Taxi!!!

I read about this experiment that they did once testing the honesty of cab drivers in New York.  So they set up someone to seem like a tourist.  They spoke broken English and clearly didn't know where they were.  So the person hailed a cab and gave the cabbie the address.  And guess what happened next?  In most cases, the cabbie took them to their destination by the shortest route possible.  There were some cabbies that explained that they really didn't need a cab, as it was walking distance.  They then took the time to give direction and point them the right way.  Out of the dozens of cabbies that they tested, only one took advantage of of our tourist.

I don't know about you, but stories like this make me feel a little better about the world.  

I am not really a world traveler, but I have been on a few trips.  The summer after I graduated from college I took a job at a Camp Cooper, a Boy Scout summer camp in Oregon.  This trip really could have gone badly.  I was jumping into the great unknown.   I knew no one, I was 2500 miles from home and I had committed to work there for two months.  

But it did not go badly.  It was a beautify camp in the coastal mountain range set among the towering douglas firs and among other things featured an 80 foot water fall.  Beautiful.  But what really made the experience was the people that I worked with.  They could have treated me like an outsider, but in stead they welcomed me in.  It turned out to be a great experience and many of the people I met that summer are still my friends.

In life we will meet sojourners every day.  Some times these are people who are on a literal vacation and are out of place.  Sometimes they are people who just pass through your life for a short time.  The Bible tells us to not wrong a sojourner.  It is easy to understand why we need to treat those around us every day well, there are long term consequences.  But we also need to do our best for those who we meet this once and then never again.

It's like tipping at a restaurant.  In a small town there are only a few restaurants.  If you don't tip, the wait staff will know it.  But when you are out of town?  The meal is over,  The server is done serving you.  You will likely never see them again.  Leaving a decent tip in this case is where character comes in.  The waitress is a sojourner through your life and as Christians we are called to not wrong her.  As Christians we are called to treat people well even when there is no particular benefit in our doing so.  

Watch this video from Pastor Chris.

Do not wrong a sojourner.  Treating people around you with dignity is not something that we can turn on and off.  It is something that we do by habit.  And it really isn't a Christian thing, it's a human thing.  It's just as Christians, we really should be good at it.

Common Law Christian

I am told that sometimes when a marriage breaks up the people do not actually get divorced.  As I understand it, the couple splits up and go their separate ways, but never go through the legal process of getting a divorce.  Maybe this happens because they don't want to go through the legal expense, or maybe this happens because they aren't sure that it is really over, or maybe this happens because it would be too much effort.  In any case, the end result is a couple that are no longer together but are still connected in the eyes of the law.

These unsevered connections can create big problems down the road.  Years later when one of the couple has amassed a pile of debt or wants to take out a mortgage or there are children involved.  All of a sudden one person discovers legal responsibilities for a person that has been long out of their life.  Some people's lives get pretty complicated,

In some states the opposite of this does work.  It's called a "Common Law Marriage".  It works like this.  If two people live as though they are married for a particular span of time, then in the eyes of the law, they are married.  So they live together and share finances and travel around together and take care of each other, then it is just like they are married.  

It is a practice that dates back to a time in the past when making a marriage official could be problematic.  Maybe you live on the frontier and the place where you would file the marriage licence or find a minister to perform the ceremony might be a long, long way away.  So people would just behave as though they were married and everyone went along with it.  In some states it still can go that way.

So what's all this got to do with us?  It's just this.  There is no such thing as a Common Law Christian.  Many people think of themselves as Christians because they are a good person or live in America or even because they go to church.  But attendance at church or living in the right neighborhood does not make someone a Christian.  Even giving tithes or writing a twice weekly blog won't do it.  We are Christians based on our relationship with God that comes through the Grace of the Holy Spirit and our acceptance of the redemption given to us through the death of Jesus Christ.  That's it.

We must deliberately divorce the negative influences of sin in our lives and formally accept the Grace being given.  Then and only then are we Christians.

Watch this video from Pastor Chris.

We are called to Love God with all our hearts and to Love our neighbors as ourselves,  We need to lead our lives so that all that we do is a reflection of God.  And that is anything but common.

Boiling it Down

One spring we decided to tap the large sugar maple in the back yard and try making syrup.  It all started with a trip to the Amish hardware store up the road.  There was a kit for sale and I decided to give it a go.  I have since learned that the best place to drill the hole is on the south side of the tree under a large branch.  I didn't know that at the time, but I got lucky and drilled the hole in the right place.  And the sap began to flow.

