Glasses

Do you wear contacts or glasses?  I remember when I was twenty-six years old flunking my driver’s test because they said I couldn’t see.  Couldn’t see?  That was ridiculous!  But I needed my license so off to the optometrist I went.  He gave me a few tests and then went back and prepared glasses for me (they could do it on-site back then).  I came two hours later and sat down thinking this was a waste of time and money.  He asked me, “Can you see the tree outside?”  “Sure I can see the tree.  I’m not blind!”  Then he handed me the pair of glasses and I put them on.  Whoa!  I could see the leaves and the branches! There were so many details that had been lost on me.  I had gotten so used to not being able to see that I didn’t think I needed anything, and yet I did.

John Calvin called the Bible “the spectacles through which we see the world.” If true, it seems that many have gotten so used to not really seeing the world that they have gotten used to it and don’t think they need it.  Offer a Bible study in church today and it surely will not fill up with 20-40 year olds.  And, unlike the Department of Transportation, we can’t require it of them.  So where do we go?

The only way I see is to show people the difference by intentionally reflecting on what is going on with what the Bible tells us in our day to day lives.  I don’t mean by this that we try to highlight our knowledge like we are privileged.  But share it as an observation that could be of use.   If people see that it is helpful, perhaps it will pique their interests for more.

But it is important to remember that the Bible is not God (just as glasses aren’t what we see through them).  There are a few too many places that treat the Bible as a rule book versus a library of books written by different authors at different times. Glasses worn incorrectly, not polished, or bent don’t provide much help to us.  We need to remember what the Bible is (our charter document as God’s people) and what it is for (to bring us into right relationship with God).

On a day when we remember those who lost their lives for our nation, let us also remember that religious freedom (not freedom from religion) is one of the things for which they died.  And many used those spectacles to see what their calling was in this life and we have been blessed by it.

All the best and until next time,

Tom

Moments in Time

There are many moments in time that pass, and you don’t realize it as it is happening.  There are friends we have that the last time we say goodbye to them will be the last time we see them (at least on this side of God’s kingdom).  There are places we go that we walk out of one day and don’t realize we’ll never return there (maybe we’ll move or the place will close).  There are even groups of people (friends or at work) who gather, and when they stop meeting, even though you might see the individuals again, you won’t exactly encounter that group again.  We often think of this years later and wish, at least for a moment, to be able to go back to say “hi!” or “thank you” or “this has been really great,” but such opportunities do not readily present themselves.  I understand the whole plot of Shrek 3 revolves around the married Shrek with children thinking back and wanting to be able to go back to his life before, if just for a day.

But sometimes you do realize it as the moments are fading into the past.  This happens in hospitals.  It happens in weddings.  And it happens in graduations.  We can see change right before us and know it isn’t ever going to be just as it has been no matter what the future holds.

That surely happened to me last night when I saw my daughter graduate from Parkway Preschool.  I will forever be grateful for the wonderful education both of my children received at the preschool.  But the added perk to me was that when I went to work, for the past two years, I have been at least able to catch glimpses of my children’s lives as they were happening.  And they’d even knock on my window sometimes and wave to me.  Those moments are now history even though now I am excited for them as they both move on in elementary school.

What can we do with these moments in time, regardless of whether we sense them or not?  I think all we can do is thank God for the happy experiences he provides for us.  They are precious gifts God gives us, not for eternity, but to nourish us in a season of our lives.

At the end of those special times, it isn’t an end for our story with God.  God still has plans for us in this life and well beyond it.  The Bible tells us the Lord provides for us as long as we live, and the kingdom will one day await where all God’s people will be gathered together again.

So, in this life, we thank God for those special moments in time (when they pass or when we realize they have passed), and make sure we share our love in the present because we never know when those moments may be fading into history.

All the best and until next time,

Tom

The Music

One aspect of my life is that I am a writer at heart.  I know this probably is no big shock to anyone who knows me.  I write blogs.  I write emails.  I write letters to the editor.  And most of all I write sermons.  Every sermon I present for 15 minutes is one I have spent hours writing.

There are only two things I need to write – a comfy chair and music.  The music I play in the background (oftentimes soundtracks w/o words) sets the tone and the atmosphere for what I am writing.  This small part of my life is an aspect of something much more important.

Over fifty percent of Christians indicate that in worship music is the primary way that they experience God.  From the earliest times, we see music integral to worship.  The Book of Psalms, surely one of the most popular books in the Bible, is actually a hymn book.  Do you ever remember a service that moved you without music?

Earlier this year, we had a class here at Parkway called, “Theology in Contemporary Music.”  It drew in a wide variety of folks including some who had never been to church in a while.  Sunday before last we also hosted the University of Dubuque Choir.  It easily was one of the most moving services I have seen in years.

