church

(A)PESTs

You know how a really great piece of art makes you feel like anything, like everything, is possible? It affirms your belief in God and that He is supremely good, that He loves us. I just had that, with a book I finished just now. I’ll talk more about that somewhere else, but I just wanted you to know how grateful and happy I am right now.

On a parallel track in my mind, I’m thinking about Ephesians, chapter 4, I think. (Yep, 4, verse 11.) “He is the One Who gave these gifts to the Church: the Apostles, the Prophets, the Evangelists, the Shepherds, and the Teachers.” If you like acronyms, it’s referred to as APEST, and you can understand it like this: Apostles say, “Let’s GO climb that mountain!” Prophets say, “Are you sure, that mountain?” and then discern if that’s the mountain we’re actually called to climb (or if we’re mistaken and want to climb that one, for another reason, whatever reason.). Evangelists tell all of their friends, “Come climb that mountain with us!!!!” Shepherds say, “What do we need? Will there be enough water for everyone, as we climb?” and make sure we all have comfortable shoes. Teachers say, “Climbing mountains requires some certain knowledge and skill. Here, let me show you.”

Everyone operates inside of their giftedness to do our task, in this case, climbing this (or another) mountain. It’s a perfect setup. Other places, Paul likens it to the parts of a body. No one does everything, everyone does something. And mountains get climbed together.

I say it’s a perfect setup, but it isn’t always comfortable or natural. Apostles think apostle-ing is what everyone should be thinking about (Let’s GOOOO), Evangelists wonder why everyone isn’t as excited about Evangelizing as they are (why aren’t you telling all of your neighbors??), and teachers think everybody is getting ahead of themselves (you can’t think about climbing a mountain until you know how to climb a mountain!)

I had a nice illustration/reminder of this, again, yesterday. Thankfully, life continues to send lots of lessons to finally get through my thick skull. It sometimes takes me a while to learn anything.

(I won’t use names or examples, but know that the person and I are very close, and love each other to the moon. So, I’ll use an different, years-old example…)

A woman said to me, “I think God is deeply concerned about the environment, His Creation, and part of being a Christian is being good stewards.” Of course, I agreed. What she meant was that she thought we should not be using plastic silverware and paper plates, and as far as I can tell, she’s right. She wanted us to use real dishes and spoons and wash them each week.

That is her mountain, her letter. My mountain might be different, and, in fact, it is. I agree with her, but dishes aren’t my primary concern, even as I agree with her. I said, yes, of course, but that I wouldn’t be doing it. She would have to, because I had other mountains to climb. She was sort of frustrated, she thought her A list was, and should be, everyone’s A list.

She isn’t wrong, this is what passion looks & feels like, it’s part of why she’s so awesome. Her enthusiasm is infectious, and even if you don’t much care about silverware, after a conversation, you’d be willing to do anything she asks.

But I was more concerned with making sure the food was there. You see, my A list is telling you about the Gospel, it’s what everything I do is geared towards, and there are lots of obstacles to that. You need to be inside and comfortable, before you are able to listen. I think about that – how to effectively communicate the love of God – and, honestly, ancillary details can get lost.

Hers was also communicating the Gospel, and disposables are an obstacle for her. I was ignorant, oblivious, to that obstacle. And that is precisely why Ephesians 4:11 is so important. She’s necessary to see the obstacles that I don’t. We all communicate the Gospel in different ways, it isn’t a one-size-fits-all ministry, because we’re not one-size-fits-all.

If I spend my time on dishes, it takes from my actual calling – which was not on her A list – and Evangelists are Apostling while Prophets are bringing water, and nobody is doing what they’ve been wonderfully crafted to do. This is how burnout happens. When Evangelists evangelize, they are fully alive – this is not surprising, when you think about it. The One who gave the gifts is also the One who is calling us into spaces to use them.

What can easily happen to me, though, is frustration. Like all of us, I think my part is vital…and I’m right, it is…so why don’t you see it?!!? But in my myopia, I can miss that hers was vital, too. She is right, too, so why don’t I see it?!!?

