Canada, Aye?

Yonge (pronounced "Young") St. North York Center a couple of blocks from Lake Ontario

Arrived in Muskoka at 9:10 p.m. yesterday. We took an hour and a half detour through the heart of Toronto, Yonge St. The ride would have been a record 14.5 hour drive but instead lasted 16 hours, but the trip up Yonge St., so cosmo, so multi-ethnic, so many bikes was worth it. I’ll have pictures we took from the car as we passed by large plate glass windows where our reflection stood out from the cosmo look. The mini van with an 18.5′ canoe on top was hilarious in the window. And yes, we got lost twice on the way up. We took a little detour onto the PA Turnpike looking for a bathroom for Jim. Ask him who Chi Chi is. My fault on the bad directions. And then in Buffalo, we went through Lackawanna to hook up with the Fort Erie bridge and got a little turned around but saw downtown Buffalo for the first time. Tim says Lackawanna is a great name for Presbyterians.

Rain pelted us as we emptied the car. The pump worked after sitting idle for two months. We have one working heater, but the wood stove cranked out maximum heat when we got it going. It’s not that cold. I think it was about 48 degrees last night. Sleeping was great. Beds have been fitted with new egg shell mattresses so they aren’t rock hard. Tim slept on the porch to get maximum exposure. Tim and Jim snored like elephants but they were two rooms away!

View from the Cottage

Danny shared his journey of faith this morning. Awesome! I wish he could tell it like that in front of a bunch of people. He’s become a Warrior for Christ, a rock of faith, in the five years I’ve known him. Jim and I went for a two mile walk up the road. We saw five deer who peered at us through the bushes, less than fifty feet away, as we walked by. I talked to them the whole way, but they didn’t want to go get coffee and talk.

I took a quickie swim this morning. Air temp was about 50. Water temp felt warmer, but chilly. Jim got it on film. All I can say is, “Refreshing!”

The guys played along with me and went to Knox Presbyterian Church in Port Carling to the prayer service and soup lunch. We had a liturgical prayer and worship then prayed for people’s needs. I prayed for Rhonda’s tests back home as she is totally stressed with history right now. The folks are Knox are wonderful and totally accommodated our usurping of their

Summer worship at Knox Pres., Port Carling, Ontario

prayer group. Soups were fantastic as usual. I had the corn chowder and the pureed squash, red pepper and some other zingy spices. Steven, the pastor, doesn’t know the recipe because he made it up as he found ingredients in the fridge. I sat at the end table with Toni, Steven’s wife, who was still excited from the excellent sermon (in Canadian “reading”) she gave at Knox on Sunday. Steven was preaching in Bracebridge as their moderator. He says stated supply is hard to get in the winter in these churches. I think we should give them some of our Commissioned Lay Pastors to help out!

The only doctor in town came to lunch and sat next to me. She immediately took up with the conversation about health care started by Jim when he asked what everyone thought of the Ontario health system. The response people had give was, “satisfied.” The doc asked how such a generous country could allow so many people to remain unvaccinated and under-served, and why our infant mortality rate is almost to third world proportions? she believes that the middle man and the lawyers are creating a selfish system. She mentioned that dentists make much more than doctors in Ontario because it is privatized. Toni concurred since she writes the paychecks for the doc and used to work for a dentist. But the payments and the services are working great according to the doc. She would like an appointment with Obama to help him understand the system. Canadian Health is all about cutting costs by keeping people healthy.

So, I’m at the Library while the guys do a little souvenier shopping and get a fishing license. Jim has to bring some moose antlers home for his granddaughter. I think Danny is going to bring something home with “Aye” on it since that has become his favorite word. Tim hopes to catch some fish. So out we go on the clear glassy piece of heaven, Lake Rosseau, before the rain starts in a few hours.

Sean’s Hard Verses List

Just thought you might like to see Sean’s list of verses he wants explained. I find these verses cropping up in all kinds of places on the web, in conversation, with doubters and in Bible studies. Why? For most of the past 200 years Jewish background studies of the New Testament were negligible. The gospels are Jewish documents, not Greek or Roman. Everything must be filtered through authors who wrote to Jews. None wrote to a Gentile audience. Luke may come closest since he is a gentile, but never forget that Christianity in it’s infancy was a Jewish cult. Jesus went to the Jews. “He went to that which was his own but his own received him not!” John 1:10.

