MuddyPuddles

I never acquired the habit of “cussing”.  I did “cuss” a person out once, however.  I wondered what it felt like so I took advantage of an opportunity when I was really frustrated with someone to find out.  Afterwards I decided that no human being deserves that kind of treatment so I apologized and have never cussed out another person (or even the same person again, for that matter).

I NEVER “take the Lord’s name in vain”.  I don’t even like to say the slang word for fecal matter (not including “doodoo” of course (how do you spell doodoo anyway?)).  Actually, I don’t really like saying that word either, but am willing to if need be.  It has about the same degree of offensiveness as “fecal matter” (eeeeewww) to me. 

But I have only said the s_ _ _  word about 5 times in my life.  There was this one time I said it because there was just no other way to have the desired effect as that particular word could give.  It was when my youngest son was about 16, more or less, and he was going through a month long (or more) spell of just complaining about everything.  I would offer suggestions for ways he might solve his problems but he would never act on them.  He would just complain.

Finally, on one particular day, I had just had my fill of it.  I was sick of his complaining.  So, with him standing there complaining and with my wife, coincidentally, standing near by, I just calmly, but firmly said to him, “Either s _ _ _ or get off the pot!”

They both froze.  You could have heard a pin drop.  The look on both of their faces was priceless.  Their heads turned toward me.  Their eyes were big and their mouths were open and they had this puzzled look on their faces.  It was as if they were both thinking “did he just say what I thought he said?”---which made me laugh followed by laughter from my son and a brief restrained smile that momentarily escaped from the pursed lips of my proper wife.

Though such action soon required a short debate between my wife and me on whether the “d” word would have had the same effect (no doubt it wouldn’t in my opinion, but I’ll let you decide that for yourselves) my son was soon making the conscious effort to not complain.  He had been busted. 

And though I can’t prove that this incident had any impact on his attitude choices today, I can testify that, Thanks to the Good Lord, my son is not a complainer.  And for that I am truly thankful.

God Bless.  Dennis

aaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuugggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Sorry for the formating problems)

The fact that we have no written creeds (other than the Bible) has been a source of pride for many in the Church of Christ for much of my life.  As I became more introspective I realized that though we don’t have a written creed, we’ve most definitely had an unwritten one and there would be consequences for anyone who violated it.  Much of it is (or seems) justifiable from scripture.  But some of it becomes quite comical when you list it out as I’m about to do for you now.  It obviously becomes rules (albeit unwritten) by men without scriptural basis.

            TWO BASIC CATEGORIES OF CHRISTIAN LIVING

                        A.  WORSHIP SERVICES (the “five acts of worship”)

                                    1.  Singing

                                    2.  Praying

                                    3.  Preaching

                                    4.  Lord’s Supper

                                    5.  Giving

                        B.  DAILY LIVES

                                    1.  DO’S--- Visit the sick and in prison, help the poor, etc.

                                                2.  DON’TS----Steal, Cheat, Lie, Commit Adultery, hate, etc.

These categories are believed and practiced by many religious groups today.  But, what sets the “ Church of Christ ” apart from the others is the specific requirements involved in three of the five acts of worship, plus the method required to become a part of the church.  I call these four items the “ Church of Christ Cornerposts .”

              “ CHURCH OF CHRIST ” CORNERPOSTS (Absolutely necessary items for our salvation.)

                        A.  BAPTISM (Immersion for Remission of Sins)

                        B.  SINGING (Without Instrumental Music)

                        C.  LORD’S SUPPER Taken EVERY Sunday

                        D.  MALE LEADERSHIP of all aspects of the Worship Services

Few in the “ Church of Christ ” would argue with any of these descriptions above (although there has been a gradual shift on B & D in some places).

In addition to these primary “cornerposts,” we have some “pillars” that are important but don’t carry as much weight as the above cornerposts.      

In other words, for the first half of the quotation, if something is commanded in the Bible, we should obey it because that is what the Bible teaches.  That is very straight forward and simple (not easy, but simple) method of determining what the Bible teaches. 

