is not just about the transformation (reclamation) of his life, it is about the impact his transformation has on the lives of those around him. After his transformation there is a positive impact on the life of Fred, Scrooge's nephew, the life of Bob Cratchit, the life of Tiny Tim, the lives of the poor who will be fed, and in general the life of "the good ol' city" where Scrooge lives. Transformation is not just about you and me, transformation is also about the lives that are impacted as we allow God's Holy Spirit to lead and guide our lives. That is Kingdom Now at work.
I hope you will take time to watch "A Christmas Carol" this Christmas season and know that if Scrooge can be transformed then you and I can too.

God bless us everyone!

A Few Thoughts Before Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T08:32:00.000-08:00

I stand in amazement at what is taking place on The Valley campus. The deep desire people have to serve others, whether they are a part of our faith community or not, is nothing less than awesome. We have people committed to helping a family make it to Indianapolis so their son can have needed surgery. People were committed to making that happen. We have people who were so committed to doing something that 31 families who needed food this Thanksgiving didn't just recieve a few items with a turkey for the holiday, they went all out to make sure every meal was a feast, we even have one person who is cooking a meal for a family because the family doesn't have electricity. People were committed to making that happen. There are people who are making sure others have warm coats this winter, some who are concerned about what will happen to children of homeless families and are stepping up do something. I see people who don't have a great deal themselves, finding ways to make significant impacts on the lives of people who are in need. People are committed to making these things happen.

This kind of commitment to people comes as people open their hearts and their lives to God's Spirit, a Spirit they have allowed to transform their lives and give them a purpose beyond themselves. When God's Spirit is alive in people in shows itself in some very real ways for the world to see. One important part of all this is that as the Spirit leads us to serve others we find that we are the one's who are truly blessed by the people we serve.

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for the people God has sent to The Valley with hearts for serving others. That is what it means to be Kingdom People Doing Kingdom Work...that is making the Kingdom real for people today. I am so humbled by the work that is being done through this ministry, may God richly bless each of you who are being the Kingdom Now!

The Ultimate Judgment

2009-11-10T16:10:00.000-08:00

I was watching the evening news on WAVE-3 this evening. Everything was fine until the station manager came on with an editorial focused on the shootings at Ft. Hood, Texas. He expressed sorrow for the families, which I feel. He expressed outrage that something like this could happen in a nation that loves its freedom. Then he said he hoped the murderer would receive righteous justice, which he insinuated that it would be from God. That's an easy point of view to declare. Someone did something horribly wrong, they must pay the ultimate price not only with their life but also with their eternal life. I am grateful that Steve Langford will not be my ultimate judge, I am grateful that no human being will be my ultimate judge.

Yes, this man should face the consequences of law for his act. Yes, this man will likely be put to death, the ultimate punishment that humans can inflict, because he committed his crime on a military base in Texas. But should it be our desire to see anyone face eternal damnation, depriving this man of any hope of repenting of his act and seeking forgiveness from God, or Allah since he is Muslim? My point is this, if God is able to forgive this man of his sin against other human beings then God is going to be able to forgive the sin of my life. My faith is in a God that is ready to forgive when a heart turns to him.

We are a violent people. We say we love peace, but America has had too few years when it wasn't at war somewhere in the world...and the violence we do to each other every day has numbed us to the toll it takes. Even in our own metro area we experience more than one murder a week every week. We are told the weapons we use to kill men, women, and children are not to blame...guns don't kill people, people kill people. In that case our nation will be safe once we outlaw people. Violence will not stop or even slow down as long as people have easy access to weapons and as long as we disregard the value of life.

All this on a night when a man who will go down in annals of America's worst violent criminals, the DC Sniper, will be put to death. He is receiving the ultimate punishment that humans can render...I pray he has found mercy with God.

People Don't Expect Us to Agree

2009-11-05T07:59:00.000-08:00

I am bothered by a commercial that's running to generate support for Kosair Children's Hospital. I am not critical of the charity, it's the commercial that bothers me. It features Congressman John Yarmoth and Senator Mitch McConnell. It begins with Rep. Yarmoth saying, "People don't expect us to agree on much of anything." He goes on to say that he and Sen. McConnell do agree on the need to support the children's hospital. The first time I heard the statement it caught my attention but I couldn't put my finger on it. Then as I heard it over and over I realized what it was. Why shouldn't I expect the people who lead our country to agree on most everything. I realize one man is a Democrat and the other a Republican, but when did it occur that elected leaders of our country were "expected" not to agree on much. I have higher expectations than that. This just further divides our nation politically and why we struggle to see anything good come from Washington no matter who is in the White House or which party controls the House or Senate. It's all about furthering a political agenda and not what is best for the nation as a whole.

