some other beginning's end

So...this year has brought a lot of change to the Stephens' household.

The first thing is that I now consider it a household and a family, as opposed to an apartment and a couple.  Henry Robert Stephens entered our life on November 14th and nothing has been the same since, which is occasionally stressful, but mainly just very cool.

This was also the year that our car died halfway through a 2 hour Sunday drive home from church, which means that it was the year that we had to get a new car and a new car payment, something we haven't had for a couple years now.

It was the year that my car got hit while parked at Ponderosa.

It was the year that I stopped writing out sermons and moved to an outline based system, and did just fine thank you very much.

It was the year where things that previously didn't work started working.

It was the year I did my first marriage, first baby dedication, first counseling session.

It was the year that Mary's closet became a nursery, that a superman toy box became brown and covered with wooden animals, that our trunk got filled with a stroller, and our backseats became less roomie.

It was the year that I started writing a blog, thanks for coming along for the ride.

It was the year that the Hulk became fun again, Batman died and lived again, Spiderman became new again, and superheroes ruled the box office in general, and truth be told I love me some superheroes, especially the Batman.

It was the year that I not only had to begin planning worship services, but also lead them.

It was the year that I was proven wrong, just like every other year I suppose.

It was the year that my life seemed a little less important that someone else's.

It was a year of vast change and vast stagnation.

It was a year that the world misunderstood the Mayans, so once again the world did not end when someone said it would. [my suggestion lets stop worrying about the end and start paying attention to today]

It was a year where too many people decided to take their pain out on strangers.

It was a year of joy and pain, sorrow and shame, and greatness.

It was 2012 and it's almost over.

This next year my son will crawl, and perhaps walk.

This next year my car will probably die, which is fine by me, I want a new car too, at least new to me.

This next year I have a secret hope, known to those closest to me.

This next year I hope to be a good father, a good husband, a good friend, a good pastor.  I don't need to be the best at any of them, but I do strive to be better than most.

This next year I pray that I am a better man in general, and a better Christian in particular, because if I am then everything else will fall into place.

This past year I spent too much money on things that don't mean so much, so this next year I hope to do less of that, so that the money I spend will mean more.

This past year I hurt people, and didn't help people, so this next year I hope to hurt people less and help people more.

This past year I let myself down from time to time, so this next year I plan on doing that less.

It has been seven months since I started this blog and I have found it very fulfilling, but there have been weeks and months that have passed without an entry, my plan is to make sure that doesn't happen this year.

All in all 2012 was a great year with a few down moments, I hope that a year from now I can say the same about 2013.

Happy New Year.

Peace and Love,
Pastor K

What My Christmas Gifts Say About Me

So...here I sit on this Boxing day full of snow, a two hour drive from home, sitting at my Father-in-law's computer in borrowed lounge pants.  I thought it might be fun to write an entry about what I got for Christmas, to show how much I am loved, but also to show what my various gifts tell you about me.  I will do this chronologically so as not to put any one person's gift above anyone else's. [ain't I pragmatic]

I recieved my first Christmas present from two members of my congregation, my wife and son on Thursday the 20th.

I got a figurine of Linus Van Pelt holding his blanket, it stands on a base and is flat and metallic.  On the base it reads 'fearless' and if you put a candle in front of it you can see Linus on the wall, which is kinda cool. What it says about me is that I love Peanuts [but more on that later] and that Linus is my favorite character, because like me he is a philosopher and a theologian, yet still needs that blanket to feel safe [and while I don't have a literal security blanket you can bet your bottom dollar that I have several figurative ones].

I recieved my first group of Christmas presents on the 21st from my Mom, stepdad Len, sister, brother-in-law Jonathan, and neices Lucy and Nora and nephews Landon and Noah.