The second half of the quotation sounds just as straightforward but gets murky when you start trying to apply it.  The rub comes when you are trying to decide if the silence of the scriptures on a particular subject means it’s forbidden since it’s not authorized (this is the more traditional interpretation) or whether that silence indicates it’s permitted since it’s not forbidden.  Some of my brethren use it both ways, depending on the subject. 

They say, on the one hand, that it’s wrong to sing a song while the congregation is partaking of the Lord’s supper because there is no example or command specifically authorizing it.  The same thing is true about clapping during a worship service.  We are authorized to sing and to pray and to preach but we are never specifically authorized to clap so it is forbidden.  Other things not specifically authorized are choirs (during the worship services), or praise teams or instruments of music (since we are told to “sing”).

On the other hand, since the Bible doesn’t specifically forbid Sunday School Bible Classes, it’s okay to have them.  The same is true of having “youth ministers.”  It’s not forbidden, therefore it’s okay.  It doesn’t specifically forbid the use of the term “worship service” so it’s okay to use it (even though it’s never used in the Bible).  And the list goes on and is different for each person.

The reality is that you cannot, with any degree of accuracy or credibility, use this statement to determine what God wants for you.  It totally misses the point and makes one look foolish in the process. 

Simply put, the better way to understand scripture is to look for the principals being taught rather than the legalistic specifics of what is “authorized” or “not authorized”.  It’s the principals that are important.  It’s the Spirit of the law that counts, not the letter.  The “letter kills, but the Spirit give life.”  And Jesus came that we might have “life indeed.”

If you’ve been tied down to doctrine based upon whether the Bible speaks or is silent on the legalistic details, let it go.  It’s a faulty determiner.  It is for freedom that Christ has set you free from the law of sin and death.  Let freedom ring.  May God Bless you as you seek to follow him.  Dennis

I just recently spent one of the most luxurious evenings of my life in one of the most luxurious hotels in the world.  The Ashford Castle Hotel, located in west central Ireland, was an actual castle that was first built around 1260 A.D., (about 200 years before Columbus was born).  Several times since then, it has been conquered and extended and bought and sold.  It was first made into a hotel in 1939 and has been upgraded several times since then---most recently in 1998. 

It has entertained such guests as President Ronald Reagan, Bob Hope, Pierce Brosnan, Mel Gibson, Barbara Streisand, Lee Trevino, Brad Pitt, John Travolta and many other famous people whose names you would recognize.  Part of the movie “The Quiet Man” with John Wayne was filmed there.  It is rated one of the top 500 small hotels in the world.  It is the lap of luxury.

One evening we sat in one of the several casual, but luxurious, dining and lounge areas and listened to a musician play the piano, sing and play the guitar as well as give general conversational entertainment.  As I took it all in and actively and attentively enjoyed my surroundings and environment I could not help but be struck by the irony about where I was less than six weeks ago. 

My wife and I spent a week down in Honduras amid some of the most poverty stricken areas in the Americas.  We were there with a small group to check on a missionary and his work as well as checking on some past activities and planning for future ones. 

From being near hunger and filth and disease on the one hand to being in luxurious, spotless surroundings on the other has an incredible impact on one’s perspective.  If you stop and think about it, the difference in living in one extreme or the other is a few pieces of paper that we call money. 

If you have those papers in a sufficient amount you can live in a very nice place with people waiting on you hand and foot.  They will bring you just about any kind of food you would like and entertain you in just about any way you would prefer.  It can even make you feel like you are special, because you have those pieces of paper.

Without those pieces of paper, life and living is hard.  You may live on the street and you may have to dig through garbage to find your food.  Very few people care what you want.  Most would rather not think about you or your plight.  You are often seen as garbage, and you could easily see yourself that way as well. 

If you allow it to, it really gives you pause.  If you strip away all of those outward layers and just look at yourself through unfiltered lenses you are just a person.  You are no more inherently deserving than any other person on earth to have wealth or poverty or any of the other extremes.  There is no need to feel superior or inferior because you are not.  You are just a person that has a soul for whom God sent his son to die. 

