Blogger's Block - A Trip through Randomville

I certainly don't have writers block, because I have written quite a bit in the last couple weeks, but the blog has not seen much of the fruits. Here are some things that are going on in Will's world:

• I just turned 35. I don't feel any different.
• Boston Legal is back on. I can't count on an hour of intelligent TV every week.
• Alisha and I are going on vacation. Soon and very soon.
• My family bought me an iPod for my birthday. One of my friends from college got the same gift for his 35th birthday. It must be the thing. I really love it because I am very lazy about music. I have A LOT of cds, many from my radio dj days, but they just sit in a cabinet. Now they are slowly being loaded into my iPod so I can listen to them again. I spent 11 years on the radio, I don't need to listen to it anymore.
• I am trying to figure out what to do about our cars. Yes we have a child, but we are dog family. The dogs go with us places. The dogs go on vacation. You can't get two adults, one baby, and Labrador retriever and one slightly hyper cattle dog in a Honda Accord. (Unless I lie in the trunk - which isn't very comfortable - or really legal)
  
• In case you were wondering, as far as I can tell, Randomville is not really a place unless you count web addresses as places.

peace,

will

An update on Val

I just receive a link the electronic version of an article that will be in the forthcoming Witness (the newspaper produced by the Southwest Texas Conference) about our very own US2 Missionary Val Borhauer

Corpus Christi UM Continues Life of Mission Service

peace,

will

Lord, I was born a traveling man

I am not traveling far this week, but I will have a change of scenery on Sunday. I agreed a while back to be a guest preacher for worship at Sinton UMC this Sunday. The nice part about being an associate is that I can actually be away on Sunday every so often and see how the rest of the planet works. It is fun to just go to another church and worship, but it can also be a lot of fun to preach at someone else's church once in a while.

There is something radically different between preaching to one's own congregation and preaching to someone else's. When I stand up at Grace, I look at and see people that I really know. I see people I have studies with and prayed with. I see people I have gotten to know through a time of grief or great joy. I see people I have struggled with over important decisions in the life of the church. I see their faces as I preach and I see their faces as I prepare. As I am writing each sermon I see faces and think, "how will _______ hear these words after what she has just been through?" "How will these words of Jesus sound to ___________ who has just come back to church?" There is a whole new level of depth to preaching when the faces and voices of the congregation become part of how a read and relate to scripture.

So, on Sunday, I will be preaching blind, which will be interesting in its own way. It does take some pressure off.

peace,

will

Sermon - Listen and Read

This Sunday's sermon is now posted:

Sermon #29 - Passion and Compassion - Text
Sermon #29 - Passion and Compassion - Audio

peace,

will

And.... go!

I am getting started on an active week that will take me to Kerrville and back and then back to San Antonio. After taking the summer off, my covenant connection group starts meeting again this week. Later in the week, we will be in San Antonio for a hearing about Joshua.

It is weeks like this that my laptop and cell phone are especially valuable. They will enable me to get my sermon and the bulletin done for Sunday.

This morning, before I leave for Kerrville, John and I will be meeting with Rev. Don Nations who is in Corpus Christi to get the district started on the Congregational Transformation Process. This is an attempt to jump-start our dying churches and revitalize the churches that are simply in maintaining mode. I am looking forward to sharing his energy and ideas.


Have a great week. I will send some cool Kerrville air your way.

peace,

will

Take Me Out to the Ballgame... and give me box seats

Like most kids, Joshua's first baseball game was in the luxury box about 15 feet from Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. Thanks to some wonderful hospitality, (Thanks Tom and Nora!) Joshua got to spend the evening in comfort and style. And thanks to lots of loving arms who wanted to hold him, Alisha I got to watch a lot of the game. (Thanks Lisa and Nora and Jim and Kathy and Mike and everybody else who took a turn.)

Big thanks to the Corpus Christi Hooks for giving us a win too! 6-3 against the Midland Rockhounds. Excellent!

peace,

will

By request... more randomness

Here are some things that are going on in my life, in no particular order.

1. It seems that there is a giant water leak under the house we live in. Here in Texas, water pipes are often built right into the slab that the house is built on. This is really cool except when they break. Fortunately we have a really great plumber who is going to fix it without actually tearing the house down, or even kicking us out. I first noticed the leak because as I walked out of the bedroom into the hall, the floor was hot. Not being a structural engineer, I had no idea what that meant, but I had to figure the floor is not supposed to be hot. Indeed, there was hot water leaking in the floor.

2. Our foster child, Joshua is very cool. He is at a wonderful age where he learns something spectacular every day.

3. Joshua, Alisha and I are going to a Corpus Christi Hooks game tonight. (That's baseball for you out of towners.) Fortunately, for our first game with a little one, we will be in the Whataburger box. So, go get a whatachicken or something to say thanks.

4. We have a new back yard. The church trustees came by a couple weeks back and put a bunch of new dirt back there and Ed, one of our members has been making flower beds and a new terrace. He brought sod this week and it is starting to look lovely.

5. Today is not horribly hot here and I am thankful for that.

6. The new season of House started last night. I am totally hooked on that show and I am really thankful for my DVR so I can actually watch it.


That's enough randomness for now.

peace,

will

When there is no news to cover, why not cover the news?

With wars and rumors of wars, pandemics, genocides and poverty of staggering proportions around the world, it is good to know the journalists are on top of the truly important news: other journalists. It seems that Katie Couric's debut on the CBS Evening News is more than just news, its breaking news, reported on before the show was even over:

Couric Makes `CBS Evening News' Debut

I hope this doesn't take any time away from coverage of the Ramsey case.

peace,

will

Getting Excited

Tonight is the first night of this year's class of Disciple Bible Study. I have to tell you, this class is one of the best parts of my job. Something absolutely amazing happens when people meet together to study the Bible. I always enjoy Bible study, but it is especially powerful with such a diverse group many of whom have never really studied the Bible. The transformation that takes place in just a few months is mind boggling.

I also love what I learn each time. Disciple is such a well designed program that even after going through it five times and despite the fact I have a masters degree from seminary, I still learn new ways of understanding scripture each time through. Some of that comes through the curriculum itself, but most of it comes through the power of reading scripture in a group.

Off I go to sharpen pencils and stuff!

peace,

will

I'm Official

The following either proves that I am now a reputable, official blogger, or that a long Labor Day weekend has given me too much free time:




















peace,

will

You've Got Mail... But No Job

As a pastor at a large church, I think a lot about communications. I am often considering which communication is best done face to face, and what can be done on the phone, through a printed letter, through a hand-written card, through a mass e-mail, through a personal e-mail, etc. Doing what is best is a complicated matter that is sometimes influenced by time constraints and the person I am communicating with. Sometimes it is hard to catch up with people face to face. For me, the phone sometimes feels more impersonal than a letter. Some people think e-mail is terribly impersonal but others think it is the next best thing to talking in person.

However, sometimes the boundaries seem more clear. Check out this article:

You've got mail, about your layoff - Houston Chronicle

At least it is not as bad as breaking up with someone via text message.

peace,

will

Take a Deep Breath... Fall is Here

I have often claimed that fall is the busiest time of year at the church. However, I have made a similar claim about just about every other time of the year. Life in a large, active congregation is always busy. Different times of year just bring different kinds of busy.

Fall means new beginnings for classes and programs including confirmation and Disciple. It also means our annual Charge Conference. It also seems to be the time when people become most interested in creating new ministries or reviving existing programs. I am always excited by that and looking for ways to help people achieve their dreams. (With God's help)

For me my attention is divided between the church and my family. I know it gets even more complicated for folks with demanding jobs and kids who have school and football and band and livestock show, etc. Add to that, church events, PTA, and perhaps just a little time for recreation. When we get too busy, the first thing that gets pushed out is the thing we need most. No matter how busy we are, we need to find some amount of time to be in God's presence. Otherwise we will get busier and busier and busier until we can't sense God's presence in our lives at all. That doesn't mean God isn't there, it just means we have piled up so much "stuff" around us that we can't tell.

It only takes a few minutes to clear away the clutter and invite God to order the chaos of our lives.

I hope you can find some time!

peace,

will

This Week's Sermon - Text and Audio

This Sunday's sermon has been posted in both text and audio form and can be found here.

Sermon #28 - "Fever Pitch"
Sermon #28 - "Fever Pitch" - Audio

Thoughts and comments are always welcome.

peace,

will

Now I need to repeat elementary school science

If I forgot to list Pluto as a planet on my test in fifth grade, can I go back and challenge my grade?

BREAKING NEWS: Pluto Demoted, No Longer a Planet

They have been talking about this for some time, but now it is official. If you have a Pluto mailing address, please make the appropriate changes immediately.

peace,

will

Val has been posting

In case you are following the adventures of Val, a member of our church who has gone to California as a US-2 Missionary, she has posted a few new entries on her weblog. Check it out:

Val's Weblog

peace,

will

Taking Things a Bit Literally

When we read the Bible too literally, making the entire thing one long directive from God, this sort of thing happens:

CNN.COM - Sunday School Teacher Dumped for Being Female

peace,

will

Life with Joshua Part I

I have written very little on the weblog about life with a baby in the house. I will start by sharing the column that will appear in this week's church newsletter:

I thought it sort of poetic that on the day after Pastor John had returned to Austin to finalize plans for his first daughter’s wedding that some people from Methodist Children’s Home arrived at our home to deliver to Alisha and me an 11 month old baby boy. Joshua arrived Friday, August 11^th, entering our lives at a whopping 25 pounds.

Joshua is a foster child placed through Methodist Children’s Home’s new outreach office here in Corpus Christi. MCH normally takes foster children voluntarily from parents who can’t currently cope with the demands of parenting or whose circumstances make being a good parent impossible. The goal of MCH is to return children to a loving and secure environment with their birth parents whenever possible. This may not be possible with Joshua and he may remain with us.

I am sure you will hear me reflect on how life has changed for Alisha and I since Joshua joined us. However, I want to take this opportunity to talk about how important foster parenting is. Jesus says in Mark’s Gospel:

“Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”

I hear a lot of talk lately about the value of a life. Many of my Christian brothers and sisters are quite passionate about abortion and stem-cell research, and those are important topics to discuss, but very little attention is paid to the children among us who have very little hope of having a full and abundant life. There are more children than you can imagine who live in situations of abuse or neglect and children who have no one at all to love them. There are children who begin their fragile lives addicted to drugs and alcohol. Some can recover with a lot of love and attention and some spend their entire lives suffering from something that happened to them before they were even born.

I have mentioned in a sermon that often with problems this large we are overwhelmed and do nothing. The words of Jesus I mentioned before are just a little different in Matthew’s Gospel where he says:

Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Not all the children, just one. When and where just one child is safe and warm, when and where just one child is told, “I love you and I am going to take care of you,” then and there we are welcoming God.

Alisha and I are responding to God by opening our hearts and home to share God’s unconditional love with Joshua. We thank you for all the love and support you have already poured out upon us that we may feel loved as we are loving him.

peace,

will

This Week's Sermon - Text and Audio

Sunday's sermon has been posted in both audio and text forms:

Sermon #27 - Obey Your Thirst
Sermon #27 - Obey Your Thirst (Audio)

peace,

will

Some thoughts on welcoming

Luke 9:46-48

46 An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. ⁴⁷But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, ⁴⁸and said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.’

You may think that since I have little baby at my house that in reflecting on this scripture, I would be writing about babies, but I am not. This is a scripture that is very relevant to our task as Christians and I shared it as such the other night at our Welcoming Team meeting.

I think that we are limiting this scripture a bit when we take “child” too literally. Replace the word children with “someone new to the faith” Let read that again.

46 An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. ⁴⁷But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took “someone new to the faith” and put them by his side, ⁴⁸and said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes this person new to the faith in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.’

I don’t think a church has to work all that hard to be welcoming to other church people. I mean church people kind of know what is going on. They know we worship in the sanctuary, they know what a fellowship hall is; they know that the bulletin is the thing we use to guide us through the service; they know what a narthex is. If they are really spiritual grown ups they should be excited if they have trouble finding a place to park, if the church is crowded or they stumble over all the little kids running around. If there are mature spiritually, they shouldn’t care one tiny bit if the parking lot is cracked or the ceiling leaks or the bathroom smells funny.

Honestly, I don’t have a lot of patience for lifelong Christians who visit and have complaints about practical things. If they are lifelong Christians, they should, by now get that it isn’t about their comfort. If a lifelong Christian comes to worship here, and I call them later in the day to see how it went and they say, “I didn’t feel very welcome; the person next to me didn’t even speak to me.” I want to say, didn’t occur to you that perhaps that was there first time in any church, why didn’t you welcome them?

But what about someone new to the faith, someone who is truly seeking to fill that God shaped hole in their hearts, what if they come here? They may not know words like narthex and fellowship hall, they may not understand all those “churchy” words we use. What’s more, they may have spent their whole life living solely by the standards of the world. Think about this for a moment, do you judge your church differently than you would a nice restaurant? Say someone took you out for a nice dinner and while you were there, you were checking the place out to see if it would be a good place to invite your spouse for an anniversary or a new acquaintance you really wanted to impress.

What would you look at?

You would look at the appearance, the service, every little detail. Before you even got inside you would take note of the building and the parking lot. If you were ignored when you walked in, you would notice, if you had to wait an hour for your table, you would take note. If there was a stain on a table cloth, spots on the silverware you would see that. If the waiter seemed confused or dropped your plate, points would be deducted.

But we wouldn’t judge our church that way, because as Christians, we know that this stuff is not important. Right?

‘Whoever welcomes this person new to the faith in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.’

Think about it, those new to the faith have no other way to judge our church except by the standards of the world. Remember the effort we would put in checking out a restaurant? They are thinking about trusting their life in our hands. They are thinking in one way or another about surrendering their life to God, they don’t know what that looks like yet and they are using whatever criteria they can think of to see if we are a safe place to do that.

In the church we do a lot that it “good enough for church.” We do that because we are trying to be good stewards of the church’s money and we do it because we realize that the gospel calls us to something more than appearances. But, I think that there is a theological problem with that in that we should really give our best to God. More importantly though, there is an evangelistic problem with that.

‘Whoever welcomes this person new to the faith in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.’

We need to look critically at every single thing we do. Are we doing "good enough for church" work? Or, are we doing good enough that someone may trust us with being part of the most important decision of their life?

Something to think about.

This Week's Sermon

This week's sermon is posted and ready to be read:

Sermon #26 - Read the Instructions

The audio version is not up yet. I will try to post it tomorrow. The studio I use to record the sermons is at the house and there is now a little extra activity at the house!

peace,

will