Mad as a Wet Hen

"Mad as a wet hen." My mother's terminology to describe someone's anger who was crazy mad. So mad, in fact, that there was no telling what that person would do any more than predicting the next move of hen who had been doused with a large abundance of water. Not that I could ever figure out what a dry hen was going to do next, but I think that the point was a wet hen was not merely unpredictable, but potentially violent.

Frankly, my experience with wet cats deserves a mention here. I remember trying to put my cat in the toilet as a kid. I tried it once. That cuddly, cute, purring, little sweet thing turned on me with an unmatchable viciousness.

Most people think cats don't like water because of how it makes them feel. Frankly, I believe it has to do with how it makes them look. Have you ever seen a totally drenched cat? I dare you to find something more pathetic. The vanity of cats will drive them to violence in order to avoid too much water.

Well, today, I am mad as a wet hen (cat). It's a long story and I won't get into it, but the main point is that I have been done wrong and will be "handcuffed" by the powers that be for a while. Grrr!!!!!!!!!!! By the way, if you are trying to guess why I am mad, just stop. You won't figure it out. I will give you this: It is not in any way family related, house related and I still work at my same job.

What if...

What if there were no church buildings? Boom, they all vanish in an instant! Gone!

What would happen to the church? I bet people would find a way to be together.

Better yet (better?), what would happen if all churches sold their assets - everything - and began renting only as needed?

300,000 churches times $250,000 in assets is what?
$75,000,000,000.

75 billion. I am certain to have underestimated this amount. I don't know how many churches there are or what they own.

How many poor could be served with that kind of money? How many houses built? How many missionaries sent? How many churches planted? How many ______________? Yeah, you get the point.

For 300 years, the church did pretty well without buildings. Since buildings were introduced, the money of the church has been absorbed into them far more than money has gone to help the poor.

I'm not a militant anti-church building guy, but looking at the numbers (whatever they really are) is almost obscene.

Perpetual Clay

Is there anything in life that sits outside the realm of spiritual formation? Sure, reading my Bible or praying are included, spiritual expereicnes are a part as well. Church meetings? Sure, when my head and heart are in it. Service to the poor? Yeah. Probably should do some more of that.

But what about when I am driving? Oh yeah, K-LOVE...Chrisitan radio. Whew. Still got some spiritual formation there. But what about if I am listening to Al Franken or Rush Limbaugh or National Public Radio? What about when I am going to the bathroom, shopping, reading a novel, wathcing TV? How can spiritual formation be happening then if I am not intentionally and overtly doing something Christian?

Here is an axiom of spiritual formation: You cannot avoid spiritual formation. So much is said about spiritual formation from the side of positive spiritual formation that negative spiritual formation gets lost in the shuffle. Every experience is an exercise in spiritual formation. I am influenced by everything I experience.

Now, the same stimulus may be a different experience for different people. For example, when my wife and I watched the movie, "Runaway Bride," she was watching a romantic comedy. I was watching a story which reveals the systemic nature of the interactional dynamics of a family and community on an individual which guide her choices and the second order change which was required for her to break free from the system. (And it was a cute movie). We had exact same stimulus, but very different experiences.

So, spiritual formation is not merely doing something, it is an interpretation of what is being done, witnessed, or experienced. Some people read the bible to gain knowledge while others read it to see themselves, while others read it to pass the test...and on and on and on. Yes, it is what you do or experience, but it is also how you experience it.

Some people have never seen a trace of God anywhere while others cannot go anywhere without finding him there. Both people are being spiritually formed. The question is: In direction are they spiritually formed? Toward God or away from God?

So when one person sees "The Matrix" as a brilliant allegory to the spiritual walk, it means something altogether different than the person who watches because he thinks Trinity is a hottie decked out in leather.

Our spiritual formation is in perpetual motion and we cannot avoid it. We cannot avoid being clay either. We are shapable, moldable, and influencible (I think I made that last one up, but you get my point).

Dallas Willard Bends My Mind Straight

I am plodding, and I mean really plodding through "The Divine Conspiracy," by Dallas Willard.

The church (more pointedly, me) in large measure practices the gospel of sin management. It seems that no matter which direction I try to take myself, I am merely managing sin rather than...you see, I can't even finish the sentence. Churches are structures set up seemingly to create systems by which sin (or consequences thereof) are managed.

Is this what we are called to in the Christian life? Is this a life of abundance - manage sin until we die? Good grief. No wonder so many people take a peek at the church, shrug, and walk away (disappear out the back door, church hop, or turn bitter against it).

