The Olympics and Resurrection

The Olympics are a big deal in our household.  Our family has been excited about the 2012 summer games in London.  We will watch what we can and record what we know we will miss so we can watch it later on.  Mikayla and Bayley get in on the fun too.  It probably doesn’t surprise any of you that they’re favorite competition is women’s gymnastics.

Here are several reasons I like watching the Olympics:

1. I am amazed at the athletic ability of the individuals: just try to do one turn on the Pommel horse or swim 100 meters (any stroke) and you’ll be amazed too!  

2. I think about the time, effort, commitment, fortitude and determination the athletes put into training for the Olympics and I am just blown away. We get to see the culmination of all of that training. For the athletes, this is their moment and we get to root them on.

3. The motivation: They are not competing for money, they are doing it to represent their country by seeing how they stack up against the best in the world.

4. It’s so much fun to root for US athletes, not just for a particular team (like the Carolina Panthers). There is a sense of pride when a US Olympian medals.  

5. The stories: I love hearing about the sacrifices a parent has made or the incredible obstacles that an individual has overcome to arrive on the Olympic stage.

One of the coolest stories in this year’s Olympics is out South Africa about a runner named Oscar Pistorius.  He was originally ban from the 2008 summer Olympics by the International Association of Athletics Federations.  He wasn’t ban because of drugs or cheating, he was ban because he’s a double amputee and runs on prosthetic legs. 

This was deemed an unfair advantage by the IAAF and he was banned from competing.  However, in May of 2008 the Court of Arbitration for Sport reversed the ruling allowing Pistorius the opportunity to compete.  He failed to make the South African Olympic team in 2008 and vowed to train hard and make the team in 2012.  He succeeded in his quest and will be competing in the individual 400 meters and the 4x400-meter relay.  Did I mention he doesn’t have legs?

Its stories like this that impress, inspire and move me.  These kinds of stories remind me that the resurrection didn’t just happen, it happens.  Yes, even in athletics I see the resurrection power at work.  Some people will claim that these individual accomplishments are simply the power of the human spirit at work.  I don’t buy it… and even if I did I would ask “who gave us that human spirit?”  I choose to believe that it’s the work of God because of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.  A man without legs competing against the top runners in the world could not happen if not for God’s involvement in our world. 

It’s not by accident that the writer of Hebrews penned these words in the first verse of chapter 12: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” 

If the Olympic Games aren’t a great example of the rewards of perseverance then I don’t know what is.  God is at work everywhere…we just have to be willing to pay attention.  I hope you will join in me in thinking about resurrection and perseverance and faithfully running the race of life as you watch the 2012 summer Olympics.

Carolina Cross Connection 2012

Last week I attended Carolina Cross Connection.  I attended last year as well and had a great time. 

Before leaving this year I was nervous.  I was worried about a getting a project that we couldn't complete or one that I didn't have the expertise to do well.  I had some reservations about going and not really want to go. 

However, I'm so glad I did go.  It was a week all about serving others and spending time with fellow Christians in an environment conducive to growing close to God.

It was a much different experience than last year.  I remember being stressed last year about building a wheelchair ramp, painting a really high area and cleaning out the basement of a house with awful mold and dead rats.  I guess that's why I was nervous before the trip this year.

The projects given to my work team this year were much simpler.  We painted two days, did yard work two days and built two small step down ramps in one day. 

The staff was passionate, fun, enthusiastic and all about the youth having fun and growing in their faith. 

It was a great week of work, worship and fun!  I would recommend a CCC trip to anyone!

Honey Bees and the Church

I have a new appreciation for honey bees and honey.  I don't know quite when it happened, but it happened.  Because of this new found appreciation I used honey bees as an illustration of how the church should function in the sermon last Sunday.  I have discovered that honey bees are fascinating creatures.  I'm so glad God made them!

Here are some fun facts for you:

-The honey bee is the only insect that produces food eaten by man.

