July 2007

As I was reading my blogs this morning I came across Eugene Cho’s excellent blog detailing the crisis in Afghanistan with the terrorist Taliban group holding Christian Korean hostages.  Already, Korean Pastor Bae Hyung Kyu has been martyred.  He was leading a group from his church into this dangerous territory to help people and died a martyr for his faith.  I hope the Taliban understand what they did by killing this man who by all reports was a good man, pastor, father, and leader.  The South Korean people are not easily bullied and their Christian conviction is admirable.

We have a large Korean contingent here in Denver and my hope as a church planter is to soon be in new location where we can house not only our church but to plant a Korean work inside the place also.  The Korean people have a beautiful culture and I pray that we as a nation stand with them in opposition to this brutality.

Thank God for the blogosphere also for providing better coverage of this event that the news organizations we see every day which seem to want to focus on Lindsay Lohan and the partisan infighting in the U.S. government.

My friend Ron Hunter has put together a nice post on why the “IPhone is not my phone” on his blog.  It had nothing to do with the phone…just the exclusivity of the service carrier.

I’m cheap.  I’m a Cingular/AT & T customer and even I don’t want the IPhone at this point.  Why?  Too expensive to start with and the service plan needed to operated the phone efficiently is too rich for my budget.  I see a lot of other church planters using theirs.  I wonder how they can afford it!  Nah, I think I will stick with my Samsung slimline phones I purchased at Christmas.  I’m too addicted to my GTD+R system of task management anyway to switch again.

By the way, I’ve added some new stuff to my alternate blog “The Productive Pastor.”  Feel free to drop in and tell me what you think.

I don’t know if there’s anything worth saying here but just noticed that the media’s attention has been so taken with the following…

1. Harry Potter Mania.  The seventh and supposed last book is out and I didn’t even realize it until I was at my local Wal-Mart and people were camping out in the parking lot.  CAMPING at Wal-Mart!  I like certain things too but I don’t get the draw of getting out to pick up a book you can buy the next day with no hassles.  This isn’t like the madness we see over game systems that are sold out for days.  The book is available now without having to camp out.  Imagine if people were so excited for church, they would camp out in your parking lot!
2. The Beckhams.  Yesterday, I turn on my TV and I see an hour long pre-game show for a soccer match between Los Angeles and a team called Chelsea.  Then, a big deal was made for a party the Cruises were throwing for California’s newest big thing.  I wondered how many were like me and said “who cares?”  The last thing I need to hear about is how Eva Longoria and Katie Cruise are busy sending out gold foil stamped invites to a private party.  That much money brings it own world and 99.9% of us aren’t living in it.  I also wonder how many of the sold out crowd at the LA Galaxy’s home “pitch” will be back to watch another game after a month or so.  If Pele couldn’t get soccer on its feet here, I doubt an aging soccer star with diminished skills will do it.  No, this is all about Hollywood.  Beckham will have more fans reading about him and his wife (what group was it she was in again?) in People magazine than they will in The Sporting News.
3. Lindsay Lohan.  Oh, never mind!
4. Al Gore’s Son. Is this an “Inconvenient Truth” or what?  Busted while driving a “green” car!
5. Green Cars. While we’re on that subject, what is the big deal with the Prius or any of these hybrid cars?  Given the gas crunch, we should be looking at ways to conserve but this?  These cars cost a lot and when you factor in what you’re saving over a regular Toyota in terms of gas cost, the difference weighs against you.  You’re losing money!  Buy a cheaper, more fuel efficient car and drive less!  You’ll save real money as opposed to spending more cash to feel better about the environment.  A pastor friend of mine purchased a scooter type motorcycle that gets 100 miles per gallon (It only goes to about 45 miles per hour) and he drives it to his office every day and uses a gallon of gas A WEEK!  $3 a week in fuel cost.  THAT makes sense.  The real problem is our lifestyle.  Until we change that, we won’t change a thing in this arena.

This is what occupies the news this week.  Interesting how we get so sidetracked into others’ lives that we sometimes forget to take stock in our own!  I pray your week is a productive one for the kingdom.  Be blessed!