I got...

a target giftcard -- the first thing this says about me is that I really like Target, it is by far a better store than Wal-mart because of the clientel in Anderson, IN.  I can't remember the last time I saw someone shopping at Target in their pajamas, whereas I think I see at least a person or two in their pajamas at Wal-Mart year round.  Secondly it is a better store because their 'first week' movie, cd, video game prices are usually much better than Wal-mart.  As you should already know, as a regular reader of this blog, I am a big fan of movies, music, and video games so this is a really big plus for me.  My current plan is to use my giftcard to buy Season 6 of Psych [one of, if not, my favorite TV shows].

a coldstone creamery giftcard -- I also like icecream quite a bit, especially places that mix in various items into said icecream.  At Coldstone I usually get strawberry icecream with strawberries, gummie bears, whipped cream, and graham cracker crust mixed in, I think that if you want to get technical about it it is a strawberry blonde with gummie bears.

I also got [along with Mary] some money which we used to eat out the other day, and [along with Henry] a dancing Charlie Brown [can you see a bit of a pattern forming].

My next set of gifts came on Sunday the 23rd. First from my congregation.

From both my congregation as a whole as well as from one of my members I got money.  What this says about me is that I am lucky to pastor a small yet very caring congregation.  I won't say that a life in ministry is without stress nor will I say that I am in love with the four hour round trip every Sunday, but I am extremely blessed to pastor the people that I do.  It is the best place to be a first-time senior pastor.  They are an understanding and forgiving bunch and I am very apprecitive of them.

Then from my wife and son.  We did Christmas on Sunday because I had to work on Monday and then following work we drove to my in-laws.

I got...

Skylanders Giants and three extra characters (Swarm, a giant, and Pop-Fizz and Chill) -- Henry got me swarm, because I wanted him ever so much and Henry is a thoughtfull gift giver that way.  What this mainly says about me is that a) we (Mary and I) decided to spend less on eachother since we had a third person in our home; b) I am a big child at heart, after all most of the people who love this game are under the age of ten, which I'm fine with.  I tend to like action/adventure games, but I am less inclined to play the ones where you kill people, I would much prefer to kill aliens, robots, monsters, and other inter-dimensional beings.  To that end I tend to lean more toward Mario, Sonic, Spyro, Jak and Daxter and the like. [I have in the past made an exception for the Uncharted series, but I no longer have a PS3]

I also got a stocking full of candy and other items, like a new lego batman keychain -- it says that I like candy, especially Dove chocolate with Peanut Butter, it also says that when we got our new car the keychain on the new keys was fairly ghetto so I needed a new one.  Mary picked Batman because, well I love Batman.

Which brings us to Christmas day and my in-laws.  From my sister-in-law Jennifer, my brother-in-law Mike and my nephew Owen I got...

an Amazon giftcard -- while Target is probably my favorite place to shop that has four walls, Amazon is my favorite place to shop period.  for those who haven't tried Amazon.com out yet my suggestion would be to go do that right this minute, I'll wait.  Amazon is a brilliant place that carries almost everything that has ever been made at prices that 9 times out of 10 compare favorably with any brick and mortar store.  I would probably do all of my shopping there if I wasn't an impatient person [I like my movie and music the day it comes out].

an itunes giftcard -- I love itunes.  I own an ipod classic with 140 gb of storage and I still have about 40 unused so this has already helped fix that [I downloaded a Duncan Sheik album that I didn't already have as well as the Toy Story short Partysaurus Rex, which is HI-larious].  As I said I like getting my music right away and since I usually work late shifts on Monday nights I tend to come home and download the new music I want right at Midnight, to this end itunes giftcards are helpful, especially in Mary's eyes.

a box of Strawberry fruit roll-ups -- Yes, I like fruit roll-ups.  But what this really says is that a couple weeks ago Jennifer and Owen came and visited us.  We went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum, the biggest and best in the world [not sure about the later, but the former is verifiable].  We had a great time, although I do fell that Henry could have had a better attitude about it, he seemed restless most of the time he wasn't asleep.  BUT, Jennifer and Owen found my fruit roll-ups and decided to help themselves to them, so I got a box as a make-up gift.

and finally [at least so far, and I am open to more gifts] from my mother-in-law Janice and father-in-law Bob I got...

