The Scooter Report

New Town, New Bike Routes

2011-05-16T19:34:00.001-07:00

I finally got out on my bike and had a little ride today. I can't believe it has been almost 8 months since I last rode my bike. You can read about the ride here: http://scegbers.blogspot.com/2011/05/14-miles-after-living-here-almost-eight.html

A Christmas Story

2010-12-31T13:11:00.000-08:00

Here is a story that I used as the main part of a Christmas Eve sermon:

He had noticed the man and woman out there when he had brought the scraps out for the animals. It was one of his many duties as a servant at the inn. The place was as full as it could be which, he found out, was why that man and woman had to sleep in the stable. He had a lot of work to do with so many people staying over but he was curious about this couple. He could sense that something was going on. So after emptying the bucket and tending the animals he paused for a while, back in the corner behind one of the big cows.

The stable was not very big and it was cramped with the animals. It smelled like dung and sweat and damp straw. There wasn’t a lot of light either but he could see the man and woman huddled together over in the far corner. They looked exhausted and scared. It was quiet, except for the soft sounds of the animals. He always thought the stable was a peaceful place and it was particularly calm on this night. At the same time, there was a certain energy and sense of something mysterious there.

And then he heard a whimper and the cry of a baby. It surprised him and it startled him. He saw it now, nestled down in the straw of the big manger. It was wrapped tightly in dingy strips of cloth. He hadn’t noticed it before because it was so small and who would expect a baby in a stable.

The woman picked the baby up and calmed him like only a mother would. She held him for awhile until he fell back asleep and them she tucked him back into the straw.

Then some shepherds came rushing in, all dirty and smelly, like most shepherds. They were all worked up in a commotion about something. They were talking over each other and babbling about angels and bright lights. He crouched down a little behind the cow. He didn’t like shepherds that much and he was pretty sure they were talking nonsense. Shepherds weren’t very smart anyway. Finally when they had caught their breath they told the woman that an angel had come to them and had told them to come here and find a savior, the Messiah. The woman took all this in and there was something rather matter of fact about her response.

Eventually the shepherds left and the stable was calm and peaceful again.

Looking out from behind this cow that baby didn’t look much like a savior. He was nothing more than a common baby—dirty and crying with his poor parents. If he was the Messiah then why hadn’t the great teachers and priests come and announced it. They were always reading those prophecies about the one to come. Why didn’t the king come to honor him? He might expect the Messiah to show up in the temple or a royal palace, but here in the stable of this dumpy inn? No, he sure didn’t look like much of a savior.

The child lay there, swaddled tightly in those bands of cloth, his arms and legs bound close to keep him calm. The manger was made of thick, sturdy slabs of wood. They were worn around the edges, but strong. They reminded him of the thick timbers that the Romans used to nail up criminals. He had seen a crucifixion once. The criminals were dirty and kept crying out. Their arms and legs were bound so that they could not move them. It was a horrible thing to think about so he tried to focus on something else.

He examined the rocky walls. The stable was like a cave and it reminded him of a tomb. One time he had to help place the body of a wealthy man in a tomb. It was cold and dark and small, sort of like this stable. It sent a chill up his spine to think about that dead body.

It was strange that he would be thinking about such things like crucifixions and death on this night. Especially as he stood there so near to a brand new life and the innocence of a baby; but somehow on this night, in this humble stable, as he witnessed this baby and the shepherds and heard of angels and the Messiah, those sad thoughts were there, hanging in the back of his mind like a shadow, or a premonition.

He wondered who this child was. On one hand he seemed to be nothing more than a peasant baby, dirty, crying and already living a hard life in the manger. On the other hand there was something different about him. All those things the shepherds had said. They seemed pretty convinced and excited and how could they make up such a story. And this child did seem special in some way. It was as if he had some great past behind him, even though he was only a few hours old.

He wondered about these things but he couldn’t stay there in the stable all night. There was much to do in the inn and his master would soon come looking for him. So he quietly left and went back to his work, but he kept thinking about that baby. He kept thinking about what kind of life he would live. What would he do? Would he really be a savior? What child is this?

Newsletter Article December 22nd, 2010

2010-12-21T15:11:00.000-08:00

This article was originally published in the churches newsletter. I am posting it here for your perusal:

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Merry Christmas! I hope and pray that after four weeks of anticipation during Advent, you now find yourselves filled with joy and awe at the birth of a savior. God has become a human, in order to come to us. There is an incredible mystery in this. We can’t really grasp how it happened, but we can be assured that it is reason to celebrate.

There is a lot of talk about “seasons” this time of year. This is the “Holiday Season,” a lot of people are sending out “Seasons Greetings,” the secular Christmas season began sometime before Thanksgiving and comes to an abrupt end right after the 25th.

However, Christmas is not so much a season as it is an event. Sure, the church also has a Christmas season, which begins on the 25th and ends on Epiphany, Jan 6th, but that season is about a singular event: God becoming human.

The Christmas season, as we know it in our modern world, is about cookies and gifts and family gatherings. It is about children with visions of sugar plums and the warm sentiments of charity and goodwill toward all. These are all great things, but they are peripheral to the event. In the center or it all is the birth of a child who is God.

God became a human being. That is the event and as St. Paul writes “Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great.” This is the mystery of God, who is infinite, and powerful, and eternal, becoming finite, weak, and mortal. There is no logical way to explain this. It is a miracle and a mystery.

We don’t have to explain it though. We know that it is great news. So we celebrate this good news with a season of festivities. We celebrate with cookies and gifts and family gatherings. We are joyous about this mystery and that joy wells up into warm sentiments of charity and goodwill toward all.

Now that we are past most of the December Christmas bustle, I hope you have some time to think about the mystery of God becoming human. It is a deep and profound mystery that inspires both fear and hope. God is no longer far away. God is right here, walking and breathing and living among us. There is no telling what He will do, but one thing is for sure: this world will never be the same now.

With all the peace that a Savior brings...

Mid-December Newsletter Article

2010-12-09T13:39:00.000-08:00

This article was published in the mid-December newsletter:

“But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.” -Luke 10:38-42

December is undoubtedly a busy time of the year. People are focused on school Christmas programs, community Christmas events, making Christmas cookies, and of course buying Christmas presents, wrapping Christmas presents, and receiving Christmas presents. There are Christmas parties to go to and Christmas gift exchanges. There is Christmas decorating to be done and Christmas cards to be sent. And then the day comes and there is Christmas worship to attend and family gatherings to get through.

Every year pastors try to help people to understand and experience the Advent season and every year the secular Christmas machine rolls through December, yelling “Merry Christmas, celebrate this holiday season with merriment (and a lot of spending too, of course).” And it drowns out the words of the prophets, “Prepare the way of the Lord” and “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

In the secular world December is the Christmas season, with all its festivities and celebration, but in the church December is the Advent season, a time of reflection, anticipation, and preparation. We are not yet celebrating the coming of a savior; we are observing and reflecting on just how much we need that savior. We have been told that the Christ is coming to shine as a light in this world, and as we anticipate his coming, we take an honest look at just how dark this world is. Sometimes we forget how dark the night is, until we see the first light of dawn.

Too often we are so focused on getting ready for Christmas and the Christmas season, that we don’t have time to prepare for the coming of the Christ. We are a lot like Martha, distracted by many things, when there is need of only one thing. We get so busy with our traditions that we lose sight of our need for a savior and God’s promise to send one.