-Honey is the only food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life, including enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and water; and it's the only food that contains "pinocembrin", an antioxidant associated with improved brain functioning.

-Worker honey bees are female, live for about 6 weeks and do all the work. 

-The average worker bee produces about 1/12th teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.

While those facts may relate to the church, the reason I thought about honey bees when I thought about the church is because each bee has a role to play in the hive.  Each bee has a purpose and if each bee does not fulfill it's purpose, then the hive is at risk of dying.

Here's the various roles of each honey bee:

-The queen lays eggs.

-The drones are the males, they eat and mate, that’s it.

-The worker bees are females…when they are young they keep the hive clean, they tend to the queen bee, they make the comb, they keep the hive cool and they guard the hive. When they get older, they become foragers and gather nectar, pollen, water and a special materials to construct the hive. Worker bees will even remove carcasses from the hive.

For the hive to exist, each bee has to do it’s job. It has to fulfill it’s purpose.

It reminds me of what Paul wrote in the 12th chapter of 1st Corinthians.  After using the human body as an illustration of the oneness of the church and the purpose of each individual member, in verse 27 he says "You are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it."

You matter to God.  You matter to the Church.  You are valuable and you have a purpose.  You have a mission.  For the church to be everything God wants it to be in the world you must believe this about yourself and act accordingly.

Remember the honey bee. 

The Harbinger: My Thoughts

I just finished reading Jonathan Cahn’s The Harbinger.  A church member had told me it was a must read.  Just a couple of days after she told me about it I saw a copy of the book at my parent’s house.  One of my mom’s friends told her it was her favorite book.  My mom tried to read it and said she had to put it down.  I was curious, so I picked it up and read it in a morning. 

To be fair and honest, I did not fully immerse myself in the book, I skim read it after the first couple of chapters.  I found the book highly repetitive.  It seemed to be the same thing over and over again.  I am comfortable knowing that I would have come to the same conclusions even if I had read it with an intentional focus on detail.

The book is about a man who has been visited by a prophet several times and is given seven seals that are harbingers to America.  These harbingers connect the events of the Assyrian invasion of Israel to the events of 911.  It is told through the eyes of the man who received these visits as he shares them with a reporter.    

First, I like his conclusion: I do believe God is calling “us” back to him.  However, I would expand Cahn’s use of the word “us”.  I believe God is not just calling America back to him, I believe God is calling every individual of every nation, tribe and tongue!  And I believe He is calling us every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every year for the rest of our lives. 

Second, it gets ridiculously repetitive.  Not just the story, but the dialogue.  After the 3^rd or 4^th chapter I knew I could skim read and get the message the author was trying to convey.  I cannot imagine wading through the overly redundant dialogue with a focused intention. 

Third, I do not agree with the connections made between Israel falling to the Assyrians in the prophecies of Isaiah and the events of 911.  Israel was in a suzerain treaty type of covenant with their God.  That’s why God operated the way He did: He was executing the arrangements of the covenant.  In the New Testament Jesus fulfilled the old covenant to bring about a new covenant:  a covenant of grace. 

I do not see the founding fathers of the United States of America entering into a covenant with God like that of the Isaraelites.  They couldn’t have even if they had wanted too because the new covenant is one of grace established once and for all through the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Fourth, what bothered me the most is that what Cahn does in the book.  It's eisegesis at its finest.  On the surface, the connections made between Israel (Isaiah 9:10) and the events of 911 seem amazing and more than a coincidence, however, without using good biblical hermeneutics anyone can make the Bible say anything they want it to say.  I have a really really hard time believing that the fall of Israel has anything at all to do with the tragic events of 911. 

What was written in Isaiah was for a specific time to a specific prophet with a specific audience in mind to address a specific situation.  To do what Cahn does is to neglect the original intent of the author and avoid good biblical interpretative methods. 

The easiest question I have ever had on an exam in seminary was this: what are the three most important things to consider when interpreting a text of the Bible?  There were three blanks numbered one two and three like this:

1.