The question is how can we increasingly integrate ‘the music’ into who we are as Christians in the world today?  How can we tap into what is so relevant to so many to get the message out?  How can our music be one of our primary offerings to God?

What music moves you?  How has your house of worship integrated it into their mission and their message?  Which artists really speak to you?  Where do you look for new sources of inspiration musically?

Just some food for thought on a warm summer afternoon.

All the best,

Tom

Sinbad

When I grew up, for many years, we did not have a dog.  The reason for this, which seemed unreasonable to me at the time but nowadays I totally empathize with, was my mother.  Mom had had a dog for 18 years and by the time we started asking for a dog, she had had her fill, at least for a time, of tending to pets.  Although she relented for a season when I was about eight (we had an Irish Setter for about a year, until she started digging to China on our patio and then my folks found a friend with a farm and off she went) for most of my childhood – no dog.

And then came Sinbad.  When I was about fifteen, some people drove up behind our house and called to my younger brother who was outside at the time.  “Do you want a dog?”, they asked.  My brother said, “My parents won’t let us have one.”  To which they responded, “Hope they change their mind!” and shoved this mutt puppy out the door and took off.

Sinbad, the name we finally settled on, seemed a mix of many breeds (we almost named him Heinz, 57 varieties!).  He was mostly a shepherd/collie mix from what we could tell but that surely wasn’t all.  For example, he had a purple tongue (common in Chows but he looked nothing like a Chow).  And he could run like the wind (also not common in collies/shepherds, at least others I have had over the years).

My brother came and got me.  We fed him and gave him water.  We didn’t know how Mom would respond but we had a dog!

My mother at first gave no ground.  “That dog is not staying here!”  She would not let him near the doors of our house.  But Sinbad seemed content enough.  He slept in our fence-less yard and we snuck table scraps to him each night and put buckets of water under the bushes!  Everybody got in the act in time and started passing him something each time they saw him.  Even my mom softened in time (she loved him the most as the years went on and Sinbad saw it as his duty to protect her).

Sinbad became a fixture in the neighborhood.  We would be amazed at being eight or ten blocks from our house walking him and people we didn’t know would call out “Hey Sinbad!”  He had no name tag on, just a leather collar.  But somehow, by word of mouth, he became a neighborhood dog.

I’ve had many dogs since Sinbad and I love them all.  But Sinbad, for whatever reason, is on my mind this morning.  I’ll tell some more Sinbad stories too in the days ahead.  These couple of ones just scratch the surface!

Did you have a dog or cat that really stands out in your memory?  What does God teach us through the life he puts around us?

Some musings on my day off.

Until next time,

Tom

Karen Carpenter & Love

A few months ago now, one of my fellow ANG chaplains picked me up in his new vehicle.  He was showing me all the bells and whistles it had on it, including the sound system.  And the song he cranked up?  Karen Carpenter singing “Superstar”?  He saw the surprise on my face and joked, “Oh Tom, I’m old school.”

Karen Carpenter…her songs do take me back quite a bit.  When her songs were on top, I was in elementary school.  But as I listened now, as an adult, I couldn’t help but be amazed by the range and quality of her voice.  And what happened to her?  I remembered something about an eating disorder.

I found her poignant story on the internet. Here was this woman with a true gift but definitely wrestling with issues. What would cause that eating disorder? Could it be fame? Maybe. Could it be the pressure of being on the road all the time? It could. But something that stands out is the number of people she dated, then she married, and then divorced. And during all that, the eating disorder seemed to magnify. I don’t know for sure, but I would think personal relationships haunted her.

The number one problem I find counseling folks revolves around personal relationships (usually of the romantic variety).  God makes us to both love and be loved.  What does it mean when someone who has really gotten close to us doesn’t love us?  What does it mean when our love for them doesn’t seem to transform them and build the relationship?  It is easy to start having a negative view of oneself.

It is vital for us to remember that no matter how others show or reciprocate love, God always loves us. And God creates us to be loved.  If someone close to us closes the door on a relationship, it doesn’t mean that we are useless or that we will not find love in the future.

I know in my life, some of God’s greatest blessings came to me after I had been through the dark valleys.

It is vital for us to reach out and help those who are hurting.  And it is even more vital for those that are hurting to realize that a better tomorrow is out there.

All the best and until next time,

Tom

Flat Top, Anchorage, Alaska

At one time in my life, I was living in Anchorage, Alaska.  On one of the first things I asked about after moving in was what a new person in Anchorage so do with his time off.  A regular comment was “climb Flattop.”  Climb?  Flattop?  Being from below sea level New Orleans where “Monkey Hill” in Audubon Park or the levees are about the only climbing one does, I was a bit skeptical.  But everyone I asked said it was quite doable with a good set of hiking shoes.  I put it off a few months but I eventually set off when I had a break in my schedule.