I returned this week from our denomination’s annual convention.  While there, I engaged in many conversations with people from all over the country who are involved in our churches, our various ministry programs, and of course missions.  One thing I noted in a few of the conversations was the assumptions that were made in regard to certain people or their ministries.  Perception is a very admirable trait but sometimes I think that our perception becomes clouded when we seek to bridge a chasm of what we perceive to what really might be out there.  The clouds that cover the chasm itself cause us to walk into the unknown with no idea of what’s ahead so we simply revert to what is real to us to help guide us.  For example, I heard one conversation about a fellow missionary who’s planting a church and the perception of my well intentioned brother was that this person wasn’t following the “manual” to get it done the way he would.  Thank goodness I wasn’t in that conversation because I know this brother (the church planter) quite well and would have put an entirely different spin on his concern.

Back to my analogy…..

I believe the chasm we seek to cross is nothing more that a shadow.  The shadows in the dark that once scared us as a child now cause us to hesitate in our dealings with others.  When someone does something that we just can’t compute in our reality, we simply want to revert to our perception and question the other’s M.O.  The reality of the shadow is we take the scarce scraps of reality we have and we place them in the light on our side of the chasm to cast the shadow we feel most comfortable with. 

I, for one, long ago focused my thoughts on navigating the light that was available to find the truth of what was on the other side.  What I’ve found is refreshing and wonderful.  When seen in the sunset that the other side casts on it once you’re across, it’s beautiful and awe inspiring.  Are there problems?  Are there problem people, even in ministry?  Absolutely.  But the beauty of discovery far outweighs the stale lifelessness of staying on the other shore never experiencing but always casting shadows through the chasm to validate our staying put. 

I recently watched a movie called “The Island” that was released a few years ago.  It reminded me of one of my favorite movies as a kid, “Logan’s Run” with a bit more of an edge. The general premise of each movie was to escape the “reality” of what we were programmed with to the unknown.  In “The Island”, the couple leaving is told that death surely awaits them outside the safety of the network which was simply an underground colony.  Of course, the characters begin to think otherwise and, ultimately, find out the truth.  I think sometimes in ministry we tend to do the same thing to people we don’t understand.  Surely death awaits them in this unconventional way of doing things and young leaders are discouraged to follow them.  I don’t want to paint a bleak picture of elders because many of them encouraged me in my journey to where I am today and I already see in my 13-year old son the curiosity to take the journey even farther than I likely will.  I’m merely saying that some of the “darkness” in our speech shows a real fear of the chasm shadows. 

So where are you on this journey?  Are you afraid to pull up anchor and sail into the shadows?  Don’t be.  There is peril along the way for certain but discovery and freshness of purpose will energize you like nothing I’ve ever experienced.

Perhaps I’ll have more to say on this later.  I’m sure I will because I’m still investigating.

This week I was informed by my denomination’s church planting board that I will be placed on what is known in our group as “designated support”.  This is a phrase which basically means that I no longer have my salary guaranteed and that I will receive whatever is given by others to survive.  If I receive $1000 less in giving this month, my salary is reduced by that amount and I have to find a way to replace that income myself.  For this first time since I can remember, I went out applying for jobs at local places like Starbucks and Wal-Mart.  I felt like a 16 year old kid again.  I’ve interviewed for jobs twice since I’ve been 22 having stayed at my position in radio for 15 years prior to moving to Denver as a church planter 6 years ago.  During that time, I’ve traveled to raise support across the Midwest where I’m originally from.  I’ve told my wife I have a calm about this but still, when you have a wife and three kids to take care of, it’s scary nonetheless.

I understand the reasons why.  Giving is down across the country and other church planters are receiving the same treatment.  I’ve spoken with two this week who are much younger than I and somehow, they’ve looked to me for reassurances.  I’m not sure I’ve much to give other than my own faith that believes if I’m working hard, still feel called, and am putting my trust completely in Him, that it will work out that the bills will somehow get paid.  If that means a second job, so be it.  I love what I do and though hours at another job take away from my effectiveness, I still believe it’s the right thing to do.  God will honor my effort.  My wife is picking up additional hours at her work but we’ve prayed and decided that she must be home more to help with the children.  She’s willing to do more and my 16 year old just started her first job and told me she’d help with her own activities and things but I’ve told them all that I will provide.  God will be honored.  And really, that’s all that matters.  The church will take care of itself if we are faithful.  Sometimes I think I worry too much about it but it’s not just about me.  I know I’m the leader but there are others who contribute.  I must stay strong for them and keep the faith.  Still, it’s an odd look a 20-something manager gives you when she says: “..and Pastor, you want to be a barista again why?”

If you’re so inclined, would you please pray for me?  Not only that, but pray for my wife who’s taking this harder than me.  We know we’re called.  We know God’s in control but this is one of those times when he calls us to the dark and just tells us to trust but nothing more.