Take time during this Advent season and consider what it means for a savior to come into the world and into your life. In order to do this, you will have to seriously consider what you need to be saved from and how much you need a savior. In the midst of all the hustle and bustle, stop and reflect on who you are and who Jesus is.

One concrete way to contemplate the coming messiah is to set up a nativity scene putting only the livestock in the stable: the cattle and donkeys and sheep. Before Jesus was born, the stable was just a barn where animals lived. There were no angels there, no Mary and Joseph, no shepherds, no wise men. They all came later. What would the world be like if God had not sent them at all? What is the world like without Jesus Christ?

We are distracted by many things, but there is need of only one thing: a Savior, God himself, and he is coming.

With Anticipation and Hope...

First's at First

2010-10-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

My first day at First Evangelical Lutheran Church was on Sept 1st. That was also the first time I led a funeral service. Since then I have had many firsts. I conducted my first baptism Sept 19th. It was the son of the first neighbors that I met when I moved to town. I officiated a wedding for the first time on October 9th. This is the first time I have had to preach every Sunday. I own a house for the first time. And this is the first time I have moved somewhere without knowing when I would be moving away.

All these firsts are overwhelming. Everything takes a lot of prep work and organizing. There aren't a lot of established protocols because I have not established them yet. And yet I know that soon enough I will be at the other end of this journey and I will be experiencing a series of lasts.

No Resolve

2010-01-01T21:12:00.001-08:00

I could, and perhaps should, resolve to write something on this blog every day. It would help me to be more disciplined and to be a better writer. I could resolve to read through the entire Bible this year. That would help me to be a better pastor and theologian. I could resolve to stay in touch more with friends who live at a distance. There are probably 20 letters that I should write right now. I could resolve to go to bed earlier, to eat better, to ride 100 miles a week, or to read all of Kurt Vonnegut's novels.

However, only one in five resolutions is kept and what is so significant about our changing calendar that is going to motivate me to do any of these things anyway? Why should I make big plans for my life starting on an otherwise random day in the middle of the winter?

I'm not going to resolve anything this year. (I don't remember ever keeping a New Year's resolution anyway.) I do think it is important to look back and evaluate and then move forward with resolve, but I'll do that at significant times in my life, not significant points in our twelve month calendar system. When I graduate, I'll look back and look forward and make commitments for my life, or maybe when I take my first call, or start a new semester. Those events may be important enough to give me the resolve to reach some goal or make some change, but right now 2010 doesn't seem to be any different than 2009.

Bound to be Boring

2009-06-28T18:37:00.001-07:00

Several weeks ago I was having a conversation with a parishioner about how worship becomes so routine. They were asking me how we could liven it up because it seems like we just do the same thing every Sunday. Church seemed a little boring to them. I really didn't have an answer for them at the time. I just listened and said I understood what they are saying. Which I do.
Thinking about it more however, I think church is bound to be boring. We have been doing the same thing every Sunday, for two thousand years. I've noticed that my own sermons start to all sound strangely smilar. They all sound the same because they are all about the same thing: Jesus Christ. This is what the church is about. That is why it is called the "Christian" Church. "Christian" meaning of or pertaining to Jesus Christ.

So for two thousand years we have been preaching and teaching Jesus Christ. We have been doing the same sacraments. We have been using the same Bible. I think anything that is done every week for two thousand years is going to get old.

For example: Imagine that you are huge U2 fan and you go to a U2 concert on Saturday night. There were thousands of people there and is fun and exciting. You like it so much that you go to their show again the next Saturday and finally decide to go to their show every Saturday night. You hear the same songs and see the same show week after week. Now imagine you just keeping doing this every week with a whole bunch of people. Eventually the U2 members die, but devoted followers continue to put on their show, just like they would every week. Then they start to do it in several different locations so that it is easier for people to go. And they continue this for two thousand years. At that point I think even U2 would be boring.

Church just can't compete with other excitements in the world, unless it sells out and becomes about something other than Jesus, which some churches do. A Sunday football game, hanging out with friends, or sleeping in will always seem more fun and/or exciting.

But maybe church isn't supposed to compete with these things. Maybe the Word and Sacrament offered at a worship service aren't supposed to be fun and exciting but rather profoundly meaningful and deeply significant. They can't compete with the superficial enjoyments of fun and excitement but they can carry profound meaning and dynamic truth. Football games, rock concerts, and sleeping don't compete well on that level.

So the church should stop trying to compete by being exciting and fun. Instead it should stay focused on the profound reality of Christ and delivering that to people. Sometimes ancient tradition can carry deep meaning. The Holy scriptures are powerful because they have stood strong for thousands of years. We keep talking about Jesus all the time because he is Truth. The church may never be fun and exciting but hopefully it can lead us to experience the profound truth of the divine mysteries. If not, I'm going to start sleeping in on Sundays.

One of Those Days...

2009-05-20T22:14:00.001-07:00

Sometimes it just doesn't seem like there are enough hours in the day. Time slips by, the to-do list gets longer, nothing seems to get finished, and I go to bed with a lot on my mind. Today was not one of those days. Somehow it seemed like there where some extra hours tacked on to my day. I accomplished a lot of things and it looks I will get to bed earlier than any night this weekend. Here is a rundown of the action:

-Brought my supervisor up to speed after him being gone for two weeks
-Attended the adult Bible study and I helped lead the preschool chapel
-Composed the prayer of confession for Sunday
-Proofread the entire Annual Report (FYI, high school is not capitalized unless it is part of a name)
-Wrote and sent an important planning email
-Cleared my desk (for some reason I always end up with several open Bibles amongst the paperwork)
-Sat by the pool and read a book that was not about theology
-Washed my pickup truck
-Went to Target
-Washed a load of laundry
-Deposited two checks
-Listened to the Twins lose, but at least the bullpen looked good

If I could just have 364 more days like this every year, I would be a superstar.

Jesus is with Me!!...??

2009-05-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

Today I bought a new jar of grape jelly. I opened it in order to make a tasty, toasted, peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I set the lid on the counter and when I looked down, I saw the face of Jesus!! I am not making this up and I did not paint the jelly on the lid!! It was just like this when I opened the jar. It may be hard for some of you to recognize this as Jesus' face, but I knew it was him right away. It's hard to mistake that goofy smile of his. It's good to know that He is always smiling on me. If anyone wants Jesus to smile on them from my jar of Smuckers, I may be willing to sell it on ebay.

**While this is a true story, this post may contain sarcasm or sarcasm products.**

Foo Fighters Sesame Street Song

2009-05-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

On the way home from church I was listening to the local top 40 pop station. (98.7 or thereabouts just about everywhere in the country.) They were playing "Pretender" by the Foo Fighters. The chorus got stuck in my head and I was singing it internally while I was biking. It goes like this: "What if I say I'm not like the others? What if I say I'm not just another one...of your plays?" In my head though, it got crossed with an old Sesame Street song and sounded like this: "One of these things is not like the others. One of these things is not just another...one..."

Black Friday

2009-04-29T21:27:00.000-07:00

On Good Friday, after the evening service, I went to the store to buy some supplies for the Easter children's sermon. I was still wearing my black clergy shirt, black pants, and black shoes, although I had taken the tab out and had the collar open. As I was checking out, the girl working there asked me why I was wearing black.
I said, "It's Good Friday, the day we remember the death of Jesus, black is the color of death. I am also a pastor, so I wear this as a reminder that Jesus died for us." She said, "Oh." By that time our short transaction was over, the next customer was already waiting, and I had to go.