I think sometimes this applies to the church as well. Too often our churches and denominations are divided by how we practice faith and we further divide by highlighting our differences instead of focusing on areas where we agree. Non-Christians and Christians exiled from the church see the divide and don't expect us to agree. We are a people who expect divisions because it gives us something to oppose, it gives us a rallying cry. Just like political parties, churches and denominations too often define themselves by what they are against instead of binding themselves together where they agree. It seems the more we disagree the more lines we draw in the sand and the more we tell people you are not welcome. If you don't agree with us don't bother coming back. That is an attitude that drives far too many people from the church.

Do I have to agree with someone's personal view of salvation before I can celebrate the love of Jesus with them? Do I have to agree with someone's personal view on heaven and hell before I can praise God with them? Do I have to agree with someone's personal view on baptism, communion, social justice issues, women in ministry, homosexuality, abortion, or repentance before I can share the Good News of Jesus with them? People expect us to disagree on just about everything, what can we do to change that? I expect more of the church and I think God does too.

Generosity and Arm-Twisting

2009-11-02T08:37:00.000-08:00

I was talking the other day about The Valley's current Generosity Campaign when the man I was talking with (from another church) stopped me and said you mean the annual "arm twisting" campaign. I explained that it's not arm twisting when you give out of a desire to support Kingdom work, but I conceded it would be arm-twisting if you only see the church as a place of obligation where you pay dues with the idea of paying a fee for salvation. That is the view of a person who doesn't have a true relationship with Jesus Christ. I really do not want anyone to give to the work of the kingdom if they feel they are being coerced, strong-armed, or shamed into it. It just doesn't feel right to accept money a gift if it is not given freely.

When we have a real relationship with Jesus the gifts we offer the Kingdom through the church really don't come begrudgingly and they don't come with strings attached. When Jesus comes to live in our hearts, when Jesus is allowed to transform our lives, giving comes through a wonderful feeling of grateful generosity. You give because you have a deep desire for the ministry that touched your heart to touch the hearts of others. You give because you want to see people experience the Kingdom Now. There are powerful stories of people on our campus of the awesome things that have happened in their lives once they decided to make generosity a way of life. When we live a life based on generosity we see the abundance we have been given and give freely with glad and generous hearts. When our lives are based on scarcity, when we only see the things we don't have and want, then it's very hard for people to open their wallets and give.

To be honest I have learned a great deal about living a generous life through my wife. When a child in her school can't afford to go on a field trip, she pays his or her way. When a child needs a belt to keep from being cited for a "dress code"violation she has one handy. This year she's talked her fellow teachers into buying a goat for a family halfway around the world so they can have milk (that's a story in itself). She will pick-up three or four "angles" this Christmas. We will buy books at Barnes and Noble to give to children living in shelters. The more she/we give it seems the more we are able to give. The more we focus on living a generous life the more life is generous to us.

Yes, we give. Yes, we will give even more to the church this year than last. Yes, we will give more to help make the kingdom real for people now. For us, there just isn't any other way to live.

What Was I Thinking

2009-10-30T05:17:00.000-07:00

I am less than an hour away from leaving my house and maybe my sanity. Earlier this week my loving wife, who teaches sixth grade math, said her team was short a few adult volunteers for a field trip to the Louisville Zoo and would I be willing to help out. The word "sure" jumped out of my mouth before I could stop it. Once I settled on the idea that I was going to the Zoo for a four hour field trip I was OK with it. Me and 10 sixth graders walking the Zoo and looking at the animals. Then I remembered all the horror stories I've heard my wife tell about sixth graders and now on Halloween Eve they are coming home to haunt me. I love kids. I really do. I love being around them. I love the kids that come to The Learning Center. I love the kids that came to our Trunk or Treat. I love the kids at VBS and the ones that came to our Easter Egg Hunt. But when I'm in charge of kids...well, I don't always do so well. I always make the mistake of assuming that they will behave. They don't always behave and more often than not that gets me in trouble and not them.

