Power of the Mind

I went to the dentist this week. I have what some would refer to as an “irrational fear” of the dentist.  I know its origin.

In high school I had a lot of dental work done.  My dentist told me I had teeth that incurred decay easily.  Like so many other things in life, dentistry has improved techniques and procedures over the last 45 years.  The Novocain used then wasn’t as effective in eliminating pain.  Consequently, a lot of my dental work was painful.  There were even times when I went in and we didn’t bother with Novocain because it wouldn’t work that well on me and it was only a “minor procedure”.

What I knew was that if you had to go to the dentist, this was the drill (Pun intended).  My dentist was a nice man, a big high school football fan, who even came to some of my games.  In spite of the pain, I didn’t mind going to the dentist.

As I have gotten older, techniques and drugs have improved the experience at the dentist.  I haven’t felt pain during a dental appointment in 30 years.  But as soon as I hear the sound of drills grinding on teeth I feel my whole body tense up anticipating that it is coming.  I have to continually remind myself to relax or my grip on the arms of the chair or I will do permanent damage.  I feel all the tension leave my body and realize how tense I have been, only to have to remind myself again a few minutes later. 

              

The mind is a powerful thing.  We are wired to avoid pain and can rid our conscience selves it, but places, buildings, foods, circumstances, or other people trigger painful memories. 

“…Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  (Romans 12:2)  What is recorded in our minds becomes an unconscious response to people, situations and circumstances.  The things we read, or watch, or participate in, have a huge hand in determining our lives.  I am reminded of the old computer phrase, “garbage in, garbage out”. 

If we put God’s word in our minds, it becomes a part of our hearts.  Our subconscious is filled with God’s perspective, attitude, and values .  We see and experience life the same way Christ does.

Maybe that’s what I’ll think about the next time I hear the dentist drill!

Pileated Woodpecker

I just ran into another old acquaintance who suffers from Pileated Woodpecker Syndrome (PWS).  You won't find this in the medical journals.  It is a "Revism".
 
Pileated woodpeckers are woodpeckers on steroids.  Rather than the normal sized woodpecker they are approximately the size of crows or larger.  They are very common in northern Michigan.  
             
One of the pines in our front yard in Traverse City began to die and soon there were tell tale signs that pileated woodpeckers were visiting.  They peck huge holes in the trees in search of fine dining.  We didn't find the jackhammer like noise of the pecking annoying.  It was actually kind of cool.  They visited regularly and pecked and pecked away at the tree.  We began to wonder how there could be anything more to dine on inside because there didn't seem to be much left of the tree.  It was slowly disintegrating before our eyes.

One Saturday we left to run our errands only to return and find that the pileated woodpecker pine had collapsed across the driveway.  I wasn't sure what I would do.  How would I move the tree?  It had been dead for so long and was so depleted by the woodpeckers it weighed next to nothing.  It was easily moved.

I was reminded of this incident when I ran into an acquaintance from my Hope College days last weekend.  He was a student when I was a Chaplain at Hope and after graduating from Hope he went to Western Seminary across the street.  Our paths crossed frequently.  Besides being part of the clergy union he shares my addiction to basketball!  I asked where he was currently serving and he said he had recently left ministry and was currently painting.  I was saddened by the news and my grief increased when he said, "I got tired of being beaten up in the church all the time.  I couldn't take it anymore."  Then he said, "You probably can take it because you've got that football mentality.  I couldn't do it any more."

I call this "Pileated Woodpecker Syndrome".  And it is common among clergy.  Statistics indicate that 1,500 pastors will quit the ministry each month!  80% of pastors feel discouraged in their work (84% of their spouses are discouraged).  70% of pastors say they do not have someone they consider a close friend.  Pastors who work 50 hours a week are 35% more likely to be fired than those who work more than 50 hours per week.

It usually isn't one big thing that leads pastors to quit the ministry.  It is usually an accumulation of constant complaining and negativity, like daily visits from a pileated woodpecker.  Eventually pastors can't take it any longer and they fall over.

I have thought a lot about my recent conversation with my friend.  I've had times of difficulty, discouragement, darkness and loneliness in ministry.  I've been criticized publicly and privately, to my face and behind my back.  Some of it has been well founded and helpful; some, not so much.  But, for me, the days of joy, encouragement, seeing lives change, watching people and churches come alive, the sense that God is using me, yes me, in spite of myself have far outweighed the darkness and discouragement.

This doesn't make me any better, or stronger, or more courageous than any other pastor.  It only makes me thankful for God's grace and mercy poured out on my life.  "The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."  (Psalm 16:6)

Today I feel bad for my old friend and other pastors who struggle with discouragement.  And I feel a great deal of gratitude for God's blessings in my life.

~Rev

My Former Boss

One of my former bosses is retiring.  He only had his position for a little more than 8 years.  His retirement shocked some people.  It is unheard of in his field. 

That’s right, I’m talking about Pope Benedict XVI. 

For five years I coached basketball at Traverse City St. Francis High School. I love basketball, I love high school kids and the Athletic Director asked me to coach in the women’s program.  That led to the Varsity Men’s Coach asking me to assist him with the men’s program.  So, I did both.

Not everyone understood.  The pastor of a local Protestant church was coaching at a Catholic High School?  There was muttering and disapproval from both sides of the Christian aisle. We didn’t think we were doing anything groundbreaking.  Nor was that the point.  My daughter attended the high school.  They knew I had a coaching background.  They needed a mature (old) coach for some of their special circumstances and they asked me to do it. 

Two things were clear from the outset.  My primary job as Senior Pastor of our congregation would always take precedence over my basketball duties.  They were a Catholic school and I would not undermine their faith view and practices. 

The groundwork for such an arrangement had been laid in the 1990’s in a movement led by Chuck Colson and Father Richard John Neuhaus who formed Evangelicals and Catholics together.  The movement was supported and endorsed by other evangelicals including theologian J.I. Packer and Bill Bright.  They received a great deal of push back and lots of hate mail.  Colson reported that this venture adversely affected financial contributions to Prison Fellowship.  But they pressed on.

              

Rather than focusing on the differences between the two methods of nurturing the Christian faith, they focused on what they had in common.  In a document entitled, The Gift of Salvation, they affirmed together that “Justification is not earned by any good works or merits of our own; it is entirely God’s gift conferred through the Father’s sheer graciousness.”

It was clear to me while coaching at St. Francis that the local priests were held in high esteem and school policy and practices were always approved by them.  It was clear to me that the priests, administrators, teachers and students at St. Francis held the Pope in high esteem as their religious leader.  They didn’t agree with every papal stance, but they respected his positions.  As an invited guest employee I was expected to do the same.  The school respected that we had different views and practices of our faith.  I encouraged my players in the practice of their faith and answered their questions (and complaints) carefully and respectfully.  Ultimately the Pope was my boss.

              

For some people I was simply a basketball coach.  For them I was evaluated on my coaching ability.  But for many, my coaching was a symbol of unity in the body of Christ.  It was an affirmation of what C. S. Lewis referred to as Mere Christianity.  Whether a practicing Catholic or Protestant we affirm such fundamentals as the Virgin Birth, the deity of Christ, the atonement, the resurrection, the authority of Scripture, and the second coming.

              

1.2 billion people identify as Roman Catholics in the world.  Today they are praying for God’s guidance and direction in choosing a new leader.  I will join in with them as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Angry With Others and Myself

It is the season of Lent, the 40 days immediately preceding Easter. It is patterned after Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness. Jesus fasted and prayed seeking God’s will and direction. The writers of His biographies record three temptations He faced from Satan during this time. Each temptation was defeated when Jesus quoted scripture. Knowing God’s perspective and claiming as our own always repels temptation.

This year our church is combining Lenten practices with exercise. We are encouraged to walk or exercise in some way for at least 20 minutes of silence reflecting on a scripture or a devotional thought. Monday’s passage for reflection was: “Do not be angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, for you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.” – From The Imitation of Christ

I began my day reflecting on that thought for 20 minutes of my normal morning walk. Then I wrestled with it for the rest of the day and periodically ever since.

I do get frustrated when people don’t see the world the way I see the world. Why can’t everyone interpret scripture the way I do? Why do some people view urban problems differently than me? Why doesn’t everyone like the same things in worship that I like? How can some people major in what I consider to be the minors? How can some people still be racist? Or insensitive to those who live in poverty? Or lack compassion for single parents?

Why can’t my wife be more of a sports fan? Why don’t my kids adopt the same priorities I have in life?

It is frustrating that people cannot be as I want them to be. It is even more frustrating that I cannot be who I want to be. I let myself down daily. I do not meet my expectations. Like the Apostle Paul, I do not do what I want to do and I do what I don’t want to do. I repeat sins that I desperately want to avoid. I cannot make myself as I wish to be, so how can I be angry that I cannot make others as I wish them to be? Tough question.

Can I offer all people I encounter more grace, more understanding, and more acceptance? I pray I can. 

~Rev

The Vision...An Invitation

Rev's Reflection: The Vision...An Invitation from Elmhurst CRC on Vimeo.

It Has to Stop!

It has to stop!

A declaration? A demand? An exclamation?  More like a plea. 

Please, God, it has to stop!

In a month in which many Christians acknowledge support of the sanctity of life, over 40 people of all ages were killed in Chicago by gun violence.  If we truly value life from “its conception to its natural end” as many say, each and every one of these lives that were lost were should alarm us.  They were all created in the image of God.  God weeps when His image is wiped out.

Some of the deaths get more attention than others.  Two men shot down in front of a hamburger stand is alarming.  A woman gunned down in her car on the ramp from Lake Shore Drive, peaks our curiosity.  The death of 15 year old Hadiyah Pendleton, shot after school while she was seeking shelter under a play structure from the rain, garners national attention and increases our ire.  Her death became national news.  All of these shooting deaths are sad.

Our collective hearts broke when 26 children and adults were murdered in one day at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  Chicago is experiencing Sandy Hook in slow motion…40+ deaths in one month. 

Public debates rage between gun rights and gun restriction advocates.  The argument that guns don’t kill people, people kill people is lost on me.  People are sinful and if they have access to weapons they will use them for evil purposes.  Drugs don’t kill people, people misuse drugs.  Yet, we have laws that limit drugs, even legal drugs, to protect us from ourselves.

From a Christian perspective, this is not an urban problem, or a Chicago problem, or a South Side problem.  This is “our” problem.  We are part of God’s kingdom trying to spread His influence everywhere.  If some part of His kingdom is hurting, we need to figure out how we can increase His influence. 

Putting an end to murders in Chicago is an overwhelming challenge.  Who would know where to begin, or what to do?  But famine, war, poverty and world hunger, are also overwhelming challenges, but we get involved at some level to make a difference.  I can’t solve the murder problem in Chicago, but I can do something.  I’m not sure exactly what that is, but I believe God wants me/us to do something.

              
So, I am going to pray.  I am going to plead to God that He miraculously intervene and put an end to the violence. 

              
I am going to pray, that God will show me what I can do to help in my little sphere of influence, in my corner of the world, with my gifts and talents.

              
I am not going to start a national program, or propose denominational involvement, or encourage our congregation to take on this problem.  I am going to seek God’s leading to use me to make a little bit of difference, to do my part. 

              
These murders are symptoms of a greater problem in our culture.  They are intertwined with poverty, racism, classism, lack of educational opportunities and, in my opinion, one of the greatest missing links in peoples’ lives, the absence of mentors and role models. 

              
I have no idea what might come of this, or what God will do.  This is all I do know:

It has to stop!

A New Role

Sometime in August I will be taking on a new role.

This happens in life.  As we mature and grow through life stages we are forced to take on new roles.  I went from being a high school student who lived at home with my mom and brother in a structured setting, to being a college student who was independent, living in a dormitory with 299 other freshmen boys.  I went from being a carefree college student, where I was basically responsible for myself, to being a teacher and a coach, where I was suddenly responsible for the learning and performance of high school kids.  I went from being a boyfriend, to being a husband. I was a son and son-in-law. I was a brother and a brother-in-law.

              

I took on the role of being a college chaplain and a college coach. I went from being a husband, to being a father. I played the role of a staff member at a large church and then being the Lead Pastor of other churches. 

              

Sometimes I took one role, but ended up playing others. I coached teams, but I also became a mentor and sometimes a surrogate parent. I was a father to my own kids, but also a trusted advisor and mentor to their friends. I was a spectator at my kids games and also a confidant and counselor to other parents. 

              

I have had to play some roles for which I was completely unprepared. Our middle child, Jesse, was a soccer player and one year we were late in getting him signed up for a team.  When coaches found out that Jesse was available to be on a team, they all wanted him, but the league officials said he could only be on a team if I was one of the coaches. A coach called me and asked me to be an assistant coach.  I told him I knew nothing about soccer. He said I didn’t have to do anything but show up, what he really wanted was Jesse on his team!

              

That is the way life goes. God puts us in places and asks us to play roles. Sometimes we are ready and eager, and we are embracing long-awaited opportunities. In other situations we are caught off guard.  We feel totally inadequate and we need to simply fall to our knees and be completely dependent on God for wisdom, insight and strength. 

              

In my new role, I will be embracing a long-awaited opportunity for which I couldn’t be more grateful.  At the same time, it is a role I have never played before, which means I will be totally dependent on God.

              

My children, Jesse and Marta, are making me a Grandpa!