One of the points of the Bible, and the beauty of the early followers of Jesus calling this The Way, is that it’s a process, we’re in motion, listening for His Voice, listening to His Voice, finding out who we are, and what we’re for, what our A list is – and it is also in learning who they are, what they’re for, and what their A list is. We discover where we fall on the APEST spectrum (we are all on it, somewhere), what parts of the body we are, and step into the reality that we only work the way we’re designed if we work together.

Opportunities

I am an excitable sort of man, running hot and cold. Like with most things, it’s both the best and worst thing about me. Over the years, I have learned to, first, reluctantly accept this characteristic, then drop the ‘reluctantly,’ and finally mostly loving those parts of me, even when they hurt or causs a great deal of tension or misunderstanding between us. Yesterday, even I was a little surprised how high my emotions were running.

I’m not sure I should have been surprised.

What I see all around us is division and incivility. Battle lines have been drawn, and, as Gandalf commands the Balrog in The Fellowship of The Ring, “You shall Not Pass” over these lines. Nuance and complex, complicated positions have been thrown out with manners, we point fingers, call names, and race to see who can dehumanize the other first. [I started to write, “Outside of the church it’s even worse.” I thought it was a clever twist, a way to shine a light on our own behavior, as we all assumed the characteristics were, of course, about them. But I realized I wasn’t clever, I was just wrong. It’s not worse outside of the church.]

In this environment, I can’t help but feel the crushing disappointment of our (as yet) squandered opportunity. In the Scriptures, the followers of God are commanded to be “set apart,” to think, look, and act differently. Different from who we were, but also different from the rest of the culture. We’re called to carry packs 2 miles, wash each other’s feet, and love our enemies. These examples are shocking behaviors, totally counter to the rest of the culture. They will know us by our love, right? But I’m more and more convinced they won’t know us at all.

Of course, I don’t agree with everybody. As a matter of fact, we might passionately disagree. I have strong, big opinions, principles, positions that I hold. Do you remember all of those conversations we had about the concept of “weight?” Not our bodies on bathroom scales, but the weight of priority. Essentially, we will surely reach a place where we have to choose between things, and the only criteria is the value we place on those things. Will I (1) rest on the Sabbath OR (2) rescue my donkey, which has fallen in a hole? Will I (1) stay up late tonight, sleep in tomorrow OR (2) go to bed so I can get to the gym early tomorrow morning? Do I (1) save my money OR (2) go out with my friends? And on and on, a million times a day.

So, let’s say you & I don’t agree. We could fight out loud, shake our fingers/fists, stop talking to each other, you stop coming to the Bridge (or wherever you go, whatever you do, whoever you sit next to), and you can tell your other friends that I’m dumb, uneducated, and heartless. I’ll tell my other friends the same thing about you. That’s 1, and it’s the preferred method of our current situation. Corporately, we’ve decided it’s a good path. We like it.

Or.

We could ask each other why we think what we do, and actually listen to each other (because we love each other), we can try to understand (we don’t even have to change our minds, just hear the other), continue to sit next to each other in front of the cross (because we love Jesus, and because we love each other), worship together (because we love each other), we won’t tell our other friends anything nasty about the other (because we are choosing to continue to love each other). That’s the 2nd.

I think if we choose the 2nd, cats and dogs living together under God, it would be so wildly new and radical, we would stand out like neon lights in a field of total darkness. We would draw others, like mosquitoes, who would seek our light, and then, we would point them to the only light we know, the source of the light we’ve seen & experienced, the only light that could bring something so new and wonderful, which is Jesus, who can (AND WILL) breath neon light into everybody. It’s a gigantic opportunity to change the story, to cut new paths. We can go a different direction, but it’s still the same old roads. We desperately need new roads.

Update

Good morning!

We ARE going to have church this morning, at the Bridge, at 10:30am. 

If you decide to be there, please be very careful. We are deciding to have church in person, but if you have concerns about the roads or any of the conditions, we will Livestream on YouTube, as usual.

Love. Peace. 

A Few Important Items

Good morning everyone!

It looks like the weather may present another problem, possibly for the next 2 Sundays. Anytime this becomes an issue, we will make a decision by 9am on Sunday morning. I send an email, post to the website and to Facebook. (I also try to send texts, as well, but I can’t promise those.) So, please check in at 9am on Sunday morning, And as always, don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly (not a ‘reply all’ please) with any questions. 

