Glaring Omission

* Perused the "must read books" list...
* Noticed a GLARING omission...
* Fixed it!

Blessings,
PB

A Lesson from the Hacky Sac Circle.

I remember the first time I had the thought that I was getting old. It was about a decade ago. I was still the youth pastor here and I was participating in the youth convention worship service when I had this thought. "This music is awfully loud." That is when I knew that the top of the hill wasn't too far off.

Fast forward ten years or so and I am back at youth convention. This time I'm a volunteer chaperon; my son now of youth convention age. It is lunchtime, and I am sitting on a parking lot curb as some of our kids and a youth worker or two are in a circle playing an impromptu game of hacky sac, though it looks more like a game of pick the hacky sac off of the pavement again, and again, and again. It is an amusing site to behold. There are smiles, laughter and some good-natured ribbing. There is an absence of ego in this particular game since all participants share the same lack of skill.

But more is happening here than meets the eye. The relational web is expanding. Students who know each other and are polite to each other are beginning to relate to each other. In the circle there are students from the sixth to the eleventh grade. There are kids from Christian homes and kids from homes where that is not the case. Public, private and home-schooled students are represented in the hacky circle. The differences go on and on. You can't buy what is happening here with all of the world's wealth. These guys are going to take home with them a priceless gift: the memory and experience of no pressure acceptance in the hacky circle. It has been said that "All are equals at the foot of the cross," but right now the cross has taken on the shape of a circle - all are equal right here, right now. God has broke the walls that divide.

Then there's the old guy (me) sitting on the curb taking it all in, evaluating (accurately I might say) the lack of hacky skills being displayed by those in the game. I sat there quietly quoting to myself the old proverb that states, "It is better to not play hacky sac and be thought a poor hacky sac player than to play hacky sac and remove all doubt." At least that is how I remember it. I have excused myself from participation because I have no desire to feel foolish...even if it is among the foolish. So, there I sit, my reputation in the hacky sac community untarnished. But at the same time I am missing out on the community that is being built right before my eyes. You see, the sad truth is this: community is being built in this collective hacky sac dysfunction, and I am missing it.

Fast forward two days. It's Monday and as I think back on the events of this weekend I'm beginning to wonder just how many community/relationship building adventures I have missed out on because I was too proud to appear foolish...even when it was amongst the foolish.

How many of these adventures have I missed out on, have you missed out on, have we missed out on as we sat "evaluating" on the sidelines?

I honestly don't know the answer, but my prayer this: Lord, give me the grace to jump into the hacky sac circle the next time I see your cross there and please give me the courage to not fear being exposed as the fool that I am, even when I find myself in the middle of the wise. Amen

Blessings,
PB

I Hate Listening To My Own Voice!

Well, the first installment in our podcasting experiment called "The Walk" is now available (link here) and let me say that it sure is a weird thing talking to a computer screen and boy do I hate listening to my own voice.

Blessings,
PB

Boller, The O's and Giving what You've Got.

Steve McNair retired last week and for now that puts Kyle Boller back in the saddle. Pastor Jacob is calling for a 24 hour Matt Ryan prayer chain to be established. Maybe Ryan will fall to the Ravens and maybe not. But as for Boller...I like the guy, true he may not always or even frequently have the goods but he always gives you what he's got and if nothing else that is worthy of respect.

As of the writing of this post the O's are in second place only 1/2 behind Boston and 2.5 ahead of the Yankees, thanks to a two game win streak against the Yankees including Saturday's shut-out (though things are looking bad today). All of this without Miguel Tejada, who aged two years last week and Erik Bedard who is currently on Seattle's injured list for "left hip inflammation." I know that it is still very early in the season and that they still may end up losing 100 games but for now it seems that the winning strategy is to get rid of some dead superstar weight and fill the roster with some young guys who will give them what they've got.


Earlier this morning in his message "Stealing from God" (link here) Pastor quoted 2 Corinthians 9:7, "You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves a person who gives cheerfully." When it comes to tithing and giving the question is, "What's in your heart?" It's a question worth asking. So let's ask it again: What's in your heart? Let me challenge you to talk to God about that question, to ask yourself the question and if you are married don't miss the opportunity to sit down with your spouse and discuss the question. I also think that you would be wise to include pastor's statement that "10% is a good place to start" in the discussion. After that, when you get your answer, when you find out what's in your heart to give; then go ahead and give what you've got! "For God loves a person who gives cheerfully."

That, too, is a winning strategy worthy of respect.

Blessings,
PB

I Leak!

It's Wednesday morning and right now there is a man sitting on scaffolding just outside my office window. I know he's there because I can hear him scraping and when I look out my window I see his legs from knees to boots. These men have been working on our twenty-plus-year-old building for the better part of a week now, repairing the "Dryvit"; which I am told is the Stucco on our church building's exterior. They have been cleaning, painting and sealing the Dryvit and replacing its caulking; because, as it turns out; buildings that are left to themselves get leaky. So, our building is getting a little bit of "preventative maintenance." After all a leaky building is not a good thing.

All of this work reminds me that without some ongoing spiritual maintenance in my life I, too, get leaky. Unfortunately the things that I leak are the very things that I cannot afford to do without; things like: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. So, I am using the scaffolding around the building as a point of reminder that leaks are bad and that my inner-life needs to be regularly maintained. After all a leaky life is not a good thing either.

Blessings,
PB

So What Does $20,000 Mean?

This Sunday is Compassion Sunday. For us this Sunday is going to be a day of celebration and truly we have a lot to celebrate. This Sunday we celebrate the fact that as a congregation we collectively sponsor some 60 individual children throughout the world through the ministry of Compassion alone (additionally we as a congregation sponsor children through other ministries such as World Vision.) This Sunday we celebrate the fact that in just 4 months we as a congregation united successfully raised over $20,000, making it possible for us to fully fund our Sponsored CSP in Wolmera, Ethiopia. This Sunday we celebrate the coming together that has occurred in the life of Hilltop Assembly, from writing letters to our sponsored children together, to the spontaneously organized prayer meeting for the health of our pastor when he was in extreme pain in Ethiopia. We are grateful to God for the unity that He has kick started in our church through Compassions ministry. As we approach Compassion Sunday we believe that our efforts as guided and blessed by God will prove to have eternal benefit; but WE GIVE TESTIMONY to the fact that we as a congregation and as individuals have already received a blessing that is difficult to measure. All week long I have been asking myself the following question: "What do all of these sponsorships and this $20,000 mean?"

For the answer to this question watch this:



Blessings,
PB