Blair's Blog

This is Collin Creek -- Russia Style!

2011-03-20T05:25:00.000-07:00

I am having a wonderful final day in Russia. It's Sunday and I preached at the Tokareva Wesleyan Church here in Vladimir this morning and later this afternoon I'm preaching at the first service of the new church plant here in Vladimir. At least it's their first Sunday when they are meeting separate from the older church. They hope to go public around Easter. God has given me a great opportunity to minister here.

So I'm sitting in the church service this morning and I can't tell you how many times I'm thinking this is like Collin Creek here today. The pastor opens the services here by reading a Psalm. There is only about 1/3 of the congregation present when he starts. Maybe it's true of Wesleyans all over the world that you have to sing them in!

After the Psalm, everybody walks around the room and greets one another with the words 'Peace and Grace..." This gives me a chance to show off my entire repertoire of Russian words since about the only thing I know how to say are greetings. The Russian word for grace is hard for me to say so I only passed the peace this morning. Besides, my sermon was going to be on grace!

Then the worship team takes their place. Tell me if anything like this sounds familiar: worship is lead by a lovely blonde woman at the keyboard. The drummer has long dark hair with a little curl around the shoulders. Acoustic guitar and base guitar round out the band and played by a couple of guys who really don't feel the need to talk much. The other lead singer is a student in my class who has this joyfully sassy attitude. Shannon and Lisa would love this girl! I'm thinking the only thing missing is a bald guy on lead guitar! Oh, yeah, and the sound booth is this converted lecturn behind which two young guys are busily chewing gum and trying to stay awake...

OK that last one is NOT Collin Creek! After all, our technology demands are more complex and demand state-of-the-art professionals who are always paying attention. Why do I think Helen and Keith are going to make me pay for this?

So the first song we sing is this really rockin' upbeat Russian praise song. I don't know what the words are but the people are having fun with this. There is this lady across the room who is waving her hands the way Sue Goodner does when she gets blessed. I want to go over and see if "Boomer Sooner" has any Russian translation! Probably not. When the rockin' song is done, there are actually a few people who applaud -- which never happens in a Russian church.

Then we sing a couple of songs I know: I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever and they sing it like the song could go on forever... And then we sing Amazing Grace, which almost moves me to tears because I'm preaching about grace. When this happens in a service without the benefit of a highly creative programming team like we have at CCCC, this is often referred to as a God-thing, which is why I'm moved to tears. I actually thought on my way to church how cool it would be if we sang Amazing Grace. Amazing!

The final two songs are more of what I expect at a Russian church. They are sung with earnest passion and reflection and end with this holy hush and reverent awe and whispered prayers. After the final song, while everyone is standing and whispering something to God, the congregation begins to recite the Lord's Prayer in Russian. Very cool moment!

Then comes the obligatory "Life in the Church" announcements. The pastor is doing this section because he is not preaching and so this section goes on much longer than it should -- like that never happens at CCCC! The offering gets passed and they have these cool felt sacks that don't clank when you drop the coins in. Then my pastor friend introduces me and tells them why his wife is going to be my translater.

He tells the story of this Russian translation software on the internet that once translated the story about 4 cats: 3 were white and the other was African-American. Evidently the software had this politically correct bent to it that simply could not bring itself to utter the word "black." This is the challenge of preaching with a translater. You are never sure what they are hearing. I'm kind of glad the pastor's wife is translating and not the pastor because the people would never know who was really preaching. Besides, the pastor's wife was my trnaslater during the first class I taught here in Vladimir back in 1999, so we are good friends.

I only found out that I would be preaching at this service on Thursday so with everything else there hasn't been any time to prepare. I have been praying about this message because it comes at a crucial time for this church. This is the first Sunday when this congregation would look around and notice, "Hey, 10 of our friends are no longer going to be worshipping with us." We kind of know what that feels like since our Horizons Church project. God gave me a great word today. I love that about God and His Word. Since Russians are not time conscious but event conscious, the only time I had to look at my watch was when this little kid walked across right in front of me and ran over to his mother with that look that said, "When is this guy going to be done?" I never know how to measure my preaching on the "event" meter. After two hours I decided that the service was as much of an event as it was going to be and wrapped it up. It's not like I preached longer than normal -- it's just that the interpreter preached as long as I did!

I was encouraged to hear that most of the attenders found today's service eventful! Just like back home!
Can't wait to be home!
Blair

Why I Do What I Do

2011-03-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday I ran into a former student at the Wesleyan Church here in Vladimir. Her eyes lit up with excitement when she saw me. She said she needed to talk to me and we arranged to meet before tonight's class. Ksusha is a bright, beautiful, passionate Russian Christ-follower whose love and enthusiasm is contagious. She also speaks very good English. Ksusha had taken several classes from me before her graduation from the Bible College in 2009. Her last class was an online Church Planting course I had taught. The final assignment for that course was to put together a strategic plan to launch a new ministry. Now she wanted to share with me what had happened as a result of that assignment.

Ksusha has a heart for foreigners who were living in Russia so she chose for her assignment the launching of an international ministry. She began praying about this and sharing her dream with her friends. One of those friends said that she knew there were some Chinese exchange students at the university and maybe Ksusha should sign up to take a course on Chinese and meet some of these students. That sounded like a good idea, so Ksusha enrolled in the Chinese course and began to befriend some students from China who were in Vladimir to study Russian.

Ksusha's day job had her working at a driver's education school in the city. To get a driver's license in Russia you have to pass a 900 question test. Given the way people drive over here there must not be any behind the wheel training required for a license! As Ksusha was praying about her outreach to foreign students, a Chinese student walked into the driving school and signed up to prepare for a license.

Then Ksusha gets a phone call one day from another Chinese student whose mother became a Christian in the mushrooming house church movement in China and asks Ksusha if she can go to church with her. To date Ksusha has 15 Chinese students she is investing in and having spiritual conversations with, as she reaches out to them with the love of Jesus. Next month 10 of them will be going with her on the student retreat put on by The Wesleyan Church here in Russia. She asked me to pray that God will use this retreat to bring her Chinese friends to Christ.

I met one of her Chinese friends on Sunday. She enjoyed chatting with me in her faltering English. I thought what a crazy world we live in. A guy from Texas is having a spiritual conversation in English with a Chinese student who is studying Russian in Vladimir. All because a student took an assignment seriously and began to pray and believe that God could use her to reach out to "foreigners" and lead them to a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Wow! Just in case you wonder why I do what I do, it doesn't get any better than this! That's a "Yea, God!" in any language...
Blair

The Best Thing About Today...

2011-03-16T12:41:00.000-07:00

I always try to begin each class session I'm teaching over here in Russia a little differently. Since the class is an evening class (6:00 PM- 9:00 PM), today I had them fill in the blank: The Best Thing About Today is ______________! Thought you might like to hear a few of the answers:

There was the obligatory The Best Thing About Today is coming to this class... -- though I think this person really meant it! Or maybe he was just saying he had a bad day!

One student named Lena had a meaningful conversation with another student named Lena and that was her best moment. I couldn't tell whether the other Lena agreed or not! Perhaps she was just touched to be the best thing about anybody's day. (For the record I have 3 Elena's and 3 Vladimir's in my class)

A married couple in the class said, The Best Thing About Today is we are celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary... I'm wondering how that would go over with my wife: "Honey, let's celebrate our anniversary listening to a lecture on church planting..." Either this couple is way more spiritual than I am or anniversaries aren't that big over here.

While we were doing this little exercise, this lovely young blonde student walks in carrying a rose. I'm thinking now here is a person who has a story for me. Turns out that the best thing about today is that it is her birthday. In Russia, when it's your birthday, you buy the cake and share it with your friends. So at the break we enjoyed some birthday cake provided by the birthday person. I told her that's not the way it's done in America. It doesn't seem right that you have to buy your own birthday cake and feed your friends. I felt so bad about this that I gave her one of Jenn's CD's as a birthday gift -- but only after eating a piece of the birthday cake!

I made this awful mistake on the first night of the class. I had asked a question -- can't remember even what it was now, but nobody wanted to answer. I do remember that the answer to the quesiton was "Jesus." This reminded me of the old joke about the Sunday School teacher who asked, "What's furry and gray, climbs trees and eats nuts?" No one had ever asked this kind of a question in Sunday School before. After a lengthy period of silence, the teacher repeated the question. From the back of the room, a little kid's faltering voice replied, "I think the answer is a squirrel but I'm going to say Jesus!" Since jokes generally don't translate well across cultures, I squelched the urge to tell the joke, but couldn't stop myself from offering a little adivce. "Whenever someone asks a question at church and you're not sure about the answer, just guess Jesus and most of the time you will be right!" So Volodya, who has this wonderful sense of humor has been interjecting "Jesus" in answer to any and every question. Sure enough, after asking for one more response to The Best Thing About Today... the silence was broken by a smiling Russian saying, JESUS!

So, what about you? What's the best thing about today? Take a moment and celebrate something (or someone) good in your life!

Blair

A Texas View of Russia

2011-03-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

It gets cold in Texas but just wait a day or two, it will warm up -- unless of course you are Jerry Jones and God is still punishing you for firing Tom Landry by freezing out your glorious Super Bowl week! In Russia it might warm up in March but just wait a day or two, it will be freezing again. Yesterday's warm up here turned out to be extremely hazardous for me. The melting snow decided to fall in large chunks off the roof of the hotel where I am staying. As I was doing some class preparation this morning I heard a big crash outside. When I returned from lunch I discovered that they had roped off the sidewalk in front of the hotel due to the danger of falling snow and ice. I suspect this was done for safety reasons. However by closing off the sidewalk, this forced pedestrians to wade through the slosh between parked cars and step out onto the narrow street, where oncoming traffic made it much more likely that I would be hit by a car than I would ever have been clonked by falling snow and ice. The good news is that it has turned cold again so everything will be frozen over by morning and we will all be safe once more!

There are many more cars on the roads here in Russia than ever before. My friends were telling me that Russian TV has this motor vehicle safety commercial that says the key to surviving Russian highways is as simple as 3-D: Di Duraku` Dorogu -- which translated means: "Let the fool have the road." In Texas, we say it a bit differently. We say, "Drive friendly..." But I think it means the same thing!

Had lunch with my missionary friend Kerry and one of my favorite Russian friends Nastia. They have this ministry to the elderly poor who live near the church. They also travel to these two villages where they minister to the elderly poor. It is hard being poor and it is hard being elderly and it is doubly hard to be poor and elderly. These two single women demonstrate kindness that reflects Jesus to some people for whom life has become very hard. At first these older women are very closed to the Gospel and skeptical of their kindness. But my friends are persistent and in the end, it is hard to argue against kindness. Their simple, persistent acts of kindness preach much more loudly than any sermon. You don't even need a seminary degree to be kind. Kindness evangelism works everywhere -- even in Texas!

My cross cultural adventure continues... as do my prayers for Japan...
Blair

I'm In For An Awesome Week!

2011-03-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

The first session of the church planting class was held tonight and 19 people showed up. What's cool is that they opened this class up beyond the Bible College registered students, who numbered 8. Everyone was delighted to see 11 people from the church who want to learn more about church planting. It's a very multi-generational group. There is even a guy older than me!

There was an energy in the room tonight that could only be possible because people were praying. Engagement is everything in teaching and to experience the level of engagement that we had in the first session was a God-thing! I had a fairly rough day -- didn't sleep well and even had to take a nap this afternoon. But wow! I was able to engage so fully and then to see the class respond with their engagement -- that's like a teacher's dream moment.

I was thinking about why I do so well over here. Part of it is that when you are this far from home people really do think you are an expert! Plus I really do like Russians -- not that I don't like people from every country in the world with the exception of... But that's another story!

It also helps that I have an excellent translater and she did an incredible job matching my passion and humor. That in itself is a God-thing! Just think how hard that must be... Well, don't think too hard... (:

At one point in the class I was talking about how new churches reflect the reality Jesus talked about in Matthew 9 how new wine needs new wineskins. I pulled a chair and sat directly in front of this 62 year old physicist and said the problem with growing old is that we have been stretched so much that we don't have much stretch left in us! But new wine needs skins that can stretch. I talked about leading a multigenerational church and how if some of us older saints aren't feeling at least a little uncomfortable we are probably not doing what we need to do to reach the culture that is constantly changing. I often tell the over 50 crowd at CCCC that we are the kind of church for people who want to go to a church that their children and grandchildren also want to attend.

Unfortunately it's easy for older saints and established churches to go the way of old stretched out wineskins. There are some days I feel like I'm losing some of my "stretch." But there are other days that I can honestly say that I want God to keep stretching me. There is something about staying in the game for the new wine that seems worth the discomfort and the hassle that come with multigenerational leadership.

When I asked the 62 year old Russian physicist why he's taking a class on church planting, he told me that he has established a missional team that is reaching young people in the city. Connecting them with established churches isn't working so he is convinced that the only way to reach them is by starting new churches. Then he stuck a handful of the Hershey chocolate bars I was giving out at break into his pocket with a smile. "The kids we are reaching will love this chocolate!" I think my new Russian friend wants to stay in the game for the new wine too!

To all of you who praying for me, thank you! Keep praying & keep stretching!
Blair

Meltdowns

2011-03-14T07:10:00.000-07:00

Temperatures soared into the upper 30's here in Vladimir today -- which means that the annual spring meltdown has begun, sort of. Everywhere I went today people were working on removing snow and ice. They do a marvelous job of keeping the main streets clean but the side streets and sidewalks often have over a foot of ice and trampled snow on them. They were even bringing out jack hammers to chip away the ice in the main commerce area. As pretty as freshly falling snow is, meltdowns are just as ugly. Walking is hazardous and standing at an intersection where deep puddles of dirty water are forming is not smart. Don't ask how I know this!

I visited my missionary friend for lunch today and while we were enjoying the obligatory cup of tea following the meal, his wife screamed that water was flowing down the walls of their living room. They own this flat that sits on the top floor of a multi-story apartment complex built back in the 1950's. Every spring when the meltdown occurs the roof leaks. He took me up into the large attic to observe what they have to put up with. You see, while they own the flat they don't own the building. The city still owns all the old apartment complexes since back in the not-so-good USSR, private property was seen as a captialistic vice to be avoided at all costs. Imagine trying to get your landlord to fix your roof when your landlord is an overbloated, poorly administered city government. Their only recourse is to jimmy-rig buckets and plastic bags. "If you think that's bad, you should see the hospitals here in town!" my friend's wife observed. The next time somebody tells you that state-controlled socialism is a smart idea, tell them to move to Russia! Life here still has a long way to go to recover from the dark days of Lenin and Stalin.

Meltdowns are what you have to go through to get from winter to summer in Russia. I have never been here in summer. They say it's worth it. It's been another long, hard winter here and though spring is still aways away, it feels like spring today. Everybody loves spring -- even with the meltdowns.

There is a worse kind of meltdown that is taking place in Japan right now. Let us keep praying for God's mercy. Sometimes our only hope in the midst of life's meltdowns is the mercy of God. I lift my eyes to the mountains -- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth... (Psalm 121:1-2)

If there is a meltdown occurring in your world, may you know His help today!
Blair

Some Things Do Change

2011-03-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

The old Moscow Sheremetyevo airport has a new terminal. It's big and bright and high tech and welcoming -- a far cry from the dark, foreboding, unwelcoming terminal I walked into on my first visit to Russia in 1998.

Today is Election Sunday in Russia. Young voters skeptically argue that it's really not an election but at least the power brokers are forced to subject themselves to the will of the people. Opposition parties to the United Russian Party include A Just Russia Party and the Apple Party, which represents the Russian version of capitalism. Opposition parties were sent to the gulag during the old Soviet days.

They say some things never change and I suppose that's true. But some things do change. I had two fascinating experiences with change today. During the morning I worshipped with the established Wesleyan Church pastored by a former student and an old friend here in Vladimir. I can only imagine how much the Heavenly Father enjoys hearing praises sung in the Russian language. Russians have a much more reverent, mystical and reflective approach to worship compared to the dominant celebrative sounds of contemporary worship in America. But change is afoot here. Today was the last Sunday for a group of about 10 Wesleyan church members who are launching a new work in another district of Vladimir.

This evening I spent 3 hours with the launch team of this new Wesleyan Church. They are a group of high capacity, deeply devoted Christ-followers. Any church planter would love to have them on a launch team. Any pastor would feel their absence as they walked out the door for the final Sunday.

I have a two-fold ministry this week: to help equip the launch team of a new church and to encourage the leadership of the established church. As good as this change may be for the Kingdom of God in Vladimir, change is still hard. We know all the right things to say and we may even believe them in our heads. I was so proud of my pastor friend as he shepherded his congregation on this morning of change. Yet I also know how emotionally difficult his challenge is in the days to come.

There is an upside and a downside to everything in a fallen world. So it is with every season of change. You and I always have a choice to make. Will we wallow in pity and bewail the downside? Or will we move forward in faith and embrace the upside? Somethings never change -- the downside and the upside will always be there. Some things do change -- including our attitude to the changes God is bringing to our life.

Embrace the upside!
Blair

Maybe I am a Russian!

2011-03-13T05:45:00.000-07:00

I think this is my 7th trip to Russia -- maybe 8th -- but it's the first time I've taken a direct flight from a US city to Moscow (from Atlanta via Delta). Usually I take Lufthansa from DFW to Frankfurt, Germany, which means that the United Nations is on board -- people from everywhere congregate in Frankfurt to fly everywhere. So it took be by surprise to be on a flight surrounded by Russians. Had I thought about it, I shouldn't have been surprised, because the only people who fly Atlanta to Moscow are Russians and a few Americans.

My immersion into Russian culture thus began a little sooner than I'm used to. For instance, Russians have a different view of personal space than Texans. Russians will run right up to you - and over you if necessary. Texans would consider this rude -- though I don't think it's all rudeness but just differentness. There are some benefits, for instance, when you run into or over a Russian, they are pretty much used to it. Just say pazhalsta -- it's one of the few words you can use anywhere anytime -- pazhalsta can mean "please," "don't mention it...," "excuse me, get out of the way" or "sorry (you didn't get out of the way)!" When I don't know what to say in Russia, I say pazhalsta and somebody will nod agreement!

The flight attendant walked by and was passing out migration papers required of all non-Russians entering Russia. She looked at me and just walked right on by. I had to wave her back and tell her that I was not Russian but an American citizen and I needed the migration papers. So I guess that means I could pass for a Russian. I think it's because I grew up at the base of "Hunky Hill" in Portage.

Western PA, where I grew up, was populated by a lot of people from Eastern Europe -- Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, Slavs and Russians. My good friend in high school went off to be a Russian Orthodox priest. So I grew up with babushkas and perogees and creative ways to fix cabbage. Evidently some of this has rubbed off as I could easily have entered the country as a Russian. However, the customs officials have a more discerning eye than flight attendants! Russia is a friendlier place than it used to be but the customs people still get paid to look mean.

After an overnight flight and 11 hours on a plane, everybody looks like thunder -- including Russian women. (I am going to need a little grace on this one, folks...) Russian women take great pride in the way they look in public. This is an almost universal rule though I am sure there are exceptions. I think they have an advantage because the sun's direct rays never shine in Russia -- it's so far north that their skin doesn't take the beating like we must endure in Texas. Plus, most Russian women have masters' degrees in the fine art of make-up. So as we are preparing to descend into Moscow, the lady in front of me decides that she doesn't want to look like thunder when she steps back onto her homeland. Out comes the make-up and by the time the plane taxies to the terminal she looks like a million rubles -- which is about $35,000! This is not fair. None of us men could ever achieve such a glorious transformation!

The Russian guy behind me has this Harley-Davidson tee shirt on. As I looked around the plane I noticed that there were several guys wearing Harley-Davidson tee shirts. So I asked the guy if he owned a Harley. He told me that they were a bunch of bikers who flew into Atlanta, rented Harleys and did a rode trip down to the Florida Keys and back. This is what Russian motorcycle gangs do for spring break in Russia which obviously doesn't arrive until July!

We landed in a snowstorm and I woke this morning to 11 degrees Fahrenheit. It's good to be back in Russia but I miss Texas already! For all you people praying for me -- thanks and keep it up!
Dasvidanya!
Blair Blairovitch

It Ain't Over

2010-08-03T14:11:00.000-07:00

I flew into Atlanta, rented a car to drive to my mom's home in Gadsden , AL. Since I hadn't had breakfast, I stopped into a Georgia Waffle House just outside of Atlanta for a pecan waffle. OK -- here's my confession: after living in the south for 25 years, I like eating at Waffle House and What-a-Burger! Unfortunately, my yankee roots come out when I tell them to hold the grits and put mayo instead of mustard on the burger! Anyhow, this particular Waffle House has a juke box with a black gospel selection. Evidently the waitresses like the black gospel option becuase a soul-ful rendition of IT AIN'T OVER TILL GOD SAYS I'TS OVER began playing. I'm thinking, this can only happen in the South -- can't imagine a northern restuarant playing this song! I noticed that nearly every waitress was singing along. I decided to join them. What a great reminder: It ain't over till God says it's over! Be encouraged!

Generosity

2010-07-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

During the first two months of my sabbatical I have been so blessed by the generosity of God's people. We have stayed in the most gorgeous of places -- beautiful lakes and majestic mountains. The homes that have opened up to us have been tenderly cared for, creatively furnished, and generously offered to us a homes away from home.

I sort of feel some of what Jesus felt. He hung out around lakes and on mountains. The homes he stayed in were not his own. One of the oft neglected aspects of Jesus' ministry was how generous people opened their homes to him and provided the funding for sustenance and ministry. God's work and generous people go hand in hand.

All this got me to do some thinking about generosity so here are a few worth blogging:
1) Generous people are such a blessing to others. We have been overwhelmed at how generous people have been such a blessing to us. There has got to be some kind of boomerang effect that brings added blessing back to them for being such a blessing. Generous people bless and are blessed!

2) The people who have been so generous to us are people who have been blessed with much. But I don't think generosity has much to do with how much stuff you have. I have known people who didn't have a whole lot and who were very generous with their little. I have also known people who had a lot but who were not very generous with their much. I suspect the generous people with much were generous with their little -- when they only had a little. People who wait until they are rich to be generous are never generous even when they are rich!

3) I once heard a wealthy businessman talk about the responsibility he felt for being generous. The verse that motivated him was: To whom much has been given -- much will be required! The people who have opened their homes to me have arguably been given much. Their generosity reflects the heart of their generous Heavenly Father and their commitment to be good stewards of His blessings.

4) I think generous people are happy people. In every case, the people who have helped us have found such joy in helping us. The fact that we have enjoyed ourselves only adds to their joy. It's a pretty cool deal!

5) Thank God for generous friends and may someone think of each of us with fondness as being their generous friend!

Colorado Fit

2010-07-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

My daughter and her boyfriend took me mountain biking near Nederland the other day. She promised she would pick the easiest trail. Unfortunately, the easiest trail was rated moderate. Turns out that I am definitely not a moderate. Shortly into the trail, we hit a major climb. No way I could ride a bike up this climb. I barely could push the bike up this climb. By the time I reached the top, my lungs were burning and I was gasping for air. I do a lot of gasping for air when I am in Colorado.

Tammy was telling me about a recent trip to Crested Butte. CB is a mountain biking paradise. When it comes to physical fitness and mountain biking, Tammy informed me that there are people who are not physically fit and then there are those who are fit -- then there are those who are Colorado fit -- and then there are those who are Crested Butte fit! Colorado fit means that you are physically fit and don't have to gasp for air all the time in the mountains. Crested Butte fit means that body fat is a rumor!

So evidently there are stages or levels of physical fitness. People who think they are fit may not be Colorado fit and even Colorado fit has to work at being CB fit!

So, that got me thinking about another kind of fitness. What levels of spiritual fitness are you in these days? Fit or not fit? Colorado fit or CB fit? There is a spiritual fitness needed to serve... to lead... When people sign up for a missions trip we engage in a form of spiritual fitness training. In many ways, this training is simply an intentional use of disciplines that ought to be part of our daily spiritual lives. People who are Colorado fit or CB fit do things and don't do things that allow them to mountain bike up climbs that guys like me are not prepared to tackle. Same goes with spiritual fitness!

The realtiy about life is that we don't always get to pick the trail we are going to hike or bike. Circumstances come at us and we are either prepared to climb or we are not prepared. We are either spiritually fit to handle the trials and tempations or we are not. Life trials are way more important than bike trails. When it comes to mountain biking, it's no big deal that I am not Colorado fit or CB fit. But when it comes to my life and the trials life brings, my spiritual fitness matters a great deal. Invest whatever you have to invest to take your spiritual fitness to a higher level.

Estes Park Hike Reflections

2010-07-14T08:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon I headed up to Estes Park to spend the afternoon with my friend Michael Dascoli. Michael served on our pastoral team for 7 years and we remain good friends. Neither of us just like to sit around and talk so we decided we would hike and talk. Mike suggested we head up to Gem Lake, about 1.9 mile hike. In between gasps for air, we had a great conversation. We are both excited about our work and God has blessed our families. He just returned from a week with Jack Hayford so he was pretty pumped!

1.9 miles is not a very long hike -- but it's 1.9 miles up a mountain at over 10,000 feet. I sitll don't know why they can't pump a little more oxygen up here. Fortunately, coming down is much easier than going up. Along the way we stopped and just allowed our souls to soak in some gorgeous vistas. Maybe I've been in Dallas too long but the mountains have a way of rejuvenating my soul. I just love those "Wow! Yea, God!" moments of worship!

Both Mike and I are people people so we met some interesting people along the trail. This kid had an IWU hat on. I told him I graduated from IWU. He said, "Oh, yeah, you have a Titans Baseball shirt on." Only my Titans Baseball shirt is from my son's select baseball team in Dallas. His IWU hat was from Illinois Wesleyan University, so there are two IWU's in the world. He just graduated from high school and lives in Normal, Illinois, which is next door to Bloomington, IL, where ILWU is. So he is staying home for college. If I lived in Normal I think I would want to get as far away from home as possible. I didn't say that because the boy's parents were standing right there.

Then we met a guy from St. Louis. We talked about how you don't see these sights in St. Louis or Dallas. "But hey, you have a big arch!" I said. He was coming down from the top so I asked him if the view at the top was better than the arch? He only said it was different. Then I remembered that St. Louis is in Missouri and isn't Missouri the "Show Me" State? Evidently it's hard to impress a guy who has a big arch in his city! Can't figure out if that's normal or not!

Then we saw something really interesting. This squirrel had this huge fat mushroom in his mouth. The mushroom was at least as big as the squirrel. He was trying to climb this tree with the big mushroom in his mouth. But the mushroom was so big that he kept falling down. I didn't know squirrels ate mushrooms. The mushroom was probably poisonous too. Or maybe squirrels do something else with mushrooms. (I have been hanging out in this mountain where there are a lot of hippies!) But for whatever reason, this squirrel was sure excited about the mushroom. But try as he might, he couldn't get the mushroom up the tree. Finally, we had to get back so Mike could go to a dinner meeting. I still don't know what the squirrel did with the mushroom. Life is hard when you finally get your teeth into something you really want but you can't get it up your tree! Maybe the squirrel out to stick to nuts! But then that would be so --- normal!

My beloved is flying up to Colorado this morning. There is an upside to normal -- can't wait to be together again. I get to share some of my abnormality with her! You see, there is nothing normal about life up here in Nederland!

Props

2010-07-11T11:31:00.000-07:00

I had this thought in church today. I guess you can call it church -- in fact, you might call it church on the rock. Behind this mountain house where i'm hanging out is this large mound of rocks. When the weather permits, I have been climbing to the top of these rocks to do some thinking and praying. The view up there is spectacular. So being Sunday, I thought I would have church up on the rocks. Too bad I didn't have any old Larry Lea tapes -- it's easier to pray for an hour when you are sitting on the rocks looking out over the Rockies, time sort of stands still -- or maybe flies -- either way, time is irrelevant! Unless of course you have a tee time but there are no golf courses up here!

Anyhow I took my new ipod touch and asked Chris Tomlin to lead worship. I took my Bible and engaged in one of the helpful things I do with Scripture. I prayed through Romans 8 again. I want very much for God to develop in me a Romans 8 spirit. The only way to do that is to keep praying through Romans 8. So that was my church today: Chris led worship -- Paul preached -- I took the offering! Cheap congregation!!!

And I had this thought: Paul says that if our minds are not being influenced by the Holy Spirit then they are being influenced by something else that is probably not as holy! I got to thinking how we all tend to prop ourselves up with stuff. You can tell I've been alone alot and been thinking about stuff. One of the ways you can tell if you are propping yourself up with something is if you do too much of it. Some people drink too much. Some people think too much about food or their body shape... I'm confessing other people's sins here. I do too much of some stuff but these aren't my issues. It is alot easier to preach about other people's issues than it is your own! So I got to thinking about the things I do too much of to prop myself up.

If I had more time in this blog, I'd tell you what they are, but I'm already too long and I need to get to my point! Can you tell I miss preaching??? The point is that it would be nice if we didn't need to prop ourselves up but the reality is we are all pretty broken and that's why we need props. God knows we are broken and need to prop ourselves up so that's why Jesus came and that's why the Spirit came and that's why there is a Bible and that's whey there is the church. It's a LifeLine thing! If you prop your life up with the wrong stuff, you are eventually going to fall. Thank God for props that are truly life-giving.

Paul put it better than I can: "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace..."

So, think about this: What are your props? How can you be more influenced by the Spirit so you can be more alive and more at peace?

I'm Becoming a Ned-Head

2010-07-10T20:28:00.000-07:00

I have been hanging out high in the Colorado Rockies at a friend's place just outside Nederland. If you ever get the chance to visit Nederland, do it.   Here are my Top 10 Reasons Why:

#1: The drive up Boulder Canyon is drop dead gorgeous. This 18 mile drive on CO Hwy 119 is right up there with Monterey Peninsula's 17 mile drive -- only no golf courses! Instead you get rushing water, rock climbing cliffs, pine trees and breath-taking beauty around every turn.

#2: Ned-Heads -- that's what the locals are called -- have a definite hippie sub-culture. I don't think hippies are into golf because there is not a golf course anywhere near here!

#3: My daughter spent some time in Nepal so I told her about Kathmandu Plaza in Nederland. She is coming up next weekend to check out the authenticity of the authentic Nepali/Indian buffet. Next door is an authentic Nepali gift shop -- though I suspect everything is made in China! Next door is a place that dispenses authentic medical marijuana to people -- I don't think you even have to be sick!!! See #2!

#4: The town is known for an interesting festival held every March.  Back in the 90's one of the locals kept his cryonically frozen grandfather in a shed in his back yard. Made national news. You can pick up a really weird T-shirt celebrating this really weird event that the Ned-Heads call the "Frozen Dead Guy" Festival.

#5: I think I saw the Frozen Dead Guy walking around town the other day!

#6: You gotta love a town whose 4th of July parade is so small that it goes around the turnaround twice!

#7: Nederland is the home of the Carousel of Happiness -- a 100 year old refurbished carousel that is kind of cute but promises more than it delivers!

#8: Tell Branden that Infusion Music needs a Nederland studio to match the home of Caribou Recording Studio, which has produced tunes for Elton John, John Lennon, Crosby, Stills Nash and Young and Dan Fogelberg. Maybe that was John Lennon I saw walking around town the other day! Imagine...

#9: So the other day I couldn't stand it anymore and I went down to Boulder and found a golf course. When I left Boulder it was 85 degrees.  When I arrived back in Nederland it was 65 degrees.  I thought I would include this to make all my sweaty friends in Texas jealous!

#10: This is a great place to write a book. Ned-Heads keep to themselves. I hear they are friendly but if you want to escape the hustle and bustle of people, you can hide out here forever!

Book Update: For those of you who may be interested, I'm working on Chapter 8 of a 10 chapter book. My editor said he scanned the first 3 chapters and promises to read them and call me by next Friday. If he can find me, that is. By then I might be an official Ned-Head and just hide out here for the rest of my life!!!

If this place only had a golf course....

I Survived the Royal Gorge

2010-07-06T20:25:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July. I got to spend mine with my daughter Tammy who lives in Colorado Springs, CO. Tammy's real job is a rocket scientist but one of her many passions is being a river guide. She and her boyfriend really wanted to take me down the Arkansas and through the Royal Gorge. Our rafting trip was divided into two sections: we joined 8 other rafts from Ft. Carson traveling the section from Pinnacle to Parkdale. Then in the afternoon, Dan and Tammy joined one of their river guide friends named Jade in taking us throught he dangerous rapids of the Royal Gorge.

So i'm thinking the morning is going to be a breeze. But on the second rapids of the upper section -- disaster struck! Three Rocks is aptly named. Tammy had our raft on a perfect line to navigate through Three Rocks. But the raft in front of us somehow drifted out of the rapids and the spacing between rafts was all messed up. Undaunted, the intern guide in the raft in front of us manuevered his raft back into the rapids but forgot to look behind him. River guides tend to keep their eyes looking forward! As the other raft moved closer to our raft, I'm thinking this is not going to end well. Sure enough the intern's raft bumped into our raft and pushed into the second rock of Three Rocks called Flip Rock. Flip Rock is also aptly named. If you hit this rock, your raft usually gets flipped. We flipped! One of my goals on this rafting trip was NOT to fall out of the boat. I didn't fall out of the boat -- I was still in the boat but now the raft was on top of me. There is an air pocket under the raft but now I'm in the water in the middle of a rapids, bouncing off rocks. I decided that staying under the boat was not a good idea and popped up downstream where I grabbed the chicken line of another raft.

The guy in the other raft asked if I wanted to come aboard. Dumb question! I'd rather be anywhere than bouncing off rocks in the water. The good thing about rapids is that when you are through the rapids there is usually a smooth section of the river and we all safely made it through the rapids -- recovered our raft and oars and proceeded through the upper section without incident, as Tammy guided us with precision and a safe distance from interns in rafts!

As we were eating lunch, I'm thinking so much for the easy section. The rapids in the Gorge are way bigger and come close together. You really have to be on your game. Tammy's boyfriend Dan is the more experienced guide so he took over. His first words were: "if you have any hesitancy about doing this now is the time to back out. No harm -- no foul!" I'd like to say that there was no way I would even consider this offer but after the way the morning started, I'm thinking about whether this is such a good idea. But hey, my daughter gets her adventuresome spirit from somewhere and I may never get the chance to do this again. So I took the front row seat in the raft.

Wow! What a ride! What a rush! Big waves -- big water -- big rocks -- big cliffs -- big adventure! Dan guided us masterfully through the dangerous waters and the best news of all -- I DIDN'T FALL OUT OF THE RAFT!!! Though I must confess that there were moments when I thought, "This is CRAZY! Get me out of here!"

Thanks Tammy & Dan for a great ride! Hopefully we will have some video soon!

We Are Family But I Rooted For the Rangers

2010-07-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

On the Rangers last homestand, the Pittsburgh Pirates came to town in inter-league play. I want to thank my friend Mike who made sure I got some good seats for one of the games. I wore my vintage 1979 "We Are Family" Gold Pirates cap and rooted for the Rangers. Sounds schizophrenic and I'm sure some of the people around me were wondering. The reason I root for the Rangers is because I'm a Rangers fan too. The sad state of my hometeam is such that today's Pirates are a minor league shadow of the '79 Pirates, the last team from Pittsburgh to win the World Series. There are some fascinating leadership lessons when you look at what has happened to my Pirates.

First, talent matters! Discovering and developing talent matters more! Knowing how to build a championship team matters most! The 1979 Pirates were not the most talented team in baseball that year. But their talent reached championship levels because an old manager and a humble star created a family. The old manager was Chuck Tanner and the humble star was Willie "Pops" Stargell, who learned how to lead from one of the all-time baseball greats, Roberto Clemente. The Pirates adopted Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" as a theme song and slugged and sang their way to a World Series championship.

Talent + Character + Chemistry are simply hard to beat! Today's Pirates struggle with all three. Go Rangers!

Weird Wedding Question

2010-06-24T05:48:00.000-07:00

I was in town last weekend to officiate at a wedding that had been on my schedule before I knew about my sabbatical. Every wedding is unique. Something always happens at a wedding that never happens at the rehearsal -- and almost never happens at any other wedding! Sure enough, this one was no exception. Beautiful wedding... Perkins Chapel on SMU campus... packed house filled with beautiful people! The couple had just exchanged their vows and their rings and the soloist was singing The Wedding Song. In the middle of the song, the bride whispers to me, "Are we married yet?" I had to pause and think about that. No one ever asked me that in the middle of a ceremony before.

So when is the couple officially married? When they make their vows? When they put the ring on the finger? When they kiss? When the ceremony is over? When the license is signed? At what precise point do they become husband and wife? This is not the kind of discussion you can have during the solo in the middle of a ceremony, so I just shook my head, "No." I'm thinking, "You should have asked me this in premarital counseling. Pay attention to the song! We're not done here yet!"

I could have said, "You're not married until I say you're married!" There is a point in the wedding liturgy where the minister says, "I now prounouce that they are husband and wife together, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit." In my mind, tha's when it becomes official. Marriage as a social institution requires a license that is signed by someone authorized by the state to do weddings. Marriage as a sacred and spiritual institution takes place in the presence of God as well as family and friends. The priest or pastor serves as God's representative and the authority of God and the authority of the Church all come in to play. I recognize that the authority a minister possesses is purely delegated to him by God and thus must be handled humbly and respectfully. So it is with humility and respect that my answer remains: "You're not married until I say you're married!"

Advice on Worry

2010-06-21T19:01:00.000-07:00

I had a wedding to perform last weekend so I had to get a haircut last week. I really like my hairstylist -- she's a single mom who goes to the Lutheran Church near my house. She's finishing up on my hair when she asks me for my opinion on something. I almost told her I was on a sabbatical and I don't have any opnions. But fortunately I don't always say what I'm thinking and besides... I always seem to have an opinion.

She confessed to me that she is a worrier and when her young daughter was struggling with a heart condition this spring, her worry went off the charts and straight to her stomach. The doctor says that she needs to stop worrying so her stomach can stop bleeding. He prescribed an anti-anxiety drug. Now she feels guilty for taking a drug because she is a worrier. She doesn't feel much like the good Christian she really wants to be. She wanted my opinion on her condition.

That's when I told her I was on a sabbatical -- NO, NO, NO I didn't say that!

I told her that she had a physiological problem and that it's OK to seek a physiological solution to a physiological problem. She needed to get her stomach right and if the anti-anxiety medicine helped do that, take the meds. I told her sometimes we think in terms of either/or instead of both/and. Worry is one of those both/and deals. She had a physical problem that was caused by her worry. Did God want to use her problem to grow her faith and help her worry less? Absolutely! I told her that while she was taking her meds she also needed to lean into her faith and ask God to grow in grace so that she would worry less and trust Him more. I assured her that she is still a work in progress just like I was. My hunch is that if she lets God help her, chances are she won't need to be as dependent on the meds for very long.

I think she was just relieved that I didn't condemn her. I gave her a generous tip and said, "If the meds don't work, try taking a sabbatical!" Well, I left a generous tip, anyhow!

God, help my hair stylist and the rest of us to worry less and trust you more! AMEN

I'm a PC But Windows 7 Was Not My Idea!

2010-06-21T18:44:00.000-07:00

When it comes to technology I rarely have any ideas at all. Ask my staff! But don't tell them this. For my 57th birthday, i bought an Apple product! I am now the proud owner of an Ipod Touch. I even downloaded some free apps! One of these days i'll break down and pay for some but one step at a time for Mr. Cheap! BTW, if any of you have any recommendations on some cool apps, I'm open for some advice.

So here's my plan. At our staff meetings, everybody sits around the table with their Macs open, pretending to pay attention while they are doing something they tell me is research. That's probably code for Facebook or playing with some downloaded apps. But now i can pull out my little Ipod Touch and pretend to be paying attention while doing some of my own research. I think I'm going to ban all Apple products from staff meetings -- but then I'd probably be the only one at staff meetings. Maybe i'll just ban staff meetings. There are no staff meetngs on a sabbatical. Just me and God!

God probably wishes I'd pay more attention to Him at our staff meetings too! I thnk it's OK to waste your own time but I'm not sure it's OK to waste other people's time and I definitely don't recommend wasting God's time. So next time you and God have a staff meeting -- pay attention!!!

Pink Flamingo God

2010-06-12T18:38:00.000-07:00

Jeannine & I are enjoying a weekend at a friend's lakehouse on Cedar Creek Lake. The neighbor next door has one of those plastic pink flamingos in the yard. This morning I looked up from my computer and watched this rather large white bird -- not sure about birds but it might have been an egret. It had a long neck like the flamingo and was about the same size as the plastic bird standing in the yard. Anyhow, as the white bird was walking along the shore of the lake, it stopped near the plastic pink flamingo. Craziest thing but it just stood there looking at the pink flamingo. Don't know how bright an egret is but I could just imagine the bird's brain churning. Maybe it's heart was thumping! Maybe the pink flamingo looked really attractive to the white bird. It even took a step toward the motionless piece of plastic. Finally, the egret figured it out and walked on by. The pink flamingo may have looked good to the white bird but you can't connect with a lifeless bird!

I got to thinking about all the people in the world with a pink flamingo God -- a lifeless piece of plastic or wood or metal or maybe even just an idea or philosophy or whatever idol occupies that part of the heart, soul and mind where worship happens. I wonder how many Christians have a pink flamingo Jesus. They say they believe in Jesus but have never experienced the living, loving Resurrected King of the universe! They have never tasted the life and love of His Spirit. They have never truly loved the Lord their God with all their heart, soul and mind. Something else occupies that place where worship happens -- something as useless as a lifeless pink flamingo!

Prosperity Question

2010-06-10T19:54:00.000-07:00

One of the Bible reading patterns I'm practicing on my sabbatical is the 30 Days through Psalms & Proverbs plan that Billy Graham popularized. Every day I'm reading 5 Psalms and 1 Proverbs so in a month's time I will have worked through both books. My attention was drawn to Psalm 4:6 this morning: "Many, Lord, are asking, 'Who will bring us prosperity?' Let the light of your face shine on us."

What a powerful verse for these economically challenging times. Many are asking the prosperity question. Too few are praying the Psalmist's prayer: Let the light of your face shine on us! This summer is a great opportunity to seek the light of God's face. Only in Him do we find the source of true and everlasting prosperity!

My friend Dawn prayed that everywhere I go this summer I would see a new aspect of our Lord and Savior that I had not seen before. Wow! I tend to get in a rut and forget that there is so much more of our Lord to see and know.

Today in my writing I reflected on how the Most High came to earth as the lowliest slave. Leadership greatness, Jesus said, is following in His steps as a slave leader. That is so not in the vision of leadership I most often see in myself and in the world I grew up in. This book writing can be convicting!

25--35--57

2010-06-10T08:59:00.000-07:00

So my first two days of my sabbatical have been really cool. Sabbatical by the numbers: Sunday (June 6): 25 is the number of years since our move to Plano to plant a church. Monday (June 7): Jeannine and I celebrated 35 years of marriage. Tuesday: (June 8): my 57th birthday! Each of those numbers is a testimony to just how good God really is. What I celebrate today is that God's goodness is rooted in His character not in my performance. He is good because He is good-- not because I deserve that goodness. Yea, God!

When you add 25 + 35 + 57 you get 127 and for the life of me I can't find anything of significance in that number. Oh, wait! Check out PSALM 127 and then you will see why 25 + 35+ 57 is such a great way to start a sabbatical!
Love to all -- especially to the woman I'm still in love with after 35 years!
Blair

Wow! What a Sendoff!

2010-06-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm off on my 10 week sabbatical odyssey! What a sendoff on Sunday, too! The "Bye, Bye, Bye" video from the staff was a classic! If you missed it, it's a must see for ever Collin Creeker. It is such a joy to serve with a team that is so crazy and creative and so competent and committed. Sometimes crazy and creative don't get connected with competent and committed and that is why I'm so blessed. One of the things that makes crazy and creative work on our team is the high level of trust we enjoy with each other. Trust is built or destroyed by two things: character and competence. I'm blessed to be part of a team of high character and high competence. I'm going to miss them more over the next 10 weeks than they will miss me.
Thanks, staff, for a great sendoff!