Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Sin: A Reflection

Jonathan has an interesting reflection on sin as missing out on life today (please do go over and read it, or my response won't make at much sense) ... and it prompted this reflection from The Abbess:

Jonathan,

I would suggest that you have just understood what "missing the mark" truly means (after all, it does come from an archery term ;) ) -- because God is at the center of the "target" and the "arrow" is our lives and when we "shoot", we are releasing and "spending" our life.

The point about "sin" is that it is the "call from the ref" that our aim is not spot on, as it were ... and the point about Jesus coming is to give us help -- both in recognizing the "target" (being like Christ) and in our "aim" (by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit -- our "coach" as it were).

We are, each day and in each opportunity to live like Christ in all our encounters and relations, somewhat like an archer with "living arrows" -- and it is up to us to allow the Holy Spirit to help us "spend" our arrows by training us to identify on the proper target, strengthen our "arms" to the task, focus by shutting out the distractions of the "world", and waiting for just the right time to "let 'er fly."

...thanks for prompting this reflection. I may have to post this at "home."



...worth pondering some more, I'm sure, but it is a very cHesed concept and one in which I am hoping you'll want to join me!

Blessings!

Monday, May 26, 2008

Abi's Favorite Book of the Bible (...a Meme)

Wow ... these meme things are starting to take up lots of time ... ;^) But this one was much easier, kinda. I saw that Brother Maynard started this particular meme ... and saw that he tagged, among others, Kingdom Grace ... who tagged me.

Like Grace, I love the Old Testament ... but in the New Testament, I love I John. And apart from having had a good portion of it read at my wedding, here's the reason why....

Back in 2003, when the 40 Days of Purpose thing was taking off, our church decided to jump on the bandwagon. Not being a Calvinistic church -- and being the pastor responsible for teaching our series of church doctrine classes -- I wasn't up for doing it the normal way (...not that anyone here will be surprised by that :^) ), and proposed to our senior pastor that I write up a 40 day series based on the classes I had written and been teaching for the past three years. He was persuaded by my proposal ... and then I realized what I'd gotten myself into! I had three months to write, format and publish both a 40 days notebook to use instead of Warren's book as well as a simple adult Sunday School and an adult small group curriculum. I knew that God had his hand all over it because it was both finished (just in time) and exceeded everyone's expectations (except for the closet Calvinists, of course ... they were very unhappy campers).

One of the things I wanted to do differently from Warren's book was to have more continuity with the scripture references ... and as I began to think of which texts fit with each week's theme, well, it kept turning out to be from I John! So during our 40 day experience, we worked our way through the entire book. It was wonderful. The small group focus looked like this:
  1. Week One: Understanding Why We're Here from I John 1:1-2:11
  2. Week Two: Understanding Worship from I John 2:12-17
  3. Week Three: Understanding Fellowship from I John 2:18-3-10
  4. Week Four: Understanding Discipleship from I John 3:11-4:6
  5. Week Five: Understanding Service from I John 4:7-21
  6. Week Six: Understanding Evangelism from I John 5
Anyway ... that was such an awesome time in that awesome book. Thanks, Brother Maynard and Grace, for giving me a chance to reflect back ... and I can't believe it has been five years!!!

So there you have it!

Who to tag? How about these four....

Cynthia

Janet

Michael

Rick

... okay, no more memes for me for a while!

Grateful that Papa is shown in I John to be light, love and life.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Top Ten Meme, Part II

Wow. What a small world moment I just experienced! As I was tracking back to the origination of this meme to Dan's blog, I took a look around and in his blogroll, I found an old friend of mine: Don Sewell. Oh. My. Goodness!

When I looked at his profile, he mentions movies as one of his favorite things ... so I tagged him for the third person. I bet he has just as hard a time picking just 10 favorites as I did....

I try to play by the rules every now and then! ;^)

Top Ten Meme....