It kind of makes me think there is a Good News message in there somewhere. Maybe its God expects us to behave and hopes we will behave, but then we don't, but God loves us anyway. Well, that analgy may or may not work...what do you expect now that I'm 45 minutes away from a walking tour of the Zoo with ten sixth graders. I think its time I began praying about this venture.

Jimmy Buffett Wisdom

2009-10-26T06:24:00.000-07:00

I have been a Jimmy Buffett fan for many years. I love the ocean and his songs always take me there in spirit. I know for many people his music is not their style but there is something about the way he turns a phrase that always seems to catch my ear no matter how many times I hear it. Once such phrase comes from the song "Pacing the Cage." The lyric is
I've proved who I am so many times,
The magnetic strip's worn thin
And each time I was someone else
And everyone was taken in.
It reminds me of a time in my life when I really didn't know who I was or whose I was. It reminds of the time when God was calling me but I wasn't sure I wanted to listen because I knew listening would mean change. And, while I embrace change in most instances I wasn't sure I would want to make the changes I thought God would want me to make. But there I was staring change in the face and I had to realize something about myself, I was several different people (yes, to a degree God spoke to me through Jimmy Buffett's wisdom). None of my different personalities were evil or abusive, they were all just different because I was living different lives. There was Ed the husband and father (I have to admit for better or worse at times). There was Ed the corporate radio news guy. There was Ed who sang in the choir and taught a Sunday School class. There was Ed who could lose control of his calendar (or his cell phone) and allow busyness to control his life. And there may have been a few more Ed's in the mix...but there really wasn't a single Ed. Like the lyric said, I had proved who I was so many times to so many people that the magnetic tape was wearing thin.

I know there are people who can relate to this situation, I know there are people who are very different depending on the people they are around or the situation they are in. I found it confusing and at times difficult to balance all the Ed's in my life, how about you? I'm still working to fuse all the Ed's together into a single Ed, it hasn't been easy because it means leaving parts of my life behind, parts that don't serve the Ed I am seeking to be and the Ed God desires me to be. Becoming one Ed doesn't mean my life will stop evolving, it just means there will be fewer of me to evolve. My life continues to be renewed, at times on a daily basis by the work of God's Holy Spirit who works through close friends...and I hope you suround yourself with people who can be honest with you so your life can be renewed too. I've got a new identification card and the magnetic tape reads "loved by Jesus." That's all I really need to know about who I am, I am loved by the One who transformed my life.

Kingdom Now!

Escaping the Trap

2009-10-23T07:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just have to ask. Nothing was really wrong the other day when I asked my pastor (yes, a pastor with a pastor) what he felt I needed to know about my ministry that I wasn't seeing. After some compliments he said the one thing I must never lose is my closeness to Jesus. To make sure my heart was in line with the Holy Spirit. And that the spirituality of the people on our campus would reflect my own spirituality. If I am not connected to God then how could I expect people in my care to be connected? Not that I am disconnected, but what he said opened my eyes to something that can so easily trap us, busyness. As I thought about my own connectedness I realize that someway somehow I had become more connected to the busyness of a growing church than to God. Animal traps work because they are placed where animals might not suspect them or where they live, feed, and raise their young. Busyness is the same kind of trap. It is laid where we live, work, and play...it is laid where we raise our children and grandchildren...it is a trap that can even snare us while we are about the work of the church. Busyness traps are everywhere and we are caught before we realize it. The worst thing about a busyness traps is that we never really notice we're caught until our life-blood is all but gone.

I have been caught in the trap of busyness and I commiting myself to getting free. I look at my life and I see that I have been ensnared by my desire to open that new email that just arrived in my inbox. My Blackberry just "dinged" and I've got to see what critical piece of information just appeared. There are letters to write, people to visit, (my Blackberry just dinged again and I am fighting the urge to pick it up and check to see what's there), and there are plans to be made. I even feel a little guilty about jumping online and writing this blog, but I believe it will help me free myself from this busyness trap.

The trap I realize has cut some of my prayers short. The trap has caused me to curtail one of the spiritual practices that really kept my heart in tune with God (journaling). The trap requires me to rush to accomplish one more thing before I leave the office. Is that what ministry is about, is this what ministry is supposed to be? While there are times when "work" must be done I had unconsciously given it a higher priority than my connectedness with God. I was caught in a trap.

