Things I Think
1.When someone tells me that all they care about is “the glory of God”, I know they’ll lie about other things as well. What we really care about is getting what we want and need from God…
2. I was mostly away from social media this due to computer issues and a skateboard competition.
Coming back this morning, it’s obvious that social media is to narcissism what a second grade classroom is to a cold…
3. The skateboard competition was interesting…it’s rare when I’m by far the most conservative person at an event. It’s also rare to see a group of people that care for each other as much as these kids do…I’ll take all the problems and profanities with that care over the faux holiness of other groups any day…
4. The top three finishers in each age bracket won prize bags…which they spontaneously took to the other end of the park, sat down together, and distributed some of to kids who didn’t place. May it please the Lord to allow me to finish my course among them…
5. Every kid that competed Saturday desperately wanted to win. Yet, before each run they were also hugging and fist bumping each other in honest encouragement. Meanwhile, the adults on Facebook were telling each other how evil and stupid each other were. My hope is that the real future of America is covered in ink outside the boundaries of polite society…
6. Sometimes my depression and discouragement is directly linked to a faulty view of the greatness and glory of God. I forget He really is big enough to handle my business…
7. The greatest mystery of the faith to me is that God has entrusted most of His work to human hands. Because of the scope of this work, all hands matter and have a place in the kingdom. You matter…
8. The great apostasy is not in doctrinal orthodoxy, it’s in orthopraxy. Its sign is not the lack of sound doctrine, it’s the lack of love. The problem is not the head, but the heart…
9. Both my cats freak out when I go in the bathroom and close the door. There is nothing more frightful than when the father is hidden…they can’t process the fact that I’m really still there even if they can’t see me. I have the same problem…
10. Whenever I let anything or anybody cloud my vision of Jesus, my faith suffers and my heart shrinks…there is nothing deadlier to faith.
Again, your blog, a breath of fresh air. Blessed to read and think about your view. It was Clyde from It’s A Wonderful Life that said: “Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?
Thank you, Prodinov!
Perhaps our goal should be to leave a big hole…having shown others how to fill it…
When someone tells me that all they care about is “the glory of God”, I know they’ll lie about other things as well. <<<<
That's quite a truism there.
Certain things bug you about FB, Michael, but here's what bugs me the most and it when people who I know very well in real life post platitudes that in no way reflect the behavior of the person I know.
Someone will spend an afternoon telling me about stockpiling guns to protect themselves from…. who? ("Who" is the big question, if you ask me.) Then they'll post something maudlin and self-serving about loving one's neighbor.
“For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;” – Rom 2:14-15
Xenia,
I hear you…
I’ve thought about writing about all the Christians I see on Facebook openly talking about shooting their neighbors “if necessary”…but I already know how those conversations go.
maybe people should say something like “All I Want to care about is the Gory of God”.
I catch myself with the congratulatory self-righteousness, when what I really mean is I know I should be this way. Know what I mean?
Good stuff today. All thumbs up from me.
Between Friday
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”
And today
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
I’m starting to wonder if Jesus might have been talking about skateboarders.
Good comments Muchael. Especially like you observations and interpretations at the skate park!
“All I Want to care about is the Gory of God”.
Always thought a film version of Judges by Tarantino might be interesting. 😉
Thanks, Josh…the difference between what I should care about and what I do care about are two different things.
I’m not real interested in suffering for the glory of God…or any other reason. 🙂
Dallas,
I think that where you find marginalized people, you often find the Spirit of God.
At least I did, Saturday…
Skater kids and demanding cats. Great teachers.
Every cat’s motto is “always on the wrong side of the door”.
I suspect that the majority of Jesus teachings were seated in situations more like the skate park competition and less like ‘church’ as we tend to know it.
Lord Jesus, help me to see You in the mundane things of daily life.
Thank you, Dan…it was good for my old, mean soul. 🙂
Paige…amen and amen…
“the difference between what I should care about and what I do care about are two different things.”
Oh, me too. But I sometimes publicly give myself the benefit of the doubt.