Over the next several days, the bag connected to the spile would collect sap and we would pour it off into milk jugs.  Then after a while it was time to boil it down.  The ratio between sap and syrup is 40 to 1.  In other words, it takes 5 gallons of sap to make a pint of syrup.  Someone had told me that it was best to boil it over a wood fire.  So on a cold April day I built a fire, set a large pot on it and began to boil.  For hours and hours it boiled and I tended the fire.  Then I brought it in the house and put it on the stove and boiled it some more.  Then I put it away and boiled it some more the next day.

In the end I did get some syrup.  But more importantly, I got that out of my system and haven't felt the need to do it again. 

There are many places in life where we condense things down.  Like the sap and syrup, if its in its original form it is so diluted that we can't appreciate it.  When we go on a trip, we can't do everything in a particular area, so we boil it down to those things that interest us,  When we watch the evening news, they can't tell us about every thing that happens every where, so they boil it down to the highlights.  As humans, we can only keep track of so many things.  So we categorize and summarize and condense so that our brains can handle it all.

And so it it with the Ten Commandments.  If we ask how to live a Godly life, there are many things to do in many different circumstances.  The Jewish Law had hundreds of rules and that was before the internet and social media (which would have probably added a few hundred more).  So God gave us the Ten Commandments, a summary of the Law.  And while it doesn't cover everything, it is a good start.  

And then Jesus took it all and boiled it down further.  Jesus said that all of the Law could be summarized in two commands.  Worship God with all your heart and Love your neighbor as your self.  

Worship God and Love those around you.  That pretty much says it all.

Watch this video from Pastor Chris.

So in the end it all boils down to one thing, Love.  First God and then each other.

Have a good week.

So Much Better

The other day we were watching an episode of the Dick Van Dyke Show on Netflix.  The story had come to an end, but then we were back.  Rob and Laura were in their kitchen talking about the virtues of Joy dish washing soap.  It was a commercial set on the stage of their show where they played their same characters.  Now product placement is really common in TV and movies, the jarring thing about this is was how it wasn't even subtle.

Over the years we as consumers have gotten better at filtering out the ads, so the advertisers have gotten better at getting them in there.  Today it wouldn't be so blatant.  The dish soap would be sitting on the counter without comment and we would make that association on our own.  Of course some shows still put it in.  On Survivor they have a challenge where they fix up their camp using supplies provided by Home Depot.  Or on the Amazing Race they don't just drive a car, they drive the new Ford Taurus with foot activated lift gate.

We need to give credit where credit is due.  Advertisers are good.  The way that we consume media is constantly changing and their techniques change with it.  With VCRs and DVRs we begin fast forwarding through commercials, so they reformat the commercials so that at least some of the message shines through as we fast forward.  I notice that if I look up something on line there is inevitably an add for it the next time that I'm on facebook.  Probably just a coincidence.  

All of this advertising has one thing in common, it is always selling the idea that our lives would be so much better "IF" and then they fill in the blank. 

IF we drove that car,

IF we had that phone.

IF we wore those clothes.

IF.  IF.  IF.

Advertising plays on the idea that there is something missing in our lives and material things can fill that hole.  So we look around us and we see things to buy or things to build or things that our neighbors have, and we say to ourselves that if we only had that too, our lives would be so much better.  

This has been a problem in the human race for thousands of years.  So much so that of the Ten Commandments, two directly talk about it.  In the Ten Commandments, God tells us to make no idols and to not covet.  God tells us that if we want to fill the hole it will not happen by worshiping the things of this world and the things that your neighbor has won's work any better than yours.  No the the hole will only be filled by being in a relationship with God.

Watch this video from Pastor Chris.

Each of us comes with a God sized hole.  We can try to fill it with the things of this world, but it will never work.  The only answer is allowing God in.

More Than Fair

The Olympics are in full swing this week.  Last week we were seeing the swimming events and this week the emphasis switches over to track and field.  We get to see great athletes performing at their best and through this inspiring us all.  The athlete's from the United States are doing very well.  It seems that in most of the events their are members of the US Olympic Team at least in contention for medals if not winning them outright.  Well done.

I can't help having a soft spot for countries that don't win that many medals.  As of this morning, Team USA has won 69 medals in this Olympics.  I can't say that I know who has won for which events.  I could piece together a list, but it would be far from complete.  (The name Michael Phelps would cover several.)  But I think about Puerto Rico.  They have won a total of eight medals ever in the history of the Olympics and their first gold just this weekend.  Or Grenada who as a country has won only two medal in the history of the Olympics.  Both by the same athlete.  All I'm saying is that it has to be a big deal.

One issue that seems to constantly overshadow the Olympics is the issue of performance enhancing drugs.  It seems like their is a side note of disqualified athletes due their drug use.  Of most note, a large part of the Russian Team was banned from this Olympics.  I am relieved that so far, it seems that Team USA has been clean.  The United States has great athletes who win a lot of medals.  But we also have a tremendous amount of resources to devote to training and many other things to be proud of as a country.  If we were cheating on top of it, all of our accomplishments would seem pathetic.