So, if you are honest, you can and should treat everyone as an equal in God’s eyes.  The truth is that we all deserve to die, but because of God’s grace and his free gift and his son’s willingness to go to the cross for us we have value.  It’s not dependent on how many of those pieces of paper we accumulate.  It’s not dependent on how smart we are or handsome or beautiful.  It’s not dependent on our heritage or nationality or language or race.  It’s dependent on God and his love for us that was so great that he was willing to sacrifice his one and only son so that whosoever should believe on him should not perish but have eternal life. 

I hope I never look at another person the same way again.  I hope I can see beauty in every person.  I hope I can treat every person with respect and kindness.  Thank you God for blessing me in spite of myself.  Thank you God.  

I love  and respect each one of these men, individually (without exception).  I have tremendous respect for their character, their love for the Lord, their love for me and  their love for the church.  They have responded to me in nothing but Godly ways, which, because of how well I know them, is exactly what I expected.   In some ways they make up the most outstanding Eldership I’ve ever known.  I have never felt, in all the years I’ve known them, that any one of them had a hidden or personal agenda.  They are humble servants who have open minds and are willing to change if they believe it will help the church (if that change is where the vast majority of the church wants to go).

We went to church in the big city yesterday.  It was great!  The singing was beautiful.  The sermon was simple but profound.  The Bible class was thought provoking. 

The sermon talked about your four options of how you relate to people.  Some people live to be served.  (They expect people to rearrange their lives to serve them.)  Some people live to serve.  Some people just tolerate each other (neither serve or be served).  Those three types of relationships leave much to be desired.  The fourth type is where you love each other.  That's the best kind.  This is an oversimplification, but most of us have known people who fit into each one of those types as their lifestyle.

In Bible class, we talked about Nicodemas coming to Jesus in the night in John 3.  Jesus answered Nicodemas even though he didn't ask a question.  He talked about being born of water and Spirit.  And then he said "Spirit gives birth to Spirit."  And then, "The wind blows wherever it pleases.  You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.  So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."  What does that mean?  How is it with the Spirit?

I never realized how random this conversation seems.  The next few verses seem just as random.  Of course I understand about wind and noise, but how is it like the Spirit?  This whole conversation makes me think that Jesus may be talking above my level just as he talked above the level of his listeners a few verses earlier.  He said "destroy this temple and I will rebuild it in three days."  The one level people (who, by the way, felt superior (as often is the case)) thought he was crazy.  I've wondered about this in other contexts as well.

It's common for television shows to have statements with the obvious meaning and also the hidden meaning.  It's the same way with most of the modern animated movies.  The kids like the slapstick and the animation, but only the adults catch (most of) the jokes and double meanings.  Of the modern animated movies that I've watched with my 4 year old grandson, many of them seem to be written more for the adults, but marketed to the kids.  (i.e. Shrek and Cars)  The kids never even see the second level.  They also don't seem to enjoy these shows as much as the ones directed more at them with (or without) the more noble second meaning.

When listening to a speaker or when visiting with people it is obvious that some people didn't get the full message.  They don't get the more subtle meanings.  It's kind of like using some kind of computer drawing program where lines snap to a grid.  If the grid is made up of fairly large spaces everything that is said snaps to one of those lines that may be quite distant from the actual meaning of the statement.  When the grid is very small the meanings are more nuanced and can snap more accurately to the right place.

I guess I'm saying that each one of us has our own size qrid.  The more clueless we are, the larger the spaces.   When I'm around someone who is really intelligent I sometimes wonder what he/she is seeing so clearly and naturally that I don't even notice.  What is it like to see many things so clearly.   What does that successful person understand that causes him/her to make the right decisions or to get the right meaning so much of the time.  We watched the same thing and yet he/she grasped so much more than me (most of which I don't even know about (until later (sometimes)).

Every once in awhile, the lightbulb comes on.  Maybe it's third level thinking (or second level thinking for those who live in the first level).  Maybe the paradigm shift level is the 3rd level.  When you finally get the deeper meaning it impacts you enough to cause you to change.  You finally get it---whatever "it" is.  And then, later, as you look back it becomes so clear that you wonder how in the world you ever missed it in the first place.  Some people just seem to have a gift for getting it.  It doesn't come to me so rapidly.  I do think it eventually comes to me, but it just takes a little longer for it to soak in.  

