Living in the tension

     For the past couple of weeks I have been sharing with my friends at The Harbor Community Church that following Christ is like living between the tension, on one hand, of God's Truth and Justice, and on the other hand, his Grace and Mercy.

     When I was a kid I used to love to play on the train tracks near our church (I really hope my mother doesn't see this post!).  I learned that if you squat down between the tracks and look as far towards the horizon as you could, those two parallel tracks seemed to meet on the horizon.  OK! I know that two parallel train tracks will never meet, even at the horizon. And I know that there really is no such thing as a point on the horizon.  However, the idea still makes sense when you focus on the big picture - there are some things about God that seem to be running side by side but will never seem to come together.

      God's justice and his mercy seem to be aspects of his character that never come together. Yet, Christ said of himself, "When you've seen me, you've seen the Father", and it was said of Jesus that he was full of "grace and truth". So is it possible that the justice and truth of God do actually meet and intersect with his mercy and grace - YES.  They meet in the person and work of Christ who came to show us the Father.  Whenever I struggle with the Truth of God as it confronts some screwy aspect of my flawed character I am thankful for the Grace and Mercy of God that holds me to him at the same time.

     It is the living in the tension between that gives life reality.  Following Jesus is never simple, and it is far more than just about getting my fanny into heaven rather than hell.  It is all about the tension. The tension of the now and the not yet, the come as you are, and the don't stay that way. The tension of knowing Christ intimately and then realizing you really know so very little - all at the same time.

     I love my family at THCC! I love them for their honesty. I love them for their desire to know God and make him known. I love them for desiring to meet people where they are and lovingly, humbly, by God's grace. helping them not stay that way. May God increase your tribe.

Happy Mother's Day?!

      In all honesty I have to admit that holidays like Mother's Day and Father's Day are holidays that I have approached with angst as a pastor. Most churches I have pastored have acknowledged these holidays in some way or another.  Mother's day was always the diciest because of the way we acknowledged those in attendance.  First, we would recognize the youngest mom which on many occasions was a teenage, unmarried young lady - that was certainly scandalous in rural Oklahoma. Second, we acknowledged the oldest mom present which meant we were asking ladies who typically did not want to even be asked their age to stand up in front of all their peers and celebrate that they were older than everyone else - this made me sick to my stomach most of the time.  And, thirdly we recognized the woman who had given birth the most number of times. Man this was fraught with all kinds of danger.

     So, we recognized youth in relationship to birth, we recognized age, and then we recognized fertility!  Kind of weird, wouldn't you say? Given all the family means and all that it may not mean for some, perhaps we should recognize Mother's Day and Father's Day differently.

     Today, in worship we welcomed our friends by recognizing that it was Mother's Day but then, during our prayer time, we invited people to a time of prayer.  Prayer of thanksgiving for a mom who loved them and cared for them.  Prayer for those for whom mom is a painful word. Prayer for those whose womb has never been able to bring life into this world. And prayer for those for whom this day is a reminder that someone is not with them today.

     Mother's Day and Father's Day for Pam and I have been  holidays that remind us of the physical distance between us and our parents.  And now standing on the verge of being empty nesters we were both feeling somewhat down as we approached Mother's Day. So, instead of just feeling sorry for ourselves, we decided to invite a friend to lunch with us today.  Our friend is a mom who recently lost her husband and has been a model of struggling towards maturity through pain.  While at worship, Pam was approached by a new friend who shared with her that his mother passed away recently and this was his first Mother's Day without her, so Pam invited him to lunch with us as well.

     So there we were, two middle aged empty nesters missing their moms, a widow, and a young man who lost his mom too soon.  We had to introduce our friends to each other at lunch! We ate, we shared, we got to know one another better, we ate some more, and we learned a great deal about how God holds us together through loss and pain.

     At the end of the day Pam and me had one of the best Mother's Days we have had in a long time. And all of this was made possible by a great God who brought us all together through the fellowship of The Harbor.  All I can say to that is a humble, "Wow!"



Have a Happy Mother's Day wherever you are and going through whatever you are facing.

Ron

A Stranger in a Strange Land

I had the privilege today to be a part of THCC's first Blessing of the Bikes.  I freely admit I am not a biker, nor do I look like a biker, and neither do I speak biker. Needless to say I was in way over my head. So I had some options in front of me. One, I could have said this is not for me, after all I am not a biker so it would be something foreign to me. Two, I could have opposed the idea altogether. That seems to be something we have a tendency to do with things we do not understand and cannot relate to. Three, I could have acted the part. I could have rented a bike, borrowed a doo-rag, got a tattoo, not shaved all week, etc, etc. Or, I could have stumbled along trying to emulate Paul's admonition to become all thing to all people and try to learn, to bless and be blessed.

