Presby-Musings

I had to come to grips with something many years ago as I was entering my second decade of serving in various leadership roles within the Church:  The perfect church doesn't exist.   It doesn't.  No matter how hard you might try to find the perfect faith community, you won't.  The best you can do is try to find one where you feel a sense of belonging, which, as it turns out, is infinitely more important than belief.   Beliefs change.  Belonging lasts.   And I'm using the word "church" here because that's the terminology that is close to my own journey.  You might have a different name for it, and that's perfectly all right.   All those years ago when I began processing the whole "no-perfect-church" notion, an idea formed in my head and it never left.  In fact, I've been propelled forward by that idea for a long time now, and it has proved to be both costly and unbelievably rewarding.   This is typically the case with big ideas that propel

It's no secret to my friends and family that perhaps my favorite television show of all time is The Office.  There are so many quotable moments from the show, but today I have been thinking about one in particular.  Let me set the scene.  One of the main characters, Michael Scott is interviewing for a corporate job with David Wallace, the CFO of the company.  Here's the exchange:  David: So, let me ask you a question right off the bat, what do you think are your greatest strengths as a manager? Michael Scott: Why don't I tell you what my greatest weaknesses are? I work too hard, I care too much, and sometimes I can be too invested in my job. David: Okay. And your strengths? Michael Scott: Well, my weaknesses are actually strengths. David: Oh. Yes. Very good. Michael Scott: There you go. You can't see it, but I had a big grin on my face as I was writing that last bit.  The reason why this bit of dialogue has been on my mind is that I  have been thinking about a weakness

Today we're going to conclude our sermon series for the month of September---a series entitled: Generous--The Beauty in Giving.   There’s a good reason why so many people are jaded and suspicious when preachers talk about money.  But did you know that Jesus talked about money more than any other subject other than the kingdom of God?  Jesus knew that if his followers didn’t learn to live generously, materialism could very well choke the life out of their faith. Generosity in its purest, simplest, most loving form is a beautiful thing.   This sermon series has explored how the beauty of Generosity can change your life, and maybe even your world.  Now let's get to the last installment...  Today we're going to be talking about how Generosity can lead you to a life worth living, and we're going to see what the Apostle Paul had to say about this in a 2,000-year-old letter to 1st century Christians that still has relevance for us...  But first, let's talk a little bit abo

Many years ago, I preached my second sermon ever at the large, traditional, mostly formal, urban church where I was serving as a pastoral intern and the Director of Student Ministries.   There were two services at the church, and both of them were packed, so I preached to nearly a thousand people that morning.  And boy, was I green.   At that point, I had spent nearly a decade teaching and speaking to youth groups, and even a large youth conference or two, so my style was not all that formal, and I didn't read from a manuscript.   I also didn't stand behind the large, tall, climb-the-staircase-to-get-the-top pulpit, which apparently no one had really done before.  Considering the church was nearly 150 years old, that's saying something.   Instead, I preached from the chancel (stage for those of you not used to overly-church-y language), moving back and forth, using slides on the screens (which was a rare occurrence), and I encouraged the congregation to say "Amen!"

I've been told through all of the various personality tests and leadership courses that I've taken over the years that I'm a feelings-first, heart-forward kind of person.   For the most part, it's very true.   I try hard not to overthink things, mostly because I dread "paralysis by analysis." Also,  I tend to be at my best when I'm feeling passionate about what I'm doing, and also feeling exhilarated by having to innovate in the face of challenges.  The story I've told myself for a very long time is that as a result of this "feelings-first" label, I'm the kind of person who leads from the heart, empathizes with others, and is sensitive, emotional (in a good way), and not afraid to be vulnerable.  But that's not the full story.   In fact, what I know about myself is that while I do live heart-forward, and vulnerable from time to time, the feelings that I choose to share aren't always the ones I'm actually feeling.  I've

The other day I was scrolling absently through one of my social media platforms and saw a post from a friend who declared something in the post that was unbelievably offensive and "othering" to entire groups of people.   I found myself shocked and saddened, and then my shock and sadness turned to confusion.  I was confused because the person I thought I knew would have never said something as offensive as what I had seen.    The more I thought about it, the more I came to realize just how incongruent her offensive statement was with everything she claimed to believe.   You see, I have always experienced my friend to be a kind, grace-filled and loving person, who acts generously and openly toward everyone that she meets.  In fact, everyone that meets her is drawn to her.   So why?  Why would she be so overtly provocative, mean-spirited, and small?  The answer, in my mind, comes down to one thing: Fear.   And at that moment, I found myself connected to my friend again, despite

I was reading through one of my collections of poems by Mary Oliver when I came across this line:  Instructions for living a life:  Pay attention. Be astonished.  Tell about it.   I loved this, and it got me thinking about how these three instructions played out in my own life, so naturally, I decided to reflect on it a bit here.   Paying attention is a practice that is both incredibly necessary and also incredibly hard to do in our current context.  There are so many distractions vying for our attention right now---troubling news, worries about the future, social media click-holes, and our own challenges among them.   With all of this in mind, it's not surprising how hard it is to pay attention to what God might be showing us, or teaching us in the world around us.   It's also hard to pay attention to the signs and symbols of new life, new growth, and new ways of moving and being the world that are springing up as well.   We need to slow down, maybe even stop and sit still lo

  When I was a little kid I would bring home my report cards to get them signed by my parents, and inevitably we would have a conversation about what my teachers would write in the comment sections about my behavior.  Mind you, I was a fairly decent student---not at the top of my grade by any means, but also not near the bottom.  So the issue was never really my marks.  The issue was always about how much I was unfocused in class.  The teachers would write things like this:   "Spends a lot of time doodling or drawing."  "Not focused on the task at hand."  "Occasionally disrupts the class by cutting up/making others laugh."  But the one that appeared the most was this one:  "Has an issue with daydreaming."   As far back as I can remember, the label "daydreamer" was one that followed me from grade to grade, class to class, school to school.  And if that exact word wasn't used in my report cards, the one that was used was close.  The t