This morning a closed my eyes and began to shut out the busyness of my life. It wasn't easy. I closed my eyes and began to settle my heart and my mind in order to re-establish my full connection with God and God's Holy Spirit. I read Nehemiah 1:5-6, "I said, 'O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments; let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel.'"

I guess it was my way of saying to God, "I'm awake. I realize the trap I've been in. I want to re-establish my full connection with you. Free me from this busyness trap!" While I didn't hear God speak, I know God was pleased that I realized I was trapped and was ready to be set free.

My Blackberry is still blinking. The trap is always ready to close again. It is going to have to blink for a while until I have finished my time here and with God.

Dios te bendiga amigos.

Ed

A Praying Church

2009-10-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

I recently talked with a man about prayer, the importance of prayer, and the importance of a church bathed in prayer. As we ended our conversation we agreed that we are a church where prayer is offered but The Valley is not a "praying church." The important thing about the way we ended our conversation was that we were both committed to doing what was necessary for The Valley to BE a praying church. Every church, I would hope, offers prayers. We pray during worship, we pray as we begin meetings, and we pray as we begin studies. We are a church with prayer but we are not quite a praying church. A praying church is a church with deep relationships and a deep passion for people inside AND outside the church walls. A praying church will find the Holy Spirit active in and among its people and where ever its people happen to be 24/7.

I am fortunate to have a prayer partner. Soon I will be adding two more full-time prayer partners within the week. My current partner and I pray for each other when we are not together and we also take time on Sunday mornings for prayer. Its not a rushed prayer filled with cliche's but we share a heartfelt prayer that settles my heart and gets me spiritually focused on worship, it is always a prayer that helps align my spirit with God's. We intentionally pray openly. It is my hope thar our open prayer will be a signal to others that they too can pray in front of other people.

We must learn to be a praying church. Instead of simply offering to prayer "for" someone that we will take the time at that moment to prayer "with" that person. People in a praying church take time to listen to what other people say, and when they sense a need to take a worry or concern to God they stop and pray. We are followers of Jesus, we believe in the Living God, we are lead by the Holy Spirit!!! We must be a people of prayer! It's a radical idea, I realize how radical it is. I remember the powerful experience I had a number of years ago the first time a true person of prayer stopped me as I was telling him about a real concern on my heart and said, "Can I pray with you about that right now?" I was stunned. I didn't know you could do that. But we did. I felt the Spirit move while hearing his words, I felt God's presence settle upon us. WOW! He didn't use fancy or KJ words, he simply used the words I said and spoke them to God for me. That prayer cemented a friendship that is now 18 years old.

As I prepare for my sermon this week I was struck by something I read. It said the most important question that gets asked in churches or by Christians is, "Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?" But there is a second question that is just as important that I am asking right now, "Do you have a shared relationship with Jesus?" Are you sharing your relationship with Jesus with someone else through joint prayer and study? You can have a personal relationship with Jesus but we are called by God to be in community with other beleivers, "Wherever two or more are gathered together, I am with you."

Let's be a church of prayer, where prayer is not a solo act but is something we share on a personal level with other believers. Let's be a church of prayer, where prayer is used to build relationships with people who are struggling in life whether they attend church or not. Let's be a church of prayer!

Be the Kingdom!

Being a Commissioned Minister

2009-10-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (Sunday 10-18) was a great day at The Valley. It began with a baptism of one of the finest young men I've come across in recent years and it culminated with a single mom coming forward with her daughter to become a part of The Valley family. Squeezed in between those two powerful events was a ceremony marking my completion of work allowing me to become a Commissioned Minister for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Kentucky, I'm a member of the first class of Commissioned Ministers in the state. To attain this status I was required to demonstrate profieciency in 13 areas of ministry ranging from pastoral care to preaching to church leadership to the Old and New Testaments. If nothing else, this accomplishment tells people I am continuously working to become a better pastor, preacher, and leader.