Catch Me if You Can on blu-ray -- I would think that this first points to the fact that I love movies.  Second it points to the fact that I am a blu-ray believer.  Third it points to the fact that this movie contains [in my opinion] the best two actors alive today Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio.  If either of these men are in a movie I will watch it, no matter what it is [even the Ladykillers remake that Tom did, which wasn't as funny as the prviews led me to believe] [or the Beach movie that Leonardo did, which was three-quarters of a good movie, but what in the name of all thats holy was that portion that resembled a video game about]

Hercules -- This is the Disney version.  It says two things about me, first I do love me some cartoon movies, but more importanly than that since I learned that I was going to have a son I have been on a mission to acquire the kids movies that I feel Henry should watch as a youngster.  To this end I started buying them this summer, some I got new (like Brave and Finding Nemo), some used (like Chicken Run, Spirit, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Tarzan), some as they released on blu-ray (like Aristocrats, Pocohantas, the Rescuers, and the Tigger Movie), and I still have a list of ones to buy in the coming months when they are re-released (like Peter-Pan, Who Framed Rogger Rabbit, and Mulan)

a 2013 New England Patriots calander -- I am a Patriot fan, living in Indiana.  Before you accuse me of untrue things I have been a fan since Tom Brady was in high school and the only Super Bowl the team had been to was a 53 to 0 blowout by the Bears.  I myself was in junior high and for whatever reason there were an unusually high number of Washington State games on TV in West Virginia and so I decided that wherever Drew Bledsoe got drafted that would be my favorite team.  Hence when he got drafted by the Patriots I became a Patriot fan.  There have been good years and bad years, a lot more good than most teams, and I love Brady and Belichick, but I was a fan before them and I will be a fan after them.

the Complete Peanuts 1983-1986 -- Starting in 2004 Fantagraphics began publishing the complete 50 year run of the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M Schulz in 2 year incriments twice a year. Each fall, following the publication of the 2nd volume, they put both of them out in a boxed set.  So each year since I have received or bought the box set version.  This means that I now own 36 years worth of Peanuts.  I adore everything about this comic strip.  I liked reading them as a boy, I was disapponted when I heard Charles was retiring and I cried when Sparky died the day before his final strip came out.  I have a multitude of Peanuts related merchandise from clothes to statues to toys and stuffed animals to christmas tree ornaments.

New Interpreters Bible Commentary - Daniel and the 12 Prophets -- When I became a senior pastor I decided that it was high time to get a commentary set of my own.  I choose the New Interpreters set because not only does it look at the scripure scholarly but it also has a set of pastoral reflections after each section, which I sometimes find helpful to jumpstart my brain.  The problem is that as a whole it is so gosh darn expensive.  To that end starting last Christmas I have been receiving and buying them individually, about one a month.  This was the tenth one I needed, I have since ordered the 11th with the aforementioned Amazon giftcard which leaves only Numbers-Samuel left.

and a stocking with more candy, a McDonald's giftcard, and money -- this says that I have very generous in-laws

To end I would like to thank everyone for giving me things this year.  I hope that you enjoy what we got you as much as I will enjoy what you got me.  Merry Christmas, lets do this again next year.

Peace and Love,
Pastor K

Daddy and other words I never worried about

So, five weeks ago my son Henry took his first breaths of air and my whole world kinda changed.  Sure, it had changed from the moment that we found out Mary was pregnant, but when his head started to enter the world it made a new cosmic shift.  At that moment I was no longer just responsible for my life, but also his.

[yes you could say that I bore a bit of responsibility for Mary and my congregation, but it sounds better this way]

A New Life = Change in the old one

Like I said, its been five weeks and life has been different than it used to be, the food I eat is many times colder than I prefer, and the times it is not only I am eating, and then Mary's food is cooler than she would like.  Prior to Henry's arrival I had never changed a diaper, currently I have no clue how many I have changed, but I know it is a lot, several at a time when he decides to continue doing his business while I am in the process of changing him.  I do a lot more laundry and dishes now, because the kid seems to go through a billion bottles a day, and even though his clothes are quite a bit smaller than mine and Mary's he seems to go through them quite a bit faster than we do, I mean I get a few uses out of my jeans before I wash them, Henry, not so much.