If we decide to cancel in-person service, I will check in, connect, & give the message online at 10:30am. We would livestream on YouTube, just like every other week. Just go to YouTube, search Bridge Faith Community, subscribe, and watch from anywhere. In addition, the messages then post to that channel and are there forever and ever, so you can watch anytime.

Tuesday looks like a problem, too, so Open Door next week will be on Zoomat 7pm.

I don’t remember being affected by this many weather events for the last few years, but this seems to be the year for disruption. That makes it especially important to make an extra effort to stay connected. Reach out to others, check on your neighbors and the rest of your tribe. Please don’t just stay home, isolated. And, as always, we can’t  take for granted the gift of meeting together, so let’s be grateful for this awesome community we are building together.

Having said all of that, I really hope I see you all Sunday morning!!

Have a great week, and be safe!

Love. Peace.

Sunday Morning Telephone Call

At the end of every Sunday service, our community gathers into a circle-ish shape, holding hands for a closing prayer. Last week, at this precise moment, my phone rang. (Of all people to have a ringing phone on Sunday morning, right?) I silenced the noise and after making a short obvious joke (“who calls me on a Sunday morning???”), said, “I wish I could tell you who that was.”

Now I can.

I began journals for my boys on the day we found out they were alive. That is, the day we were blessed with a positive pregnancy test. Each began with, “Today is _____, and at ____pm, we found out you were here.” I continued these journals for the 9 months, then through the first year of their lives on the outside. They are an account of their growth (“you are probably the size of a cashew by now”), current events (war, terrorism, political elections, etc), personal events (my dad passed during Samuel’s first year, etc), advice (just in case I’m not there to pass it along face-to-face), and very much more. Essentially, it is an account of who we were. As they grew and transformed, so did I. So did I.

I had to wait to give them. There are content issues not fit for a 7 year old, for example. But more importantly, I had to be ok with the possibility that they may not read them. Just because they’re so overwhelmingly significant to me doesn’t mean they’ll mean the same to them, at least now. And that has been terrifying, it would have broken my heart and I would’ve been, in my unspeakable hurt, angry. It had to be a gift that I could offer, completely unconditionally. They had to be free to casually cast them aside for the next gift.

An interesting fact is that these journals (along with 2 novels I wrote in college) are the only things I wrote that we saved in the flood. Everything else (crates FULL of notebooks) went under and were unable to be salvaged. The Angel knew the importance of these and rescued them before she left that night.

Anyway. This was the year to give them. The book for the youngest was handwritten, but the oldest’s was a stack of printed papers that needed to be bound. Staples is a chain office supply store that offers this service. I took all 3 in (his book and the 2 novels) and, as I handed them across the desk (they would take 1 day), the weight of the paper and distance of the desk become clear. What if something happened? There were no extra copies, no back-ups, no possible replacements. I held them tightly, said, “they are very meaningful to me,” and this sweet young man behind the desk replied, “I will take care of them.”

But that didn’t make the night go much easier. So, when Staples came up on my phone during our prayer circle, it was a thrilling relief. (Of course, it could have been a message saying, “sorry, we lost your work,” but I was convinced that sort of message wouldn’t come during worship.) He DID take care of them.

I gave my sons their books, their love letters, their written illustration of my heart, their account of how much they are loved by their daddy, on Christmas morning. I may have abstractly mentioned them in passing through the years, so there were rumors of their existence, but to see them in their hands was extraordinary. They didn’t cry, but I sure did. To see the young men I wrote these words to so many years ago, holding them in their hands, is… well, it’s a big deal. It’s an honor, responsibility, joy to be a dad, their dad. (In a colossal understatement,) It’s just the best.

The most important decision we make is to say Yes to Jesus, then we participate with the Spirit to create these beautiful, faithful, dedicated lives. These books are simply a way that love, His love, comes out of me. Our lives are our greatest artwork. And My life (of which these books – and my marriage, the Bridge, my work, relationships, everything – are a part) is mine; my offering, my response, the way I say Thank You to My Savior, Who has given me everything and more.

So, that was the phone call. It was a very welcome interruption.

