HCLM BLOG

So…here is a prayer I’ve sort of been praying

Father it’s true that we want to be in the center of yourwill. We know that’s where we’ll have peace: freedom from doubts and worries, fearsand anxieties. We know there is provision there, and joy. Tune our hearts tosense where that is, and then the courage to go there boldly. Open doors for usin the days and weeks to come. Go ahead of us in authority.

Knit together our little daughter, and tell us what her nameis. In and through Jesus your son. Amen

Yesterday (april 19) we told the story of God punishing Israel with deadly snakes. That was kind of a bummer story to hear. But as he tends to do, God also made a way out. He told Moses to make a bronze snake. If people wanted to, they could look at the snake and be healed. So sometimes God punishes his people in order to correct them. The interesting thing is that the story of the bronze snake doesn't end there. A thousand years later that bronze snake is still around. The Israelites carried it all through the desert, and put it in the temple Solomon built in Jerusalem. But when that snake is mentioned again it is being shattered. King Hezekiah destroys it because the Israelites had started worshiping it. Can you believe it? They were worshiping the thing God worked through to save them instead of God himself. They had turned it into an idol. What a mess we are.

I have been thinking lately that we (read the followers of Jesus gathered in lake mary that call themselves Holy Cross) have bitten off a big piece. I mean it's one thing to convince your larger group of churches (read the district of 55 or so churches around the country that Holy Cross is a part of) to pay a pastor to come and do some new things in a 25 year old congregation. It's another thing to knit the aforementioned followers together in authentic relationships through teams that pursue pieces of the life Jesus bought for them, and release some of those followers to start new leagues of teams in outlying towns all in a time when people are finding they have less and less money.
It hasn't taken long for the vision of people living, loving, and learning together to catch on. We first started talking about the idea in September. Since then we have added well over 100 people to the teams that were already existing. I just checked, there are over 350 people involved in L Teams right now (what's your L Team?). But it is cool to see how quickly the idea has caught on outside Lake Mary as well. A member who moved to Mt. Dora and was finding herself less involved in church services rediscovered that following Jesus ivolves the whole of life and took up the challenge of meeting the need her community had for an organized and efficient food pantry. Out of that came a book study considering a christian approach to politics. The day is coming when the vision of Holy Cross (read the followers of Jesus gathered in lake mary that call themselves Holy Cross) takes root in a whole new league in Mt. Dora; they'll worship together, meet the needs of their community and grow the faith of believers. Similar things are happening in the Downtown Orlando area. People are meeting to learn more about the word of God and look for opportunites to share it. One day they'll have their own league to.
See the vision of L Teams is big. We are praying that God will use the followers of Jesus gathered in Lake Mary that call themselves Holy Cross to change Central Florida. We've bitten off a big piece, but we have a big God and are excited to see what he'll do with some followers who are ready to see him work!

So did you catch that he is risen? I don't know about you, but I had a blast Sunday morning. I mean it was a really good time. I love standing up there trying to look all of you in the eyes at the same time and reminding you of the one thing that I know is true: Jesus is alive. That is the Gospel straight up and it can change lives. I am preaching this weekend and part of me wants to just say the same thing over again.

Here it is Holy Week and I am blogging just so that I will not have to work on an Easter Sermon.

Today is Maundy Thursday and this morning the YMCA of Central Florida had its 15th annual Prayer Breakfast. They are able to get wonderful speakers and this year they had Bruce Wilkinson the author of the "Prayer of Jabez the stories that he told were good but it is true that sometimes the best authors are not the best speakers.This gathering was at First Baptist Church of Orlando, which is HUGE and they had almost 1000 people seated there for Breakfast. At one point they asked all of the pastors to stand, there were less than 25 in attendance. What is with Pastors!!

Last week Thursday we had a pastor's breakfast at Holy Cross for the Seminole county pastors to meet with County leaders and social ministry organizations. We had the Chairman of the County Commission and the head of the County Economic Development agency as our speakers, we had Patrick Morley of Man in the Mirror  as our devotional leader for the morning. We also had 20 of the county's social agencies with displays and people present to interact with the pastors. We sent out 350 invitations to the pastors of Seminole county and when it came time for breakfast we had 6 pastors including the three from Holy Cross. What is with Pastors!!!

Later in the week I ran into one of the Seminole Pastors and asked why he was not there and he explained that he was way too busy. Then later in the conversation he told me that he usually gets to play 18 holes of golf at least twice a week. What is with pastors!!!

We were trying to engage more churches in the Christian Sharing Center and we had a lawyer who was the board chairman and he said that he would put aside all of his Fridays for a year and take one pastor to lunch each week to talk about their churches involvement in the Christian Sharing Center. We called for two weeks straight and could not get a single pastor to agree to go to lunch, most would not even return our calls, let alone answer when we called the church office.What is with pastors????

It is hard for me to say just what they are spending their time doing, perhaps emails, blogs and websurfing! Some spend their time reading and preparing for sermons. I know that they make hospital calls and do some counselling but what about interaction with the community? How much should we see pastors outside of their churches? What should be their primary jobs? What do you think a pastor should do all week?