In addition, while I have never been the best sleeper, since Henry decided to come out for a lifetime I now think fondly of those days when I would get 6 straight hours, of course this is a bit of an exaggeration since Mary and I take turns dealing with Henry in the night.  Usually we do every other night, unless one of us isn't feeling well, and she does take every Saturday so I can be well rested for the drive to church.  I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that it takes much longer to get ready to go anywhere, sometimes this gets to the point that Mary and I take a lot more solo trips out then we used to, it is just a lot simpler for one of us to go shopping and the other to stay and watch Henry.

Even with all of these changes I have to remind myself that it will get a little harder for me before it gets easier.  This is because Mary goes back to work in two weeks [those six plus vacation are zooming by] and at that point I will become Henry's primary daytime care giver.  What this means mainly is that the current state of being able to take a nap the next morning after a rough night, thanks to Mary, will be a thing of the past.

I realize that I have been talking about changes and by and large it seems to be on a negative slant.  That is not my intention at all.  I love my son immensely, sometimes it seems more and more each day.  And while there were times before his impending arrival where I was unsure of my desire for children, since I learned of his coming some 10 months ago I have been looking forward to his arrival, and since that day I have been basking in the glow of 'daddyhood.'  To that end I want to end this post with my...

'Top Five Things I Currently Love About Being A Dad' - in no particular order

1) It might seem strange but, the way Henry sucks on my finger when I attempt to check to see if he is hungry: I assume that I sucked on my finger quite a bit as a child, they almost all seem to, and I have sucked on my finger from time to time through the ages, usually when I have hit it with a hammer, and gotten a paper cut, but having this new little person suck on my finger is just a bit more AMAZING.

2) Henry has started to follow my finger when I place it on one side of his head and move it to the other: Again this might seem like a really simple thing, but just a short period of time ago I was a blurry thing to this little guy and now he can follow my finger with his eyes.  He is already gaining weight and getting longer/taller, and I am just so happy to be along for the ride as he continues to grow and develop.

3) There is absolutely nothing in this world that quite feels like a baby sleeping on your chest: Now this doesn't happen all the time, because sometimes I will pick Henry up and he will be a wiggle-worm, but the times when he gets in the right spot and cranks his neck at an angle that would put mine in pain for the next week and falls soundly asleep on me is, again, AMAZING.  In those moments I truly realize the unique gift that God granted when he created a species that could reproduce.  To think it all starts with some sperm and an egg is astonishing sometimes.

4) Henry, unbeknownst to him, occasionally smiles: Yes, I realize that he is not consciously smiling, but in the times when he curls up his mouth my heart melts.  My Henry is a really cute kid and his smile is going to get him out of a lot of trouble at home, I just know it.

5) There are times when he just wants to be held: Now, I'll admit that sometimes this can be a minor pain, like when I am hungry or need to use the restroom or just want to change the channel and the remote is on the couch which is where I left it before I got up to change his dirty little diaper.  But there is this whole other time frame when it is adorable that the kid just wants to be with his mom or me.  Just holding him in our arms makes him feel safe and secure and to some baby extent loved.  I also am well aware that there comes a point when your child will not want to be held and loved as much as he currently does, so I am trying to soak it up now so I can think fondly of it later when he wants to borrow the car but won't give me a hug.

To sum up, Henry has brought a lot of changes to my life, some good and some bad, but for what little bad he has brought is more than made up for by the pure joy that he has brought into our lives.  I love my son.

Peace and Love,
Pastor K

Tragedy and Hope

I am sitting at my computer trying to figure out what tomorrows sermon should look like.  This advent season I have used the Christ Birthday Offering sermon thought starters provided by Christian Women Connection as a jumping off point.  And the first two weeks were fine.  

On the 2nd I preached about who God invited to the birth of Jesus, Mary [a 13 year old girl] and Joseph [a carpenter who disappears from scripture soon after], shepherds [who were on the outskirts of society], and the three 'wise men' [a group from a different culture, a different religion, a different skin-tone].  

On the 9th I preached about the gifts that were given by the Angels [a gift of praise], the shepherds [a gift of presence], and the 'wise men' [a gift of provision].