So, Lori was tagged by Sonja with this meme, and now she has tagged me. I haven't even gotten around to filling out all this kind of stuff in my profile ... and I just can't do this in a normal manner, you know ;^) so I'm going to change the deal for my part, but this is the real story of how it goes:

1. Your top ten movies, (in no particular order).

2. If tagged, write a post and tag 3-5 other people.

3. Tag back, (shout out link), to the one who tagged you.

4. Give a hat tip (HT) to Dan.

When asked for my five favorite books, I had to list my top three in my five favorite genre ... so that seemed appropriate for this exercise. Let's see ... here's the top several in my eight favorite genre -- I seem to be especially fond of many different movies! ;^)

Drama

  1. The Lord of the Rings Series (I consider them one movie together)
  2. Last of the Mohicans (first pre-date with hubby)/Last of the Dogmen/Dances With Wolves
  3. The Last Samurai (interesting cultural follow on to Clavell's "Shogun" -- I read the book and have the mini-series from 1980)

Musicals

  1. The Slipper and the Rose (had the best time watching it in Thai!)
  2. My Fair Lady (...come on, Dover.... I also saw it in the theater with Richard Chamberlain as Higgins)
  3. The Sound of Music (went to sleep to the soundtrack every night in 4th grade)

Comedy

  1. The Princess Bride (...anybody want a peanut?)
  2. Young Frankenstein
  3. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai

Sports/Animals

  1. The Black Stallion movies
  2. Hidalgo/Seabiscuit
  3. Chariots of Fire

Action

  1. The Indiana Jones Series (except #2) -- haven't seen the newest one yet
  2. The "Jack Ryan" Series (with Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and Alec Baldwin)
  3. The Four Feathers (with Heath Ledger in 2002, and the 1977 version, too.)

Romance

  1. Sense and Sensibility (I first saw this with my mother and 4 sisters...)
  2. Shakespeare In Love (...I don't know; it's a mystery)
  3. The Thorn Birds (read the book and have the mini-series...the "midquel" didn't quite cut it, for me...)

Animated

  1. Shrek (...where to start? Ohh, pick me!!! Donkey is such a hoot!)
  2. Ice Age (...the LAST melon)
  3. Cars (...love 'Mater and "cow tipping" :^) )
Inspiration
  1. The Narnia Series (I will love them all because I love the books....)
  2. Iron Will (love dog sled stores -- read Jack London's books: White Fang, Call of the Wild)
  3. The Last Samurai (wonderful example of what obedience to a liege lord should look like...)

...and I will tag...


Brad/Futuristguy

and

Matt Stone

...makes me want to go watch a movie!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Reepicheep Rules!

Well, I went to see Prince Caspian yesterday (as an early birthday present to my oldest son) -- at least I got to see it on opening weekend, even if I didn't make it on opening day!

As I have mentioned to others, I am sure that I will enjoy it the second time much more because I will have gotten over how it departs from the book -- and it does, of course. Because there are some absolutely beautiful moments.

One of my favorite creatures is the King of the Talking Mice -- Reepicheep. We meet him in the second book published, Prince Caspian, where we find out that he and his followers descended from those mice who were transformed into Talking Mice as a reward for chewing through the ropes that bound Aslan to the Stone Table in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

The Mouse King and his followers weigh in fairly early in the story -- before we "see" any of them -- in a hilarious way (which folks won't "get" until later, since it's not a scene directly from the book ... but it a wonderful glimpse into their valiant contribution to Narnian battle strategy).

I have always loved Reepicheep ... and they could not have captured him better than they did. Bravo, indeed! Now I just cannot wait until The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which begins shooting in the fall, since Reepicheep in one of the central characters in that story.

Not going to ruin it for those who haven't seen it yet ... just remembering fondly and looking forward to seeing it perhaps one more time ... and then awaiting the DVD around Christmas time.

Abi's view of the wrath of God

Scot McK is starting a new series on the Wrath of God over at Jesus Creed. There's an interesting discussion going on over there -- I encourage you to check it out. Scot begins his post with this comment as a preface to his fairly long list of questions:

There are some today who’d like to burn a wrath path through the Christian Church — those who believe in it can move to the right and those who don’t can move to the left as the path winds and wends its way. The question I want to ask in this series is multi-faceted and includes at least these sorts of questions:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

You need to read the rest of his post and work your way through the comments. This is what I had to say about it at comment #21. Your comments, as always, are welcome. :^)

As I have said many times since entering [paid] pastoral ministry seven years ago, it has been a tremendous advantage to me that I should embark on this ministry at both an older age and bearing children at this same time. So much of what I understood about God as Father has jumped out to me in this time that I just didn’t notice earlier — because I wasn’t living the circumstances.

Just the other day (okay, just about EVERY day), I had some discussion with one of my three boys (ages 13, 9 & 7) about proper behavior and consequences for poor choices. Most of those discussions dive quickly into accusations of “You’re not being fair” or “You should have warned me before” or “Why are you always being so bossy to me” or “If you really loved me you would give me what I want” or “You don’t love me” and, on a really challenging day, “You hate me … so I hate you back”

Sigh….