I wonder a lot about clergy shirts. If I had my way I would wear them all the time, mainly because it would simplify my wardrobe a lot. I would just have one pair of black shoes, two pairs of black pants, and four black shirts, two short sleeved and two long. But life isn't that simple.
Most people don't know what the shirt means and they have been misused. Protestant pastors have stopped wearing them so when I go to the hospital people call me 'Father' and think I am coming to deliver last rites. The shirt has also become associated with all the abuses, hypocrisies, and negligence of bad clergy. Sometimes it scares people. A lot of people have no idea why I am wearing a shirt like that, they just notice that it looks funny. I think these reasons and many more, are why clergy have stopped wearing clergy shirts. Maybe we should just let them go.

But I also think that there is a great significance to wearing a black clergy shirt. It reminds us, and the world, of our humble solidarity with the pain, oppression, violence, and death that surround us every day. That great theologian of the cross, Johnny Cash, explains this better than I ever could:

Maybe we could compromise and just wear black without the collar? I don't know, I haven't figured this out yet.

PS If you want more great theology of the cross from Johnny Cash...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go

Modern Art for the Wondering Soul

2009-04-25T00:06:00.000-07:00

I took a trip to LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). They have a good collection of modern and contemporary art which I enjoy immensly. As I wandered past paintings, scultures, and pieces that defy category I began to remember some of the things I used to think about. Things like existence, truth, and what it means to be human. It is good to be reminded of the big picture and completely different ways to think. The creativity of the art draws out the creativity of my own being. It gives me a sense of peace and hope. It reminds me that being human does mean something, even if we can't really explain it.

Earthquake

2009-04-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

At 8:27pm this evening there was an earthquake. These things are not uncommon in southern California. Several months ago there was a small one. That quake was a jolt followed by a little trembling. The one tonight was a little bigger with a few seconds of shaking. According to wunderground.com it was a 4.0 magnitude. It made the bookshelf sway but it didn't make anything fall. Like I said, these things happen here so everyone just keep doing what they were doing and I just kept doing my laundry.

Productive Day

2009-04-22T22:07:00.000-07:00

Some days go by and when I look back I don't seem to have gotten much done. Today was the opposite. I deftly went from one task to another. It started when I amazingly got out of bed 1/2 earlier than usual. I submitted a newsletter article, had a Bible study, a preschool chapel, and a lunch meeting with some other pastors. Then I left the church and managed to finally recycle eight bags of newspaper, talk to a friend who is engaged (Hooray!), buy groceries, buy inner tubes for my bike, wash my pickup, and do the dishes. If tomorrow is as productive as today I should have a great weekend.

True Servants

2009-04-20T22:51:00.001-07:00

There are some people who love to serve. They like to help out and take care of things that need to be done. It is not just that they will help out but that they want to help. The church here has some people like that. One of them, named Travis just had his job moved to Denver. He was given only one month's notice.
Travis was the Youth Guy organizing retreats and summer camps, movie nights, and trips to concerts. He knew the youth very well. He believed very much in relational ministry (even if he never used that phrase). Not only was he a passionate youth leader but he was also the handyman at the church. He fixed leaky faucets, changed light bulbs, put up giant banners, mopped up when the roof leaked, and moved appliances. He was also put together the projected slides for Sunday morning and ran the projector at the praise service. He was as much a part of the band as anybody and knew when they were going to skip a verse or sing the chorus again and he would adjust the slides accordingly.
Now other people are filling in and stepping up but it is hard to replace that kind of commitment and knowledge. Just this morning it was discovered that the fan was running on the projector even though it had been off since yesterday. No one is sure if this is normal, except maybe Travis, so we'll send him an email.
I learned a lot from Travis. Having been a part of this congregation most of his life he could fill me in on history and tell me why things are done the way they are. He gave me many great experiences with the youth and most of all he gave me a great example of a true servant.

Good Guessing

2009-04-19T21:17:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of places in the Bible where we do not know exactly what is happening. The writers give us some information and leave out some details. We often want to try to fill in these gaps with our our guesses, assumptions, and sometimes all out speculations. This week I heard two conjectures about what was happening in the gospel. One of them is interesting, the other entertaining.

1) During our weekly text study, one of the pastors was asking about where Thomas was at when the disciples were in the room. I said I didn't know. I am aware of different answers to this question and explanations for his absence. This pastor said that he thinks Thomas was looking for Judas. I had never thought of that. I also didn't know where he got that from or what he was going to do with it. I don't find any reason to believe it, but I was left thinking, "Huh..."

2) During this morning's sermon, the pastor asked the congregation, "What do you think the disciples were talking about in that room? What were they saying?" People gave answers like, "They were trying to figure out what had happened to them." "They were trying to figure out what to do next." A young boy raised his hand and said, "They were talking about what they're going to do for lunch." I liked his answer best.

Resurrection

2009-04-17T21:54:00.001-07:00

Resurrection means nothing if you are not dead.

Gird Up Your Loins

2009-04-09T20:57:00.000-07:00

Today was Maundy Thursday, and as is customary we did a little foot washing. I say "a little" because there were probably only about ten people who came forward to have their feet washed by the Pastor and I, but it was very meaningful nontheless.
Tonight's first reading from Exodus 12 was about God's command for the first passover. One of the instructions that God gave to the people was that they should eat the meal with their loins girded. I was interested in exactly what this meant so I looked it up. It turns out that groins and loins are not the same thing. Your loins are the part of your body that connects the top to the bottom. It is your entire waist/thigh section. To gird your loins meant to hoist up your long robe around your thighs/waist and tuck it into your belt. That way your legs can move freely without tripping. This is important if you are going to work or fight or run. God commanded his people to do this so that they would be able to leave quickly.
Interestingly enough, in the gospel Jesus girded himself with a towel and used it to wipe the disciple's feet.
When I went to wash people's feet I should have girded my alb to my loins. I knelt down to wash and one time when I was getting up, I was standing on my alb and almost fell headfirst into the wash basin. It turns out that that little detail in God's instruction and in Jesus' action is quite practical and still important today. Maybe next year I'll gird.

The Cycle

2009-03-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

Anytime I have a project or a speech or a paper or a sermon to prepare I go through a certain cycle. It starts with optimism and good intentions. I will have the assignment, see what needs to be done and see myself doing well at it. I decide that I am not going to procrastinate or stress out this time. I give myself some deadlines and get to work. I make it through the research and brainstorming part just fine. I will still have plenty of time and motivation to carry me through. Then things start to go badly. I start to think that my thesis or main idea is bad. I start to see that it is going to turn out poorly. Then I get anxious. Then I procrastinate. Time goes by. As the due date looms near I start to get anxious about my procrastination which only leads to more of both. Eventually I end up finishing at the last minute, maybe even the night before. I don't feel good about it because I think that it should be better, but I hand it in or deliver it anyway. When it is all over I feel incredibly free and high spirited. I can see how things went wrong and how to fix them next time. Next time I will get it done early. Next time I do it well. And the cycle goes on...

