When I was 12 years old I enjoyed building models. I remember the tool box I assembled for model building. It had all sorts of paints and brushes, spare parts and left over pieces, and razor knives and files. One warm summer day I was in the backyard building a model rocket when I learned a very valuable lesson. Don't try to catch a round handled razor knife as it rolls off the table. I ended up with a laceration in my thumb that required more than a band-aid to bind it together. The reason I remember this story is the scar on my right thumb. Every time I see the scar I remember that warm summer day in Chesterfield, Connecticut and the lesson I learned.
Experiences Impact Who We Are
I enjoy watching people. I like to observe people in their regular surroundings and try to figure who they are and how they got to be who they are. I really enjoy sitting down over a cup of coffee with someone I've just met and listening to their story. It amazes me how people adapt to different things in their life and those circumstances and adaptations mold who they are today. Being a minister, folks tend to shift to stories of their journey of faith. That's great, but I like to hear the other stuff too. Whether we want to admit it or not, everything we experience in life effects who we are. There is a group that I would have loved to observe and sit down over a cup of coffee and talk to. I would have loved to watch the calling and molding of the apostles.
Making Deals With God
I have a ten year old son. He is just starting to exhibit those tween tendencies. You know the ones: procrastination, the eye rolls, attitude starting to show, incessant deal making. Sometimes I think he forgets we were youth pastors for many years and know many of the tricks. The thing is if we don't address these issues now, they will grow and worsen as he grows and will effect his relationships with other people and with God. Let's look at the one of these that can effect us very deeply and effect our relationship with Jesus.
Looking Back
"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." - Edmund Burke (1729-1797). That's an often misquoted quotation of an eighteenth century British statesman. There are countless examples of it being proven true, of course if you ignore history, you wouldn't know that. There is, however, a big difference between studying the past and learning from our own and other's mistakes and wanting to return or retreat to the past. It is completely human to long for the good ol' days, but there in lies the problem. It is completely human. What's the modern Christian to do?
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