But I have recently come to a significant insight: when I react [try to counter their assertions] to their comments, it just adds heat to the fire. But when I respond [pleasantly but firmly] with a reassurance of my love and my sorrow at their choices, the heat goes out of the fire.

I have begun to wonder whether this is why God is so silent concerning many of our questions. He has told us over and over what is right — and behavior that is against good conscience speaks its own judgment. God, rather than answering each of our “whines” just reaffirms his love for us and his sorrow over our poor choices. And then he goes forward with the process of restoration.

This, then, represents my understanding of God’s ways under the Old Covenant — that time when the terms and conditions of the covenant were more “physical” … just as the raising of young children are more physical and concrete.

With the New Covenant, however, God seemed to call humanity to adulthood. To move past the focus on “law” and it’s concrete and physical consequences and get to the heart of “love” that spreads grace abroad in the spiritual as well as physical — transcending the physical, even, when it shows us how to delay gratification for the serving of the best interest of another … even if that means death.

Through Jesus we are able to see the Father who loves and teaches and forgives and waits and reconciles … and it helps us look back to the Old Testament and see much more of that same Father who loves and teaches and forgives and waits and reconciles. It just looks harsher from the childish view of selfishness and rebellion than it does from the childlike view of faith and love. [Emphasis has been added here for my post.]

I’m fairly certain that someone looking in on our home with no context in the midst of a meltdown could come away wondering why those parents are so mean … but I would want them to hang around long enough for the childish rant to fade and the childlike love to reemerge and see the scene when I sent them out the door for school and hear their cheery “Love you, Mom. Have a good day”

We really need to keep the bigger picture in mind.

…thanks for letting me ramble on … I’ll stay tuned to this series with interest — especially in light of the “hell” thread over with RJS’ series.

Comment by Peggy — May 19, 2008 @ 11:13 am

Remembering that Papa is especially fond of all his Eikons

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Abi's Sense of Balance

My friend John has this up his blog today, and I thought I'd see what The Abbesses brain is like. Here are my results ... and as my usual answer to an A / or B of question is C, this doesn't surprise me:

Brain Lateralization Test Results
Right Brain (52%) The right hemisphere is the visual, figurative, artistic, and intuitive side of the brain.
Left Brain (56%) The left hemisphere is the logical, articulate, assertive, and practical side of the brain
Are You Right or Left Brained?
personality tests by similarminds.com


Left brain dominant individuals are more orderly, literal, articulate, and to the point. They are good at understanding directions and anything that is explicit and logical. They can have trouble comprehending emotions and abstract concepts, they can feel lost when things are not clear, doubting anything that is not stated and proven.

Right brain dominant individuals are more visual and intuitive. They are better at summarizing multiple points, picking up on what's not said, visualizing things, and making things up. They can lack attention to detail, directness, organization, and the ability to explain their ideas verbally, leaving them unable to communicate effectively.

Overall you appear to have fairly Equal Hemispheres (emphases mine)

-----------------------------------------

According to Darwinian theory, optimal evolution takes place with random variation and selective retention. The evolution savvy individual will try many different approaches when faced with a problem and select the best of those approaches. Many historical intellectuals have confessed their advantage was simply considering/exploring/trying more approaches than others. The left brain dominant type suffers from limited approaches, narrow-mindedness. The right brain dominant type suffers from too many approaches, scatterbrained. To maintain balanced hemispheres, you need to exercise both variability and selection. Just as a company will have more chance of finding a great candidate by increasing their applicant pool, an individual who considers a wider set of options is more likely to make quality decisions.

So, there you have it. And don't worry that I seem to have 108% ... they say the test doesn't necessarily add up to 100%. I always have been a bit of an over-achiever. ;^)

Some Quick Book Reviews with Abi

I've been meaning to wrap up the Pentecost with Abi series somehow and I think the focus came to me this morning. Let's back up and review what I've been reading lately.

Finishing up with Scot McKnight's book, 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed, left me grateful that he made this a separate book. His editor's sense was right on when she said this material should be its own book. This means that we have an opportunity to have folks read through The Jesus Creed in order to get it ... and then another opportunity for them to walk through its application. Well done, indeed.