“…I’ll take all the problems and profanities with that care over the faux holiness of other groups any day…”
Pretty much gets to the meat of a lot of problems, doesn’t it? And it’s actually embarrassing when the “bad element” does a better job of modeling love and brotherhood than we do.
before i became a Christian i thought that church goers were far more holy than i could ever hope to be… and pastors? they were self sacrificing and above reproach… it was a world in which i could not ever hope to participate…
praises be to God ( 🙂 ) now i see it is only a place to search for God, for knowledge of Him, He is there, but pray for wisdom as you search… He’s more apt to be over at the skatepark with Michael or some other Saint who is out and about today…
Owen,
I don’t sugarcoat the reality of what was there.
I think there were maybe five parental figures there including me,T’s mom, and his grandma.
There were drugs and some of the kids were drunk.
Having said that, I was moved to real tears more than once at the strange fellowship and the bonds they had…how they picked each other up and wanted the best for each other.
The funny thing was how out of place we looked…and how they accepted us anyway….the reversal of the social norm.
Em,
Well said.
Sometimes the hardest thing for me to acknowledge is that He’s over there with the stuffed shirts in church too…
if these marginalized kids are “punks,” ask yourself, who made them that way? they truly are making the best of a world of hurt… i can’t tell you how many kids my oldest daughter affirmed as her home was open and welcoming to all those marginalized and ‘unparented’ strays that her kids encountered – all 5 of her children are great adults… well, there’s one who definitely marches to the beat of his own drum 🙂
she shamed me as i felt that i had to protect my children (which may be true, but the parented children may be the ones you need to protect yours from) not sure what she said there …?… neither am i, but i know what i meant … LOL
Em,
We keep a boundary line around T…more for our sake than his, I think.
I got some blowback online because a church at the other end of the valley had some sort of skate event the same day and we chose not to attend that and go to the “secular” event.
I found it odd that the church held their event in their parking lot…and their property borders an actual skate park.
That symbolized to me everything I don’t like about how we do church…but I’m also an old crank. 🙂
Michael,
“they can’t process the fact that I’m really still there even if they can’t see me. I have the same problem…” As do I my friend. That, I think, is the essence of faith. To be able to believe even when He is invisible in our lives. And like you with the cats, He always returns to show Himself faithful.
Amen, Cash..
This is perhaps my favorite “Things I Think” ever.
Shame on that church for not supporting the community event and instead trying to have their own. Just shameful!
What a difference it would have been if the church folks had parked their high horses in their parking lot and walked over to cheer on ALL the kids who had turned out to compete. Could have brought some snacks and bottled water too while they were at it.
I’m glad you guys went. It seems to have been good for you to hang out with the cool kids for the day.
London,
Thank you…it was great for me to be there.
It restored my joy in some odd way….
Michael,
I find that watching kids enjoying themselves , and sharing friendship, usually is a source of joy.
Owen,
I agree…especially in an environment where what they are wearing and what kind of equipment they have doesn’t matter.
I teach at a “continuation” high school in San Bernardino, CA.
I get asked all the time if they make me “nervous,” “scare me,” “do you fear for your life.”
The answer is none of the above.
I teach some of what society has deemed the “worst of the worst.” But, damn it, I love them. Sure, there’s the occasional kid I don’t like, but that kid deserves another break, another chance, another try. They’re kids, and they need to really believe that there are people that care for them, and love them.
I’ve felt infinite joy when a kid comes back and thanks me for believing in them.
David H,
God bless you for being there…
David,
” but that kid deserves another break, another chance, another try. They’re kids, and they need to really believe that there are people that care for them, and love them.”
Sounds something like the gospel to me…..
Teaching is a weird profession. But, I’ve generally believed I make a difference. A couple of years ago, I’d lost that belief. I was just doing time. Now, I go to school, and can greet a kid with a smile, and a handshake who may have been shot at last night.
I care about these kids a lot.
A lot of Christians talk the talk, but are too scared to get their hands dirty, and hang out near the fire.