The United States really is an exceptional country.  We have been blessed by a tremendous amount of resources.  We have the ability to amass great wealth and direct it into any number of areas at the same time.  But I believe that those blessings come with a great responsibility.  We need to set the example for other countries.  We need to be squeaky clean.  We need to go beyond.  Fair really isn't good enough, we need to be more than fair.  

And I would say that "more than fair" should be the American philosophy in all things.  We can afford to be generous and gracious and forgiving.  We need to set ourselves to a higher standard so that we are the example for the rest of the world.  When we say, "Why give money to poor countries when we have poverty at home?" We should all respond that we need to do something about both.  And we can if we have the will.

God calls His people to be a Royal Priesthood.  God sets us apart.  We have been lavishly blessed by God and this blessing comes with a responsibility.  We have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit.  And as we let the Holy Spirit imbue our lives we produce a good fruit.  The Bible says that the fruit of the spirit is joy, peace, forbearance, kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  These should be the qualities that others see in us.  As Christians "fair is fair" should not be our standard.  For a people as blessed as us, it should always be said that we are more than fair.

Watch this video from Pastor Chris.

As a Christian in America we are doubly blessed.  We live in a country with tremendous resources and the freedom to practice our beliefs as we are led.  On top of that we have the blessings from God known by every Christian regardless of circumstance.  With all of these blessings in our lives we need to remember to be more than fair with those we encounter so that the love of God can be seen through us by our words and deeds.

Leadership

It seems like we are thick in the political season early this cycle.  Emotions are running high and we still have three months to go.  It seems that most people have their mind up and the logic goes like this, "I know that my candidate isn't perfect, they have flaws and I'm not happy about it, but the other is so so bad that they may very well destroy the country." The funny thing is that people have come to this conclusion from both sides.  No matter who you are planning to vote for.

I sometimes think that we expect too much out of our politicians.  We seem to want transformational leaders who will guide the country.  We want to be motivated, but we would probably be better served by someone who will make the trains run on time.  But you never know.  In the presidential election of 2000 we never thought that we were selecting the person to lead us through 9/11 and into decades of war.  We were arguing about how to spend the budget surplus.

And there is the decision.  There is a balance between managing the affairs of the day and having the temperament to handle the big issues that inevitably arise.

And so we vote.

Not that we do a good job of it.  The image of a corrupt politician is almost cliche.  It seems like there is always one politician or another in trouble for illegal activities.  In Illinois, four of the past seven governors have gone to prison.  And that is just the illegal stuff.  There are plenty of gray areas.  Like passing a bill that helps a particular industry then leaving office and taking a high paying job working for one of those companies.  It's not illegal, but it feels dishonest.

The thing is that all of these politician, the ones who go to jail, the ones who don;t get caught, the ones that use their influence for personal gain were elected by a majority of voters.  I do believe that most politicians are in office to serve their community and work hard to represent us well.  But the point is that we as voters are not that good at telling the good from the bad.

  

Probably we all need to take a deep breath and relax a bit.  No matter how bad our choices are, our country is pretty resilient  and is likely to come through ok.  And as I type that last statement, I am asking myself if I really believe it.  Based on the election coverage in the media it is easy to think otherwise.

As Christians we need to remember that we aren't electing a prophet or a spiritual leader.  We have one already.  We aren't electing a savior or a redeemer.  We have one already.  As a Christian I know that God is always with me.  God is always on my side.  God has not sold out to special interests.  God does not need to get reelected.  And no matter who gets elected, God will lead us through if we put our trust in him.

Watch this video from Pastor Chris.

I think that Christians should vote and we should take our choices seriously, but we should remember that God is our true leader no matter who gets the most votes from the Electoral College.

Growing Deeper Roots

It seems like when I was in college it was easy to make new friends, or more accurately there were a lot of opportunities to make new friends.  Every semester meant a new set of classes, a new schedule, a new routine and the chance to encounter a new set of people.  By contrast, adult life seems to have a pretty consistent pattern especially in a small town.  There are the same circles of people with little to mix it up.

The thing about the college friends that were so plentiful in my younger life, is that those relationships were for the most part very fleeting.  There would be people that I would see regularly for a time and as a result we would have conversations and do some things together.  But then the semester would change and there would be a new shuffle of people and without the convenience of being around each other, the friendship withered.