Many people kept asking me what this means for me personally or what difference will it make in the way I lead The Valley. To be very blunt about it, it will not change a thing. I will continue to submit to the Spirit instead of trying to force the Spirit to submit to my whims. I will continue to work hard every week to study the scriptures and listen to what the Spirit is telling me so that I can write and deliver the absolute best sermon I've ever given. I aim high and shoot high because I believe its what I'm called to do. I will continue to find and develop new leaders on our campus and allow them to live out their calling. I will continue my commitment to see that The Valley lives out its Kingdom Now mission and we continue to live into our vision.

One more thing that will never change, that is my commitment to serving the Kingdom of God, and that means the people of God, at The Valley. The people on our campus demonstrated their love and support for me in some very real ways yesterday and it humbled me. During a Friday night board retreat I was humbled as the board blessed the ministry at The Valley and me as Campus Minister. I am humbled that God called me to ministry and even more to ministry among people who care so much about answering God's call in their own lives. We truly are Kingdom People doing Kingdom Work. The things you wrote in the cards, in the book, and the gifts I was given touched my heart, but what touches my heart even more are the times I see evidence of the Kingdom lived out in your hearts and lives as you welcome strangers into The Valley family and the way your hearts desire to serve people who didn't know anyone really cared.

The Valley ROCKS!!!
Kingdom Now!

Kingdom Now Makes Me Happy

2009-10-08T06:04:00.000-07:00

I was talking with a fellow pastor yesterday at lunch. He said, "I envy the situation you are in." He was talking about me being campus minister at The Valley. His comment came as I described to him (in a Readers Digest form) of how we operate as a campus of Middletown Christian Church, that there is a freedom to the way we are achieving our goals, and the forward thinking that is behind the way we fulfill our mission and implement our vision. Another pastor asked if I was happy. Absolutely, I said. But then added that I am generally a happy person. I am happy. I am happy with the work God has given me, I am happy with the people God continues to send to our ministry, and I am happy that the people we serve are seeing a Kingdom Now ministry at work.

I am happy because I can see the real work of the Holy Spirit here. I am happy because people feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in worship and are moved by it. I am happy because people are stepping forward and taking on leadership roles in this ministry and are using their abilities to serve other people. I am happy because people's lives inside and outside this ministry are being touched and being made better. People at The Valley are Kingdom People Doing Kingdom Work. That is Kingdom Now!

I Love Football Season

2009-10-05T11:34:00.000-07:00

OK, I'm ready to admit it. I am a football junky, I love college and professional football. I was never really big enough to play the game in high school (opting for baseball as my sport of choice) but I loved football. My favorite teams are the Tennessee Volunteers (I fly my Big Orange flag every Saturday to my wife's shagrin) and the Louisville Cardinals. The single biggest problem each has this year is the lack of a strong quarterback. In the NFL, I am a fan of the Indianapolis Colts (Peyton Manning of course), Cincinnati Bengals, and Dallas Cowboys. Of just as much importance...I am not a fan of Notre Dame, Ohio State, and USC...I don't have to have a reason. As I told my wife, you can pick three teams to pull against "just because." In the NFL that would include the Oakland Raiders, Chicago Bears, and Green Bay Packers. Obviously there are other teams I may pull against but I have reasons for pulling against them...

What does all this have to do with anything? I have loyalties to certain teams, I will continue to pull for them even when they are losing (the Bengals have surely tested me). These are sports teams, life goes on when they win or lose. I must also be just as loyal to the things that are the most important in my life, my wife, my son, my family, my friends, and my ministry. I keep going back to something Bill Hybels said at a conference a long time ago (which I'm sure he repeated a number of times), in ministry deal with people's eternal lives which goes beyond life and death matters on this earth. I care about what happens in the lives of people I encounter each day and I want to have a Kingdom Now impact, but I care about their eternal lives...which means helping them enter into a relationship with Jesus as Lord and Savior. Eternity is a much bigger deal than what happens to us while we are here.

Go Big Orange!!!

Conservatives, Liberals, and Nothing Between

2009-09-30T14:35:00.001-07:00

I am a "glass half full" kind of person. But at times it's difficult when I look at the political landscape of America. I read newspapers and find conservatives blame President Obama for everything wrong in America and are willing to fight any reform offered from Democrats, because after all they are Democrats who want nothing better than to destroy America. I read magazines and find liberals claim conservatives want to rewrite the Constitution or at least bend it greatly to their view of the world. I watch television and read a great deal on the Internet and I see very little middle ground. I see both sides standing their ground, because moving to the center toward compromise or for the real public good, would be seen as weakness. Where are our leaders who stand for America and not a political ideology? Where are our leaders who are willing to work for what's best and not what a PAC or focus group thinks? There may be some in the halls of government, but its difficult to know.