The opportunity was a great chance to intersect with many friends who love bikes and riding. I may start going on rides with them - from the comfort of our mini-van! At the conclusion of the afternoon a young man I do not know who came all the way from St. Clair asked me if I would bless his bike. No, stop reading and go back and read that sentence again. Yep, he came all the way from St. Clair to Barnhart to have his bike blessed. He asked me to pray for him! Do you get that! No, really think about it for a minute! Yep, you got it!

While I may have felt a bit awkward I did have a wonderful time.  It was cool to witness the three really really non-bikers in our fellowship (Bill Smith, David Crosby and myself) walking among the bikers, pausing and praying with them. I t was great to meet some new folks and see some folks I've know for awhile in their own comfort zone.

This was an example of our fellowship trying to be a part of our culture rather than asking our culture to adapt to us. It was an opportunity to fellowship together in our new location and it seemed that things went off without a hitch. And it was a great time to make some noise as the bikers tried to out do one another with their 'pipes' and This Side Up got to play loud - oh OK really loud!

I am constantly amazed at this journey called faith. It has been a long strange trip but it has been one that has taken my breath away, put tears in my eyes and made me smile all at the same time it seems.  I am blessed to travel this journey with some quirky strangers in a strange land. 

By the way, I am now the proud owner of my very own biker vest, little bell thingy, and a doo-rag. No, their are no pictures and if I have anything to do with there will not be any.  Thanks to all of those who made this event such a great opportunity. You know who you are and I love you deeply.

Along for the ride

Ron

Ok, Who Stepped In It?!

Nah, it's not what you're thinking at all!  The last few weeks have been an incredible odyssey of various kinds of work to get our new meeting location ready for The Harbor Community Church. We've torn walls down, built new walls, re-wired an old, underpowered and overloaded electrical system, repaired the roof, patched drywall, finished drywall, and most recently painted.

While painting today, one of our compadres was applying a floor leveling compound in some areas where, well the floor was not level - duh?!  We all watched Kevin put the material on the floor, the color of the compound - white contrasted with the beige color floor, and yet an assortment of us kept stepping in the wet flooring compound - yours truly included.  Instead of getting angry or criticizing the stepper for not paying better attention to where he/she was going, Kevin just patiently fixed the mess. We all ended up with a good laugh with each other in the midst of trying to getting the task finished.

When a fellowship is built on honesty, trust, and compassion for each other's weaknesses the little things remain just that - little. You can laugh at honest missteps (literally) and see yourself in the 'offending' persons shoes and learn not to take things so horribly serious.

I have said for many years we need to make sure we take God very serious and ourselves not nearly so . I am thankful for a ragtag bunch of people known as The Harbor Community Church.  Thanks for keeping it real and messy!

Where Your Treasure is their Your Heart Will Be....

First, let me say that I am a big Albert Pujols fan.  I admire how hard the man works to be the best baseball player since maybe Stan Musial.  I also, admire is public expression of his faith not just with his words and his gestures to heaven when he gets a hit, but the work he does through his foundation to make a real difference in lives in our communities.

Second, let me say that I am an even bigger St. Louis Cardinals fan.  Growing up in OK I used to sneak my little transistor  radio (for those of you from the MP3 world, it was a little radio with an antenna and dials..... uh never mind, you'd never understand) in bed with me so I could listen to the Cards game after it was time for me to go to bed.  One of the great blessings of moving to St. Louis is being able to attend Cards games at both old (hand over my heart) and new Busch stadium.

Now, on to my point here. I think Mr. Pujols stands at a real crossroads in his own life and as an ambassador for Christ.  Is it more important to having the largest financial contract in the history of baseball or is it more important to be known for being a person of character above the fray, or is it possible to do both at the same time.  Currently Mr. Pujols earns $14,000,000.00 per year.  That makes him one of the top ten earning baseball players in MLB.  Also, it makes him one of the highest earning workers in all of STL.  Keep in mind the average teacher earns somewhere around $40,000.00 per year.  I don't think Mr. Pujols can argue this is about putting a roof over his children's head and money in the bank for those same kids college fund.  If he invests even modestly he will live a long and very comfortable life.  Don't forget MLB players receive health insurance for life and a nice pension from the league on top of their salaries.