“What a difference it would have been if the church folks had parked their high horses in their parking lot and walked over to cheer on ALL the kids who had turned out to compete. Could have brought some snacks and bottled water too while they were at it.” AMEN and worth repeating
perhaps a bunch of “sissy church kids” and their righteous parents (not saying they were – dunno) showing up might have put a damper on the event, but i think that God did not like what that church did… heaven help them to get a grasp on grace… they/we need to grow in grace until we can stand in it…
Just think how bad it will be at the end of the month when all the churches do not join the community in the Halloween festivities and hold their own ‘Harvest Festivals’
MLD,
I don’t get wound up about the Harvest festivals stuff…some people really believe they are exposing their kids to something that contradicts their faith if they go trick or treating.
I always thought we were exposing them to too much sugar…
The only things I don’t like about Halloween are the death-themed things, and that’s just my personal preference. (Skulls, graves, etc…) But my kids still dress up and have a great time.
I remember there used to be a whole big stink made about “participating in the devil’s holiday” or something like that. They never could make a strong enough case for me to worry about it as a threat.
I will say that, so far in my experience, Halloween is just about the worst time to be working in a large retail store…..
That Halloween stuff at the RV Mall Is freaky. Especially talking your little kids. Freaky in a trashy way.
We never had any issues there…stopped going because T didn’t like the crowds…
I didn’t like the freak show. 🙂 Standing in line with thirty year olds dressed up.
I find it odd that you feel the need to continuously inform us that people who are not in the church or perhaps not believers are nice, and care about their children. This is not news nor is it surprising. It is a bit of a backhand to say it as if we think we are above them. We really know better than that.
I would however, agree that the church is morally apostate.
I also think it is increasingly faith apostate.
And I still am optimistic about the future of both God’s world and his church.
Depression is also related to incessant introspection. Stop looking in there. It doesn’t improve and the smell gets worse.
I find it odd that you would think that the point of anything I said.
Micheal – you may have missed my point on the Harvest Festivals. Church folk put those on at least in an attempt at a more family friendly controlled event than what the world puts on – more than that safer. Harvest Festivals were an attempt to keep kids from going door to door. This began before malls and downtowns were involved.
To the skating it is the same thing – by your own description of the day to day at the skate park. the kids are scary, violent, rude and they have the continual presence of drugs and alcohol.
So, in an attempt to allow ‘church’ kids to have a more friendly environment to skateboard, the church, this church you bring up is forced to give ground to the takeover of the public part and provide their charges with some alternative. So they do.
I don’t think it is a matter of separating – it’s a matter of no entry allowed for the good kids.
Yea…T’s grandma was just terrified out there running all the concessions for them…not.
hmmm… separating… don’t all these kids mingle when in school? if they are in school…
we’ve got a serious problem developing in this nation with kids who are not being shepherded in any way and they are maturing into a sub-class of lawless citizenry who do not feel connected to society at large… this isn’t a church problem, of course… or is it? dunno
on the other hand…
from where i sit, the education and maturation of the Church has taken a back seat to tolerance, lest we be judgmental – in reality wouldn’t it help to have as goal one, a mature church? the more we understand Christ, the more we focus and learn of Him the more the cohesion, backbone, discernment and real grace … (reading folks’ comments here helps me, believe it or not)
yet, in the back of my mind, i know that things are going to go just as God foresaw that they would and His will will be done – in the end
Michael – “Yea…T’s grandma was just terrified out there running all the concessions for them…not.”
I go soley off of your descriptions of that particular skate park experience. There is not a single area I brought up that you have not made comment on. Even on this thread today among others – “There were drugs and some of the kids were drunk.”
All I am saying is that for my grand kids we will look for an appropriate alternative and be glad no matter where we find it …which very well may be in a church.
“The funny thing was how out of place we looked…and how they accepted us anyway….the reversal of the social norm.”
You have to remember we who grew up without a father know what emptiness is like when you do something hard on a skateboard and pull it off and you have no dad there to wave at you acknowledging your feat.
So the next best thing is any parent there watching, hoping that they will appreciate your moves.
When my son was entering his early teens after work I would load up my van with he and his friends and their surfboards and head for the beach.
Knowing what I wanted growing up, I knew what boys wanted.
I would stand on the beach, I wouldn’t sit down so they could see me, and acknowledge every kids ride with a thumbs up and a wave of my hand.
I dd this every time they surfed all year round.