May be there's two or three levels in the physical world and then a Spiritual level above that.  Jesus definitely lived at the highest level---definitely Spiritual.  Many things that bother me didn't phase him at all.  And he seemed most pleased when other people around him "got it" (like the woman who said "even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the table" and like the woman washing his feet with her tears and with expensive perfume).

I'd like to hear what you have to say about all this.  Please share your thoughts.  God Bless.  Dennis

Now about the changes.  I can't tell you all of the individual changes I would make because I haven't even considered some of them yet.  And, in actuality, it's not as much about a list of changes as much as it is about a change in our whole process, perspective and focus.  As I see it, right now we have two main focuses.  First, our focus is on foreign missions.  That is our outside focus.  It's good to have a strong mission focus.  Our local focus is on making sure we don't change our local traditions---(especially in regard to our "worship service").  Lately there has been more focus on getting everyone to come to each of the services (even if their needs are not being met--(more about that shortly)).  In some ways I wonder if we are using our money to buy off our Christianity.  We are hiring out our ministry responsibilities to some degree. 

As I looked at the report from Carlos (one of our missionaries) I was really impressed with all they were doing and accomplishing in their local congregation (with very few financial resources).  It made me wonder what our own church report would look like.  If we were writing a report to someone else (like Carlos is writing to us) what would our report say?  "For the month of February we are supporting many mission works and orphan homes.  We are holding fast to traditional worship.  We are having men's business meetings, Elders meetings, Elder/Deacon meetings.  We had "worship services 3 times each week."  What is that???  Go back and read the report from Carlos and try to mentally compare it with us.

As far as I can tell, we are meeting the needs of almost no one in our church or in our community.  That has become okay for us and for our leadership.  If it wasn't okay we would be trying to do something about it.  Instead of searching for ways to meet needs we scold anyone who says their needs are not being met and tell them that we should be more concerned about meeting other people's needs than having our own needs met.  That is code for saying that we should come to each service and sing and pray and contribute to the "worship service" so that others will feel encouraged and uplifted.  That is not enough.  In fact, I believe it's the wrong focus.

 This little country town church has now expanded to three services on Sunday morning.  The young couples class he was in this past Sunday had about 55 people in it from ages 28-40.  Jarod said there was only about 5 square feet of room left in the classroom.  There is another class of even younger couples.  He and S. (his wife) went to a 13 week marriage enrichment class with about 12 other couples which met on Thursday nights.  They got into some really intense sharing about their marriages.  It really strengthened their marriage and it has bonded them together with those other couples. 

I don't know what all else they do at this church but people are coming from far and wide because it is meeting their needs.  I've asked the preacher to get me a packet that tells me how they are doing what they are doing.  He hasn't gotten it back to me yet and I hate to pester him because he is so busy growing the church.  I do know that the first time they visited there the preacher came over later that week and brought them some kind of pie and visited with them for a little while.  They were really impressed.  Later, the next Sunday (or 2nd Sunday) they and a few other couples were invited over to his house for lunch. 

More specifically, I would try to meet with many families in our town (one at a time) of all ages and try to really get a clear picture of what specific needs we have in the community.  Then I would have a brainstorming session to try to figure out the best way to meet those needs.  I would go back to everyone in town who used to go to this church and see what it was that made them stop going.  I would have different classes which specifically address things that community members want.  I would focus on youth outreach---have Christian Rock parties, or Christian type movie nights.  I would have a committee of women who are in charge of making sure all our special needs are organized and taken care of and that no one is overlooked (baby showers, wedding showers, etc.).  I would push for small groups in homes.  Men's retreats, Mother's days out, Men's camping and backpacking trips, Sharing sessions about the lives of Christian men (like you) and women (where you tell how your spritual life has evolved--followed by question and answer sessions. 

This is just the types of things I can think about off the top of my head.  The main thing is that we are just in a rut and we seem to be pretty content to stay there if it's too much trouble to get out.  I just want to go to a church where I leave each week wanting to be a better Christian example during the days ahead.  I want to feel refreshed and thankful to God for loving me so. I want to be where people can have meaningful, thoughtful discussions where, even if they disagree, there is no animosity between them and no judgmentalism or condemnation.  I could go on, but I think you can get my drift.