Context

Sunday mornings are always interesting, for all of us. We wake up in certain ways. Saturday nights are interesting. The week before, the week ahead, how we slept, we sometimes have sore throats or coughs or allergic reactions. Maybe we had a fight with our husband, youngest child, or the washing machine is broken again. Work has been too heavy…or too light. Bills are due, and how are we going to make that work??? And now, by some miracle, we got up and left the house and came to this place, and what do we do with our hearts, our minds, our stubbed toes and too-tight pants?

I wonder if these people will notice? Do they have it all together, with their hugs and combed hair, or do they feel like me, too? When the singing starts, some put their hands up, some sing sooo loud, some just move their mouths, some don’t at all, and I just feel like crying. They call it worship…what is that? What exactly does it mean to worship?

And now the sermon? Everywhere else it’s a lecture or a talk, a teaching, but here, it’s a sermon. Is that cool, or is it weird? We’ll read parts of the Bible, and what if I can’t hear because I can’t pay attention? I just stare out the window or look at the pages, what does that say? I probably should have just stayed home…

This story, I’ve heard a million times. I know it, and this person talking, they know it, why are we still talking about it? I wonder what’s for lunch, or if we’re still fighting. Why are churches the only places where you can find pew-style seating? If they were so comfortable, wouldn’t they have caught on elsewhere? Maybe they haven’t because we have to step over each other to get in and out. Who knows? This place.

More music. Maybe I can leave now, before anyone talks to me? Is that what I want? Maybe not, maybe it would be cool to talk to someone, maybe I could tell them, maybe I wouldn’t feel so alone? But maybe they’d judge, maybe they’d raise their eyebrows and I’d know, right away, what a terrible idea it was to open, even a crack. Maybe I’d feel even more alone than I do right now? Is that even possible?

Now we are holding hands and praying. Does God hear, is he listening to the voice of a person in a small church in a small town? Do you know there are 1 million churches in this small town, I bet there are more churches than people. Why so many? Why do we pray? Is it so God changes His mind and decides to fix this, help me pay my bills, turn the doctor’s positive result negative? If He could, and if He loved me, why wouldn’t He just do that? And if He didn’t, why would my asking change anything? I thought He knew everything, knows what I want, what I need. Does He love me?

Why am I here?

So we leave, and on the way, someone looks at us, holds our hand, tells us they know, and they really do. Or they don’t, and we slip out before anyone can see the chaos in our hearts.

So, what is worship? I know now. It’s this. All of it. Showing up, as we are, thoroughly broken or euphoric (and everywhere in between) and asking allll of the questions. Pretending isn’t worship, it’s hypocrisy, and it has no place in a church. We bring the pieces of our lives and lay them at His feet – some of them are flawless in their beauty, and some are broken beyond ever being repaired, but in the loving hands of Jesus, and the Church He’s created, they are all gorgeous.

(…and, for the record, we never should have just stayed home;)

Spirituality & Righteousness

The site through which we create and operate our websites (both the Bridge and my Love With A Capital L) asks a prompt every day. The idea is that we gain engagement by posting a lot, as much as possible, like every day, even several times a day. Whether that’s true, I can’t say. It seems to me that an avalanche of content would dilute each one. They probably know better than I do. I’ll probably keep writing once/week. Anyway, today’s prompt is: How important is spirituality to you? And I think that’s funny, because spirituality is the glue that holds any- and everything together, gives meaning to routine, significance to each moment, weight to all of our relationships. How important? The question doesn’t make sense because nothing exists without spirit/Spirit, it’s like asking, how important is breathing to your workouts? There isn’t a workout without breath, there isn’t an us without the spiritual element (whether we acknowledge it or not).

But that’s not why I’m writing today.

We began a new series on the Breastplate of Righteousness yesterday, and anytime we discuss righteousness, or holiness, our senses heighten and our defenses rise. We simply don’t like to be told what to do, no matter who is doing the telling. And the slightest hint that what we’ve chosen is not particularly healthy is a code red to our fight-or-flight response. Maybe we dig in and argue, maybe we pack our bags and move on.

It’s as if we desperately need the freedom to ruin our lives. And that’s what this is about, a plea from our Creator to not ruin our lives, relationships, to not take a wrecking ball to our world. When He asks, without even thinking, we bristle indignantly and prepare for destruction. I always had such a problem with all of the “shall not’s” of the Bible. Thou shall not lie??? What?!!? How can a Loving God command something like this, how can He take my freedom away? I neeeed to be able to deceive and spend my anxiety-ridden moments afraid of being discovered and reaping the consequences of the lies. Good times.

Our definition of freedom is an interesting one.

I often use sexuality as examples, but that’s because the Bible so often does. I could use alcohol (I hate alcohol the most, by far, and it’s not close), gambling, laziness, anything. It could be any tool we use that might “miss the mark.” Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. The key is to bypass that initial automatic rebellious response, so that we can clearly consider our behavior without stirring up the rage of our pride. I wonder how we do that? Probably the same way we do anything – acknowledging that it’s there, without judgment or fear, and taking baby steps (with each other, with the Spirit) into an unknown future, with trust and hope.

I’m pretty sure we don’t have to viciously defend our self-destructive streak anymore. Maybe we could try on some new clothes, like a shiny new breastplate? And maybe we could do that the only way we’re designed, together?

Instead, Offense

After the message yesterday, the Angel graciously (as softly as possible) informed me that, “You said 3 points, but I have no idea what they were. I only had 1.” This is not a strength of mine. I have lots of strengths, (well, several strengths), but easy steps to enlightenment isn’t one of them. So, here they are:

1. Embrace Your Humanness. We are human. We will fail. Julie Z. says, “Humble people have an ability to withstand failure/criticism because they have an inner sense of the value of being human rather than externals.” Externals are bumps, obstacles, utter failures, and they don’t mean there is something wrong with us, that we’re broken, or that we’ve let everyone down and have no value in the universe. It simply means we’re human, and we’ve taken a shot. That’s a very, very good thing.

The Gospel Equation is: God, Scripture, the Helmet of Salvation, our Value, Identity in Him > (is greater than) our circumstances and/or performance. For instance, my love for my son is exactly the same if he has 40 and hits a game-winner at the buzzer, OR if he goes 1-28 and they lose by 1,000,000. In fact, my love for him doesn’t change if he doesn’t play basketball at all.

The Action Step is to: Try something you don’t know how to do (learn something new) AND fail a lot.

2. Practice Mindfulness and Self-Compassion. “Mindfulness grows our self-awareness,” Julie Z writes, “by giving us permission to stop and notice our thoughts and emotions without judgment. If we judge what’s going on inside us, we paint a distorted view of ourselves.” We can change only if we can learn to see ourselves kindly and discover where our unhealthy/limiting beliefs are, accept them (and ourselves), and then transform them with Jesus.

Our Action Step is to ask ourselves what we think (about anything & everything). Why do we think that? Is it helping, hurting, limiting, or freeing? Be introduced to and pleased to meet you.

3. Express gratitude. Gratitude makes us less self-focused and more focused on those around us. In other words, gratitude makes us more humble and much less awful. The Action Step: Say Thanks…often.

In a sentence, learn who you are, learn who they are, take care of you & each other, and be thankful for all of it. You are created in God’s image…and so are they, and that is awesome. That’s probably why she couldn’t tell the difference between 1, 2 & 3. I can’t. Each gives and takes from the other, the lines that divide are blurred, and it becomes a kind of circle that feeds the circle.

Now, I’m writing today, not to restate yesterday’s bullet points, but because of a conversation over lunch. A man said to me that what he thought during the message is how he’d been playing defense, almost exclusively, and how he needed to send the offense on the field. (Maybe we all use and understand sports metaphors is because Sports are, without question, the American Religion.) What he meant is that he had been reacting to the changing landscape of his life – like we all do. When our schedules or circumstances shift, our days look different, our routines & practices are altered, and we adjust. When we finally adjust, things change again, and we return to GO.

What you may notice is that these 3 clear, easy to remember points require a tremendous intentionality. As far as I can tell, intention is the opposite of reaction. It’s hard to be thankful when work is upside down. And when the storms are raging, who has time to wonder what we think, or how we feel about it? Right? That’s why it’s so vital that we don’t just coast during the ordinary time.

We dive into Ephesians so that, when life flattens us, we either already have our helmets on, or we know to put them on right away, before we do anything else. We become the kind of people who see beauty, not for the perfect days like today, but for when it’s cold and rainy, so that our souls know to keep looking around for the divine. Our identity is deeply imprinted on us in practice, so that we don’t waver on game days, when we’re 0-4 with 4 strikeouts.