I am three quarters of the way through Scot's Praying with the Church, and really appreciate the bridge that he has built for us "low church" folks to reconnect with the rest of the Body of Christ. If we are to recognize that the church is about appreciating cultural diversity and seeing how God is at work in all cultures, we have to at least start by embracing the devotional and formational richness represented in the ancient practices of prayer in the Church. If you're interested in this whole arena, I can't think of a better place to start than with Scot's easy to read and understand book.

And let me just say that I'm really gaining a tremendous appreciation for the way Scot writes. He writes in a natural way that belies the tremendous scholar that he is. This makes his books so much more approachable for the masses. Thanks, Scot!

I'm just a few chapters into Scot's The Real Mary, but I do have to back up and share the interesting context I have for this particular read.

I just finished Anne Rice's first novel in her Christ the Lord series: Out of Egypt. (You may recall that I read the second novel, The Road to Cana, first.) And even though Anne has Jesus telling the story in first person, it is impossible to miss that a great deal of these stories are about Mary. And how could they not be about Mary? Without Mary, there would not be this Jesus! (I tell my children this every once in a while about themselves, usually when they're not very happy with me: without their mother, there would be no THEM!)

There is no more formative influence in the life of a child than their mother. Fathers and grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and friends and teachers are all very important, yes. But godly mothers have the chance to become the anchor in the souls of their children -- until they are old enough to realize that the God that anchor's their mother's soul is the true anchor for their lives ... as the old hymn says: "...an anchor in the time of storm."

Back to Scot's book ... I am seeing that God chose Mary of Nazareth -- not just as a "borrowed womb" for Jesus, but as that anchoring influence for his one and only Son. Do we think this was done haphazardly?

Hardly!

Please read both of Anne's novels about Jesus' early years and his familial and cultural environment. Then go back and read the Gospels again. Gain some appreciation for the immense research that has gone into these books and, like me, look forward to the next book in the series!

And while you're at it, pick up Scot's The Real Mary and be ready to be challenged to believe in the power and love and mercy of our God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength -- and so answer the call of Christ to spread this very subversive Good News!

My anchor holds -- it's gripping the Solid Rock: Jesus!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Let's allow God to speak through the Body of Christ.

Please, friends, take a moment (about 20 minutes or so) to hear this interview between Rose Swetman and Rob Bell about women's issues...led by a quote from Eugene Cho about how women need to be free to do whatever it is God asks them to do.

Rose speaks about how she dislikes "women's initiatives" which involve only women -- because they "ghettoize" women. And the church needs to be about bringing men and women together to serve. Don't have "token" people make the church about "equal opportunity" rather than an open expression of the vast diversity God has created and blessed and given to each other as the Body of Christ.

At around 9 minutes into the talk, we get to the quote from Rob Bell that Jonathan Brink drew out which brought this to my attention: “Women can teach the children. Okay so let me get this straight. When people are the most susceptible, moldible and gullible…Let the women at them. But as soon as they can actually discern and resist....”

This was the exact conversation I had with the church elders when I was 17 years old and was told I could not lead a high school Bible study because there would be boys older than 13 attending. What a de ja vu moment....

The challenge for men and women who are trying to remove from the church the very barriers Christ has already removed, is one of timing. God leads his people according to their readiness to follow. That readiness is something that we have not been very good about discerning. If we do not move at the right time with the right circumstances and the right people, disaster can result. We must learn the discernment required in order to properly pick our battles -- because having our pearls trampled by swine does not serve the Kingdom. We must follow the lead of the Spirit to where and with whom and how we are to serve.

There is a time to wait patiently. There is also a time to say "No more waiting. We move forward now!" But this time must be chosen by the Spirit.

Friends, please allow that there are a variety of circumstances in the church in which the Spirit is at work. What is the right time and place and action for one group may just not be appropriate for another. The prophets of God were deemed authentic by whether they spoke the words of God ... not whether they were popular. Sometimes their words were received and God's will was done. Other times their words were rejected and God had to fall back and regroup. But the point was that the prophet was obedient to God, not whether the people responded appropriately. This is so challenging....

The Holy Spirit has brought all those who name Jesus as Lord into a dynamic relationship called the Body of Christ. It is time that we allow the Spirit to actually connect all the bones and ligaments and muscles and nerves and blood vessels and the other millions of cells so that we all are able to do our part in The Great Dance.

...and I will get to my stuff on perichoresis ... please be patient! ;^)

Waiting on Papa's time and Sarayu's power while following Jesus.

Some thoughts on Fire....