So in what may be our last brisk morning of the first half of 2009 I went for a walk to our neighborhood starbucks. Those walks are as much about the thinking along the way as they are about the coffee at the end. This walk's thinking was a little all over the place but alighted several times on how fun palm sunday was two days ago. People in the courtyard, rockin band, pumped up preacher and big L Teams buzz. It all adds up to a good time. This is a good time of year for Jesus followers, a couple special services this week to remember the big deal, then the big deal itself this Sunday.
Once I thought over that, the thinking touched down on our burgeoning L Team community. I am excited about the way teams are springing up. They are all over the board with more people being added all the time.
Then I thought I wonder how many people know the full vision for L Teams…I’m out of time but will say more later.

I watched extreme home makeover last night. That show always makes me a little uncomfortable. People always seem a little too good, and the houses are presented as a panacea. I mean I know it's a good thing, but it reminds me that we are not living for this life, but the next and Jesus once said that it's harder for the rich to get that than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle. But the people always seem happy and you can count on tears.

That show was in my mind this morning when I spent some time looking at joy. Chris and I are talking about the fruit of the spirit in the "Audio Conversations" (by the way we are taking suggestions for a better name for those things). We're talking about one characteristic a week. I think we'll consider joy this week.

I have this cool book that shows me each time the greek word translated joy is used in the New Testament. So far it's making me think of the subversive nature of Jesus and his kingdom. You know, that his kingdom is neither beholden nor subject to the leaders or laws of this world. In fact at one point the evangelist Paul says, "in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality." Joy comes with deep poverty? That is certainly inconistent with the perspective of this world. See joy is a gift of the spirit, it comes at the behest of our King independent and often inspite or in the face of the realities of this world.

Joy is difficult to define. It is deeper and broader that hapiness; more substantial. I want to say that is a position of the heart that keeps it from the grip of fear, despair, or even guilt. This position is bought for us by the cross, and comes as a free gift to those who don't refuse it.

I was at my childhood home last weekend celebrating the baptism of my brother's six children. Staying at my mom's house, I found myself alone with my sister's dog Diego while the woman went out to do...well, whatever women do when they get together. In my defense, this dog has never liked me. Loves everyone else but he has made a habit of growling at me whenever I'm around. For those that know me, you know that I'm a dog lover, an animal lover really. In fact, just last night, I saved a gecko from the grips of Margaret's cat. So my friend comes to the door and when I open it, Diego, seizing the opportunity, darts past us both into the front yard. After multiple attempts to corral the pup, he took off through the neighborhood with me, as Rosco P. Coltrain (of Dukes of Hazard fame) used to say, in hot pursuit. Several houses, one street and a creek later, he lost me. My friend went to his car and scoped the neighborhood for this dog. Three hours later, still no dog. Three hours and 1 minute later, my sister came home. My friend was worried about her reaction. I was more concerned about my two little nieces and nephew.

We all joined the search, talking to neighbors I haven't seen in 15 years but nothing. As the sun set, we regrouped at home. Periodically the children would go outside and yell, "Diego!" That made me feel great. I slept on the couch in case this dog would find his way home and bark to come in. I didn't sleep that night. The sound of thunder and the thought of a lost dog consumed me. I got up off the couch at 6a to ride the streets again. Still nothing. I am beginning to wonder how God must feel when one of his children get lost. Later I am thankful that I'm not God.

Sunday nothing. Sunday night now flurries. Monday morning we get a phone call that he is in the next town by a school (5 miles away). We dash over and search. Nothing. We get another call from the police department that has spotted him in the neighborhood. We dash over there. Margaret spots him in the backyard. Diego spots them and takes off again. We fly home. I wonder if it would have been better if I stayed at home. Still wondering how God lives with the thought of lost children.

Wednesday night my phone rings as I'm wrapping up confirmation. It's my sister. Someone has found Diego and has him in her garage. Five days later, this smelly dog comes home. I'm elated! Thinking about throwing a party. Also thinking about flying home again and yelling at Diego. I settle on thinking about how God must celebrate when a lost child returns. Still glad I am not God.

At the risk of sounding redundant: I watch Biggest Loser (don't knock it til you've tried it). 

Am I the only one that can taste the pollen on my tounge right now. I mean really. The pollen seems thicker on the ground than thegrass, it lines all the curbs and I’m pretty sure that I can feel it on my tounge when I walk outside. This all spells bummer for someone like me who has allergies with a capital A. I’ve had this crazy sinus pressure that feels like a headache for the last two days; it makes it hard to be in a good mood

A friend of mine told me that God cured him of sinus problems. Like once he finally really forgave his older brother he didn’t have the problems again. Sometimes they start to come back, he forgives his brother again and they go away. Crazy huh?

As I wrote it occurred to me, maybe I should forgive my younger brother. I don’t feel like I’m harboring anything against him. But I suppose people that close to us have done some stuff over the years. So I forgave him for the random things that came to mind and asked the Holy Spirit to bless him.I’ll let you know how it turns out.