Month: July 2006

  • Role of Women in Mormonism

    Missionaryonbikes
    This is my 3rd installment in a five part series on Mormonism that I am teaching at Light Force.

    Free From Bondage, John 11:21-43

    Jail-Free-Jail

    Imagine that you had done something really bad and were sent to prison for life. Over the course of a few months you would likely begin to recreate a new life based around y our prison experience. Since you were there for life, you would quickly lose yourself in the politics of prison life, the daily routines, etc. You’d form new friendships and likely forget about the outside world altogether. You aren’t free but you learn to adapt to life in jail.

    Well, a few years later you are unexpectedly released from jail. You very quickly remember how cool freedom is. You embrace it, run with it, settle down into freedom-based friendships and jobs. Some more time goes by and you’ve nearly forgotten about your jail experience. You get a decent job, fall in love and get married, and start a family. The old prison life is a distant memory.

    Until the knock comes at your door. Instantly, you are taken from your "free life" and thrown back in prison because they have mistakenly set you free. So, you tasted some freedom but head straight back to jail.

    – What would that emotion feel like?

    o To
    be in jail, all alone in the world.

    o To
    be set free, to experience the ability to do whatever you wanted… to start life
    over.

    o But
    then to be put back in jail.

    –        My guess is 
    this would actually be worse than if you were just put
    in jail and never tasted freedom at all.
     

    Tie-in: This is exactly the type of thing Mormons
    seek to do with women.

    Chrisitans believe that we are born into sin, but yet can confess their
    sins and turn to Jesus and away from sin and it’s bondage… and He promises to set them free. Christ is their
    mediator. In Him they find true release and freedom.

    Mormons believe that
    there is no freedom for women. Their freedom can only be found through
    marriage. Their husband becomes their source of salvation. So even if they are freed from sin’s bondage they are merely rebonded to a sinful man. There is no true release and freedom.

    (more…)

  • Random samplings

    I’ve got a few things that I’d like to talk about that just get categorized as "other" that I need to get out.

    1. We’re missing some stuff. Not the type of things anyone would steal. But annoying things like a TV remote and a belt and my Bible. What’s going on?
    2. Still no Violet. We had a false sighting yesterday over by the Montessori school. It wasn’t her. 5 days is a long time for a little cat. Let’s hope she comes back soon.
    3. Flipping tired. I don’t know how else to explain how I feel. I am just plain worn out. It’s been the type of week that just goes and goes. I’ve not been to bed before midnight once. I think Dave can hang with this type of schedule, but I’m worn out and I’m beginning to worry that if I keep it up I’ll get sick.
    4. Dave’s still doing great. He hasn’t blogged very much because we’re never home.  But Dave is doing fantastic. It’s hard to believe that he’s been here more than 3 weeks. A lot done and a lot to do.
    5. In case I haven’t said this lately… we love this town, the people, and our church. I’ve never been around a group of people who just genuinely love one another quite like I’m seeing here. It’s a pleasure to be a part of it.

  • Paintball Report

    PaintballsThis morning we went over to the Fisher’s to play paintball. It had been a long time since I had done it… but it was the same thing. The best part of it was seeing a side of the other 14 people that I had never seen before.

    Despite being extremely tired and notably getting picked last, I did have a good time. I think some of the people there thought I was mad or just being a jerk but the real deal was that all of the activity is really catching up with me and I was real tired. I need some serious downtime.

    I’m not sure if I shot very many people. And I definitely didn’t go through as many paintballs as other people. But it was a good time. I didn’t wear camo and I don’t think that hurt me either. I did get shot in the legs (I wore shorts) but I also didn’t get nearly as hot as the other people. Plus, getting hit on the skin didn’t really hurt me much. Sting? Yes, but not hurt.

    An observation: Paintballers are no different than golfers. They stood around for 15-20 minutes after each round comparing strategies, sharing stories, and complaining about equipment.

  • Where did this week go?

    Is it really Friday? There are certain times in life where weeks literally start to fly by. I’ve been out late every night this week. Mornings have been coming too soon.

    Man, sure would be nice if life would slow down a bit.

  • Softball Streak Comes to an End

    Romeo_logo_front_2Going into tonights game I think we had gotten a little too confident. After winning last week without our two strongest players we felt assured that we were going to compete well tonight. Unfortunately, we just didn’t get going out of the chute fast enough and couldn’t catch up. We lost 6-9 to bring our record to 1 win and 8 loses. But, there were two monster highlights.

    1. Great picnic after the game. I think everyone stayed to enjoy hotdogs and snacks after the game. We even invited the other team to join in. It was good fun and a great way for everyone to just chill out and enjoy a nice cool evening. Absolutely perfect.
    2. I continued my streak of weird at-bats. Tonight I started off as the first batter in the game and got called out on strikes. But I backed that up with a stand up triple that I somehow turned into a pickle and error causing homerun. I hope that I am an inspiration to fat pastors everywhere. I hope that people see me and say… "I can do that." My plan is always quite simple… just keep running until it’s clear you can’t go anymore. Two things about the error laden HR I’d like to share. First, I had decided that since we were down by 9 runs at the time that I had to get something started. I really wanted to get a rally going. So as I took that pitch I was very motivated to do something… thankfully it panned out. Second, I totally called it. I told the guys in the van on the way to the game that if I got to 3rd I was not going to stop.

    p.s. Still no sign of our beloved cat Violet.

  • Have you seen her?

    Mclane_spring_005It’s not unusual for our family cat, Violet, to be gone for a few days in the summer. We have one of those wonderful cats who likes to be out all night and sleeps in the house all day… but we haven’t seen her for about 3 days now.

    We hope she’s OK. She the nicest cat I’ve ever met. She’s very friendly and likes human interaction. We often joke about her being the neighborhoods cat since we gather most people don’t know who she belongs to. Kristen and I even joked that some family might have taken her in their camper up north or something. We just hope she comes back soon. (Though as I write this, Megan is telling me that she slept in her bed last night. I still haven’t seen her.)

  • Cedar Point or Bust

    Dragster_3
    We take off very early for Cedar Point. We’ll leave the church at 6 am and likely be back around midnight. It’s a big, long, hot day. But if you are into adreneline rushes… this is the place to be. I’m looking forward to riding the big rides all day long. Put me on the Dragster all day long.

  • Boys Day

    Dadandpaul_small_1
    Today was  one of those days you circle on the calendar and say… "wow."

    In the course of my normal craziness one of my favorite old guys came over to me with a funny look on his face. He asked me what I was up to after church. In my mind I was thinking, "Cool, an invite for lunch." (One of the coolest things about Romeo is how friendly people are. We tend to get invited out for "dutch lunch" Instead, he hands me an envelope with 2 tickets to the Ford Senior Championships.

    After some trying to figure out who to go with it dawns on me that the best person to take is in the backseat of my car! So Paul and I had a great day together.

    It was a great reminder to me of how much I love spending that kind of time with my son. We went to the golf tournament for the afternoon. He did great, though I don’t think he cared about the golf at all. From there we popped in on Kristen’s parents for a little ice cream and then drove home. It ended up being about 9 hours of pure "Dad and Paul time."

    Best part of the day… on the way home Paul said "My best part of the day was spending all day with you." Well said, little man. That was the best part of my day too.

  • Youth Pastor Discouragement

    This morning I’m publishing a "draft" of a post from 2 weeks ago. I like some of the things I was thinking here… even if they are incomplete.

    I’ve been reading Henry Blackaby’s "Spiritual Leadership" over the past few weeks. Here is a quote that I came across that really hits home as I talk to, encourage, and "whatever" folks through YMX.

    Moreover, those yearning for recognition and approval from others rarely find that positions of authority fill the void because they have sought a worldly remedy for a spiritual problem. (p. 75)

    Time and again I’ve seen youth workers who are struggling with "should I stick it out or should I go work elsewhere?" To me, this often goes to the "hip idea" of calling. Like a tuning fork it rattles me when I read/hear "I’m questioning my calling."

    There are two levels of this. The truly called often shy away from the calling because they bear the weight of it. (Such as Moses) But the "think they are called" often run away when the going gets tough because they are in that position because they "sensed" the calling but it wasn’t verified by others. (Such as JohnMark)

    Here’s how this plays out in my mind. Not claiming infallibility here. A young leader "feels called" to go into ministry. So they do. They get whatever education or experience they need to get hired somewhere. Everything is well and good at first. But then the going gets tough. The least healthy churches have a tendency to hire the least equipped to deal with the problems of an unhealthy church.

    So, it doesn’t take long for the new leader to say "I don’t think I’m called into THIS!" My question for that new leader is about verification. If your calling has been verified by the people around you… you shouldn’t run from it but embrace it through it’s hardships. So… the question goes back to "who does the calling."

    If your calling has been verified by others and you are experiencing hardship… endure it! There simply doesn’t seem to be a point, in my opinion, when you can throw in the towel. Because if you are called somewhere… you are there until the same people who called you there release you.

    But the falsely called or self-called should feel free to kick it in at any time. They are in a position that wasn’t for them in the first place.

    Here’s the incompleteness of this thought.  I don’t know where the difference lies here in those called into vocational ministry vs. a general call to action that all beleivers receive. I think there is a difference… and I think that people can get called vocationally into specific types of ministry for times in their lives (such as urban youth ministry or music ministry or lead pastor ministry) but I’ve not throught much beyond this thought.

  • Good news at LaShish

    Lashish_1In an ongoing All Blogs go to Heaven story, we went back to LaShish for dinner last night. Dave had never been and we talked it up pretty good.

    Well, the good news. Food is still good. While the place was empty when we first got there it did actually fill in well by the time we left. We still didn’t see the "waiting room only" from a year ago or so… but they are doing pretty well.

    The bad news.     For the first time ever we got bad service. I’d put it at terrible. (Hall Road location) The waiter we had started off well… but as soon as he saw we weren’t going to order any alcohol… he basically ignored us! I could see his waiting on a group of 6 that was boozing it up pretty good… he was all over them. But we never got treated right. Three of our party ordered Sierra Mist and it was bad. So they got a fresh round (a long time later) and that was bad too. I won’t detail everything he could have done better… but for the first time ever I left LaShish dissatisfied with the experience. Too bad.