Jesus is a Jewish Rabbi. You can read Geza Vermes brilliant outline of Jesus the Jew to see how this is so true. Vermes is not a Christian, but a Jewish scholar fascinated by Jesus, yet remaining in unbelief. If you cannot see Jesus using Rabbinical teaching methods or teaching through a Jewish lens on the world, many of his teachings are bizarre and contradictory.  For instance. “hate your mother”, he says. This is simple hyperbole or exaggeration to get a point across about your devotion to God. “Carry your cross,” is again a mystical view of the greatness of living for Christ in the face of overwhelming odds against living for Christ. Jesus poses questions and riddles to people who are seeking his identity. He does exactly what Rabbi’s do all through history. In Luke 20:1-5, Jesus doesn’t answer the question about where he gets his authority or who sponsors him. He poses a riddle about John the Baptist. He’s helping the Pharisees to see their ladder of inference, their basis for their assumptions. Of course, they don’t, but that’s his point. Self-delusion blinds people to his identity.

And today is no exception. People are so full of themselves and their ability to discern truth that questioning their assumptions is sacrosanct. NADA! Don’t go there. We are supposed to allow people to make up their beliefs and then coddle them with ooh’s and ahh’s at their high sounding arguments. “I’m not exclusive!” “How can I believe in a God who wipes out thousands of Philistines or kills his own son?” “I’m a Buddhist Christian!” Sounds profound, but of course, Jesus would ask a question in return or prod them with a parable. (Maybe the parable of Lazarus and the rich man might work. The rich man made up his religion, lived for himself and ended up on the short side of the chasm. The beggar understood a need for God, as he was stripped of any sense of self aggrandizement in his poverty.)

So, if you want to probe Sean’s Hard Verses List, go ahead. See how my friend is thinking. If you are interested in more theological discussion check out “FAbricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospel,” by Mark Evans. He’s not a hyper ventilating apologeticist, but a theo-historian with a pragmatic and comprehensive view of the first Century world Jesus and other Jews inhabited. You may also want to read, “Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus (Hinges of History)”, by Thomas Cahill.

Anyone who reads the New Testament must understand the division between Paul and all the others. Remember, he’s the only apostle who understood the mystery of the gospel.

Romans 16:24-26 (New International Version)

²⁵Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, ²⁶but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him—

Profound Quotes and Stupid Movie Video

This post is an oxyposting: two opposite posts in one post. I came across a couple of quotes: the first from a random Journal entry of mine (I don’t know where I got it), and the second from a friend’s sermon. The opposite from profound: last summer a friend and I “made” a video response to the most stupid movie ever, “Gerry”, with zero profound or memorable quotes. (I’m not linking to its website because you are smarter than that!)

Quote 1: “Grace runs downhill and pools in the lowest places.”

Quote 2: “God puts us in situations we may not have chosen, and so we have to learn to lead through it. When the going gets tough don’t turn your back on it.” –Dave Bianchin

Watch the response to the least creative and time wasting movie ever, here, but don’t click until you read further. I just love this spontaneous video we made last summer. It’s based on the really stupid movie made by Matt Damon and Casey Affleck called “Gerry”. In “Gerry”, beware! Caution! NOTHING HAPPENS!   But in our response, something does happen! Gerry won not one, but two awards!  The movie summary: A friendship between two twenty-something men is tested to its very limits when they go on a hike in a desert and forget to bring any water or food with them. The movie has the crunching sound of walking on gravel throughout, so we thought we’d spice up our response version of it to make ours more interesting. And ours is only 65 seconds long, compared to 100 minutes of stone crunching noises!

If you must see more about the movie, click here to see some reviews at the bottom of the page. The first review shows why it received a 6.2 rating, but I think they made the film just to fool people into watching idiocy, much like Damon’s and the other Affleck’s movie about Jesus, “Dogma.”

Time Does Stand Still

We have had several sets of friends visit for a day or two in the last two months. We pick up where we left off. Time stands still. The feeling when we meet is a joy and a lightness, the reconnection of two dots on the line graph of time, but the dots seem so close together, like waking from a deep sleep. We have not witnessed the passing of time. Do you know what I mean? The casual banter and homey feeling doesn’t leave over time. Sure, events and age show through, but the connection did not dim. How so?

When people visit, they risk being de-hospitable-ized which means “to become a burden”. Old friends visiting a burden? Feels like an honor, not a burden. Do you feel that connection with the desk clerk at the Marriott or the receptionist at the doctor? Of course not. They look up, but have no recognition. They do not have a life experience with you. They won’t recognize you in a week. They are paid to make you feel welcomed. What kind of a welcome is that? The de-hospitable-izing effect is known when you wait in silence for them, or wait for them to tell you what to do. We are a burden to be passed off.

We welcome our friends into our lives as if they have never left. We anticipate the joy of having this friend in the same room, face-to-face, again. We enjoy preparing a room and a meal. Yesterday, I enjoyed sharing swimming techniques, food and a couple hours of probing some spiritual depth in my friend Dave. Last night and this morning we shared our cell groups, breakfast and some stories about how we all met, fell in love, and took a post-wedding drive to Lake Michigan.

Hospitality goes both ways here. Our friends have to tell us they are coming through or want to see us. I am honored they want this connection. Today, I am thankful for friends with whom I can experience the phenomenon of Time Standing Still.

Thank you Dave and Sue, Jordan and Laura, Gary and Jane, Alan and Mary, Eric and Jen, Grandma Marge and Eddie…and…Ralph and Mrt, Christine Freed, Joel, Kayla, Nathan’s friends, Ellen’s friends, and on and on and on!

Funeral

Honored to perform a funeral service for a friend’s ex-wife today. What do I say when I barely knew her?

The family gathered with me at the funeral home. I typed in our conversation about her. Took this morning to put it together. Honored her. Gave the gospel. and Voila… here it is.

Gena, Eugenia Bashor  (49) Funeral: April 8, 2009
Prayer
Father, you are the giver of Life, Creator, You sent your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, to be the Savior of the world to all who believe. You have given your Holy Spirit to remind us of your love and grace. Today, as we gather to honor Gena and to hear the good news again of your love to us, send your peace that passes understanding to all who request it. Send a renewed love for life and the freedom that you give. Shower your grace on Shirley, Nelson, Tory, Chase, Dirk, Donna and other dear friends and family. Be their strong fortress in sadness and a light of salvation to guide them safely to you, In Jesus Name, AMEN>
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Gena had a Short life…relatively speaking…30 years shy of the national average. Yet, Gena Embraced life. She was tenderhearted, a freebird, loved her family and a non materialistic person who looked great in second hand clothes! Shirley tells about an event when Gena was little. A little dog ran away, got hit by a car and then lying in a field of grass by the road. She would look at it when they drove by and after quite a few days she told her mother sadly, “Mom, it’s OK. that dog’s going to heaven one bit at a time.”
Gena had a tender streak. She would look at disadvantaged people and would often cry. She Would look under the bridges and try to see where the homeless people. Near the medical center, where a bunch live under the bridges. She and Dirk would eat at Zaxby’s and then see some of the guys under the bridges. Gena wished she could do something. Very aware. Had a big heart.
To most people she Gave them the benefit of the doubt. If someone needed it, she’d give them her last dollar. Helper, servant attitude. When I would go in the store with a problem, she always made it clear we were not a bother and did all she could to make sure we understood we would be taken care of.
A good bargain shopper. Didn’t care about all the fancy, top dollar. Happy with what she had and could stretch five dollars. Wasn’t materialist. Kept herself looking really good and dressed well.
Let’s back up a bit. You’ve seen how beautiful she was in her sweet sixteen photos. Graduated from Hendersonville, TN. A woman named Sarah said she had a flair for doing that interior design, so did it for a summer. Then, Went to Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY for a year, close to Nashville  and Hendersonville, and began her degree in interior design.
Gena Lived in Florida for a while on her own for a year or two after College, adventurous spirit. Free spirit… Maybe this is why her two favorite songs are:
Free Bird, by Lynard Skynard
If I leave here tomorrow
Would you still remember me?
For I must be travelling on, now,
‘Cause there’s too many places I’ve got to see.
But, if I stayed here with you, girl,
Things just couldn’t be the same.
‘Cause I’m as free as a bird now,
And this bird you can not change.
Lord knows, I can’t change.

