Random Thoughts

I. Ok so I have not posted in forever. So here are the random thoughts that have been going through my head.

We have had a breakthrough, I think, with John and Joe. We’ve been working hard on some things, and one of them is trying to figure out to keep Melissa’s memory alive for them. With John, it’s easier. He has a lot of memories. Joe just doesn’t. And Joe has been really hesitant about saying anything, period. I eat lunch with the boys on Fridays at school, and it seems like every time one of the classmates will ask if it’s true that their mommy died. John takes it in stride, Joe almost seems to wince.

Well, John did some Christmas shopping at school and among other things bought some candles, he said for Mommy, who very much liked candles. All weekend, John talked about Melissa and lit the candles at meal time. That was probably the longest block of time John talked about things. And then, Monday night, Joe asked, “Did Mommy die because her heart stopped working?” Not just a detailed question, but any question was surprising to hear from him. I think John’s recent openness gave Joe some permission to do the same.

And part of it could be that it’s Christmas. We got out all the Christmas stuff, and Jessica was very keen to get all the traditional stuff out for the boys. So the Christmas village that my mom adds to each year is up on the mantle. And the ornaments (as many as can fit on our tiny tree) are up. So in some way, it looks like it used to. And somehow, we are joyful. John came back from his grandparent’s house with a card he made with a picture of Melissa when she was about 10. He looks just like her! He said it was from before she got sick “So you wont have to cry, Daddy.”

II. The Year of the Unkempt and Inappropriate Pastor

This is what Laura Gallaher said on the card she made me for my birthday. Ha ha. I do wear a lot of flannel… We eat a lunch at Al’s Bar every so often. It’s got good food and we’re trying to make as many contacts in the neighborhood as we can. So one day I go in and there is this (and here the political correctness is just going to go out the window) black midget with some mistletoe sticking out of her do-rag. She said to no one in particular, “This is what you need” and then held out her arms for me to hug her and presented her cheek for a peck. A lady got up from the bar on the way to play pool and said, “You don’t need no mistletoe,” and coyly stuck her cheek out, too. I have to tell it on myself before the kinds of people who look for things to tear down ministry have anything to say about it. I protest too much; but then I know how some people think. At the end of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a poem about (among other things) honor and fidelity to God, there is an inscription, “HSQMP.” That’s medieval French for “hony soit qui mal pense” or “shame to him who thinks evil thoughts.” Or we might better quote Psalm 1: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, go along with sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.” For too long people have taken that to mean: “avoid the tough places and inappropriate people.” But if that were its meaning, then Jesus surely would have been guilty. He never would have talked to whores, much less touched them. No, the meaning of these words is not about fear, but about power. There is a part of the work of God that is not afraid of the unrighteous, but trusts that the power of God in us will bring light to dark places. So since we do not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or go along with sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers, when we walk into the places where such things happen, when we infiltrate those kinds of lives, running a mission station three feet from Hell (that is, not from the comforts of our “righteous” homes), well, “let there be light…”

III. On A Mission

A key feature of establishing the Rock for the future is to make it a community church. A reason that Epworth Methodist Church (the place that became the Rock) fell on hard times was because everyone moved away and there was next to no effort to reach the changing neighborhood. We’re making strides, seeing people from right down the street in numbers we have not before. Our children’s ministry has done a great job bringing in community kids, and Melissa and her volunteers do a great job of getting to know the families.

John, our youth pastor has done the same, and this weekend (Dec 16) we confirmed 6 kids and baptized two. They are neighborhood kids and we are able to reach out to their parents as well. The work is slow, because building trust and relationships is slow.

The next step will be connecting our benevolence work in the community with evangelism. Exciting times ahead!

IV. We got your back

So 3 weeks ago, one of our youth got beat up on his way home after Sunday Service. Laura G (youth pastor’s wife) saw the kids who did it and she chased them. I mean she flat out chased them. They had a huge head start on her and she still almost caught them. I am guessing she and Michael Tussey (a 6^th grader) ran close to 6 blocks. She saw them run into a house and she banged on the door demanding to know who the kids were. Whoever answered did not know what do with the crazy white girl, and made like he had no idea what she was talking about. Then the cavalry showed up. Charley, who had shed a sweater and was in his wife-beater, then Don Ellis shows up in his panel-body van and a few more people spill out. The miscreants had made their escape out the back door, but the people decided they did not want any trouble and gave up the names of the kids. This is an Acts 2 church. Josh McDonald pointed out to me that the early Christians lived together and shared with each other because it was too dangerous not to. So maybe the new motto at the Rock needs to be: “The Rock: We’ve Got Your Back.”

V. Gold Star Theology

After church, Jessica, John, Joe and I met Steve McKinney and his lovely wife Connie for Gold Star. Steve and I weren’t the only ones there, but when we get to Gold Star, it feels like we are… We ended up on a topic we get to every now and again: thankfulness. We wonder why us and not others? Why have we been saved? Why is God’s grace at work in our lives? I sometimes wonder—what are the words, what is the way to help people get it. But it is just a mysterious gift from God. Steve said that if we knew how we got it, then we’d think we deserved it. It’s all grace. The Holy Spirit does this amazing work. We witness to what He has done, we preach the Truth of God, and it ends there. The Holy Spirit…