Today we're going to continue our sermon series for the month of September---a series entitled: Generous--The Beauty in Giving.   There’s a good reason why so many people are jaded and suspicious when preachers talk about money.  But did you know that Jesus talked about money more than any other subject other than the kingdom of God?  Jesus knew that if his followers didn’t learn to live generously, materialism could very well choke the life out of their faith. Generosity in its purest, simplest, most loving form is a beautiful thing.   This sermon series will explore how the beauty of Generosity can change your life, and maybe even your world.   Today we're going to be talking about the joy of Generosity, and how if joy isn't at the heart of our efforts to be generous---they are not actually generous.  But first, let's talk Psychology for a moment---the Psychology of Giving.  Spoiler alert--- the psychology of giving comes down to joy.  Several years ago, there was a j

In just a few days, I'll be attending a concert that was supposed to have taken place in the summer of 2020, but then got postponed at least three times before now.   Before you get all judge-y on me... I'm fully vaccinated, the concert is outside in an amphitheater, the number of tickets available was reduced and I'll be wearing a mask the whole time. But, I keep checking my emails and the concert website for updates half expecting it to be canceled or postponed again. I've gotten used to disappointment when it comes to these kinds of things.   In case you were wondering, I'm going to see the aging (but still fun) rock band KISS, who are on what feels like their twelfth "final" tour.  I'll be accompanied by my middle son Jackson who I took to see the band about 8 years ago.   Hey man, if it's too loud... you're too old, am I right? 😉 Seriously, though...  If the past eighteen months have taught us anything, they have taught us to hold our pla

One of the many things I'm not very good at is being able to reflect on what a particular challenge or obstacle in my life is trying to teach me...  at the moment   that it's happening.  To be fair to me, I have gotten much better over time at being able to gather insight and learning after I've had to face a challenge. And there are also rare moments when I'm able to be non-anxious and open to learning in the face of difficulty.   But, like a lot of us, when I'm dealing with something trying and troublesome, I mostly just want it to go away.  Or I take it upon myself to solve the problem by going away on my own----which looks a lot like checking out, leaving, running, or hiding.   I was reading from Pema Chodron's excellent book entitled When Things Fall Apart , and I came across this bit of wisdom:  Maybe the only enemy is that we don't like the way reality is now and therefore wish it would go away fast.  But what we find as practitioners is that nothing

I'm an Enneagram 3, which may not mean that much to some of you, but suffice to say that because I am an Enneagram 3, I love being a hero, or at least  appearing  to be a hero.   Let me explain this a bit...  The Enneagram is a model of the human psyche which is principally understood and taught as a typology of nine interconnected personality types.  I identify as a 3 on the Enneagram--the type that is commonly known as "The Performer."  Here's how this plays out in practical terms.   One of the many things that I've learned about myself in the past many months is that I have a tendency to take on the anxieties and concerns of others---mistakenly thinking that I can fix them all.  I don't believe that I am the only one who can fix them, mind you, but I want  to be the only one that does.   To be fair, most of the Enneagram types have a dark side to them that tends toward co-dependence in relationships.  But the Enneagram 3 tends to make an absolute art form o

The other day, while I was reading Steven Charleston's excellent collection of inspiration and wisdom entitled  Ladder to the Light , I was struck by a phrase that he used to describe faith:  Seeing by believing.    I have been thinking about Charleston's words for several days, and how they seem to fly in the face of how most of us Christian-types live and move in the world.   You see, most of us who claim to be Christian tend to ascribe to the notion that   Seeing is believing  when it comes to living out our faith.  We look for evidence, we wait for signs and symbols on our own terms, and we will do whatever it takes to bend Scripture to do our bidding, and prove our points.  We do this despite what Jesus taught, and the New Testament writers affirmed over and again---that it is "belief" (or more accurately trust ) in Jesus and the power of the Resurrection that opens our eyes to see.   The belief/trust that the writers of the New Testament espoused involves surre

  This past weekend was the first full-on weekend of football season in our house.  On Friday we were in the stands at my middlest boy's high school football game (he's in the band), watching him and his fellow bandmates do their thing.  On Saturday, my youngest son had his first tackle football game after over a month of practices.  He got to play more than I thought he would, and he did pretty darn well, I might add.   Then, later that day we watched my college football team lay an egg and get beaten in the last second of the game in devastating fashion.  I won't talk any more about that... it's still too soon.  Yesterday, my beloved Denver Broncos won their season opener in a pretty convincing fashion.  We busted out our Broncos jerseys, hats, lucky shirts, and both of my older boys and my daughter-in-law donned game gear.   I even hung my enormous Broncos flag on the front of my house for good measure.   I realized something in the midst of it all---my wife and I ha

Today we're going to continue our sermon series for the month of September---a series entitled: Generous--The Beauty in Giving.   There’s a good reason why so many people are jaded and suspicious when preachers talk about money.  But did you know that Jesus talked about money more than any other subject other than the kingdom of God?  Jesus knew that if his followers didn’t learn to live generously, materialism could very well choke the life out of their faith. Generosity in its purest, simplest, most loving form is a beautiful thing.   This sermon series will explore how the beauty of Generosity can change your life, and maybe even your world.   Today we're going to be talking about how Generosity--true Generosity--is never reluctant.   Let me ask you a question...  When is Generosity--- not generous?   How do we know when what seems like generosity on the surface really isn't generosity at all?   When it's more about the giver---it is selfish.  This looks like someo