One particular day while they were all finished and standing on the beach taking off their wetsuits, I overheard two of the boys conversation.
“I surf so much better knowing that Matt’s dad is watching me, I wish my dad was like him.”
“Ya, I know what you mean.”
It brought tears to my eyes…
Your statement reminded me of those wonderful days with the boys.
MLD,
I give, you’re right.
Good church people should avoid sinners like the plague.
We wouldn’t want any “good” people tainted…
surfer51,
You get it…
This is not about separation at all but it is about protection of the younger ones. If this is going to be a church issue to fix let the adults do it.
But it wasn’t me who called the church folks stuffed shirts and being on a high horse.
I will let my kids join a youth group but not a gang – but that does not mean I would ignore the issue of gangs.
We’ve applied for T to join a gang and I usually drop him off while I go drink.
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!
Well, once again the theme continues, the church can do no good. They cannot even provide recreation for youth without coming under condemnation. But that’s OK
Perhaps you need to walk back the description of the skate park population. Perhaps they are more normal and Well adjusted than you give them credit.
I’ve condemned no one.
I have repeatedly pointed out that the mission field is left full…even when it’s 50 feet away.
Your comments at 11:26 and 11:52 did not sound like endorsements of church work in my opinion.
Perhaps the kids at their event were once at risk kids who need a safe environment to prevent them from falling back.
But instead they get labeled as stuffed shirts and leaving the mission field full.
I will step away.
the observation about orthopraxy is the gem of the ten.
In eight years I haven’t seen any church work among this population…evidently they’re not worth it.
I have to pick up T…it got dark while I was getting loaded…
I will give the AofG folks down the street, they built an entire mobile Skate Park for their parking lot so it could be rolled out on weekdays and put away for Sunday parking. They do it mainly during the summer and I know they pay a lot for liability insurance just in case. They have a huge parking lot. I was out there a few times. I dont think they are real hardcore skaters but it is a safe place for kids to go.
I fully agree with #8
“The great apostasy is not in doctrinal orthodoxy, it’s in orthopraxy. Its sign is not the lack of sound doctrine, it’s the lack of love. The problem is not the head, but the heart…”
As our culture becomes more an more secularized, people are going to be watching to see if the church puts its proverbial money where their proverbial mouth is, or if they’re only concerned with self (church) preservation.
” The greatest mystery of the faith to me is that God has entrusted most of His work to human hands. Because of the scope of this work, all hands matter and have a place in the kingdom. You matter…”
“ALL” hands matter? That’s waaaaacist! BLACK HANDS MATTER!!!! 😉
Actually, the most Narcissistic Construct and Habit I’ve seen by far is Calvary Chapel type Personality Cults with all the focus and praise on the Senior Pastor who gets worshipped on a Stage at a Pulpit each and every Wednesday and Sunday and it’s all about him.
THAT is your true Narcissism and Calvary Chapel and similar type churches and Cult followers promote this, perpetuate this in droves and they even glorify it and double and triple down on the terrible dynamic.
It’s disgusting. It makes the lightweight harmless social media stuff look pedestrian. The REAL damage is being done in THAT dynamic, people get really hurt and waste tons of time an money on the arseholes and they get sucked into Idolatry.
This took a strange turn.
Not strange because of AL –
Strange that some would be offended by what Michael posted.
It all seems obvious to me. I see this same stuff in my town, and we do need reminders that the church could do better.
the church can always do better, no doubt about it (but the church is made up of knuckleheads and that is our best and our brightest) – however, the claim seems to be and this is a continual theme, that the church either does nothing or the church does harm.
Therefore, the church is nothing but stuffed shirts and that somehow they have caused community harm by holding a skate park event on their own … although I am sure that it was open to the community.
Do you really know this church well enough to defend it?
I don’t know that it is blatantly terrible, but it does seem to demonstrate some insular thinking. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was framed within the church as an outreach event, but in reality it is an event that encourages people to not reach out to the community… or at the very least develop some T-Rex arms.
Josh, “Do you really know this church well enough to defend it?”
No – I do not know them at all – but neither do the people who made the charges
Dallas – my church does trunk or treat for Halloween – and we do it for 2 purposes
1.) to give a safe alternative to our church & school members.