I am embarrassed that people have shown up at "town hall meetings" with a single-minded intent of shouting down elected representatives instead of taking part in real discussions. I am scared that people are showing up at presidential rallies with guns, and no one really seems concerned. I am heartbroken that politicians are seldom elected on the basis of what they will do but on the basis of how bad for our city, state, or country their opponent is. It is more important to destroy an opponent's character than to offer real plans for people (we are to blame for some of this by paying to much attention to television commercials). I am discouraged that we argue over taxes for corporations and the "wealthy" while we have people losing jobs by the thousands. I feel for people who lose their jobs simply because corporations can get the work done cheaper in another country. I am worried about healthcare because hospital bills and insurance are skyrocketing and are bankrupting people, but we are too divided to let one side or the other give reform a try. I am sad that we have become a country that pays more attention to the loudest voices and not those who need to be heard.

Despite all this I am not afraid. I am not afraid because my faith is not in elected officials, the government, or the U.S. Constitution. My faith is in God, the One who cares for the poor, the One who cares for the sick, the One who cares for the oppressed, the One who cares for those who suffer social injustice. God calls each of us to put neighbor above self. These are things governments can never do. Jesus taught, "whatever you do to the least of these you have done it to me." It's a call that governments can't answer, but it is a call I can do something about.

80% 15% and 0%

2009-08-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

I've been amused by the quick rounds a facebook survey has made among my "friends." The survey asks, "How evil are you?" To be quite frank, I found the survey after it was completed by a friend who, not unexpectedly, turned out to be 80% evil. Now let's be serious, well maybe 80% serious, the guy is not 80% evil, he just has a unique and shall we say bluntly realistic view of the world as he sees it. The guy is really a stand up kind of guy, but someone you won't find sitting in a pew on Sunday...but he is a guy who will do anything for you if he likes you (which is the real trick since he is 80% evil) but he also has a soft spot or two but he doesn't like for people to know it.

I took the survey and found that I am 15% evil. I may be a pastor but I am human and there are some areas of life where I need to work on, they may be solvable but then again they may not. I will be the first to admit I am not perfect and I don't use that as a way to excuse any mistakes or lapses in judgment on my part. What I have to work on is maybe not trying to rid myself of the 15% evil that is in me (which I may never succeed in doing) and try to keep it under control. For me the easiest time for evil to surface in my life is when I'm frustrated and mentally exhausted. At least I know the settings that trigger my evil side.

Then there are those numerous friends of mine who also took the "evil" survery and came up 0% evil. Maybe I need some new friends because Jesus told me to go hang out with sinners! I think I'll go check out my 80% friend.

Dangerous Prayers

2009-08-11T17:57:00.000-07:00

When was the last time you prayed a dangerous prayer? We offer all kinds of prayers to God, we pray for our loved ones to "get well." We pray for our children, our parents, our grandparents, and grandchildren. We pray for our country. We pray for peace. I've even known people (including myself a time or two) to pray that God will turn a street light green so we won't be late for a meeting. These are not dangerous prayers.
Dangerous prayers are ones in which we ask God to act in our lives, not for our benefit or for the benefit of someone we love, but for God's benefit. Dangerous prayers are heartfelt pleas for God to answer the question so many people ask, "What is my purpose?" Dangerous prayers ask God to reveal God's purposes for our lives and the courage to act on that purpose. Are we as willing to ask God to reveal God's purpose as we are for God to heal, bring peace, and bring comfort to our lives? Dangerous prayers lead to dangerous people and dangerous churches. We serve a dangerous God and God desires to hear our dangerous prayers.