High School Retreat

2009-03-08T21:17:00.000-07:00

I went with the Sr. High youth on their retreat this weekend. There were four boys, three girls, and three adult leaders. We left the church at 5:30 to avoid the Friday traffic and headed up to Big Bear. Big Bear is a resort town up in the San Gabriel mountains. A parishioner has a "cabin" up there. (It is more like a house. The house next door has permanent residents.) There wasn't a lot of snow left but we still had a good time talking about faith, being a teenager with faith, temptation, why anyone comes to church, and other such things. They also seemed to like playing Cranium and shouting out random things, like "Travis" (he's the youth guy), or "dishwasher," or "there's a chicken in left field." We also sang and worshiped and walked around Big Bear a little. We finished off the weekend with a visit to the Big Bear Candy Store. They had amazing gelato.
The weekend tuckered me out a little, but I generally had a good time with the youth. They are all interesting in their own way and I pray that God will keep them in the faith.

Topless Women

2009-03-06T21:48:00.001-08:00

Several weeks ago I started to notice these topless women in my apartment. Actually they aren't completely topless, they are wearing stylish brassieres and they are all very attractive. They don't say anything to me and they don't do anything. They just stand there in their brassiers. And they all look at me very seductively. Sometimes they twirl their hair or look at me coyly out of the corner of their eye. I actually think it is a little mean of them to come in here without their shirts on and look at me like that. I know that they are just trying to get my attention so that I go to Macy's and buy one of those stylish bras. But I don't need one. These women started coming around about the same time I started a subscription to the newspaper.
Several weeks ago I started receiving the Orange County Register. Carl Barth says that a theologian needs to keep a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. I have a lot of Bibles but I had no newspaper so I decided it might be a good idea to have one delivered to my door every morning. But anyway...

CRISES

2009-03-03T20:19:00.000-08:00

I saw this video on the Life at Luther blog and I am posting it here again because I think this guy (whoever he is) is right on.

I was reading another blog today and he talks about what life was like the last time the Dow Jones Industrial average was this low. I don't remember there being a crises in 1997

Here is my two cents worth:
We are living luxurious lives, including me. I have my own apartment with my own indoor plumbing. I have my own car that I can drive anywhere. I have this computer that lets me communicate with people that are far away. I have so much food that I could buy and eat that I actually have to keep myself from eating too much. And if that isn't enough, on top of that I have a nice bicycle, a guitar, several pairs of shoes, a cell phone, etc. And many people have much more than I do!
But somehow things are in a "crises," and for some people it is. Some people are losing their jobs and have no money and will have to live on the streets and beg for food. Those people are in a crises. Most other people are simply loosing some of the extravagant luxury that they had before.
To put it another way: We were insanely stinkin' rich before, now we are just rich. We had insanely luxurious lifestyles, now they are less so. That is not a crises, it is just unfortunate.

All for Alicia

2009-02-22T18:48:00.000-08:00

1) Almost everyday I wake up with a song in my head. I don't know where it comes from.
2) The song in my head this morning: "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tommy James and The Shondells

3) I watched a movie on Hulu called "All for Melisa." It was weird and I think it would have been much better if Jon Herder had played Jared. They could have taken out all of the "F" words and it would have made a great sequel to Jon Herder's other movie. Anyway... Jared ends up with a girl named Alicia.
4) One of this morning's readings was about Elijah and Elisha. The man who read it kept saying Alicia instead of Elisha.

Mission Objective

2009-02-12T21:06:00.000-08:00

I am a certain kind of person. Among other things, I am the kind of person who works best when there is a definite goal, mission, or objective. That is why I like math. The mission is to get the right answer. I like jobs where I know what the objective is, like building a cabinet or making a roof. I like to know what the end goal is because then I can decide what the next step is and I can see how it relates to the end goal.

Sometimes in the church I don't know what the end goal is. As an intern I know that I am suppose to preach and teach and relate to people and teach confirmation but then I don' know how to do these things because I don't know why I am doing them or what is the ultimate goal. I start asking the question, "What is the point?"

So I have spent a lot of time thinking about the goal/mission/purpose/objective of the church. This is what I came up with:
The mission of the Church is to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to all people.

Let me know what you think.

PS I realize that I may need to define terms.

It's (Relatively) Winter

2009-02-08T21:33:00.000-08:00

One of the interesting things about the earth that we live on is that is has many different climates. Orange county has a dry Mediterranean climate with 328 sunny days every year and an average daytime temperature of 73 degrees.

If you were to ask me, I would say that it is always summer here. In fact I have actually told people, "This is the longest summer of my life." However, it is supposedly winter now. We know this because the temperatures have "plummeted" (some forecasters actually use this word) into the 50's and 60's, and it has been raining.

The rain is a big deal, as I suppose it should be since this is the desert. The weather people on TV broadcast their "Storm Watch." In Nebraska storm watch meant there were severe thunderstorms with hail and maybe a tornado, but here it means rain.
People also get into a lot of accidents. Everyone is driving to the very limits of tire traction so any little slickness is trouble. If it were to snow 1" here I would conservatively predict 100 freeway deaths.

Reminded by Rachmaninoff

2009-02-06T22:56:00.000-08:00

I had the good fortunate of having a ticket to this evening's performance by the Pacific Symphony. They perform in the beautiful and acoustically stupendous Segerstrom Concert Hall down in Costa Mesa. They performed two works: Brahms' third symphony and Rachmaninoff's third piano concerto. They played both very well.
A young man from Russian named Nikolai Lugansky played the piano. He was awesome. The audience seemed to enjoy his work. They clapped and cheered and he came back out to bow four times. Then he played a little encore.
Experiencing a performance like this reminds me about parts of life that I don't experience everyday. It reminds me of what it means to be human, to be able to create and express, to think and to feel. It inspires and rejuvenates and puts existence into perspective, at least a little bit.

Transdimensional Travel

2009-02-05T22:53:00.000-08:00

This past week I was able to travel back to Nebraska. I hadn't left California since my internship began so I really looked forward to this trip and I really enjoyed it. I was in a friend's wedding, saw a lot of my family, and even scooped a little snow. Like I said, it was a great trip, but returning to California was weird.

There was such a stark contrast between my life in Nebraska and my life in California. It was 10degrees when I woke up in Nebraska and 75 when I got off the plane in California. When my grandparents drove me to the airport in Omaha we drove 30 miles without seeing a car; when Pastor Laherty picked me up at John Wayne International we got right onto the freeway with hundreds of cars. My brother was loading cattle when I left; people were coming home from their offices when I arrived. These are the observable contrasts, but more than the weather, the traffic, and commerce it just felt different.

When I arrived things seemed more tense, the people more distant, and everything more superficial. Despite being surrounded by 17 million people I felt more isolated. When I moved out in August I traveled four days and was able to transition slowly but traveling that distance in a matter of hours amplifies the impact. It feels like I got on a plane that traveled to a different dimension.

Clinging to Guns and Religion

2009-01-17T22:28:00.000-08:00

I was invited today to go out to the desert and do some shooting. Here in California there is empty land in the desert that doesn't belong to anybody and is under the supervision of the Bureau of Land Management. People can go out there and just hang out. Who knew? I don't personally have any guns but I have done some shooting before and the people I was with had plenty of guns; rifles, pistols, and shotguns. I was not much of a target shooter, but I had some success shooting trap. Then we went to the Bass Pro Shops and had some friend fish. Today guns, tomorrow communion.

New Locution

2009-01-12T22:08:00.000-08:00

I realized that my writing vocabulary could/should be larger. I read things and I think, "Wow, that is a great word. Why don't I ever use it." I ruminated on my vocabulary and the myriads* of words that I do not use. I discerned that I have ample space in the capacious cavern under my pate to store these words. So I decided that as I read I will surreptitiously gather some of these great terms and then use them when I write. I apologize if you feel that this lubberly paragraph has been foisted^ on you. I am not trying to be impudent nor do I think it is a good idea to make new vocabulary the cynosure of a blog. I am just hoping that with practice to bring about a proliferation of superlative terminology.