Today there are definitely less opportunities to make new friends.  The mix of people that I encounter does not shuffle that often.  And living in a small town, when things do shuffle, they are inevitably still the same people, just in a different order.  But by having the same people in our lives through several seasons there is a chance for the friendships to grow deeper.  They were there for me when I was going through a tough time and I was there for them likewise. Over time the multitudes of shared experience grow deeper and a true, enduring experience results.  The friendship becomes less like a wildflower blown on the wind and more like a solid oak with roots that can withstand a storm.

As Christians we need to strive to build our relationship with God into an enduring old friendship.  Like all relationships, building a relationship with God comes from going through the events of life together.  We celebrate the good times and lean in for comfort in the bad.  All of these things give time for the roots to grow so that they are ready to hold when the storms arrive.  

But of course, it does take time.  No one expects a giant tree to grow over night.  But we plant trees and we prune them and we let them grow and give them time.  And when the storms come, it pulls on the roots and that strain helps the roots grow deeper and stronger than ever before.

Watch this video from Pastor Chris.

In our backyard there is a big sugar maple tree.  It is special because it is big and old and the only one around.  There are many maple trees in our yard and on the state land next to us, but they are all red maples.  All of them.  What this tells me is that years ago, someone made the conscious decision to plant that tree.  They cared for it and gave it the opportunity to grow into something special.  Our relationship with God is like that.  We make a decision.  We care for it.  We let it grow,  It grows into something magnificent.

Have a great week.

Forward Momentum

It is August and as most of us are trying to beat the heat on these hot days, all across the country young men are starting to gather for the start of football practice.  Around here the official practices for high school start on Monday, but conditioning is underway and before that there were camps and work outs.  The games will be here soon.

One principle that is emphasized over and over again is getting off the line quickly.  As soon as the ball is snapped and the play begins, you need to be moving forward.  Right Now.  Move.  Your opponent will also be moving and if you aren't moving forward, they will be pushing you back.

It is an idea that scientists call momentum.  It combines weight and speed and affects how much force you deliver when colliding and how hard it is to make you stop.  Like all things in physics, there is more to it than that.  But our purposes it is enough to know that momentum is the kind of thing that if you aren't moving you don't have any.

The idea of momentum can transfer to a lot of topics in life,  Once things are moving, they are easier to keep moving.  Once a project is off the ground it is easier to get people on board and build enthusiasm for it.  Whether it is a major event, a home improvement project or a personal goal, the hardest part can be getting started.  Once you are in motion, you have forward momentum.

As Christians, God has a plan for each of us.  God's plans often make us uncomfortable because He often only reveals a little bit at a time.  It can feel like driving in a blizzard, we see a little bit of the road around us, but not too much farther.  The call is to keep moving forward and trust God for the final destination.  We need to keep our momentum in the direction of God's plan for us and trust that God will make a way.

Watch this video clip from Pastor Chris.

God has a plan for each of us.  And we are called to continue to move forward to keep up the momentum and trust God for the rest.

Time to get going.

Checkmate

Chess is unique strategy game that seem to keep a place in culture even among people who never play it.  According to one survey that I read, in the United States , 15% of adults have played the game some time in the past year.  Which of course means that 85% have not, but still it finds its way into books, movies and TV shows as the definition of intellect and strategy.

The point of chess is to trap your opponent's king.  So you maneuver your pieces so that you are in a position to capture the king and there is no way for the opponent to get out of it.  The king is never actually taken or "killed".  When the victor makes the move that ties the final knot in the trap, they declare "checkmate" and the game is decided.

Sometimes life feels like a big game of chess.  We make our plans and decide on a course, but it feels like the world is set on making counter moves to undo what we had in mind.  Sometimes friendships fall through, jobs are less secure or not as lucrative, health issues arise, time marches on.  We make our plans to try to get ahead, but it doesn't work out that way.  Point and counterpoint,  Thrust and Perry.  Check and Mate.

A Christians we can fall prey to our own competence.  We make plans and preparations based on our skills and abilities.  We do the things that we can surely handle on our own, without considering what God would have of us.  It is through this process that we back ourselves into a corner and life gives us nowhere to go.  Check Mate.

It is at these times, when we seem to have no good options or means of escape that we rely the most heavily on God.  When we look at a situation and say "God, I can't get through this without you." then we really experience the relationship that we should be building all along.  Some people say that God orchestrates challenges in our lives to bring us closer to Him.  Others would say that we are perfectly capable of making a mess out of things on our own. 

I say that it doesn't matter.  When there seems to be no Earthly option, God finds a way to get us through.  Maybe not in the way that we wanted, but there is a way none the less.  The trick is keeping the relationship open, so that God isn't our last option, but our first.

Watch this video clip from Pastor Chris.

When life has us trapped, there is still a way out.  And it is okay to use that way even when we aren't trapped.