No one cares about the sermon title

I'm preaching this weekend.  Since our lead pastor left, I've had some extra opportunities to speak.  I'm thrilled because I love getting up and yacking behind the pulpit.  

I love taking a biblical text and wrestling with it until one of us has come away mastered by the other.  Usually I'm gripped by a new take on something familiar.  Sometimes I read something I've never thought through fully.  Then I'm forced to go deep--thinking and praying through the rest of the scriptures where similar things are written or alluded to.

Throughout the process I roll through my mind's memory rolodex.  I look for something that could help the text live.  This can be one of my favorite parts of the whole process.  It can also be the most agonizing, especially when I can't think of a strong illustration for an important point.

One of the last parts of sermon prep is coming up with a title.  Sometimes it comes, sometimes it doesn't.  The hardest part for a non-committal-kind-of-guy is getting the title to the church's administrator by Thursday.  That's today.  I didn't make it.

My wife said, "no one cares about the title."  She just said that cause she loves me.

Whether she's right or not, It made me feel better.

Sometimes I act like a 6-year-old

Life doesn't always go my way.

I should have learned that by this point in my life.

Thankfully, I live with a 6 year-old who teaches me some of life's greatest lessons.

Shawna had a miserable morning.  She desperately wanted to do something.  Mom said no.  That's how I got involved.  She thought Dad might be more sympathetic to her situation.  I wasn't.  I listened to her rationale about her need to do what she wanted to do.  I offered to play with her but she rebutted, arguing that she needed a drink of milk and couldn't play with Dad until she got that drink.  I tried to understand but the more we talked the more I realized something: it all came down to her.  

Her world had come to an abrupt halt at the moment she was denied the opportunity to do what she wanted to do.  At the same time the rest of our family members carried on doing what we were doing.  The world continued to spin.

It was at that point that I realized, I was acting the same way as Shawna.  I had been inwardly sulking about something that didn't go my way.  I was acting just like my daughter only in a grown-up-kind-of-way.  I made a mental shift right then and there.  I changed my perspective.  I stopped pouting and accepted that life doesn't always have to go my way. 

Run 'lijah Run -an afterthought

Elijah is my 3-year-old.

Run 'lijah Run

I was feeling guilty about my lack of exercise. So, I went for a 4km run. When I got back Elijah had donned a pair of mismatched socks and was ready to go running with me. I figured he'd last a few minutes before abandoning his dream of running with dad. I was wrong.

We ran close to 1/2 km before I asked him if he wanted to turn around. He reluctantly agreed. I was astounded at his endurance and fitness level. On our way back we talked about wolves. I think Elijah interpreted my amazement at his athletic ability with fear of wild animals. He assured me that wolves don't come out during the daytime. That made us both feel better.

When we got home we picked raspberries out of our wild raspberry patch. Yummy.

Shop Talk

Just got finished hanging out with one of my favorite people. We talked about the church, money, kids and basement renos.

I'm exhausted but happy.

Bible College Courses

I'm in the final stages of completing a New Testament course for the college I teach at. It's down to the editing details. I hate details.

I'm getting ready to teach a New Testament course in Hanover this fall. It'll be offered at the church where I serve as the director of worship and the arts. Our office administrator helped me put together a mail out to send to the churches in Grey and Bruce counties. We included a DVD promo (check it out below).

I'm also getting ready to teach 2 new courses this fall at the college:
1. Introduction to Worship and Music
2. Arts and Symbols in Christian Worship

I love teaching.

Intro to blogland

I made a "to-do" list for my vacation last week. At the bottom of the list was "start a blog". It's a week and a half late but here I am.

I've been particularly busy this week helping out at VBS. I'm one of the only male leaders in the whole program. I've been placed as the authority figure for a handful of grade 5 and 6 boys. At the start of the week I wasn't too sure about how well we'd get along. Now, with only one day left I can safely say that they've wormed their way into my heart.

It's funny. In only 3 days, a half-a-dozen boys with bad hair and weird ideas managed to change me, their leader. Who would have though that poorly behaved kids could have had such a profound effect on me. Makes me wonder how many adults felt like that about me when I was young.