HCLM BLOG

Chris texted me the other day with the news that the Magic traded Rafer Alston and some other guys for Vince Carter. I don't really know who Vince Carter is (remember I'm admittedly a bandwagon Magic fan) but Alston sure looked like a stud during the finals.In other trade talk: this morning I saw that the Cardinals traded for Mark Derosa. This is good news for them, they needed another strong right handed bat to keep them in the running for their division title (remember that baseball is a thinking man's game so naturally I follow it much more that the NBA).

On a team it is so easy to see: you need the right people to get where you want to go.

I recently got to talk to a group of pastors. We were talking about the call of followers of Jesus in his kingdom. I made the point that you hear a lot: people capital are the only capital that matters. You no longer need a lever long enough to move the world, you just need the right people. Jesus knew that when he picked his followers, I wonder if we remember that.

Where do you want to go? If you're going to get there, you need the right people in your life. This is certainly true for business, but that's not what I'm talking about. I mean what sort of life do you want to live? What sort of person do you want to be? What sort of things do you want to be engaged in? What sort of social life are you interested in?

If we are going to live, we need to have people in our lives; if we are going to live on purpose, we need to be intentional about who they are.

So I thought I might try to say something theological about how we are serving God by being good Fathers. That's true and there is much to talk about there, but I don't particularly want to take the energy to say that today.

Instead it has occurred to me, now that I have a son who can talk to me, how rewarding being a father is. I mean the first year was hard work, and fun but I wouldn't use the word rewarding. Now as I can start to see that the choices I make everyday are impacting not only myself, but this miniature person that is around all the time, I can see how the whole fatherhood deal could be really rewarding. I can't imagine what it feels like when the kid is all grown up and making decisions and life choices how cool that will be.

I have been thinking a lot lately about how much time Jesus spent with poor people. It's crazy when you think that the Son of God could have become a man in any segment of society. He could have come as part of the ruling class, as heir to throne. He could have come as a movie star or an athlete or rock star. But he didn't he came in a small village, in the middle of an occupied country to a family without a place to stay. I'm just saying I don't think that was an accident. When you add that to the fact that he spent his time with lower class and no class people, and then fact that when he did bump into the social elites he mostly insulted them...well it makes me think.

Lately it is making me think I want to find ways to give, help, to serve. I am thinking though that I may be a little niaeve or grandiose; because what I really want is to be part of something big. Check out this video about a company called tom's shoes. This is just a guy who was going to a church in california.

I like the vision of simply making people's lives a little better, without any strings attached.

This is the last ten minutes of the last day before I get 7 days of vacation. I plan to spend those glorious days in Napa Valley and Montery and San Fransisco. This has been the longest day all month. What is it about Vacation days that allow us to rest? So I think that I have a top ten. Why vacations are good.

10. You don't have to wear a tie the whole time.

9. You can stay up late and watch mindless TV.

8. Calories don't count on Vacation.

7. Missed free throws don't bother you on vacation.

6. You eat a big breakfast every day and skip lunch.

5. You don't have to shave all week

4. The money you spend does not have to be paid back for a year

3. You can spend two hours eating a great supper

 2. You only have to spend time with people that you like

Number 1 reason to love vacation - The rest of the people that you see are all still working!

In Christ,

Paul Hoyer

I have been holding off all day. But I can't keep quiet any longer. Come on Magic!

Hit some free throws and don't turn the ball over. I love having a team to root for. You know where you care whether they win or not. I have watched all of the games, even though they frustrate, it's still fun. But seriously hit some free throws. Oh yeah and gimme some more Skip to My Lou.

So I am reading through first and second thessalonians for this weekends talk. There is some interesting stuff in those letters; several things caught my eye, but one that I'll mention here. In 2Thess 3.10 Paul says,

"If a man will not work, he shall not eat."

Now that is interesting. As I mentioned last post, I am trying to build more serving the community into my life. Just this past monday I gave some money to a guy on the street who wanted a bus ticket. I am trying to think through what Paul is saying there. I am wondering, does this apply only to folks in the church. Some churches at that time pooled some of their resources, maybe people were trying to take advantage of the generosity. Maybe some were just taking and not contributing to the pool. Is that different from folks who choose not to work and live on the generosity of others? There are a lot of questions here, but I want to take Paul seriously. I suppose it is good if the text makes me ask questions.

I got a phone call yesterday asking about a news story I hadn’t heard. Looking around on the Internet today, my only excuse for not hearing it is that I spent half the day in the car (otherwise the story would have certainly hit my ears). Tragically a man was shot Sunday morning as he was passing out bulletins at a Lutheran Church in Wichita Kansas. The person walked up and killed the usher with one bullet. Bad. Real bad.

Someone got the plate number of the car as it drove away and the police have apprehended the guy. Apparently the suspect was on the FBI’s radar as a potentially violent anti abortion activist. See the usher at the church was one of only three doctors in the United States who would perform third-term abortions.  His office has been sort of infamous: it has been bombed and attacked.

Immediately when you hear the story your heart goes out to that guy and his family. It is so weird every time we are faced with the frailty of these bodies: alive and ticking one minute, worthless the next. As I got the story on the phone yesterday I was pretty taken aback; then the question really had me back peddling. It went something like this, “How could a guy who performs this sort of abortion, be an usher at a church?” Abortion is more complex than a blog post. But the question has gotten me thinking about how much people are watching us, whether we realize it or not. I mean I looked up official statements from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Holy Cross is affiliated with a different family of Lutheran Churches). But then I realized that the belief of individual members is not found in official statements but in the choices they make everyday. What we really believe is revealed by the way we live our life at work, at home, on vacation and the world is watching.  Unfortunately, they seem to always be looking for the inconsistencies.