I want a way of life that is free, pure, healthy, and good. I want to be transformed into something better than I am, not just appear better becasue I have acces to some really slick spiritual cosmetics.

When Right Is Wrong

A lot of people are addicted to being right. It is their goal. It is their means and their end. Being right is all there is. However, let's consider what you do not have to be while being right.

Good.
Caring.
Compassionate.
Humble.
Wise.
Patient.
Kind.
Loving.
Self-controlled.
Peaceful.
Bascially, you can be right and yet have no other virtue whatsoever. As if right is enough.

When all you are is right, right is wrong.

Now What? (Redux)

My wife and I are in this long conversation about God's will, our future, and church planting. We resume the conversation about every three to four nights. I think we don't talk even more about it because after each conversation, we must digest. It is kind of the same reason you don't always eat.

We are praying, looking, listening, and wondering. We have no plan, no time table...no clue. All that we do know is that there is this feeling, yearning...sometimes haunting, that says that although where we are and what we are doing is good, something else is looming.

My hand is on my forehead blocking the sun as I stare out to the horizon over the ocean. I can't see anything yet, but I am just sure something is going to emerge. It's not so much I am waiting for my ship to come in, but more so that I am wondering when my ride is going to show up.

Vision. Wisdom. Courage. Faith.

Tick Talk

Thanksgiving Day, I will be a turkey tick - ready to pop. I do like the Thanksgiving meal...and football. But there is more to the holiday than getting fat and vegging out.

I'm thankful for what I got. Being thankful is healthy. Withholding thanks, appreciation and so forth is emotionally similar to being insulted and just taking it - and not in the Jesus way. When a person receives, there is an emotional reality that refuses to go unexpressed. Sadly, when we withhold appreciation, it rots inside us and degrades into selfishness (and becomes intolerable), into greed (and becomes insatiable), or into depression (and becomes inconsolable).

Withholding thanks gets you emotionally constipated real fast. Thanksgiving is the soul's laxative.

You Could Be Me

Now Jesus, you say that I am your body, or at least a part of it, since I am a Christian. I am in you and you are in me. It almost sounds like I am you and you are me. But why? Can't you get things done a little better without me? Isn't it easier for you to be you without being me? Why do you desire to work in me, live in me, partner with me - why be me when you can just be you?

I can understand you saying, "you could be me," to me. You've got something to offer. But it seems like you look at me, hoping I'll say it to you. What do I have to offer that you have without me, besides just me? Sure, I'm nice and all, and I help people from time to time, but do you really require my existence to pull off these services? I'm not all that convinced you actually need me.

In fact, I know you don't. All I can figure is that you want me. But even that begs a bunch of questions.

Your love is pure, but is it that pure? Your love is unconditional, but is it that unconditional? Could you love me for my good? Could your desire to make into you be for me?

With quaking knees I say, "You could be me. That is what I want. I release myself out of my isolation into you."

Me and the Gov

Here I am with Governor Mike Huckabee.

I got to meet the governor of Arknsas, Mike Huckabee, a few weeks ago, as noted on an earlier BLOG. I have since learned how to insert pictures and links into my posts. Very cool.

Mike Huckabee is an inspiration to me and to many. He lost over 100 pounds, which pretty much took care of his diabetes. Nice Work Gov.

Mulligan Again

This used to be a perfectly flat golf course...until I hacked away at it.  

You should see me golf. I do it about once every 24 months - and it shows. I could lose a golf ball in Kansas. Flat and treeless terrain is no match for my slice. I take with me about a ball per hole (and that is living on the edge), just to make sure I can finish a round.

I am gifted, as well, at teeing off with some sensational blunders. I have done quite a few "practice swings," providing some good entertainment for my golfing buddies, but my favorite blunder is the time when I somehow almost hit myself with a golf ball on my drive. It did not take a bad bounce off a tree, as you might be thinking - it literally came off the club and at my face. Go ahead and try that one at home. I bet you can't even begin to think of how this is possible.

What would I do without the mulligan? I need an extra shot for about every shot I take. Usually, I need a couple of 'em. Now, I'm talking life. I enter about every situation with a mixed bag of emotions, motives, and objectives. Sometimes I get my junk together and hit the fairway, but more often I'm off in the rough "trying to find my butt with both hands," as my father likes to say in proverbial tones.

To many people Jesus is a friend, to others he is a revolutionary, and to others still he is a king or savior. Not bad ideas...and pretty theologically sound. I take no issue with them, but to me, Jesus is a Mulligan. He's my permission to have a do over. He doesn't mark anything against me. I get to play. I get to keep playing.

On another note, I work here.