The Power of Small Adjustments (or "Run, Forrest, Run!")

It was May 22, 2000 and I had just finished a Tres Dias weekend as a spiritual director. I had eaten too much and felt disgusting. I ran regularly since my high school track team days, but decided to make a small adjustment. Without fanfare, I decided to run once a day from this day on. It wasn't a big promise I made to myself or to God, just a small adjustment, and I've not missed a day in over 8 years. Sometimes the running gets serious and I train for marathons. Most of the time it's just a fun way of getting outside, even in blizzards, even in Africa! I know it's not for everyone, but for me it is a great blessing. It's OK that someday my streak will end. I'm in a little better shape physically, but a lot better shape mentally. My daily run feels like part of my devotions now. In ten years as a pastor, I think the power of small adjustments in life like this ranks near the top of the list of valuable things I've learned. Small changes for good are the secret ingredients of a changed life. What small adjustments can you make that may have a big impact on your life and the lives of those around you?

Am I Related to Dara Torres?

Well, probably not, but I'm definitely rooting for her. At 41, Dara Torres is defying the "rule" of age in her quest for Olympic swimming gold in Beijing. This is good for everyone, I think. Starting next Friday, her story will be one of hundreds that I and millions of others watch and follow. And it's not the swimming or other sports that draw our fascination. It's the competition. Competition of this scale delivers high levels of suspense and drama. It is the stuff of life. All who seek excellence have eyes and ears for it. Yet, on one level, the Olympics are meaningless or worse, especially if one focuses on the human rights violations and political dishonesty they represent. But the spiritual fire of pure competition still carries the day. It still merits our time and attention. Iron sharpens iron. The central story of humanity in my view - the account of the cross of Christ - is a record of overcoming. In a sense, the entire Bible is written specifically to those who overcome. Others can't read it fully; they don't feel included in all the instructions and commands. Life is a competition between the sinful, selfish, lazy natural man that I am without Christ as my Lord and the new man He makes me. Even when I'm told the outcome, I want to watch from edge of my seat. Everything hangs in the balance. Today, I may not be swimming for gold, but, then again ...    

Peculiar Day Off

It was strange, this Monday morning, to transition from VBS with over 200 kids singing, screaming, and having a good time to the opening of the Vet Center in Middletown, NY, where I prayed both an opening and closing prayer in my BDU's (the camouflage uniform). U.S. Congressmen, A New York Senator, the Orange County Supervisor, and others were there lending good support, but the stars in my eyes were the Vet Center workers. These people from all over have dedicated their lives to helping veterans, especially with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). Now I'm home salvaging what little I can from a supposed day off, listening to Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" and drinking different flavors of Tassimo coffee. I shook the hands of Congressman Hall and Congressman Hinchey a few hours ago. These same hands were clapping with 200 kids to the beat of the newest fun kids' praise songs hours before that. Now they are ironing.  Somebody spoke to me yesterday between church services and said I was like a celebrity. Peculiar. Right now, I'm ironing and probably the only person in Orange County NY this instant listening to 20th classical music. I'm many things, but not a celebrity. Some days off are more peculiar than others.     

Are controversies today's incubator for inquiry?

Although traffic to this blog isn't tremendous yet, I expect it will grow. One reason: controversies. What I do represents several crossroads of debate in society (chaplaincy, generally) and in the Christian church (pastorate, generally). Here are a few issues people ask me about regularly that I'm assuming will make their way into this venue before too long:

In Society:

1) Is it right for Christians to serve in the military?

2) How do Evangelical Christian chaplains deal with pluralism (the cooperative coexistence of many religions) and social trends (such as homosexuals serving in the military)?

3) What should Christians think about our present wars and the politics surrounding them?

4) What are the sides of this war and war in general that we're not seeing?

5) What about abortion, capital punishment, the environment, the election ...?  

In the Church:

1) Which is right, Calvinism or Arminianism?

2) Which is right, Continuationism or Cessationism?

3) "I saw preacher so-and-so on TV last night and he said such-and-such. It sounded crazy to me, what do you think?"

4) What about women in ministry? (or ... Which is right, Complementarianism or Egalitarianism?)

5) What does the Bible really say about ... ?

These are just a beginning. Here's a link to a site I like and a more thorough list of "touchy issues" inspiring conversations in some corners of the world and the church:

http://www.theologicalstudies.citymax.com/page/page/1572472.htm

I'm not sure how timely my responses to inquiry will be, but I can promise to eventually respond to all relevant questions and to be as gracious a forum host as possible. The internet affords us this interesting way of learning and expressing our views. It is today's Mars Hill. I believe controversy can be an incubator for inquiry and even friendship. Jesus certainly never shied away from it. Neither did any of His followers in Scripture. God bless you in your search for answers. 

New York Weather

We have it all. There are bitterly cold days and excruciatingly hot days. There are dry days and wet days, like today. There are sunny days and overcast days. Sometimes the weather is mild, sometimes it's dangerous. As a civilian, I've traveled to Africa, Eastern Europe, and various Caribbean islands in recent years. I lived in Western Europe for four years. So far, nothing matches New York weather. Despite our proximity to New York City, it is green and lush here, unlike so many other parts of the world. A group returned from Israel yesterday. Almost all of them commented on how dry and rocky the land of milk and honey was. One person said, "John, we live in the land of double honey." I agree. It's the variety I think is sweetest. Life can be so repetitive. Having a full palette of weather experiences is a blessing and a challenge from God. We need both blessing and challenge from God in order to be most fully alive. The old saying that Christians throw at each other - "God will never give you more than you can handle" - may actually mean that we think He comes close. I know some may bristle at this idea, but it is actually best if He does come close. It's sometimes even better if He crosses that line of what we think we can handle. In our part of the world, and in many other parts of the world, He sometimes uses weather for this. Today's rain, like the hot sun earlier this week, is a reminder to turn to and lean on eternity's Creator, who will often give you MORE than you can handle. The truth is He will never give you more than He can handle.        

The Pursuit of Humility

A long time ago, a mentor encouraged me to "explore humility." I've spoken about this numerous times from the pulpit. It brings at least a smile from people, if not a laugh. I smile too. When I first heard the counsel, though, I misheard it. I thought he told me to "pursue humility." This mishearing fits me, eh? So, I began the task of "pursuing humility," but was grateful when my mentor briskly corrected me. Explore, John. Don't pursue. Yesterday, I began training again for a marathon. I ran about 8 miles at a faster than normal for me pace. It wiped me out. I could feel the hills like never before. I thought, as I trudged through my last mile, almost all uphill: "Now, this is the pursuit of humility!" I think anytime we are working hard and challenged, the Holy Spirit is able to use the challenge like the finest of artists uses the finest of paints. Difficulty is the substance with which God does His greatest work in our lives. Perhaps this is why the cross is the central symbol of Christian faith. After finishing my run yesterday I felt humbled; I understood reality and knew I needed all God is to me and has for me to navigate through it. This is humility: to know I need God. I felt it. I also felt great. So, with all due respect to my mentor, I think I'll keep on pursuing humility!

Weddings and the Gospel

Shannon and I were blessed at the wedding we were at last night. After the wedding, at the reception, we received many positive and surprised comments on my officiating and on the couple getting married. This kind of surprise is common. It's the gospel. In the unguarded environment of a joyful Christian wedding, I think, some people hear it for the first time. There is nothing like it. The Gospel - the good news of Jesus Christ - when properly heard - is more than just heard: it's experienced. The couple and large portions of their families (I'll leave all nameless for privacy's sake) were powerful examples of people living in the blessings of God because they trust Christ alone for life, life abundant, and life eternal. It was truly a Christian wedding, and not just in name only. (Think about what I'm saying here and you'll get what I mean.) My experience of being a pastor includes hundreds of such days over the past ten years. Watching people's eyes soften and light up after hearing about God-sized hope that is suddenly put within their reach is inspiring. I write this to remind myself. There are lots of things pastors can and do complain about. God's faithfulness to His Word is not one of them. 

Keeping Hold of Life

Shannon and I were at a wedding rehearsal and the dinner afterwards last night.  It was all very nice and had for all in attendance the feeling of arrival. The couple and both families could sit back at the sumptuous meal we were enjoying and appreciate all their work and steady commitment to Christian life that brought them to this moment. What a gratifying moment for a pastor. Hours before this, Shannon and I visited a young woman in the hospital who was quite clearly spared from death the day before in a car accident. Again, a young woman of faith and her family, despite an entirely different set of emotions, could turn to God and say "thanks." I know many marriages end in divorce. I know sometimes young Christian women die in car accidents. I know sometimes four-year-old daughters of seminary students end up with a cancerous brain tumors. Yet, in spite of all that can threaten life, in Christ the weakest of us can keep hold of it. No matter what your circumstances, may your grip on life today be as strong as God.   

Benign or Malignant

No phone call is better. I was driving back, 2 hours into a 12 hour drive when Dan called with the news. The tumor was benign. We were overjoyed. A day later this has been "updated." Now it is malignant, stage 1 cancer - slow growing but still the "C" word. A beautiful little four year old girl with tubes everywhere and parent who are exhausted in every way wonder what's next. Nothing changed except what it was called. We have faith in the labels we give things. Benign is a blessed label and malignant is cursed, but a label is not the reality, only how it is described. I saw a church sign on the way back, somewhere in Ohio, that read: "Worry is the dark room where negatives are developed." Sometimes perspective matters more than reality. I know that naysayers to faith say us believers are all perspective and no reality, but they don't know what it is to have faith when perspective and reality are lined up together on the side of the opposition. It truly is "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Have faith today and pray for Andrea and her parents. 

Grand Rapids

I'm here in Grand Rapids to visit and be with Dan and Letha.  It was a 12 hour drive - very scenic. Andrea looks great ... all things considered.  Everyone's tired.  Such emotional and spiritual roller coaster rides are intensely draining.  One conclusion so far: prayer works.  Keep on praying. Prayer is not our last resort; it is our only resort.

Thanks for praying.