Dance and Sing

Hello Emmanuel,

As some of you know me, you know my passion for sports and competition.  I’d much rather kick your butt in ping-pong than to attend an orchestra concert.  Competition is therapeutic for me.  It isn’t for everyone, however.  No one in my immediate family relates to me in this area.  They think I’m a crazy guy when I yell at the tv screen (‘no one on that football team can hear you Dad’).  At the same time, I’m a pastor.  I have found that being a competitor doesn’t work in the realm of leading a church.  So I do have to find other outlets of expression…

Yesterday I had the privilege of driving to Hillsboro to watch Joey play in the Land of Grant Honors Band.  It is a band made up of students from 3 different counties.  It was good music and very talented kids.

Something one of the directors said to us really struck me.  He invited us to fight to keep music programs in schools.  He said music is what makes us human.

I chewed on that for a while.  I do have a passion for the Liberal Arts programs.  Music, art, drama, etc; needs to stay in schools and yet there seems to be a tolerance, to some degree, to let them be the first to go away when money gets tight.

One of the unique qualities that make us human is the creativity in which we can express ourselves.  Music and religion are two of those areas.  It occurred to me that such modes of expression allow the passion of the church to be made known.  If we translate that reality to schools and young people, what happens if modes of expression is taken from them?  I haven’t searched for any empirical data, but I imagine that if we don’t teach and encourage our kids to express themselves, it can’t result in anything positive.

I don’t think God wants us to raise robots.  Certainly, the push to improve our math and sciences is important.  We don’t want to fall behind the rest of the world in these areas.  However, God has given us a unique spirit that desires creativity and expression:  music, art, drama, literature and dance are all ways that we can let loose our spirit and shout in constructive ways how we feel.  It is more than just ‘playtime’.  It is therapeutic.  It is good for the soul.

I’ve never been one to throw myself into music.  Yes, I can play and I can sing, but it has never been my mode of expression necessarily.  When it comes to the arts, creative writing is really my area (I write a sermon every week to convince you of something).  Regardless, the church (and schools) can be and should be a place that encourages the spirit to express itself. 

I thank God for giving us the opportunity for expression.  Let’s encourage it in one another.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

Avoid Cheating

Hello Emmanuel,

A new sermon series is starting:  The Ultimate Life.  As part of this series, the challenge is to give thanks for 10 things each day.  That is 10 things days each day for 6 weeks…. 420 things (mine will be on facebook each morning).

So when will I get stuck?  When will I have to think really, really hard for things to be thankful for?  I’m sure I’ll have mornings when I don’t feel like being thankful.  How will I deal with that? 

Truth is that I will still plow through it.  Know why?  Because I told everyone I’m posting it each day.  Facebook has become my accountability partner.  And if I don’t post on one particular day, any one of the hundreds of friends I have will message me.  I don’t want that.  Therefore, the exercise will be a consistent one.

Who is your accountability partner?  Don’t have one?  Get one.  It’s easy to be sneaky and cheat when no one is looking.  It is difficult when someone you trust is watching what you are doing.  Having a person in your life who loves you and wants the best for you is a great asset.  That person will keep you moving straight ahead into the good and right things.  Corners cannot be cut as easy and you can grow as a person more effectively. 

I’ve had many accountability partners throughout my life:  Mom, pastors, teammates, my wife, small groups, classmates and even my kids.  True, being a pastor raises my visibility a bit.  However, believe it or not, pastors have been known to cut corners too if they aren’t held accountable.

So here is to friendship.  Find it.  Cherish it.  Use it to become a better disciple of Jesus.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

I Made It!!!!

Hello Emmanuel,

Well, the holidays are over and guess what?  I’m HEALTHY!  This is the first time in 3 years that I’ve been able to make such a claim.  True, I may get the flu next week, but I’ve been healthy thus far and I’ve not taken it for granted.

Not everyone is healthy right now, however.  It seems every year there is more and more talk about the different strains of the flu and how it can impact a community.  Nursing homes, schools and hospitals are especially hit hard.  No one likes to have their life put on hold by spending time in a bed while feeling awful.

And yet there is another kind of illness that I also see this time of year.  I can’t always put my finger on it, but it seems to be spiritual in nature.  My conversations with people this time of year take on a different tone than in other times of the year.  People tend to be grasping at emotional kinds of issues, struggling with internal tensions that reside in their hearts.

People are often commenting to me why there seems to be more illness and death right after the holidays.  I’m not a doctor or a psychologist, but I can’t help but wonder about the role that spiritual illness plays in the midst of what we see with physical illness.  The connection between the spirit and the body is a mystery that has been looked at throughout the course of human history and from an infinite number of angles.

The Christian perspective is to encourage you to stay connected to the Divine.  A healthy relationship with God creates a kind of peace that surpasses all understanding.  From my own personal experience, when my relationship with God is right, I’m able deal with adversity in a much more constructive way.  Even if it all goes wrong and I moan and complain, if I feel right with God, I seem to get through the tough stuff in better shape.

So how do you stay connected to God?  Pray, worship, serve and give.  Those are the ways I connect.  It’s a reminder to me that all is okay with the Universe because God has made it so…. Even if I don’t feel like it is.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe