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Big, long, frustrating paper clip chain…

I just finished a project at my office and went to get a paper clip out of my desk organizer thingy that holds all the pens, clips, mints, change, and other miscellaneous junk. I grabbed the first paper clip in the pile only to find out that someone had connected ALL of my paper clips together in one big, long, frustrating chain.  I sat there holding this long chain for several long moments before I put them all back and just stapled the papers together.

Who would take the time to link all the clips together?  WHY would someone do this?  I think I know the who.  My guess is that she's 11 years old, blonde, in 6th grade, and shares some of my DNA.  I love her, but was frustrated with her in that moment.  But it's the "why" that gets me.  I'm sure she was sitting in my office after church one Sunday waiting for mom and dad to FINALLY get done talking, and she just casually pulled out the drawer and mindlessly started linking the clips together.

I started thinking about all the times I mindlessly or thoughtlessly do things that make life harder for someone else.  I don't normally think this deep over paper clips, but today… who knows why.  

How often do I leave dishes in the sink without thinking that SOMEONE has to clean that up?  How often do I let my shopping cart at Home Depot just drift away and not give a thought to the fact that someone has to chase it down?  How often have I let a careless word, or comment, or remark, slip out without much consideration to how it could affect the listener?  I guess the answer to those questions is… pretty often.

1Corinthians 13 is an amazing look at what love is really all about.  It calls us to realize that our actions, both intentional and unintentional, have consequences, often deep consequences.  Thoughtfulness… kindness… love… they all begin when I get my eyes off myself and begin to value and consider others. 

How many ways can you say it?

Psalm 119 was my reading today from the Old Testament.  It's the longest chapter in the ENTIRE Bible, and the chapter immediately following the middle chapter of the Bible.  It has 176 verses and in EVERY SINGLE VERSE King David references God's Word.  He's pretty creative in that he uses different terms for God's Word:  promises, commands, precepts, decrees, statutes, principles, word, law, testimonies, etc.  As if that's not enough, if you were to look at this chapter in the original Hebrew you'd discover that the whole thing is an acrostic using the entire alphabet one letter at a time.

It's an amazingly complex and creative effort on King David's part.  I wonder how long it took him?  I wonder what gave him the idea?  But as I step back from all of that I see what he really wanted us to grasp.  In all shapes and forms, in complexity and simplicity, in creativity and in every aspect of life… God's Word is central and vital and lifegiving to us.

Feeling like an idiot…

This isn't me in the picture, but it's how I felt yesterday.  Jon and I had ridden our bikes to the church yesterday and it was a beautiful morning.  On our way home in the afternoon, we cut through the parking lot of the Auto Plaza and had to hop a curb to get back on the road.  I had slowed down almost to a stop so that I could do this controlled up and over, and to my credit I did get the "up" part.  It was the "over" part that did me in.  Part of my brain was realizing (in slow motion) that the bike was going down and I was going over.  I managed to get my left leg out, but then I came down hard and my right quad hit the top bar of the bike.

Needless to say, I have a HUGE charlie horse and a bump about the size of a half softball on my thigh, and WOW it hurts like crazy.  No bruising yet.  I think my body is trying to figure out what to do with it, but I'm sure the bruising is on its way.  Fun times… I feel like an idiot.  Good thing it happened too fast for Jon to pull out his camera and capture the video.  Otherwise, I'd have a youtube link to post.

The Final Swap -- Calvary Baptist Church

It was the final week, the final Sunday, of our 3 week "on the road" swap, and it was a great Sunday.  The people at Calvary Baptist were friendly and inviting, and we were able to see a few friends that we know from around town (including a guy that I've seen working at the Turlock Library for years!).  I even got to see my name up on the sign.  I don't know if that's ever happened before. 

Calvary Baptist just finished a renovation of their auditorium about 2 weeks ago, and they really did a great job.  New paint, new backdrop, new stage lighting and projection -- all were excellent and created a great environment for worship.  Their worship team did an excellent job of leading us into worship and pointing us to our Heavenly Father -- way to go guys!