2.

3.

The answer:

1.       Context

2.       Context

3.       Context

Cahn neglects the context of Isaiah and makes the text say what he wants it to say.  The reason it’s so persuasive is because Cahn breaks out some Hebrew words and meanings and demonstrates a capacity for bibilical history that the average Bible reader does not know.  The reader then gets sucked into thinking “well if he knows Hebrew and he knows Biblical history then his application must be right too.”  To be fair, my Hebrew is quite rusty, so I can’t speak to the accuracy of his use of the language.  While I do agree with the conclusion of Cahn’s application his process of getting there really bugs me as a pastor who takes serious consideration when it comes to Biblical interpretation.

Lastly, I can appreciate what Cahn is trying to accomplish with the book.  If I am right he is trying to warn America about it’s turning away from God (through greed, over consumption, selfishness, pride, etc.) and he’s trying to bring people to Christ.  However, these two noble purposes are executed with poor biblical interpretation and a redundant fictional story.

This book will probably be a bestseller because it’s about end times and America and mystery and seals and prophecies and how it is all connected.  For some reason many Christians love that kind of stuff.  I would just say “read with caution.”  People have said that this book has shaken them up and everyone needs to read it.  I didn't have that experience with this book.

However, books like Crazy Love by Francis Chan, Radical by David Platt, Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell and my next read The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Stearns are the kind of books that shake me up as a Christian. 

Also, if you really want to get educated on how to read the Bible in a way that is faithful to the original context, two books I would recommend are How to Readthe Bible for All it’s Worth and The Blue Parakeet (I haven't read this one but I trust Scot Mcknight and have heard good things about it).

Post Ordination Thoughts

People have asked me if I feel different after being ordained.  I really don't.  Maybe that will change after I preach the first time since then but up to this point I feel the same.
How I "feel" takes nothing away anything from what happened in ordination.  Like I have written and said before, "feelings are fickle, they come and they go, they can change in an instant.  Therefore, our feelings don't define us, our God does."  How I feel about it doesn't change the impact of it.

I will say it seemed to happen really fast.  Like most things in life we look forward too.  I waited and waited and waited and waited with great anticipation and then it was over in a flash.  I assumed it would be like that but it still seems like it was too quick.

I really enjoyed the celebration beforehand.  We had dinner with family and friends before the service and it was just such a neat thing to get all those people together around the same table.

One really neat thing about the service itself was how emotional the Bishop was before ordaining us.  You could tell that he didn't take it lightly.  That he didn't just consider it as part of his job or as just another responsibility he had as Bishop.  You could tell that he counted it a privilege and honor to ordain us...thank you for that Bishop Goodpaster!

It was a great weekend and I will cherish it for as long as I live.

Ordination

I am finally getting ordained!  This Saturday at the Western North Carolina Annual Conference (a several day gethering of UM pastors and lay people) I will be ordained as a United Methodist Pastor. 

Some of you may ask: aren't you already ordained?  The official answer is "no," my answer is "sort of."  Up to this point I have been commissioned.  In my own words, that means I have been in the process of getting ordained...on Saturday that process will come to completion. 

The bishop will ask us the historic Wesleyan questions on Wednesday.  These are questions that have been asked of United Methodist pastors entering ordination for a long time.  For your curiosity, here are the questions we will be asked:

1. Have you faith in Christ?
2. Are you going on to perfection?
3. Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life?
4. Are you earnestly striving after it?
5. Are you resolved to devote yourself wholly to God and his work?
6. Do you know the General Rules of our Church?
7. Will you keep them?
8. Have you studied the doctrines of The United Methodist Church?
9. After full examination, do you believe that our doctrines are in harmony with the Holy Scriptures?
10. Will you preach and maintain them?
11. Have you studied our form of Church discipline and polity?
12. Do you approve our Church government and polity?
13. Will you support and maintain them?
14. Will you diligently instruct the children in every place?
15. Will you visit from house to house?
16. Will you recommend fasting or abstinence, both by precept and example?
17. Are you determined to employ all your time in the work of God?
18. Are you in debt so as to embarrass you in your work?
19. Will you observe the following directions? a) Be diligent. Never be unemployed. Never be triflingly employed. Never trifle away time; neither spend any more time at any one place than is strictly necessary. b) Be punctual. Do everything exactly at the time. And do not mend our rules, but keep them; not for wrath, but for conscience’ sake.