Flattop is a designated park area and had a good size parking lot.  There was a map at the base to show you the way up.  It was high up but lots of people were climbing that day.  I thought, “If they can do it, so can I.” And so, along with a number of other folks with the same plans, I set off with a camera, a canteen full of water, and a backpack.

The climb took me, if I remember right, a little over two hours.  And the view when I got up there was very much worth it.  Anchorage and the Cooke Inlet were a sight to see at this altitude.  It was interesting seeing birds (including eagles) flying from above rather than below.  I stayed for about thirty minutes but headed back down before it would get dark.

The biggest surprise of the day though was that climbing down proved much more difficult than climbing up.  Trying to balance the camera, the canteen, my backpack and also maintain my footing was very hard.  I ended up going rolling down the mountain three different times.  I looked a bit different when I got to the bottom.  Still, I was glad I made the climb.

Do you find life is like that sometimes?  Getting somewhere sounds good, and in the end you might be very glad you got there, but sometimes it is more challenging than it looks and sometimes the challenges come in unexpected ways.

The great thing is the Lord is there with us through it all.  And God puts kind souls in our midst to help us.  That day, more than a few hikers helped me back to my feet after I had rolled down a bit of mountain.  I see the same thing happening through so many challenges of life.

Until next time,

Tom

The Truth Shall Set You Free

In the world I grew up in, this was a frequent verse you would hear said by Christians.  Christians not only believed it but the surrounding culture believed it.  The truth was something you could find, learn, and apply.  The only challenge was getting “the Word” out there.

But starting in the 80s and especially in the 90s, post modernism really took off.  Truth was relative.  Truth depended upon your perspective.  In an important way, this was a vital step forward for our society (even if many remained rooted in the old ways).  It’s easy to dismiss other people or peoples if you think you’ve got a hold of the truth and they don’t.  And many excellent television shows and movies have been made showing the same event from different perspectives and how what the truth of the event was was really colored by who experienced it.

But then, when accepting the world had “shades of grey” and perspectives in it, many stopped believing in “black and white” anymore.  There is no ultimate good or ultimate evil.  What is good or what is evil simply depends on your perspective.  It seems silly now but I still remember being shocked in the early 90s when I came across a Lucas Arts video game where they said you could fight for the Rebel Alliance or fight against the Rebel Scum.  Rebel Scum?  “Wait”, I thought.  “You want to train people to fight for the ‘bad guys'”? It is all so tame by what is in stores nowadays.

There must be truth in the midst of the shades of grey or there is no right, there is no wrong, and ultimately there is no God.  So how can we affirm truth and recognize perspective as well?

I believe humility is a key aspect of the Christian life.  God knows what is right and wrong and God reveals the truth to us.  But people, particularly individuals, can get far off course when they think they can easily individually discern the truth.  None of us naturally has this capability.

I believe Christ will show us the truth when he comes again.  Until then, God gives us the Bible, our minds, and experiences, and he gives us one another to discern the truth.  The last one in that list is so important.  In our fallen world, the truth is often best discerned by a group of people.  And that is what makes church so important.  If we want to know what God wants us to do we need each other to figure it out.

Let us seek the truth together for it will set us free.  As we do let’s be humble and depend upon one another as we move forward.

In Christ,

Tom Paine

#436

Today was my 436th sermon.  Here are some random stats:

Time in the pulpit:  15 years (including seminary).

City most sermons preached in:  Fort Worth/Haltom City

Air Force base most sermons preached:  Wright-Patterson Chapel 1

Longest Sermon:  40 minutes at the Inspirational Gospel Service at Barksdale AFB (and they thought that was short!).

Shortest Sermon:  4 minutes at Wright-Patterson AFB’s Good Friday “Seven Last Words of Christ.”

Pulpit shortest distance from seminary:  Sharp, TX (a rural 19th century church building whose electricity was only a couple of electric light bulbs).

Pulpit greatest distance from seminary:  Camp Justice Chapel overseas (deployed).

Old Testament sermons (120) v. New Testament Sermons (316)

Book of the Bible I’ve preached the most from:  Matthew.

The New Testament writer who has had the most influence:  Luke (writing both Luke and Acts).

The Old Testament figure that I have preached the most sermons about – David, both in his stories and with his writings in the Psalms.

Most common stories that have generated multiple sermons:  Jesus’ birth, Jesus’ baptism, the Transfiguration, and Jesus’ resurrection.

Most unusual garb preaching:  Roman Centurion uniform

Most unusual format:  I played the prosecutor, defender, and judge in a sermon using different colored baseball caps to show which character I was.

Largest attendance:  300 at Chapel 2 at Randolph AFB.

Lowest attendance:  12 on a snow day at WPAFB.

My hope:  That I’ll get a chance to preach 436 more.

Until next time,

Tom