But this Sunday the thought starters didn’t really speak to me, so I decided to go off on my own way.  My original plan was to speak about Mary and her journey, but then Newtown, Connecticut happened, and I feel that part of a Pastor’s job is to give hope in times of trouble.  So, here I sit trying to see if there is a way to marry the birth of a child and the death of 20 children.

The simple answer is that of course there is, life and death are intrinsically connected whether we like to admit it or not.  You cannot live and not die. [as Braveheart would remind us, though, every man dies, not every man truly lives]  Sooner or later death comes to us all.  An by and large this is not shocking, until death comes at a time and place where we don’t expect it, like in a harbor in Hawaii, or a pair of tall buildings, or a school.  When the cruel hand reaches into the places we feel safe we are rocked to our very core.

It has happened to all of us, multiple times over I would imagine.  I first felt death’s cruel hand when I was 5 and my father died.  I remember death walking into my own school years, first in high school taking the life of a friend by their own hand [or maybe he was just cleaning his gun], and then shortly after college graduation when a friend died in a house fire.  During seminary my employers son took lives because of drugs and sex.  Whether we want to admit it or not, death comes in a multitude of surprising ways.

Perhaps the worst place it visits is a school, and it happens far too often.  In the inner-city we in suburbia kind of just shake our heads and talk about a culture of violence, but when it hits home we don’t talk about a culture of violence, we talk about God not being allowed in schools.  God does not allow hate and death into our schools because we don’t have teacher led prayer.  Hate and death enter into our schools because hate and death exist outside of them and occasionally find their way inside them also.

There are people who are currently calling for God to be let back in, as if to say that the God that they insist is everywhere could be kept out by lack of prayer or FCA.  God never left our schools, God still sits beside and watches our children, sometimes God watches them succeed, sometimes fail, sometimes be overjoyed, and others be hateful.

There are other people who are calling for better gun control, a cause I wholeheartedly support, but no matter how many guns we outlaw death and hate will still exist, perhaps even more so.  In truth guns are not the cause of this crime, pain and sorrow are.  The same can be said for every crime everywhere.  Whole people do not take the lives of others, only those who have been mistreated, misused, unloved, or simply not helped do.  It is possible that this 20 year old young man have mental issues, I do not know, and in truth it doesn’t matter, whether or not he did he was missing something in his life, something that those around him failed to give him, hope.

In this moment, in this tragedy, we need to understand that if we really want to see a world where moments like this are fewer and farther between we do not need to get rid of guns, we need to work to get rid of hate, get rid of bullying, get rid of mistreatment, get rid of the idea that some people are better and some are worse, get rid of the idea that human life isn’t precious.  We need to love better, educate better, nourish better, help better, and give hope better.

I am woefully inadequate to be dispensing advice in times like these, I simply write the words that are on my heart, if they are helpful take hold of them, if not let them fade away.  There is a hymn that resounds in my head from time to time, and I am going to leave you with a variation on its words, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ love and righteousness.

Peace and Love,

Pastor K

the central message

About 11 years ago I wrote the following essay at the end of a year of seminary classes on the New Testament, just thought I would share.

The question
Is there a central message to the New Testament, what is it, what has God done, what do believers do, how is there diversity and unity in the New Testament?

Central Message: Central Man
I would like to say that the central message of the New Testament would be something like love, I like love, I am big on love, and many times I see a church that does not love.  But that is not the central message, in fact most of the New Testament isn't about love at all, at least not directly.

My next thought would be to say something like, the central message is the Kingdom of God, after all Jesus’ ministry was about the Kingdom, Paul’s letters were about unity in the Kingdom, and if Revelation isn't about the Kingdom I don’t know what is.  But even that is too narrow.  The Kingdom of God is deeply rooted in the New Testament mainly because the New Testament is about one man who sacrificed all to give all to all. (My, that’s a lot of alls.)

The central message is Jesus as Christ.  If Christ is not the message, then what is the point?  Why did the disciples die martyrs deaths?  Why did Paul radically shift from Christian killer, to Christian creator?  Why did John have visions of horsemen and beasts?  There is no New Testament without Jesus, merely OT2.
From John telling us that Jesus was ‘in the beginning’ to Revelation’s proclamation that ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last’ the New Testament in a Jesus story.  It is about love and the Kingdom, it is about grace, and faith, it is about God and us, it is a Jesus story.