So now what? As always, the “now what?” is to love somebody. Reaction happens, there are sometimes entire seasons where we have to play defense, but maybe we can remember to turn the offense loose from time to time.

Streaming Change Announcement

Good morning everyone!

***We are Easter people and tomorrow is Resurrection Sunday!!!!!! I can’t wait to worship our Risen Lord with you! 

We’ve gotten to the bottom of the livestreaming problem (sort of), and it will remain a problem. Facebook has implemented some qualifications/regulations on some businesses that affect their livestreaming capabilities. (Now, as far as I can tell, this is only affecting small-to-medium sized churches, but we won’t be reading too closely into that;) Until we have over 60,000 streams of 5,000 followers, we will not be able to stream on the Bridge Facebook page.

We have a YouTube channel that we haven’t used since COVID, and I will upgrade our status on that, and that will be our primary livestreaming platform. But I won’t do that by tomorrow, then I have some responsibilities coming up, so we will, most likely, have that up and running by mid-April.

I may create a Facebook page in my name to stream Sunday services on, as well, but I think YouTube will probably be enough.

Our Facebook page will still be active, we will post there, written posts, and links to YouTube videos will appear there. So, continue to Like and Share.

For this week: 

*The 7am sunrise 5 minute mini will be on Facebook, but it will be on Angel’s page (Angel Galloway Slabach). 

*The Easter Service will be a Zoom ‘meeting’ and here is that link – just click on the link after “Join Zoom Meeting” and you’ll enter a virtual waiting room and we’ll bring you in:

Chad S is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic:  Easter!!!
Time: Mar 31, 2024 10:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84167206082?pwd=U1pMWjVraERqZ21VNWdDSktPYWFwQT09

Meeting ID: 841 6720 6082
Passcode: 691894

[Social media can be a really beautiful way to connect, but sites sometimes change their policies, and we will need to be flexible to that as we move forward in an increasingly technological world. The best way around this is to show up in person, where Facebook’s nonsense won’t be an obstacle.]    

I’ll see you tomorrow morning at 7am from my porch and hopefully at 10:30 at the Bridge!!!!! (…or on Zoom, if you can’t be there to celebrate with us in person)

Love. Peace.

Last Post of The Year, with an Important Announcement

The Important Announcement: Christmas Eve service is Sunday 12/24/23 at 7pm. They’re will be NO Sunday morning 10:30am service.

I pray for you, that you experience God’s love & grace in every way, having the wisdom to choose Him and the strength to follow through on that choice, carried by the Spirit living in all of us. I am honored to walk this path, together. You are so great, I hope & pray that you know that. We jumped into so many things, one day at a time, holding your hand as you hold mine, never alone, discovering our worth and place as loved children of the Living God.

I am thankful at the grace you’ve given me, more thankful for the love you’ve shown. I hope you have felt the same from me. If you haven’t, I’ll do better to show you what’s in my heart.

At the end of every year, I sit down and consider what I’d experienced over the last 12 months, where I’ve come from, where I’m going to, what I’ve learned, who I am now, and with whom I’ve shared everything. I make peace with who I was, hold him gently, praise some things, forgive others, tell him how proud of him I am (after releasing what I have not been proud of, thankful of what those things have taught me), then say good bye. I pick a new focus for the upcoming year. I can tell you I am very grateful, overwhelmed at God’s grace.

This is the last post of the year – at least, I think it will be. Everyone will be home in this house and I’m thinking I’ll take those precious moments to breathe. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you one of my favorite passages, Genesis 28:16. You see, this guy Jacob finds himself in the middle of the wilderness (code for where God is NOT) and drifts off to sleep. As he sleeps, he has a dream, and in the morning wakes up and says, “surely God was in this place, and I was unaware.”

I don’t think any of us should be unaware, anymore. God was in the wilderness then, and He’s here now, if only we have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to feel. We can wake up, to God, to each other, to ourselves. We can love, and we can do that any- and everytime we want.

It’s Christmas, The Savior is coming as a baby, to be “with us,” so we can be with Him. What could be more wonderful? I’ll see you Sunday night (there is NO morning service;). Have an awesome Christmas, everybody.