2.) We hold it in our rear lot which faces a 1,000 unit low income housing project and welcome them all in also.
It becomes an annual community event.
We even hosted a Pokemon event a month or so ago on our property. Apparently we were I don’t know what it is called but a “hot spot” and people were coming over.
We set up 15 phone charging stations and water stations – because Pokemon is no fun if your charge runs out.
We didn’t leave the property and have tremendous outreach.
To assume that someone does not do ‘ministry’ where you do ministry or do not include your group does not mean that a good work is not being done.
I never said that anyone is causing community harm.
Didn’t even hint at it.
To me it speaks volumes that in the eight years we’ve been skating there hasn’t been a single outreach to one of the most vulnerable, visible groups in our valley.
In my mind I’ve always believed it was our job to go to people, not stage half assed promotions to get them to come to us.
We send kids to freaking Mexico, but can’t send someone across the street…
I’m sick to death of the “we’re good and they’re bad” stance of many…I’m bad, but I’m redeemed and we’re probably better off if the good people stay home.
I really don’t care anymore at this point…
How can you say no outreach. You are a pastor and you are (I assume) doing the outreach.
And other pastors do outreach elsewhere.
Again I will back away.
Michael, it may be that outreach to that skate park has been given to your own church, not to the one next door, which may have been given a different mission from God. Just continue being kind to the kids and passing out water and let the people next door do whatever it is they have been called to do. No need to fuss, just continue in your well- doing.
Let me make this clear…I said it up the thread.
The church event was completely on the other end of the valley.
Their property borders a great skate park.
I found it ironic that they have never shown their faces at the park…seems to me that when the mission field is next door that means something.
Maybe not.
Xenia,
As my physical and financial condition continues to deteriorate there’s less and less I can do.
As winter approaches I get more concerned about these kids…they’ll need shoes and coats.
Honestly, I’m also worried about the drug problem…they’re self medicating with heroin at 14.
It’s all way bigger than me.
We’ll figure it out…
Michael, I said “your church,” not you personally.
We have this saying in Ortholandia during Lent: Keep your eyes on your own plate.
Which being translated means: Be more concerned about how well you are keeping the fast and not concern yourself with how others are keeping it because that’s between them and God.
Hey Michael,
I spent a couple of hours with a couple right in your neck of the woods yesterday (Monday) who are doing an amazing job with teenage boys. One of the things that blessed me the most was that at any given time, there are up to 25 Christian men who mentor to these boys. They do community projects, they are learning carpentry skills, auto repair, other areas of construction. The boys meet 3 nights a week and have dinner with their mentors, a time of prayer and then back to their project.
Here is an excerpt from a flyer;
“Walking Tall is a mentoring initiative for teen young men in 8th through 12th grades. Compassionate life coaching men, utilizing Christian faith-based mentors hip, who will focus on (teen) young men to create hands-on experiences, (not limited to), carpentry, plumbing, electrical,automotive, fitness and outdoor activities which will build personal respect, integrity and character. It is apparent that boys being brought up fatherless and or without faith are making very bad choices and a large percent of them will end as lost souls”.
I couldn’t help but tear up a bit when the overseer of this ministry told me that one of the most neglected, lost young boys paid his way through OSU, and is being offered a job with Boeing.
I agree that there’s a great need especially in So. OR, but this is small group that is making a difference. The guy heading up this ministry does all of the activities in a shop that he built and he still works for a living to provide for his family. I was humbled and blessed…
So much depends on how the church does it’s outreach. We do almost all of ours through non church organizations as part of community work.
Our members are out in the community and they see and know the needs. Most of our work is done through South County Outreach;
http://www.sco-oc.org/
All of our food drives (our church collects nearly 1 million pounds of food each year) goes through them – our backpack program is done with them and even our Samaritan’s Purse shoe boxes are done in conjunction with them
So, when the community receives our gifts – our outreach – it is not from our Lutheran church but from the SCO – so as far as the outsider would see, they would see nothing of us … and that is the way we like it.
And the surrounding churches may even look down their nose at us as ‘not involved’ – who knows.
not a million pounds of food – about 100,000
MLD’s church did a Pokemon Go event?