Then on Saturday there will be a worship service where the bishop will lay hands on each of us individually and speak words of encouragement and calling and authority.  For those of you curious, it will look something like this:

Externally nothing changes.  I will still be pastoring the same church.  I will still be Pastor Rich or Reverend Tuttle.  I will have the same salary.  I will be under the same accountability that I have been under.  I don't think people will treat me differently.  So what will be different?

I mentioned one time to another pastor that nothing will change when I am ordained.  The pastor said "yes it does."  I said "what?"  And the pastor said "there's an anointing that comes."  I said "I will accept that."

I'm not saying that a person has to be ordained to be anointed, that's something God does.  However, I do believe that God can use ordination to bring a new anointing and I definitely want that!

One thing's for sure: it has been a long and at times frustrating process.  It has taken a total of six years to get to this point and that's after acquiring an M.Div. degree.  It took failing (I don't care that they call it a "deferral" because at the time it felt like "failing") two committees of the Board of Ordained Ministry and feeling manipulated during one of the interviews.  It took hours and hours and pages and pages of answering theological questions and discussing my calling and experiences I have had in ministry.  Of course through the process I have grown and gained valuable experience.  I can see the benefits of having the process the Methodist Church has on the way too ordination.  I didn't always like it but I can see the value in it. 

It will be nice to finally experience the "fruit of my labor" on Saturday! 

Funeral Thoughts

In the last three weeks I have officiated three funerals.  I believe there is such a thing as a good funeral.  A good funeral should: 1. honor the person who died and 2. be a worship service to God. 

There are some basic do's and don'ts for a pastor when preparing and officiating a funeral.  Here are a few that I have learned over the years.

Do:

Visit the family before the service.  There are three things you want to accomplish by doing this.

1.  Be a comforting presence - as the pastor you represent God to this family.  There's probably more things to avoid saying than there are things you should say (scroll down for some examples what not to say in the Don't section). 
 
2. Get to know the loved one who passed - ask about funny stories, favorite memories, what kind of father/mother/brother/sister/son/daughter/friend were they, what did they love, what did they hate, did they have any hobbies, did they have any favorite bible verses, hymns, songs, bands?  All these things make preparing the eulogy so much easier and helps you honor his/her memory.  Take good notes during this time!

3. Start planning the service - Ask the family about songs, scriptures and people they may want to ask to share about the person's life.  Ask them about former pastors that may want to come and share memories.   

Don't:

Offer glib cliches that are well intended yet highly unhelpful in the midst of grief.  This is the time when if you don't know what to say, it's better to say nothing.  Just let them know you care about them and are there for them.

Some cliches to avoid:
- Don't worry they are in a better place
- You are so fortunate to have other children
- God must have wanted another flower for his garden/angel for his heaven
- Death is a part of life
- You shouldn't grieve like an unbeliever
- It's great that your mom/dad died before you did

Do:

For the service and eulogy...even if you didn't know the person, pretend you did.

- Be honest about how you met and what you knew and didn't know about the person, but don't blatantly share that you didn't know them well...you lose some credibility if you do that.

- If you took good notes when visiting the family they will assume you knew the person well by what you share.

Don't:

Talk too much about what heaven is like...either when visting the family or in the eulogy...stick to what we do know from the Bible. 

- We know that even though the loved one was a good person, their goodness does not get them into heaven, forgiveness found in Jesus Christ does.