Humble Pie Should Taste Good

2009-07-29T12:20:00.000-07:00

A great conversation today with Jeff Howell as we talked about this week's message based on James 4, "Eating Humble Pie." We hear the phrase "eating humble pie" and we immediately think of people who have been "brought down to size," or people who thought too highly of themselves and are having their egos pummelled. The way we Americans see it, eating humble pie is never a good thing...unless someone else is made to eat it. But when a slice is served to us, it tastes horrible, like apple pie with salt instead of sugar.
Followers of Jesus (Christians) should see humble pie much differently. God pursues a relationship with us, it is when we humble ourselves that we are able to experience life in relationship with God. Humbling ourselves before God doesn't mean we are being punished, it means we are striving to get our hearts and our lives in line with God's. Eating humble pie with God should be a good thing, the slice of pie we eat should be delicious because we are able to eat it in God's presence!
It is only when we demand control of our lives and when we seek to control God that we may be brought down, humbled if you will by the circumstances that we create. That is not the humble pie that God serves. People want to serve us bitter tasting humble pie, but God's pie will always be served with ice cream. As it says in James 4, "the humbled will be exalted." Have an extra slice while you're at God's table.

God's wisdom

2009-07-24T06:29:00.000-07:00

The one thing I'm learning, and I'm still learning a great deal, is that God is not smart. God never does the smart thing. Before you prepare to seize me and lable me a heretic let me explain. God is not smart, but God is wise. God never asks us to do the smart thing, we are the ones who struggle to figure out the smart thing to do in a given situation, but seldom do we seek to figure out what the wise thing. Which brings me back to God's wisdom and me. About five years ago God asked me to give up a 27 year career in the radio news business to lead a struggling church. Walking away from a solid corporate career was not the smart thing to do, at least in the eyes of the world. I took a pay cut and walked into a world that was completely new, the world of being a pastor in a small church. Until then I held several leadership positions in a large corporate church. It wasn't smart of God to ask me to do this and it wasn't the smart thing for me to do it. But it was the wise thing.

God's wisdom never looks like the smart thing. I now serve another church, a church that was almost ready to close its doors a year ago. Now we are experiencing growth and renewed energy. But God doing his "not smart" thing again. He's asking us begin an after-school program that will offer homework assistance and tutoring through a private company at no charge to low income and under-achieving students. Some have commented that its not a smart thing to do, that we don't have the human and financial resources to make this happen. No, its not a smart thing...but it is the wise thing because it comes from the wisdom of God. Serve people, serve the community, serve God. We must live out our saying that we are Kingdom People Doing Kingdom Work. Through God's wisdom we know who we are and we know what we are to do. If we don't do this then God will put the vision in someone else's heart and mind and it will be accomplished. The Learning Center @ The Valley is not a smart thing, but it will be done because it comes through the wisdom of God.

Answered/Unanswered Prayer

2009-07-22T10:55:00.000-07:00

I was told recently that prayers from our church were behind a person's recovery from a serious illness. While I greatly appreciated the comment, the words came back to me sometime later and I began to think through what was said. Our prayers were credited with the change in a person's health, that God listened to our prayers and chose to restore health to someone who was ill, that possibly our prayers "changed" someone's life. Yes, this could be all about one person's perception of the effectiveness of prayers because the outcome was what they desired. But there must be more to it than that.

I couldn't help but think, what about all the people we have prayed for who didn't recover. Even more importantly, what about all the people for whom no prayers were said. Were their needs ignored by God because no one chose to pray for them? God heard hundreds of prayers on this person's behalf, is the number of prayers a factor, is there a point at which God says, "OK, OK, I'll heal them." But then how do we explain the miracles that take place in the lives of people who are non-believers and for whom only "good thoughts" were given. Seeking God's intervention in the life of another person, especially regarding health, is a touchy subject. It is one that continues to cause me to pause and ponder.

The Valley

2009-07-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

I continue to be humbled by the words and actions of people who are directly or indirectly connected with this ministry. God is bringing together a group of people so committed to making the Kingdom of God real for people right now that at times I have to just get out of the way and let God work. This community of faith is making substantial progress toward turning a dying church into a ministry that is having a huge impact on the lives of people who are a part of this church and those who are served by it.

I was troubled by a caller yesterday who was concerned about the end of the world. Apparently this person had seen a TV preacher claim the time is not far off and that anyone who wasn't saved was going straight to hell. First, anyone who claims to know when "the end" will come is a false prophet. Even Jesus said he doesn't know when God will act. Second, I just don't get the idea of scaring people into believing. That's not real faith, to believe in something because you fear the consequences. That's just covering your bases and not the basis for a real relationship with Jesus.