God movement: moving God
Depending on who you were to ask, God’s actions may be very different.  If you speak to someone who believes that Jesus is God, then God did everything that Jesus did, and does everything that the Holy Spirit does, to them God is everywhere and in everything.  If you were to ask someone who thinks that Jesus is the Son of God, emphasis on the son, then they might say that God sent His son to win back His people and save His creation.

What he didn't do, was come to start a new religion, nor did he come to cause division.  There are others who would say that Jesus was just a man, and the God didn't do anything, if he even exists.  There are others, probably the majority, which would say that they just don’t know.  They are not sure if the Bible is all that inspired, that Jesus seems like a pie in the sky idea, and that the Trinity is just some mumbo jumbo.  These people, while well-meaning, are merely confused about the irrationality of the New Testament.  After all they are good people and they don’t understand what God is, let alone why he would have to come down here to die for them.  In the end God does, or does not do, exactly what we let him do, some of us he saves, some of us he doesn’t, at the very least he sent Jesus to show us that there is a choice.

Believer movement: snail Christians
What do believers do?  I don’t know.  Believe and you will be saved.  Saved by grace.  By faith, and not by works, so that no one can boast.  Maybe we do nothing, it depends, again, on who you ask.   There is so much diversity in understanding of these 27 books that you can’t really answer that too succinctly.  Many people would say that as long as you don’t commit the sins that Paul lists in Romans 1:18-32.  Others say that you have to live your life according to  Romans 12-15.  Or maybe believers should live their lives by Jesus’ sermon on the Mount, by loving thy enemy, being salt and light, doing good to please God, not judging, and walking the narrow path.  Then again, maybe all we do is live by ‘Jesus’ faith.’

Unity? Diversity?: amazingly so
One may wonder why there can be the diversity that is found in the New Testament, some may think that if Jesus is the central message, then how can diversity exist, but that is the wrong question.  Diversity is a natural occurrence when the story is about a man, we ask many questions of people, especially extraordinary people.

The amazing thing about the New Testament is not that it has diversity, but rather that is has unity.  Take the gospels for instance, the stories diverge on occasion, depending on the book certain things are left out, and certain things are different.  But does it matter whether Jesus healed one or two men whose demons are hurled into a group of pigs?  No, it doesn't  what matters is that all four gospels show Jesus healing and raising people from the dead, and feeding thousands with just a little fish and bread.  That unity is amazing.  The fact that common subject matter (606 verses of a possible 661 of Mark used by Matthew, 350 used by Luke); wording (51% of time when Matthew uses Mark it is exact, Luke 53%); prime order (follow sequence; when one departs the other stays); agreement within the synoptics occur at such a high rate it is amazing.

We need only look to our own short American history to find occurrences where people writing about the same person vastly differ on the aspects of their lives, just ask a group of average people whether or not George Washington ever chopped down a cherry tree.  The places where diversity do exist within the New Testament, in particular the letters of Paul, many times we forget that there is an evolution of thought and that some letters were not meant to be seen by all Christians.

An ending, a new beginning
That is the same title I used for the conclusion of my Jesus Paper last semester, I would still agree to the fact that every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end (thanks Tonic).  That is what today is, a new beginning’s end and a new beginning.  While the New Testament classes may be over the learning never stops, the understanding never ceases, and lives continue moving.  Jesus is the central message of the New Testament, but is he the central message of the church, of this school, of these students?  Let us hope so, and continue to try to make it so.

The New Testament is a Jesus story, and we are the next chapter.

Peace and Love,
Pastor K

Finding God on Pop Radio

It's been awhile, I've been a little busy with the end of Mary's pregnancy and then the beginning of Henry's life in the 'real' world, so I have neglected this particular outlet.  Fact is, other than sermons, I haven't really written much of anything lately, so hopefully this will be the start of a resurgence for my life in words.