*According to Merriam Webster online this is proper usage. Myriad is a noun and can be plural.
^Special thanks to Aase for this one.

On a Night Such as This

2009-01-11T20:36:00.000-08:00

I just now, in this very moment as I sit on my deck listening to Ray LaMontagne with my bare feet up on a chair, found one thing that I like about wind: I like the sound that it makes when it blows through the trees. Southern California is currently experiencing some Santa Anna wind activity. This means that in the canyons there are particles of air moving at speeds of up to 60mph. Here on my deck I feel only a light breeze but I can hear the air through the trees.
It reminds of the howling sound that cold winter wind makes at night. Some of you reading this may be hearing it now. It is a similar sound that wind makes on humid summer evenings as it blows up a storm. I've always liked those sounds.
Don't misunderstand me. I despise wind when it becomes annoyingly loud and steals sound right from your mouth, but the respectful whisper, howl, and hum of a decent breeze is something else. I don't know why. It just is.

Trash Mail

2009-01-07T21:53:00.000-08:00

There is something in my mailbox almost everyday. Most often it is a stack of advertisements. They come in many sizes shapes and colors and I have no use for any of them. There is a trash can by the mailboxes and sometimes I just throw the advertisements in there. I started to recycle them now.
I don't think of it as junk mail but more as trash mail. It is mail that goes straight to the trash. I think it should be illegal for people to send me trash through the mail. I'm afraid that my real mail might get lost in it. But I realize that if the Post Office didn't deliver all those adds they would probably go out of business.

I Hate Christmas (Presents)

2008-12-18T23:48:00.000-08:00

Buying Christmas presents is one of my least favorite things to do, ever. I would rather clean my bathroom (which I might do tomorrow) or fold clothes or eat sauerkraut or gouge my eye out with a spoon. It's not the going to the store or the spending mother either. It's the figuring out what to buy someone that gets me. I just don't know what would be a good gift. I always have high hopes and then I get tempted to be clever and then I get tempted to be funny and then I get tempted to buy a chia pet. Here's the inner dialogue:

me: What should I get my sister for Christmas
myself: A sweater would be great!
me: I know nothing about buying clothes...even for myself, let alone someone else, let alone my sister.
myself: chia pets seem kinda cool
me: Wouldn't that be dumb?
myself: It might be clever?
me: Yeah, maybe it would be. She could water it and watch it grow and it would be nice
myself: Yeah, it'd be like a houseplant!!
me: A houseplant?
myself: It would be funny. She would laugh. It would be great.
me: Whoa...nooooo...it would be dumb
myself: Yeah, you're right
me: Let us not speak of this anymore (until next year).

I have given many horrible gifts but I have never bought anyone a chia pet (yet).

Messy Nativity

2008-12-14T21:47:00.000-08:00

My thoughtful mother sent me a nativity scene. (My grandmother also sent a loaf of nut bread in the same box.)
I had some trouble trying to figure out where to put it up. All the surfaces in my house have junk on them. (My kitchen table has just enough room for me to eat amongst the junk mail, magazines, church newsletters, bills, and pay stubs.) I finally decided that the little counter in the middle of my apartment would be the best place. It would be prominent and there is a lamp there for illumination. This little counter also happens to have the largest concentration of junk on it. I finally just pushed the junk aside and put up the nativity.
It now looks like Jesus just came down into the middle of my mess. But if he would have waited until I sorted through and cleaned up all this junk, he would have stayed bubble wrapped in the box until the second coming. (Christmas Eve sermon? Eh?)

Endnote: Yes, there was a stapler at Jesus' birth and most definitely a roll of duct tape.

I Feel a Little Christmas

2008-12-13T21:48:00.000-08:00

I was invited over to dinner by a family that goes to my church. I always enjoy dinners like this and tonight was no exception. It started with their son showing me his pit bike. He let me ride it. I have never ridden a motorcycle before. There was no clutch (apparently they are made like that). There was a 150cc engine. There was a wheelie. There was no intention of a wheelie. There was no injury. It was fun and I learned two things: 1)Why people like riding motorcycles and 2) Why people get so seriously injured on motorcycles.
Then he showed me their tree house. It has three levels and was actually pretty cool. My friend Brian would have liked it because it was a great tree house and a good tree to climb.
Then we had dinner, which was an excellent soup/stew called Snowy Day Cassole (or something like that).
Afterward we took a drive through Eagle Hills to look at the lights. It was cool out (54degrees) and driving past all the lights, in a car with good friends, seeing people with coats and hats on, and feeling the cool air outside and heat inside gave me the feeling of winter and Christmas for the first time this year. And then I came home to the lights on my tree.

Be a Christian, Sing a Song

2008-12-07T21:36:00.000-08:00

Once a month, the youth guy from church takes some youth down to Biola University for their "House of Worship." The number of youth vary from 4-10 and sometimes I go along. It is a good way to get to know the youth and the adult leaders.
"House of Worship" is a concert/worship/service/program thing. When the MC was introducing the band he said, "It is easy to get distracted by all of the equipment up here, but don't focus on the equipment, focus on God." There was a lot of equipment and lights, and if the evening was suppose to be about God then it was distracting. But if it was a concert, then it was kinda neat. It had the potential to be a good show. And why can't a group of people, who are Christians, start a band and sing their songs, put on a show, entertain people and express themselves? Why does it always have to be worship? It seemed like they really just liked playing music and wanted to perform it for people, but they were trying to force it to be some kind of worship "experience." I think that if they would have just admitted that they wanted to put on a concert their music would have been better. It wouldn't have had to fit into some kind of worship mold. (Most worship music is not very creative. It all starts to sound the same to me.) They could have just been themselves. I think that it would have been more honest and, strangely enough, more pleasing to God.

The Getty

2008-12-06T21:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I made the one hour journey all the way up to the Getty Museum. It's a bit north of LA on the 405, but I left late morning and made it there in good time with reasonable traffic.
The Getty is an amazing place. It is a huge collection of artwork that is on display for free. (It does cost $10 to park there, but if you ride your bike you can park for free.) It is displayed in a magnificent modern looking complex
that sits on top of a hill looking down on the LA basin.
It houses a large collection of painting, sculpture, and decorative arts. They also have a collection of photographs. I didn't look at all of it. It was too much to see in one day. The complex itself is amazing. Even if there wasn't anything in the buildings it would have still bee worth driving up there just to see the architecture, the gardens, and the view. I highly recommend the Getty to anyone, especially if you ride your bike.

PS. I left at 2:30ish and didn't make it home until five. That's traffic.