A BIG thanks to Jim Schultz, Ken Freeby, Nathan Dabulewicz, and Craig Tornquist for your gracious help and for making the morning go so smoothly.  Thanks also to Pastor Rusty Lyon for coming and sharing and challenging the family at New Life to reach out to our community and make a difference.

AND NOW… we get to come HOME!  I can't tell you how excited Gena and I are to finally be back at NLCC this coming Sunday.  It's like going on a long vacation, and as good as it is, you are ready to simply come home.  Well we're ready, and this Sunday is going to be incredible -- don't miss it!

Hey! We made the paper!

OK, it's only the Turlock Journal, but we made the paper! (The article is here).  I received a call last week with a reporter asking about the "Pastor Swap."  I'm still not sure how she found out, but I think a friend of the editor just mentioned it in conversation and it got picked up from there. 

It's been a great "on the road" experience, but Gena and I are really ready to be HOME.  There are some great churches in this town, and we've been welcomed so warmly and treated so well.  But… we really love NLCC, which is a good thing since we absolutely know that God has called us there. 

One more week to go.  Pastor Rusty Lyon from Calvary Baptist will be at NLCC tomorrow and we'll be at his church.  He's going to be great so don't miss it.

The TCC Swap

There were a lot of reasons I was looking forward to today.  One reason was the chance to be a part of Turlock Covenant Church this morning in my "swap" journey with Pastor Steve Carlson.  Another reason was that my entire family (minus Hannah who is working at Mt. Hermon) came to church with me and then we had planned to go out to breakfast together.  I know that sounds pretty mundane but I NEVER get to have Sunday breakfast with the fam.  

Let me just tell you that the people at TCC were welcoming, friendly, and serve a pretty mean cup of coffee.  Bill DeHart ran the service today, and he was so good to me and to my entire family.  He met us at the door, answered any questions I had, had my mic ready to go, and talked to each of my kids.  It was neat to see him ask them questions and really interact with them.  I love it when people truly care and honor kids.  He did a great job leading the service today and you could tell that he loves this church.

One quick note on the worship.  TCC's bass player, Rebecca Squires, was awesome.  You know how you can tell when someone doesn't just enjoy music, but they FEEL it, and LIVE it?  That was Rebecca.  She threw herself into every song, every riff, and it just radiated from her.

After a great service, the fam went to Grizzly Rock cafe' in north Turlock.  Kind of a rustic and sparse interior, but the biscuits and gravy were incredible.  They took up almost the whole plate.  Peter's french toast looked pretty good too.  We had fun, and ate, and laughed -- I love my family.

Next Sunday I'm off to Calvary Baptist Church for the final leg of my "pulpit swap" tour.  Pastor Rusty Lyon is a good friend and I'm praying that NLCC will be challenged in new ways, and that God would speak something powerful through me.

The MVC Swap

I did something today that I've never done before… I swapped places with Pastor Ken VanVliet from Monte Vista Chapel.  He came to NLCC and spoke in all the services, and I had the chance to speak at MVC for the day.  What a great experience!  To connect with a church that is doing everything it can to build the Kingdom of God, to help people reconcile to God and to each other, and to grow deep disciples. They were so welcoming and encouraging.  A BIG THANKS  to Mark, Matt, Steve, and all the rest of the staff that made everything so smooth for the day.  I also called Ken after the service (he was eating a hotdog at the NLCC fellowship hall, otherwise known as Costco).  He said the services went great and the NLCC gang was awesome (way to go guys!).

Here's the cool thing…I get to do this for the next 2 weeks as well.  Next week I'll be swapping with Steve Carlson at Turlock Covenant, and the following week I'll be exchanging with Rusty Lyon from Calvary Baptist.  I think this speaks something to our community about being on the same team as churches.  There has been so much competition among churches, it's awesome to do something uniting us together.

I can already tell that the big takeaway for me over these next weeks is going to be seeing how God is alive and well and at work ALL OVER TURLOCK.  I know we have different styles, different methods, and different personalities in our churches, but God is moving in unique ways none the less.

I'm looking forward to the adventure.  But I have to admit, I do miss the family at NLCC.