Mr. Pujols has the opportunity to demonstrate that life is more than money or being first in some obscene category like who makes the most money. He can demonstrate that his heart belongs to a God who supplies all our needs and continue to be a great example of Christian character and charity.  I am not saying he shouldn't try to get all the compensation he can, but in the process he runs the risk of becoming just another high priced bat whom we as fans applaud but do not respect or care about.

I thought it ironic that Mr. Stanley Musial received the Medal of Honor on the same day the news was all lathered up about Mr. Pujols stalled contract negotiations.  Yes, Mr. Musial was the highest paid player in baseball in his day and he also gave back a portion of his salary when he believed he did not live up to his abilities.  That is why we call him Stan the Man and his statue is more iconic to St. Louisan's than the Arch.

I am praying for Mr. Pujols that he will be lead by God to continue being an ambassador for Christ first and a great example of what baseball is really all about.  He has entered a torturous path which could lead to the destruction of his reputation or forever place him in the category of a man with great talent who used that talent to honor his God.

We shall see!  See you at the ball park!

A Very Common Christmas

There we were, about 40 of us caroling in the neighborhoods around THCC.  It was cold but not miserable, we were crowded on the back of two trailers, but not unhappy.  In fact, it was one of the most enjoyable nights hanging out with friends I have enjoyed in many a night!

Just a bunch of people who less than a year ago didn't know each other, who didn't know what being a family in Christ meant, and who probably never ventured into each others circles.  Some of these folks are people of means, others are not.  Some have had success in life, others feel like LIFE has been a two ton dump truck that has unloaded on them. Yet, here we were together, truly fellowshiping with each other, having a blast singing carols in front of strangers homes, and spending time in a few of our friends houses who let us traipse in to warm up and drink something warm and enjoy their hospitality.

I have been together at times and in other settings with folks and have not experienced such fellowship.  In fact, I have been among much more powerful people in my day and felt completely left out.  This was not a group of 40 people broken down into 5 -6 cliques of separate people who were occupying the same space.  We were all together enjoying each other, enjoying singing familiar songs which proclaim great Truth, invading each others homes, and doing something as simply as wishing our neighbors a Merry Christmas.  And yet, it was a profound experience as successful business men fellowshiped with common laborers, as people who've been on the inside of church welcomed those who've looked in to church from a distance most of their lives.

Our plans weren't earth shatteringly innovative, we weren't a part of something elaborate and noteworthy, we were just walking the streets of our neighborhoods singing and being a family.  It was a very common thing to do. It was done in a very common way.  Yet the impact was holy.  Yeah, I said it holy!

It's been a long time since I've since true friendship, real companionship, genuine love expressed together. It seemed to be the outgrowth of a fellowship that is color blind, socially amnesic, and blessed.

To you the family of The Harbor I want to say I love you from the depths of my soul and I wish you are a very Merry Christmas!

Friends, no not the show, well sort of, maybe?

Many of us wasted many moments of our lives watching the TV show Friends.  The premise of the show was the day to day lives of a group of friends.  There wasn't much plot other than that it seemed.  Somehow, this became compelling TV for many years.

What was so compelling about this show? Superb acting? Really! Great plot lines?  They really were quite predictable were they not? The sexual tension between the friends acted out in a confusing circular process? Somebody among the writing crew was committed to pushing some perceived social envelope if you ask me.

I think the ingredient that kept us all tuning in each week was the dynamic of friendship.  Friendship is often a missing ingredient in our lives. Some of us have had just enough friendship to make is yearn for more.  Others, feel like they've been on the outside of the friendship store looking in their whole lives. If you've been blessed with real friendships no one has to tell you how blessed you genuinely are.

Last week during a trip to OK to visit family, Pam and I had the opportunity to reconnect with some of the friends of my youth.  I had not seen some of these friends since our wedding in 1982.  One of these friends played host to the gathering. The one thing I noticed when we arrived was that everyone had gotten old!  How did that happen?  Of course there was that one friend who still had all of his hair and it was still the color it was in High School and he still wreaked of Polo Cologne.

We shared a meal, talked laughed, cried a little, played amateur philosopher, but mostly we just soaked up each others presence.  These were the friends of my youth - the people who were there to watch all the awkward junk as one goes through puberty, that first girlfriend, the first really stupid choice in a line of not so bright choices. Through it all they were and are friends, while they may have brought a word of correction punctuated with the occasional, "Ronnie, what have you done now!", they were never judgmental and often risked their own reputations and security to be there for me.

 I am blessed and thankful for the friends of my youth for they taught me the value of friendship, how to be a friend and the importance of developing friends throughout my life.  Jonathon said of David, "There is a friendship that is closer than a brother."  To that I can only say, Ditto!