Bolero: On Being a Preacher

2008-11-24T20:34:00.000-08:00

In Bolero, by Maurice Ravel, there is a snare drum part that repeats through the entire piece. The piece is 15 minutes long, and the entire time the snare drummer plays "Rat tatatat, tata tat, tatatatat tat." I remember my high school band director telling me that this was one of the hardest things to do in music, because it has to be exactly right, every time, for 15 minutes. It can't speed up (which is very easy to do with something like this), and it can't slow down (which might happen if the drummer starts to fall asleep). The rest of orchestra gets to take turns playing the melody and having fun, but the snare drum just keeps playing steadily on. You can see for yourself. Try to listen to the whole thing without turning the volume down. (I dare you)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2q-gWMAGjw&feature=related

On Sunday's when I distribute communion, I say, "The body of Christ, given for you" over and over. I try to be sincere with each person but sometimes my mind wanders. Nontheless, the words are true every time. I realized that as a preacher, I am going to say those words over and over and over and over. Not only will I say them during distribution, but I will say them in many other ways in many other situations. That message is the very thing that I am being called to speak. I may say them in different ways at different times, but it must be that message. No matter where I am, and no matter how I say it, it must be those words. I cannot add anything to them or take anything away from them. Even when the rest of the world is having fun with their little melody Christ is still speaking those words, constantly, without waver. They are the ostinato of our lives as Christians and as a preacher Christ will often use my mouth and my life to keep them going. Christ says, "My body, for you. Me, for you. For you. For you."

PS. I have a new bicycle. It is pretty exciting. Read about it here at the bike blog.

Freedom Needs a King

2008-11-22T23:48:00.000-08:00

Here's a thought: Freedom is not ridding ourselves of all kings. That would only put us in charge of ourselves and how can we be free if we are burdened down with the responsibility and rule of our own lives? Rather, freedom comes from having the right king. And our king died on a cross and is the good shepherd. Our king is no other than Jesus Christ himself. Amen.

Don't Wake the Preacher

2008-11-19T22:06:00.000-08:00

Here is a joke that I found on the internet:

You might be a preacher if...you dream that you are preaching only to awaken and find that you actually are.

There is almost too much truth here.

First Snow in SoCal

2008-11-16T21:36:00.000-08:00

We don't get winter here in SoCal (they say it will come later, but I don't believe them). Instead we get fires. Yesterday there was a particularly bad bout of them. The wind had subsided today, but they were still working on some spots.
I first became aware of the fire when I saw the smoke out my window:
Some of the fire was somewhat near my place (a mile or so maybe). I could see some of the flames from my mailbox:
I walked down the street a ways and I could see more fire:
Later in the day, the smoke began to role in and soon it was blocking the sun, which was ok because it was almost 90degrees out.

Today when I went to church, there was still a lot of smoke in the air, and there was a thin layer of white ash on the roads. It blew around like a little snow flurry:
I guess that is as close I am going to get to a snowy winter.

PS. I also received my new bicycle yesterday. I haven't done much with it because of the fire and smoke and such, but there will be a post about that soon.

Household tip #7865

2008-11-12T22:06:00.000-08:00

This is the first time in my life that I have had my own apartment. I have had my own room before, but never an entire apartment. It is not big but it is more space than I have ever had, and it is all mine. I have my own shower and my own toilet that no one else ever uses. I have my own deck. I have my own refrigerator. I have my own kitchen table where I keep all my own junk mail.
I also have my own kitchen sink, with a garbage disposal. I use my sink to wash my very own dishes. Sometimes the garbage disposal will acquire a less than acceptable smell. Even for a bachelor's apartment.
Someone gave me some hand-picked oranges and they were so juicy that I had to peel them over the sink, so I put the peels down the garbage disposal. This gave my very own garbage disposal in my very own sink in my very own apartment a more acceptable scent.

Depressing Christmas Walmart

2008-11-11T21:14:00.000-08:00

The other day I bought a few things at Walmart. (Don't worry, I don't usually patronize Walmart, but once in a while I buy a few things from them.) As I walked around the store I noticed that Christmas music was playing from the PA. I then walked past the Christmas aisles. Rows of superficial junk. The whole thing made me depressed. Walmart at Christmas time always makes me depressed.
Maybe it is because the whole thing is merely a ploy to get people to spend money. Maybe it is because it reminds me that I will have to buy people Christmas presents and every year I try so hard to get everyone a good gift and I always fail miserably. Maybe it is because it seems so desperate to begin the Christmas sales season so early. Maybe it is because the whole thing is so superficial, and as the season gets closer it will become overly sentimental as well. Maybe it is all these things.
Nevertheless, Christmas is sneaking up on us already.

Ecclesiastes: What?

2008-11-10T22:01:00.000-08:00

The adult Bible study group at church came to the end of the book of Mark several weeks ago. The pastor asked them what they wanted to study next, and somehow they decided on Ecclesiastics. I was excited because it is one of my favorite books in the Bible. It goes deep. However...
It does not make for an easy Bible study to lead. The book is full of contradictory and confusing things. I don't mind these things myself. In fact, they are the very reason I like the book so much; on the surface it is meaningless, but deep down there is truth.
But when you try to study it verse by verse in a group, things can get difficult for a leader. There are many hard questions...
Well I have to lead this group for some of the weeks and so I went to the library to study up on Ecclesiastes so that I could be and extra smart intern and answer all those difficult questions. I found, however, that the books on Ecclesiastes don't have the answers. In fact many of them are quite boring. Ecclesiastes is just one of those things that is great to read, but dreadful to read about.

Congratulations.

2008-11-05T18:20:00.001-08:00

I would like to extend my sincerest congratulations to Senator Barack Hussein Obama on being elected the 44th president of the United States of America. A great honor has been bestowed upon him and a great responsibility has been given to him. I hope he got plenty of sleep during his campaign because now he must go to work. Expectations are high but if he tries for even half of what he promised, he will do great things.
And to the people of the United States of America...
The game is over. It is time to get to work. There are many challenges facing us and there is no time to lose. Once you have recovered from your election party hangover, turn off the TV, stop reading the blogs, get up, and get to it. There are millions of people in this country and this world who need nothing less than your service and sacrifice. Now that the election is over you can stop talking about Sarah Palin around the water cooler and start talking about what you are going to do to bring about this great change. We have a leader, now we need the courage and commitment of each and every citizen. And may the God of the universe bless us and guide us.

Facebook Groups: Politics

2008-11-02T18:23:00.000-08:00

I have been invited to join another political Facebook group. This one wanted me to donate my status for Barack Obama. I'm sure I could just as easily have been invited to donate my status to John McCain, or to Bob Barr, or Cynthia McKinney. I have been invited to several groups like this and I have joined none of them. While there is nothing wrong with these groups in and of themselves, they are an indication of a quite disturbing attitude among many people in the USA.
It seems like most people in this country believe that the solution to any problem is having the right president in office. People think the solution to global warming is to vote for the right candidate. They think the current economic problems are all the presidents fault and if we make the right choice in November everything will get better. They think the president can end poverty, fix health care, save social security, and lower taxes.
The truth is that the people of this country are the solution to the problems. If we want to save the economy we have to stop being so greedy and manage our finances better. If we want to end global warming we have to reduce the amount of energy we consume. If we want to end poverty we have to help people in our own communities and stop living lifestyles that contribute to systems that breed poverty. If we want to save social security we need to start saving for our retirement.
It is ridiculouse and dangerous for us to look to the government, and especially to look to only the president, to solve problems and get things done. The only reason we do it is because we don't want to make the sacrifices necessary to make a difference. We are too greedy and self-centered and we can't even admit it. So we look to someone else to do it. If we keep looking to the government to do everything for us, it will. It will get more and more powerful. The president will get more and more powerful because we will want them to be. And in the history of the world it is quite rare to find a place where having one very powerful person taking care of things in a large and powerful nation has led to any good.
This election has become too "historic." We give it far too much weight. Be more concerned with who your senators and representative are and be even more concerned about what you personally are doing to make the world a better place.