I’m not laughing. Really, I’m not.
well we didn’t do an event – we went to where the people were – on our property – so we provided a service.
We met people where they were and we met their need.
We do the same for those who hop our fence to play basketball at night.
It’s funny – there is not enough parking over in the project, which is probably from multiple families living in a single unit – so they park in our lot – which caused problems. But we worked it out with them so that we could be a help … if they followed the rules. Which they do – so now we have perhaps 40 families that get benefit from us – that is ministry and out reach.
You evangelicals will do anything to try and fill your seats.
I don’t think we invited a single person to church – it’s not our style.
Notice I said they get benefit from us – we seek no benefit or attendance from them.
That’s what they all say. Guess you gotta compete with Warren in some way.
“We send kids to freaking Mexico, but can’t send someone across the street…” (and the rest of the Central American areas) – it has bothered me for years that this is the rite of passage for our kids… for a lot of reasons – not that in and of itself it is a bad thing to do… but that’s another topic altogether
#73 – YES YES YES that’s exactly what our men need to do (it’s not all about providing luxuries for your own house) – we could save the nation from a terrible, looming calamity doing things like this… how about a skate repair shop as an outreach once a week somewhere (that’s not a suggestion for Michael to add to his load) or …?… IMHO, of course 🙂
and if some church down there in Oregon can’t have a shoe and coat drive of some sort for these “no goods”… well, i don’t get it … i’m sure they’d never show up at a back to school free clothes and supplies event that our town has every year (half the kids in town here show up for that event, some probably aren’t so needy, but it does make it easier for those who are to show up and not feel 2nd class, i’m sure)
i ramble… i’m done
i know that Josh is joshin’ MLD, but what MLD’s church is doing is a good thing – might maybe cut a gate into the fence, so nobody gets hurt when they trespass 🙂 kudos to the Lutes
I’m fine with what MLD’s church is doing, but he loses all credibility when he rails against those vile evangelicals.
Pokemon? Really? Is that on the Liturgical Calendar?
Josh – we don’t require that our community activities be “God Happenings” and since we reject decision theology of the evangelicals, we do not do events to sway people into the kingdom.
We attempt (and sometimes we are successful), simply to live our vocation to love our neighbor — who in that case needed a place to charge their phones to play Pokemon – or a place to park their card.
Sounds super cool.
Just returned from the library. I had my earphones in while listening to my music. As I was browsing through books for sale there were two young boys talking very loudly and in a tough manner. I was a bit surprised these two young boys were so loud and disruptive I was surprised no one said anything to them.
Finally the librarian came over and was attempting to give them a time out. She wanted them to leave the library for 5 or 10 minutes and then come back in. It took a while but they finally left. As I was paying for my books the librarian ( a very tiny and unintimidating woman) said she felt terrible and wouldn’t be able to sleep because of what she had done.
She clearly wanted to help them. As we spoke I brought up she had nothing to be losing sleep over. There are boundaries in place for the benefit of all patrons so they can peacefully enjoy their time there. The two boys crossed the line and what she did was proper.
That was my experience with youth and boundaries today. It wasn’t dangerous. No drugs involved. But I saw two young boys who needed guidance. As I left I said a prayer for them.
Erunner,
You did better than I would have – maybe you could rub some of your “wisdom of age” off on me?
I have had to deal with kids/young people in a large retail setting, and I find I lose patience quickly and have to simply walk away. But honestly – I tend to blame the parents/guardians more than the kids. The parents are usually right there, doing nothing about the behaviour.
Prayer would be a better choice than my attitude……
Owen, that’s another thing the librarian and I spoke of. These things don’t happen in a vacuum and quite often it’s the example or lack thereof at home that starts this type behavior. Yet I know that kids from solid homes with great role models for parents decide to make bad choices. I don’t know if there’s a guarantee on these things.
This was a one time thing today. If it was like your experience(s) I may start screaming and pulling out my hair.
Oh, I agree – my own kids have made a bad choice at times….. it’s not a guarantee.
I have come close to screaming and pulling out my hair….. thank God that He is bigger than my impulses.
I am currently looking for alternate employment……