Bye, bye, its been a sweet love.
Though this feeling I can’t change.
But please don’t take it badly,
‘Cause Lord knows I’m to blame.
But, if I stayed here with you girl,
Things just couldn’t be the same.
Cause I’m as free as a bird now,
And this bird you’ll never change.
And this bird you can not change.
Lord knows, I can’t change.
Lord help me, I can’t change.

She started settling down in the 80’s. She got married. she gave birth to Tory, then, eight years later gave birth to Chase. And married again.
Gena had many best friends. Many, many friends. Once she made a friend she meant it and they took it like she meant it, and real friends from then on. Very loyal wherever she met them. Made friends easily cause she was outgoing. Liked to argue just to argue, not to be mean, but to give a hard time.
Tory, chase and she would do this kind of bickering without being mean, and laugh, (and sounded like they would kill each other: Dirk), and then come back after five minutes and it was over. Didn’t hold a grudge, but she was blunt.
You all know that Gena wasn’t a church going person. She went to a Pentecostal Church. And liked it. Probably a little of the free spirit in her resonated with the free spirit in the Pentacostals.
She had some pain in her life. She wondered, as we all do, if this life was all there is. Sometimes, we deal with pain in healthy ways and other times in not so healthy ways.
Wish You Were Here, by Pink Floyd
So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell,
Blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

Did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
Did you exchange
A walk on part in the war,
For a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We’re just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl,
Year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

Life threw some curves at Gena. Satan himself was out to get her. “Two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl, year after year, running over the same old ground. Same old fears. Wish you were here.”
There were times when Gena wouldn’t know what to say. You’d ask a question, or say something about current events. She would automatically, sometimes painfully say, “You think?” To those close to her they knew she wasn’t ready to answer or couldn’t. Though, at times irritating, it’s one of things they’re going to miss about Gena.
What will you miss the most?
Miss her smile…Mom
Her eyes…Chase
Protective
Fun
She could be sneaky too, Tori. She snuck off all the time to the Thrift store or out the back ‘til the next day.
God’s given us a way to deal with pain. More than anything else, we all get to a point in our lives when we can’t figure it all out or when we can’t handle the circumstances or stress. So, God’s plan is to let someone else deal with it. It’s called “GRACE” and it’s really good news.
The good news is that the pain doesn’t have to cause more pain. There’s been only one perfect person who ever walked this earth. His name is Jesus. He went to the cross to take our pain, our sin and shame. Too often people feel shame and don’t know what to do with it. He felt pain. His whole life people tried to kill or hurt him, but his eyes were only on one thing: to die on the cross to pay the price for our sin and shame because we can’t do it ourselves.
Col. 2:13   When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,  14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.  15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Jesus knew that we’d try to self-medicate, sow too many wild oats and get ourselves into jams that can break our momma’s hearts. So, he set it all straight, if we want it. Jesus knew that we’d face economic disaster, relationships that go sour and health problems that break us into tiny pieces.
Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
This is good news. Too often in churches people are beat up for being imperfect. That’s not good news. That’s bad news. The good news is that God knows there is only one perfect person who ever walked on earth, and his own people crucified him in a horrible, violent, blood bath.
So what’s the point?
Most of you know it’s Easter week. The good news doesn’t stop with us being forgiven. The physical and spiritual life of Jesus was raised from the dead. God proved Jesus was His Son. God did all the work and all we have to do is believe. This is love and grace.
1John 4:9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
We can’t do anything but believe, and by believing we are saved. He doesn’t promise the perfect life, but he does promise that those who believe will have other forces at work in their lives.
Titus 2:11   For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.  12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,  13 while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,  14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
For many people, belief comes too late. This grace is offered freely today. It’s not a message of shame or telling us how bad we are, or how we’ve screwed up over and over again. God loves us so much that he has taken care of all that. His grace means we are free to be with him forever, and because of belief in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus we can be sure that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. How many people are needlessly and painfully taught the bad news that because they didn’t act like a Christian or go to church or do all the right things God doesn’t love them? Once we put our faith in what God has done in Christ, he instantly seals us to himself forever. Now, that’s good news at a time like this!
Eccl. 3:1   There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:  2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,  3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,  4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,  5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,  6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,  7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,  8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
I think it’s a good time to honor the good memories God has given to us in Gena, and to put our faith in what he has done in Christ. I would hope that today you would do both.