- We know that Christians are given new, imperishable, resurrected bodies...this is really good to talk about in contrast to any illnesses/infirmities/difficult struggles the person may had...they are free from those now!

- We know that at some point God is going to make all things new.  Talking about the new heavens and new earth are much more biblically sound than all the associations that come with talking about just "heaven."

- We know that God promises to comfort those who mourn.

Don't:

Use the eulogy to preach a person into or out of heaven or hell.

- Lets face it, it's easier to do a service and eulogy for someone we know professed faith in Jesus Christ, however, if we didn't know their faith, it's not our place to play judge.

- In the instance of someone who the family thinks was not a believer, I lean on the truth that God has more grace than we give him credit for and we never know whether or not a person gave their lives to Christ at the last second...even if just in their own minds. 

- Either way, a good eulogy should be mostly about the persons life not on where they ended up. 

Do:

Give the family and friends permission to grieve.

- Saying something like "grief is normal and necessary and it's by going through grief that we can find healing" can give families assurance that they aren't alone and that their emotions are normal.

- We live in a culture that is uncomfortable with tears.  People may be slow to tell stories about the person who passed to the family for fear that they will cause the person to cry.  Telling those stories is a good thing.  Sharing the memories is an essential part of honoring the person and bringing healing to the family.

Don't:

Don't be scared to share appropriate humorous stories and memories of the loved one.

- It's okay for people to laugh about a funny story or memory during the eulogy.  The family and those gathered will appreciate it.

- Avoid sharing a story if the family specifically asked you not to share it.

- If it's something that could paint the person negatively, try to spin it with humor.  If it was true of the person people will know and laugh with you if you laugh.  For example, if a person has a lot of quips and idiosyncrosies you can share how unique they were.  I once shared about a person that had a "quiet stubbornness" and talked about how that was both a great strength (she had convictions) and at times a weakness (wasn't always willing to give into others suggestions).

- One time I visited a lady and she was asleep.  I sat there a minute to see if she would wake up and apparently she woke up and I was asleep.  At her funeral eulogy I shared the story and said that she was the only person in the church besides my wife that could say she had slept with the preacher.  People laughed.  I had gotten permission from the family to tell that first. 

Do:

Bring an item that represents the person if you can find something appropriate and relevant.

- I have:
1. brought and shown and talked about a persons favorite candy
2. brought and shown and talked about a rock for someone who loved rocks
3. brouth a pepsi for someone who loved pepsi
4. brought and shown and talked about a cookie for someone who loved cookies
5. worn gardening gloves for someone who loved to garden
6. seen a pastor wear overalls under his coat and taken off the coat as a surprise to honor the one who passed
7. seen someone bring golf clubs and swung one for someone who loved golf

- If there was something they loved using it as a prop is a great way to begin a eulogy.

Do:

Find a scripture for the eulogy that fits the person well.  For a eulogy it's okay to take some appropriate creative licensing with scripture.  You don't want to take the verses out of context but at the same time you don't have to teach the scripture either.  I usually keept the background info very basic and simple to speed up the movement into how the verses fit the persons life.   

- Today I used Matthew 25:19-23 to talk about man who had went on over 26 mission trips.  He was a man willing and glad to serve the kingdom of God.  I'm sure he heard God say those words "well done good and faithful servant."

- 2 Timothy 4:6-8 is a good one for someone who is older, had a "good" death and had a strong faith.  It's easy to think of ways that the person either "fought the good fight" or "kept the faith."  You can say "And now they have finished the race of life well and are experiencing the eternal joy of their salvation" or something along those lines.

- Joshua 1:5-9 is excellent for someone who had strength and courage in the midst of difficult times.

- I have used Numbers 6:22-27 (focusing on verse 27) for a man who had "put his name" on his family.  In so many ways his legacy was known through his family.


These are just a few Do's and Dont's, I'm sure there's others I'm not thinking of.  If you think of anymore please share them in the comments.