A comment from an old thread on Alan Hirsch's blog, The Forgotten Ways, popped into my e-mail this morning. I wanted to refresh my memory about the original post, so I followed the link back to last Thanksgiving ... when my blog was just a few weeks old ... and found that the things talked about back then seemed to be very appropriate to revisit today.

So, I would like to suggest that you take a few moments to read Alan's post on Fire or Fire and also read through the comments -- where you will find a few thoughts from the Abbess -- and ponder the opportunities that are presented to us out of the fires of life. Possibilities for the Spirit to help us learn or forgive or risk or mature ... all components in the process that we know as sanctification: becoming like Christ.

Fire seems to be a very purple thing, indeed.

Letting Papa help manage the fires.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Pain, Evil and a Loving God's Restraint

It has been a day when I have indulged in posting on other's blogs more than I have of late. After having finished Scot's simple yet totally remarkable "40 Days Living the Jesus Creed" this morning, I wandered over to catch up at JesusCreed.com.

RJS has been doing a series called "Our Reasonable Faith" and today's Third Post tackled the problem of pain and evil and a loving God. It is an important conversation [I urge you to read the post as well as the comments] and I joined in at comment #51 with the following very purple thoughts:

Wow…what a thread. Too much to read and process properly, but I have a few coins to toss into the well here.

First of all, Peck’s “People of the Lie” is an interesting look into human evil, consistent with what mariam and Diane have shared.

Secondly, I have been wondering what you meant, Bob #6, when you said: “And the whisperer is trying to establish a foothold at JesusCreed.” I’m hoping that you are not saying that we cannot have a conversation with lots of random thoughts about this most disturbing phenenomon. I hope you have continued reading the comments … this is a very thoughtful thread.

There has been a tremendous amount of transparency in what has been shared, and I know that many of us have lain on the floor and groaned, like doperdeck, over why our precious children and loved ones must suffer so intensely. Sigh…. It is, indeed a mystery.

Finally, Phil #18, you said this: “In some ways I’m tempted to suggest that maybe God’s love or power is limited in some way. But I really don’t know. . . And honestly, it bothers me.”

The story of Job is an important one for this discussion. It contains many mysteries about “why” that we should try to learn from. If God wanted to answer these very questions, would not this have been the place? Yet we see that Job was righteous, that God was confident of his loyalty, that Job was able to voice his grief to God in a very rigorous manner … and God honors his relationship with Job by actually showed up. After helping Job realize that he doesn’t really understand what is involved in being God … Job realizes that he asked a question that cannot be answered. Not because God is unwilling to explain, but because [he is] unable to understand. And so we are called to trust God.

This is part of how God is limited — not in his ability to be and do, but in our ability to receive and understand. God has to restrain himself (a term I prefer to limited, actually) in order to enter into relationship with us. His greatest example of this kind of self-restraint is in the Incarnation.

Others have spoken of a God who does not interfere in our circumstances to change outcomes unless it particularly serves a purpose of his that is beyond our scrutiny. Many times in many places around the world, we see the power of God released for healing and wholeness … and many times we are left to endure the agony and groaning. [And we must join with Job: the Lord gives and the Lord takes away -- blessed be the name of the Lord.]

But the bottom line must be one of faith in the steadfast love of God for his Eikons — and trust that he walks with us, whether it be in the valley of the shadow of death or on the mountain tops with amazing vistas, or the plains where things just are, well, normal. Because he is actively at work in us and in his world bring about renewal and reconciliation and restoration according to his loving will and our readiness to receive and participate in his Mission.

…and so I have learned to be content, regardless of my circumstance. And sometimes the face of contentment is awash in tears and questions of how and when, but no longer why.

Grateful for Papa's Restraint

Trust is Earned, not Compelled

The Abbess processed some interesting stuff over at Len's blog NextReformation ... and decided to bring the comment back here. Please do read the entire post, as well as the comments, so that you have the context for what I had to say.

Len,

I had to let this one sit for a while ... it is way too close to my reality. I find it very interesting (God has such a tremendous sense of humor) that I took a 20 year path to reach ordination and, finally, paid pastoral ministry at a large church (2,000 ish), only to leave after five years and receive the vision for CovenantClusters and meet up with Alan Hirsch and Neil Cole and you and so many others ... and, basically, totally walk away from that paradigm. What a trip!

Nathan,

FWIW (which may be not much because you don't know me!), when you said:

"The fact of the matter is that, in general, those of us with a theological education actually do know more than the average Christian and we have a responsibility to serve the Church with it. I don’t get why people resent this and feel like this is elitist."