I was thinking this morning about doing a sermon series on Finding God in the Top 40, but I soon came to the realization that it might not really resonate with my current congregation [they are a decidedly older group], but I still like the idea, so I think that I am going to be doing several blogs in the coming weeks/months that focus on popular music or movies and where I see God speaking through them.  Now, at the start for a small part of my reading public [and you know who you are if you're reading this] I would like to lay aside any fears that I am on my way to becoming the third prophet of the apocalypse, I feel the second one does just fine in his insanity, plus you can add in the fact that I don't believe in the apocalypse, at least not in popular definitions of such a thing.

Now, onto what I do want to say...

The Unknown God

There's a place in Acts [chapter 17] where Paul encounters a group of people in Athens and talks to them about an altar they have that is to an 'unknown god,' and Paul proceeds to tell them about this unknown god, you see, Paul believed that God was everywhere, sometimes revealing himself in surprising ways, just waiting for someone to come along and make sense of it all.  While I don't think that I am that person to make sense of it all, I do agree with the base belief that God is all around.  It's kinda like the beginning monologue in the movie Love Actually

'Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around.'

I am a firm believer that God is love, so that if love actually is all around, which I feel it is, than in the same way God is all around as well.  If that is true than the question is, 'where do I see God today?'

Where I see (hear) God today

As I said I first started this line of thinking when thinking about the topic 'Finding God in the Top 40,' so for me, it most recently all started with a song on the radio.  The song was by a dance music group Swedish House Mafia.  The first thing I should probably say is that I am usually not a 'dance' type of guy, I don't have much rhythm, in fact Mary usually laughs at me when I "dance," to be completely honest is usually only involves some arm shakes and a slight sway from side to side. [go ahead and laugh, get it out of your system, so we can move on] N-E-Way, so Swedish House Mafia, seems to mainly be a remix and random singer over dance beat group, but the song on the radio caught my ear.  The song is titled 'Don't You Worry Child,' and the chorus goes a little something like

Up on the hill across the blue lake, 

that's where I had my first heart break 

I still remember how it all changed 

my father said 

Don't you worry, don't you worry child 

See heaven's got a plan for you 

Don't you worry, don't you worry now 

Yeah! 

Right away, I am sure you can tell where I am going with this song, I am not the guy that looks for hidden meaning in things, I am the guy who watches the t.v. show or movie and rides along while the characters find the answers, only when it is painfully obvious do I allow myself to figure out the answer before Castle and Beckett or Shawn and Gus or Sherlock and Watson do for themselves.  So, where do I find God in this song, 'don't you worry child, see heaven's got a plan for you.'  My feeling is that the Swedish House Mafia does not plan on making grand theological statements in their songs, but they did none-the-less.

As a pastor I find one the most difficult things to convince people of [and to live myself if I'm honest] is that we do not need to worry so much about life.  The truth of the matter is that we allow ourselves to become cuffed by our worry, to be imprisoned in our doubts, to be beaten down by our fears.  Jesus tells us that we do not need to be people of worry, because God clothes the flowers and feeds the birds of the air, and God loves us so much more, but we still find it so hard to actually follow through on that suggestion/command.

I think that part of the issue is that we don't trust God as much as we think we do, in part because I think we often doubt that in fact heaven does have a plan for us.  Now, when I speak of a plan, I am not talking about a step by step laid out road map for our lives.  What I am talking about is a general plan that leads to a fuller life of gratefulness, confession, honesty, and love.  God is not looking to put us in the corner, nor make us jump through the right amount of hoops in order to have peace and joy.  God is looking for a people who will put their trust in God and who will look around and see other people who God also longs to personally love.

As I said, I am as much in need of releasing my worry as the next person, more on some days.  I worry about paying bills, about making sure we do right by Henry, about next weeks sermon, about having enough gas, and food, and clothes, and music, and movies, I worry about important things and to a larger extent occasionally to unimportant things.  I need to let go of the worry, to let go of the doubts to let go of the fears, and I am pretty sure that you do as well.  For us all I [the Swedish House Mafia] say, 'don't you worry, don't you worry child, see heaven's got a plan for you.'

Peace and Love,

Pastor K