Aha! One Cell Group Extravaganza!

Americano pizazz hunters everywhere! Checking out “churches” that have that j’ne sais quois, pizazz, that something that “clicks”. Typical American phenomena: church hopping, hunting, looking for a Sunday morning fling, a one-morning-stand.

I can easily see the disappointment on faces. Checking out churches is HARD WORK. MANY DISAPPOINTMENTS. Pizazz hunters often find it easier to STAY HOME, or go somewhere unrelated to church to escape, and maybe find that fling.

Last night, at the Sunday Night Cell Group, the fling was found! As Charles Kennedy says, “We got to trust the discovery process.” We studied a simple, familiar section of Mark: “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” I thought we’d be done in ten minutes. After an hour we got the discovery we all were looking for. We examined the minutae, the gory details. Probing the “Why is this here?” and the “Is Jesus mad or throwing out a bone?” A couple had notes and references to get some more details.

After forty five minutes of digging last night, we were all wondering, “How does this apply?” Was there a political message for us? Is this about tithing? The temple tax? The image of Caesar, “A god,” a graven image carried in Jewish pockets? Do we disagree with our politicians and grumble about paying taxes? We turned to Romans 13:1 and 7 “Submit to your rulers! Pay your taxes!” The Apostle commanded the Romans to obey the evil Emperor, Nero. But there was so much more than this simple application.

As we probed and tried to figure out how the confrontation between the Jewish delegation and Jesus started, we saw an incredible shape take form. I guess you would have had to have been there to catch the amazement, but we were all totally amazed by Jesus. His answer, has layers and layers of meaning. What seems simple is absolutely profound. What looks like easy separation of church and state is difficult theology to understand. Caesar gets a coin. God gets everything. It’s his theme, his mantra, his slogan. Got gets everything! It’s not about money. They had asked about taxes. The real question was about God! Without hesitation or stutter, Jesus dissected the impossible dilemma. He used a coin so that every time they saw that Roman denarious, they could remember a powerful lesson about his amazing response.

The pizazz took time. We trusted each other to ask simple questions and to sit asking the questions that only truth could withstand. The application was so much more than money or taxes. As we have discovered about our journey through the gospels, we discovered the real application is when we are amazed at the incredible Jesus. We keep wondering: How did they miss it? How could they have crucified this perfect one from God? No one could have made these stories so amazing unless they really happened. Now, that’s a kind of extravaganza 99.9% of Sunday mornings can never have!

You see, discovering the REAL Jesus is the application, the pizazz, the j’ne sais quois.

A Dam Saturday Morning

We have to get away once in a while. No, this wasn’t a pilgrimage. A few friends and Nathan and I went to the Watauga Dam via canoe. Did it change my life? No, it just proved we can blow a few hours and get away with the “waste” of time. The hours without work or bailout news was so refreshing. Love was in the air. You can tell by the number of flower pictures! Thanks go out to Dave Ingram who is an avid outdoorsman, biologist and great friend!

Four of the pictures capture the road to the bottom of the lake. The town of Butler, TN, was moved to flood the valley. The old highway still runs along the bottom of the valley/lake. The relocation project required construction of 54.9 miles (88.4 km) of roads and highways, three bridges, and 66 miles (106 km) of utility lines, as well as relocation of 1,281 graves. (Wikipedia article) We stood on the old road to finish the canoe ride. The road leads eerily to the bottom in three of the pictures.

Follow this post for info on the dam itself.

Pastor’s Seminar Fun Night

We call the next to last night of Pastor’s Seminar/Camp a fun night because we all go a little wacko. The goal is to be awed by the talent and laugh like crazy when we do something that is supposed to be funny. Scott Boerckel and I have led the fun/talent Night every year but one for the last ten or twelve years. The theme of this fun night was “Peaceful”. You can watch this video and see the way we started this crazy night of memories. The poor little tots in the front row had no idea!