It struck right where I'm processing with the church where I was on staff. The problem of trust is not when someone is educated to a higher level, but more when the perception thrives that only those with such education have something to teach. And it gets even worse when those with much knowledge do not have much evidence of fruit in their lives that shows the diligent application of their knowledge.

...not to say that this is your personal situation, now!!!!

I believe that when we do not actively LISTEN and find a way to value EVERY VOICE for its perspective and contribution, then we lose truth and trust.

And when you compare expert knowledge of theology with doctors and mechanics and realtors there is something of a disconnect. This is because the very Spirit of God comes to dwell in the hearts of all those who name Christ as Lord and teaches them what it means to grow toward being like Christ. The life of a Christ-follower is essentially simple obedience to the call to love God and love others. One does not HAVE to have all the specific theological knowledge available to be obedient to love in one's circumstances.

The incredible intricacies of being a doctor or mechanic or realtor have less "competition", as it were. Although, my role as Doctor Mom sometimes rises up against the "knowledge" of doctors ... and my experience of what my car is supposed to sound or feel like sometimes rises up against the "knowledge" of mechanics. And when the doctors and mechanics do not listen to me with respect in order to gain understanding into my situation, they will be less effective in serving me and meeting my needs ... and it may cost me more money and suffering than necessary.

Any expert on anything that attempts to assume or compel trust by reason of their superior knowledge or experience or whatever will be disappointed when they are not followed ... been there, done that!

The key to your statement is in the serving of the Body of Christ, in order to equip them mature in Christ and to embrace the call to do the work of ministry. Too often the expert knowledge of church leaders leads to immaturity and dependence of the people -- that effectively inoculates them from sensing the need to step up to offer their gifts for the edification of the Body.

My experience has been that the most brilliant of the learned theologians are only truly effective as teachers and leaders through their incredible humility and transparent humanity and generous availability -- so much so that it is virtually impossible to perceive them as elitist.

In the 3rd chapter of James, he warns: "Don't be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified." (The Message) He goes on to end the chapter contrasting knowledge with wisdom ... and we all know that head knowledge doesn't always translate to practical wisdom ... and the paradox still exists that God is in the habit of using the simple to confound the wise.

Sorry for the length! But this is exactly where I'm swimming -- and the waters are shark infested! ;^)


Trusting Papa

Monday, May 5, 2008

How did it get to be May 5th?

The Abbess is having a bit of a time-warp problem ... sigh. :^(

Part of the problem is that I was gone to Seattle for the Washington State PTA Convention from May 1-3, so I was not in my "normal" routine ... and April disappeared while I was distracted.

For those of you who don't know, The Abbess is the current President of her son's middle school PTSA ... and will be co-President next year as well. Convention is an important time for refocusing vision as well as taking advantage of educational and inspirational opportunities -- as well as conducting the business of the organization at this annual business meeting.

I am grateful for this educational process because it helps me understand how non-profit organizations are to be run ... and gives me tremendous insight into how most churches could benefit from intentional training of their executive officers. But not going to go any further into that territory today.

I am processing lots of the things I learned at convention, but especially two:

  1. Vision that is not clear enough does not result in tangible goals that energize the local community. I am pondering how I might be able to cast a vision for our PTSA that will help explain what we are really about and, thereby, encourage greater membership as well as greater involvement. PTSA is really more than fundraising for projects....
  2. The featured guest speaker was Darrell Scot, father of Rachel Joy Scot -- the first victim at the Columbine High School massacre. It was the first in-depth look I had at the work that he and the rest of the family have undertaken in the wake of Rachel's death -- and her amazing and unusual life. She wanted to start a chain reaction of kindness ... and she did! Rachel's Challenge is a program that has been implemented across the country to help schools foster an environment of kindness where there is no opportunity for bullies to terrorize because everyone looks out for each other ... a chain reaction of kindness. I urge you to follow the link if you don't know about Rachel's Challenge, or just want to know more.
I'm sure I'll have more to say about both of these as the days pass ... but I wanted to at least check in and let you know what I'm up to!

And ... I was honored to have links to my little Parable of the Jesus Creeders show up in Sunday Revival at Kingdom Grace as well as Brother Maynard's Random Acts of Linkage #59.

And ... while I'm thinking about links, this one from Scot McKnight's Weekly Meanderings made my day: Top 10 things you should know before arguing about Intelligent Design. I knew that there was someone out there who understood my position between the extremes on this topic!

Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone!