The Crucial 'Hello'

 Hello Church,

There is a short list of church matters that I rivet my eyes upon--that I pay extreme attention toward every time we have a worship service or ministry event....

The Crucial Hello is on that list.

Few things break my heart more than a visitor who doesn't feel welcomed.  It isn't always intentional.  It is rarely intentional, but that is my point.  Welcoming others should never be accidental.  It should be intentional.  It is the front end of ministry that can be tragic for the rest of a church's ministry if hospitality isn't an intentional priority.

A first-time visitor decides in the first 20 minutes whether they are returning or not.  This does not include the sermon, prayer time or even the music.  This does include the parking conditions, the landscaping, the greeter, the lobby, the ushers, the bulletin and the general look of the environment.  It does include the people who sit around them and how they do or do not say 'hello'.  This does include the liturgist and/or Pastor who looks like they want to be there.

The Crucial Hello is the intentional attempt to help another genuinely feel welcomed.  It is the authentic expression of being glad they decided to visit.  It is what leads to a return visit and a new worship attender.  It is what leads to other things like baptism, communion, membership and new friends.  These things rarely happen without the Crucial Hello.

So be on the look-out.  Put a smile on your face as if you are glad Jesus loves you.  Welcome others as if you want them to know Jesus loves them.  You might be the reason they come back.  

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

Cool Dads and Boo Hooey Moms

 Hello Church,

Kim and I are seasoned veterans....

We met Hope's roommate and her family yesterday.  Tressa seems like a really nice girl, a good fit for Hope and her transition to the college life.  Meeting Tressa's parents was fun too.... and it took me back in time.

Sending a kid away to college is a big deal.  When it's your first time sending one away, like it is for Tressa's parents, it is a REALLY big deal.  Kim and I were reminded of the especially high anxiety of moving Leah to Otterbein.  It always seems to be tougher on Mom, but Dads do get anxious as well.  We just don't show it as much because we are trying to be cool.

This is our 5th time of watching a kid move away.  There is a certain 'blah, blah, blah' about the experience.  At the same time it is our last.  It will be interesting on move-in day (August 19th).  I'm sure I'll be the cool dad.  Mom will be a blubbering mess...... 'blah, blah, blah'.

I wonder if this is anything like God felt when He decided to give us free will?.....   Sending us off into the world, giving us instruction, but knowing we are going to do what we want now.  I wonder if He got anxious.  I wonder if He still does.

In some ways all of us are still in college, trying to figure out how to live life on our own.  We go about learning and partying and find those moments when we need to decide which decision is the best versus which decision we really want to make.  I wonder if God just sits back and tries to be cool.  Or does God become a blubbering mess?  And does it ever become 'blah, blah, blah' for Him?  

I hope Hope chooses well.  God hopes we choose well also...... every single day.  And if Hope doesn't choose well, cool dad and anxious mom will come to the rescue.  And if we don't choose well, God will be there for us.  He always has been.  God loves us and cares for us and hopes fo.......blah, blah, blah.....

God is Good

Pastor Joe

When Small Tables Become Big Again

 Hello Church,

Our kitchen table is smaller.

At the risk of making my wife cry, our table has shrunk over the years.  It used to be fully folded out with all the leaves inserted.  This is because we had 5 kids + 2 adults sitting around it.  The table would take up a lot of space, so much so that we would actually use the dining room in which to eat.  A whole box of spaghetti wouldn't be enough and the skillet would never be large enough to fry all the hamburgers at one time.

Years come and go.  High chairs get put away.  Booster seats get sold at yard sales.  Kids become teens who become young adults and move to college....

The table gets smaller.

I'm sadder than I thought I'd be as I adjust to our empty nest.  However, I also admit that I'd be more sad if all those kids came back home to live with us.  There are not too many good reasons for that to happen.  Our goal as parents is to help our kids learn how to be self-sufficient.  I proudly say that they are doing a pretty good job.  I'd take all the credit, but we all know better, don't we?

While this blog may make you sad too, take heart!  There are rewards to pushing the baby bird out of the nest.  Life changes, but that doesn't mean it gets worse.  Indeed, it can get better!

Kim and I can eat whatever we want without moaning and groaning from others.  Only 2 plates get dirty at a time.  The trash gets taken out less often.  There is no fighting over the tv.  I get the basement all to myself.  Kim gets the upstairs all to herself.  There are no 3.5 hours of t-ball games.  Best of all, we get to laugh at all our kids who are complaining about what we used to complain about.  It's fantastic!

and now.?????...... 

there are grandkids!!!!!......

......which makes the table get big again.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

Holes In Our Walls

 Hello Church,

A picture says a thousand words.  Holes in walls also talk.  Which one do you prefer?

We are nearly all unpacked and settled.  Our last steps are to put up wall hangings.  This is my least favorite step of all.  Why?  I don't like putting holes in walls.  It ruins a perfectly smooth, freshly painted wall.  It seems destructive (or maybe it triggers my memory of kicking a hole in the wall as a teen because I was mad at my parents..... a story for another day...)

My wife gets annoyed with me on this.  Yes, I know, there are other ways to hang things such as with hooks that 'stick' to the walls.  Our experience is that those things can bring down paint and drywall when it is time to take them off.  Just as bad.... maybe worse.

So I am trying to work my way around this.  On one hand, a hole in the wall is not natural.  On the other, we are hanging something that is intended to speak to the kind of home that we want.  We have lots of sentimental hangings, some of which I adore and some that I find humorous.

I guess none of us are perfectly smooth.  We all have blemishes, many of which are not natural.  I guess the trick is to find ways to use our blemishes to hang something that people adore..... or better yet.... that God adores.

For example, some of you have already experienced my sarcasm and attempt at dry humor.  While some appreciate it, I have been known to use it as an unfair tactic for arguing..... a blemish... not good.

So over the years I have tried to use it as a way to help people relax in tense situations.... a form of comedy that can get people to loosen up a bit.  Being loose helps when being the Church.  God has given us reason to not be so high strung.

So what is your blemish?  How can you use it to hang something that people can use toward the good?

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

Cats, Israel And Stressful Changes

 Hello Church,

All is good with the world!  Dora is accepting her new home.

Cats are finicky.  We've had bad experiences with moving cats before.  We weren't sure that Dora, our part Maincoon, would be accepting of a new environment.

Truth is, we humans are not always accepting of change either.  Moving is a pain in the butt.  I don't want to do it again.  17 years until retirement..... fingers crossed.

It has made me contemplate the days of Abraham and the nomadic nation that was ancient Israel.  They were always moving and changing.  They also moaned and groaned about it too.  However, whether they learned it or not, God was constantly walking with them as change constantly happened.  God was the consistent reality in their world.  It helped them through.  

Dora is spending less time tip-toeing around the house with ears perked up, expecting the unexpected.  She is finding her favorite spots which, predictably, is exactly where Kim does NOT want her.  

As I start the process of adjusting to my major change -- new church, community, people, faces, names, ministries and challenges -- I will try to remember that God is the consistent One in all of it.  I will breathe.  It will be okay.

Whatever changes you are up against, know that it will be okay.  And once you get used to it, change will happen all over again.  But through it all is a consistent God.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

The (Almost) Emptiness Of Life Changes

 Hello Church,

I'm sitting in a chair in the middle of a mostly empty living room.  We are down to just the piddly little things that need to be packed.  Have you ever had a moment when you realized that life was about to stop and then start over again in a very different way?

This is, by far, the hardest stop and start again that we've ever had.  Not only are we moving to live in an entirely different community with different people, but we are also downsizing, preparing for an empty nest existence.  

I've had these moments a few times in my life.  The first was actually at my high school graduation.  I genuinely felt like a part of me was dying and a new life was ahead of me.  Since then I have had a few transitions that brought on the same feelings.  

And through it all there was God.

Sometimes we forget, especially if we never have those moments when we realize that everything around us is temporary.... that change can happen on a whim and sometimes drastic change.

But God is never temporary.

Be reminded that, inevitably, it is you and God and that is the most consistent, permanent relationship that there can be.  It's a good thing because God loves you always.  

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

The WWW vs The Great I Am

 Hello Church,

Computers and I don't often have a healthy relationship.  My brother or wife will tell you that if I touch anything technical on a computer, it will never work again and I will be frustrated to the ends of the earth.  I tell people that I know just enough to be dangerous.  Truth is that I'm just dangerous regardless how much I know.

It is in this context that I share the following:  my laptop died.

Worse yet, it died while we were on vacation at Indian Lake.  It died while I was suffering from the head colds to beat all head colds.  Everyone else had fun on vacation.  I tried my best.

As I processed the death of my computer, I have always processed the number of files that I failed to backup and lost forever.  I once learned the very hard way as, years and years ago, I lost 2 years worth of church work.  Today?  It's a little different.

What I realized is the amount of work that was stored on the Cloud.  Most of you likely know what the Cloud is, but for those who are unfamiliar, it is the magical place where the internet stores all the files you have on your computer, phone, ipad and any other device you so choose to make vulnerable to the World Wide Web.

What I then realized is that I lost nearly 0 files.  It is also when I realized how vulnerable we all are to the WWW.  Think about what would happen to our world if the internet just stopped and died like my laptop.  Think about all the information that would simply be no more.  I don't think we can comprehend the result of such a catastrophe.  

Now think of God who knows all and is all.  God, who goes beyond the wealth of the WWW and includes the personal relationship that He seeks for each one of us.  Think about what would happen if He just stopped.  No more unconditional love, hope, peace and no more new life.  Certainly He has plenty of reasons to stop.  We aren't often very good at being very good.

So every time my laptop dies and I pray to God for perseverance, I will also thank God for His eternal presence and never-ending attempts to be our God.  No matter how many laptops die on me, there will always be prayer.  There will always be a wealth of information to tap into.  God was here before the WWW and He will be here after the WWW.  

God is Good,

Pastor Joe