My oh My, Which Bike to Buy

2008-10-31T22:17:00.001-07:00

I have been spending an unreasonable amount of time fretting about how to replace my broken bike. My quest for a new bike has turned into an epic adventure. You can read about a part of it at my other blog: Cycling fool

How to Operate a Motor Vehicle: Part 1

2008-10-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

About a week ago I was hit by a car while riding my bicycle. I do not seem to be injured much by it, only a bump on my knee and a red mark on my shoulder. However, my bike was totaled and I very easily could have been killed. You can read about the accident at my other blog Cycling Fool.

However, in light of that near miss I want to take some space here to review a few driving rules:
First, turning vehicles must yield to traffic, including bicyclists and pedestrians. The man who hit me was turning left. He was turning across two lanes of traffic and a bicycle lane. According to the law, he was supposed to make sure that all lanes AND the crosswalk were clear before turning left across them. He obviously failed to do this.
This is also true when turning right, especially at a red light or stop sign. Many people do not know (because they are ignorant of traffic laws and selfish on the road) that they must come to a full and complete stop at a red light BEHIND THE CROSSWALK or BEHIND THE STOP SIGN. Many people think that they can stop in the crosswalk, or that they only have to slow down if they are turning right. These people are stupid and are likely to kill someone.
Here is the proper way to turn right at a red light or stop sign: First, come to a full stop behind the crosswalk or stop sign. If at this time you need to move your car forward in order to see to your left (for example, if there is a car to your left blocking your view) you can do so carefully, watching for people crossing in front of you. Then if everything is clear, you may turn.

If you are turning right OR left on a green light, YOU MUST YIELD TO PEDESTRIANS!!!!!!!!!! I know that this comes as a complete surprise to many of you. After the amazement wears off you might want to go check and see if there are any dead bodies under your front bumper.
When you a have a green light, pedestrians may also have a green light and there is no reason why you should run them over or honk at them while they legally crossing the street. Simply wait for them, then turn.

Now many of you violate these rules because you are in a big stinkin' hurry and you think that you are more important than other people in the world, especially those who are not in cars. Many times you are in a big hurry because you are late.
This is a problem with a solution: Leave earlier.
Plan ahead, know how long it is going to take for you to get there, then add 10% and leave accordingly. The world is full of clocks and you can even buy one at Wal-mart and wear it on your wrist so that you can know precicely what time to leave. If things go well you will arrive relaxed and early and if you have to wait for some pedestrians you will arrive on time.
If this does not work and you are going to be late anyway, simply be late. Driving fast will not get you there much sooner but it will greatly increase the chances of someone dying.

Stay tuned for future installments of "How to Operate a Motor Vehicle." And I am more than willing to give one-on-one lessons and/or deomnstrations.

Bipartisan Cola

2008-10-17T22:09:00.001-07:00

I was buying groceries at Albertson's one day and I saw some Jones Soda. The bottles looked like this:
They only had the two political flavors, Pure McCain Cola and Yes We Can Cola. There wasn't any Bob Bar Root Beer or Cynthia McKinney Mango. I looked at the Jones web page, www.campaigncola.com, and did find that they had Ron Paul Revolution Cola* and Capitol Hillary Cola. But as usual, the only way to access the other candidates was through the internet.
I enjoy a Jones Soda on occasion so I bought a bottle of each. It was a very bipartisan move. I took them both home and refrigerated them. A few days later I drank one of them. It tasted good, like a Jones Soda should. The next day I drank the other one...and I realized that it tasted exactly the same. It seemed odd to me but when I looked at the labels I found that on the inside, they were of the same substance:
It turns out they were different in label only.

*By the way, Ron Paul Revolution Cola was in second place in the Jones poll. Check it out.

I Feel Like a Real Pastor

2008-10-15T22:24:00.001-07:00

I have been easing into my responsibilities as intern at the church, taking on a little at a time. For the next couple of days, my supervising pastor is gone, so I have taken on even more responsibilities.

Today I led the adult Bible study and helped with the preschool chapel. I spoke to a woman and took her down to a local hotel to help her get a room with one of the vouchers that the church gives out. I interacted with a mentally ill and very unpredictable woman who cannot hang out at the church too long (because of dangerous behavior in the past). I drove half way across town to see a parishioner in the hospital. I even worked on my sermon for Sunday. And for some reason this was the first day I've worn a clergy shirt during the week. It was one of the first days that I felt like a real pastor.

Wind is Evil

2008-10-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

***WARNING: This post contains a certain amount of hyperbole. I assure you, however, that this is the most important hyperbole in the world, ever.

As many of you may know, I am not a big fan of wind. Or to be hyperbolic: I HATE WIND!!!!!!!! I am convinced that all wind blows straight up out of the very depths of Hades.

I should make an important distinction at this point. There is a difference between wind and a nice breeze. Breezes are sent by God to refresh the air, cool our bodies, and rustle the leaves. However, if the air is moving at a speed greater than that which is necessary to accomplish these tasks or others like it, then it is wind.
And wind is bad/my least favorite weather element/a great cause of unceasing frustration.

Yesterday I encountered wind here in California for the first time. I rode my bike in it. It is also teaming up with fire to try and burn down houses north of LA. Fire is bad sometimes, but it gets together with wind it is bad news. Wind brings out the very worst in fires. There are many firemen right now who hate wind even more than I do.

Wind makes any other weather element worse. Rain is OK, but if it is blown by wind it is worse. Snow is OK, but wind makes it into a blizzard. Wind makes the cold colder and the hot more like a blow dryer. Tornadoes and hurricanes are wind.
Wind blows dirt into my eyes, papers off my desk, and debris into the road.
Wind does so much more than I can write about here so I have decided to start a list, found to the right, of all the negatives of wind.

I Love Libraries

2008-10-11T22:19:00.000-07:00

I don't have to preach tomorrow. I do have to preach next week. It's Matthew 22:15-22. The story where Jesus says, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." I decided that I needed to do some thorough exegesis for this one. For those of you who may not know, exegesis is like doing research on a specific Bible text. You tear it all apart and find out what every word means and meant. It involves lexicons, concordances, Bible dictionaries, commentaries, and maybe even, if you're lucky, a little Greek grammar! I don't happen to have a reference library with all those volumes (yet), so I went down to Biola. They were nice enough to give me the clergy rate on a library card and let me loose with the books.

I know libraries aren't fun houses for most people. However, I didn't have a deadline, I have a week until the sermon, the exegesis isn't graded, and I'm actually very interested in studying the Bible, so I was just soaking up the library. It was nice to be in a student atmosphere again. It was nice to have so many useful books in the same room with me. I just like libraries.

PS One of my biggest pet peeves in life is to go to the shelf in a library and find that the book I need is not there. Especially if it is a reference book or a reserved book. It happened to me today. I needed the third volume of the Anchor Bible Dictionary and it was gone. I din't see it laying anywhere and I didn't see anyone using it. I sure hope someone didn't just take it out of the reference area and leave it somewhere. That would be ridiculouse.

Friday?

2008-10-10T23:58:00.001-07:00

Fridays are weird now. Fridays are my day off. I've never had a day off like this before. On Friday I can sleep in and stay up late. Then I can sleep in again on Saturday. It used to be that I could stay up late on Friday night, then sleep in on Saturday morning. I could stay up late on Saturday, but there was always church on Sunday so no sleeping in. Now I have these Fridays. I don't know what to do with them.
Today I cleaned my apartment. What a weird life.

You Shall Have No Other Striped Shirt Before Me

2008-10-09T23:34:00.000-07:00

Last week, at the end of confirmation class, we played a little quiz game. We had just spent the hour talking about the ten commandments. Two students went head-to-head.
Question: "What is the first commandment."
Silence.
They didn't know.

This week, one of the contestants of that little failure of my teaching career, pointed out that I was wearing a different striped shirt this week. I wear a lot of striped shirts. Apparently I wore the same shirt the first two weeks. I didn't know it. They didn't know the first commandment. I guess we both need to pay better attention.

I Just Wanna Be a Sheep

2008-10-08T21:48:00.000-07:00

"He would whack him on the head with the staff!"
Today, in their weekly chapel, the preschoolers were hearing about Jesus being the good shepherd. The teacher was reading them the 23rd psalm and showing them pictures in a book. She explained how the shepherd has a staff with a crook to keep the sheep in line and protect them. There was a picture of a wolf in one of the pictures and she asked, "What does the shepherd do when a wolf comes?" To which a 4 year answered, "He would whack him on the head with the staff!"

The image of Jesus as shepherd is used a lot in the church and in the Bible and it is a good image. But I always think about the calm sheep and green pastures and the idyllic life of a shepherd. This four year today reminded me that being a shepherd is hard, dirty, dangerous work that has a dark side. The four year old was exactly right however. (Perhaps someday he will be a brilliant theologian or preacher.) When Satan comes after us, Jesus, the good shepherd, bashes him on the head with his staff. In fact, Jesus on the cross is that crushing blow. Satan prowls like a roaring lion and when he gets close to Jesus' flock Jesus takes his staff and strikes him a mighty blow. And thank God he does. We are no more than stupid sheep and would be devoured for sure.

PS Shepherd imagery worked great in the Bible because they actually had shepherds around. We don't anymore and so I think we lack a lot of understanding. There is a great child's book about a boy shepherd and it gives a great picture of the difficulties of being a shepherd. I recommend it to everyone, especially people who are going to be pastors. It is called The Hay Meadow by Gary Paulson. (Probably not related to Prof. Paulson.)

No Post Today

2008-10-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

I wanted this to be a good blog, with a post everyday. I also wanted it to be interesting. Something that was worth your time to read. I don't think I can do both. And quality is more important than quantity. (Anyway, you all should be out working hard, doing good works for your neighbors, not reading this blog.) So there won't be a post today. Check back later.

Kitchens and Dark Parking Lots

2008-10-06T23:48:00.000-07:00

For some reason, I have found that a large percentage of substantial conversations happen in kitchens and parking lots late at night. The kitchens I can sort of understand. People just hang out in kitchens. It's where the food is. It's where Mom is (traditionally). I've been at more than one lock-in, at 2am, in the kitchen, talking to youth about life and God. I talked to my parents about college at the kitchen table. Dad talked to salesmen at the kitchen table. And whenever there is a family gathering there is a group in the kitchen talking about something interesting. For whatever reason significant conversation happens in the kitchen.

But I have also had many conversations with people in parking lots late at night. We'll be on our way to our cars and just as we are about the go our separate ways we begin to talk about the world, life, religion, and politics. And we'll end up standing there for over an hour, talking.
It happened to me tonight. I was leaving the church after going to the praise band practice. Two other guys and myself starting talking about how crazy the world seems with the economic "crisis," the election, and everything else in the world. Somehow we started talking about religion too, and we got onto the subject of evangelical mega churches and altar calls. We actually started talking about the Gospel!!!! We even talked about Law/Gospel.

The Gospel is to be proclaimed to all people everywhere. And sometimes we have to stand around in a dark parking lot for an hour before the opportunity comes.
The moral of the story: If you want to proclaim the good news to people, you have to be with people, wherever they are, whenever they are.

Perhaps a Poll and Some Rain

2008-10-05T21:17:00.001-07:00

I will begin with an apology. Yesterday's post may have been politically offensive to some people. Sometimes things happen in this world that my public school education has not equipped me to understand. I get all worked up in a frustrated confusion which then spews out all slobbered in sarcasm. (Yes Aase, if only I had the technology.)
Please check out the poll to the right and voice your opinion. I'm quite curious to see the results. (Please vote only once.)

It rained yesterday. It also rained last Monday. Now for all of you who live in the Northwest, or Midwest, or Alaska, or any normal place on earth, this may not seem like big news. But I have lived here since the middle of August and this was the first precipitation. I was beginning to think that my roof was just a decoration. People told me it doesn't normally rain much. This is a desert. So when it started raining on Monday, all of us at church went and stood by the window and looked out at the rain. I'll have to admit, I was glad to see it. It freshened up the air a bit.
They tell me that this winter we might get a lot of rain. I'm not sure what they mean by a lot. They also tell me that it is going to get "cold," but there isn't a lick of insulation in my apartment and the water main valves here are above ground. If 50 degrees is their idea of cold, then I wonder how much rain is "a lot."
I am looking forward to the rain though because it washes the smog out of the air (and into the ocean, along with tons of trash). They tell me that I will be able to see Catalina Island from La Habra Heights. If you look at my bicycle blog you will see that right now, with the smog you can barely see La Habra. So I look forward to rain.

I Want It All

2008-10-04T18:14:00.000-07:00

**SARCASM ALERT**SARCASM ALERT**

In light of recent action taken by the congress of the United States of America, I have decided to change my financial strategy. Starting today, I am going to try and spend as much money as I possibly can. It has become obvious to me that it is the least that I can do for the stability and prosperity of this country. The United States economy and indeed the economy of the entire world depends on me. I will no longer save money. Instead I will apply for as many credit cards as I possibly can and then I will buy as many luxury items as I can with those credit cards. I think I will begin with a new road bike, maybe a mountain bike as well. Then an entirely new wardrobe. I also need a vastly greater number of shoes. Of course there will be the necessary electronics, plasma TV, surround sound system, and at least 100 DVDs. This spending will not be enough though. There is more that I must do to protect our way of life and the American Dream.
I will buy a new car. It will not matter that I am living on an intern's salary because I won't need a down payment and will have the credit cards. This will of course have to be the biggest and most expensive car possible so that Detroit can make its money and the oil companies as well. I will not stop here however.
I will also buy a house. Preferably the most overpriced house in America. Any bank in this nation will give me a loan because the price of houses has to keep going up forever so there couldn't possibly be any risk for them. (Anyway, if the mortgage does go bad on them, they can always sell it to the government.) To do anything else would be un-American. Again, I don't need to worry about my income because I will not need a down payment and I am paying for everything else with credit cards. Maybe I can make my house payments on a credit card as well. It doesn't matter that I don't need the house (the church has put me up in a nice apartment), it is the American Dream. Every time I gain any equity in the house, I will borrow against in and buy more stuff. In a couple of years, when the price of my house has doubled (how could the price possibly not go up from the overinflated price that I pay for it?), I will sell it, buy two more houses and a yacht.
I am hoping that if I put my all into this spending plan I can make up for all those years of being prudent, responsible, and un-American.

*The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of The Scooter Report or its advertisers.

The Beginning of a Blog

2008-10-02T22:44:00.000-07:00

This is my new blog. I realize that most blogs have some focus or theme or specific subject matter. For example, many of my friends have blogs that are about their internships, some people have political blogs, and some people even have blogs about dogs.
This blog, however, will most likely be about all those things and more. (I don't promise much about dogs though.) I don't have much to say at this time, but if you check back in later, there may be something to read.