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All Because of You

Half the day has sailed past and I have yet to blog. Sorry to all who expect more from Porch Pondering, really! I hope you both know that I'll try to be more consistent in the days ahead. But in light of a busy Thanksgiving weekend, gimme a break.

Just a few observations about Thanksgiving. Last week Joy, Matthew and Mackenzie headed up early to Thousand Oaks to get ready for the family Thanksgiving celebration while Andy and I stayed home. It was great to have some one-on-one time with my youngest son. Our only agenda was to be together. We went out for pizza Wednesday night and then we went home to watch movies and play backgammon. Andy had never played backgammon before so it was really fun to teach him. He caught on quickly. The next morning we went for an early swim and then hurried home to get ready to catch the mid-morning train to Thousand Oaks.

It was an incredible journey! It was Andy’s first train trip and so it was fun to see his eyes wide with amazement. It doesn’t seem like I slow down often enough to appreciate life through the eyes of an eight year old. I got to do just that on Thanksgiving Day. It was a great ride and a reminder for me of the many gifts God has given. On the way we ate cookies, cake and hot chocolate (with Diedrichs coffee for me). We drew pictures, told stories and listened to Jack Johnson and to the new U2 album, “How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.” The whole train ride took about three hours but it felt like it was over in an instant. What a great memory it has now become for me. I was glad to arrive at Joy’s sister’s house to the smell of a beautiful feast and to the embrace of my whole family. Wow! It was an incredible trip. Sometimes life is like that. I was glad to be able to cherish it for the whole of just one day, "All Because of You!"

Four Fantastic Holiday Films

No doubt this will be a big movie weekend with lots of action at the box office. As usual, there is good line up of movies with appropriate holiday themes. Ever notice how these movies never translate as well into the summer season? I think it’s fun to watch them when the season is right.

Here’s my list of favorites for this time of year (remember, I’m limiting myself to four on a theme so feel free to let me know what I missed). My first choice for this season is “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” (1987). The language is strong enough to give it an R rating but this is an incredible story of hospitality and friendship. I’ll admit it. When I saw it for the first time, I cried at the end. Homecoming! It’s what we all long for. Second, let me recommend an old movie that was remade a few years ago as “The Preacher’s Wife” (1996) but the original is far better. Check out “The Bishop’s Wife” (1947). It’s a good story (even if the “special effects” are very dated) about the struggle between fear, faith and love. Third, make sure you watch any version of Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol.” Now this is really a telling admission, I cried watching the Muppet version with Matthew a few years ago. It’s a powerful story of conversion. And finally, what Christmas season would be complete without “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946)? This film will also appear on a later list of mine, “Four Formational Films” so I won’t say much about it here. If you haven’t see it, where in the world have you been? I hope you enjoy these films and do let me know what you love to watch at this time of year. I'd love to hear about your favorites.

train whistle sounding...

I'm so excited because this morning Andy and I are hopping on the train at the San Juan station and heading north to Thousand Oaks to join the rest of the family for a Thanksgiving feast. I'm also glad to have some one-on-one time with my youngest son. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration. Blessings to you and especially to all who have discovered a place to belong at Village Presbyterian Church here in Ladera Ranch. I'm glad for you and for all the ways God is making us to be a blessing to the world. Happy thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving for Bob

Yesterday I wrote about my friend Joel. Today I’d like to give thanks for my other friend, Bob (I do have more than two friends but these are just two I’ve been thinking a bit more about these days). We’ve had the privilege of hearing Bob sing twice at Village Presbyterian Church. His music was very influential to my Christian formation during my high school and college years. Unfortunately, all the stuff of his early years is not available on CD (I bought his first three albums on vinyl…long time ago) but, fortunately, Bob is still writing and singing great music. I have always had great respect for Bob and I am even more grateful we got to know each other personally some years ago. I don’t want to make it sound like we hang together all the time but there is a strong sense of partnership in the mission of Christ.

If you’re looking for good resources to inspire your faith, let me recommend you listen carefully to Bob Bennett. His music is not the religious fluff of many “me and Jesus and me” Christian musicians but his words will make you think…deeply. Two albums I wholeheartedly recommend are: The View from Here (“Lord of the Past” and “Man of the Tombs” are my favorites) and Songs from Bright Avenue (it’s all good, especially “Unto the Least of These.”) Bob has always highlighted the compassion and mercy of God and what is to be our response to it. Bob is a "Micah 6:8" kind of guy, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but do to justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Blessings to you Bob, during this season of Thanksgiving! Your voice is a great gift to the church today.

Thanksgiving for Joel

Yesterday I received a copy of a book my friend wrote, How to Increase Homelessness: Real Solutions to the Absurdity of Homelessness in Amercia. The truth is that Joel is not an advocate of homelessness but he’s actually the Executive Director of one of the largest organizations in Los Angeles working to help people get off the streets. PATH was started twenty years ago in a local church by a group of people who were committed to being: People Assisting The Homeless. PATH has been featured in many places because of its innovative approach to address the full scope of the homeless crisis. They offer far more than a feeding and shelter program. They offer the hope of a better way of life.

I got to know Joel many years ago when I was a brand new disciple of Jesus. Joel would drive home to Long Beach from Cal Poly SLO, to spend time with high school students at Christ Lutheran Church in Long Beach. Joel was committed to helping us grow in faith. I still even have a few of the handwritten letters of encouragement he sent to me during those formative years. They are something like a works of art because Joel was studying architecture. He was an excellent student and his example helped me to become a better student too.

After high school I went to Cal State Long Beach while Joel was nearing end of his studies at Cal Poly. That's when he became restless. It wasn’t the restlessness of a misguided or poor student but Joel was wrestling with the question of what he wanted his life to count for. Now I never had a doubt that if Joel put his mind to it, he would one day be an architect near the top of the field. And yet, in response to the call of God, Joel willingly choose a different vocation. He transferred from Cal Poly to attend Cal State Long Beach (my great gain) with an eye to continuing studies at Fuller Theological Seminary.

I have great admiration for Joel. He willingly sacrificed in order to walk in the way of Christ. The path he took to become the director of PATH was no easy journey but I’m convinced he is doing the thing God created him to do. That thought makes me really happy! So also, I think of all the ones who do not know Joel’s story but have been helped because of his choices. Friends, the book he has written is vintage Joel, so let me encourage you to buy it, read it and so gain a new friend. Not only will you gain a friend and colleague in Joel, but he’ll also help you to consider how you might befriend the less fortunate among us. Perhaps something like PATH might someday grow from our efforts here in South Orange County.

I am so proud of my friend during this Thanksgiving season. I am blessed by a large circle of good friends. Blessings to you, Joel. Thank you for the example of your life and the blessing that you are to others.

Four Food Films

In the movie “Grand Canyon” the character played by Steve Martin speaks these memorable words, “All of life’s riddles are answered in the movies.” I’m not sure all the riddles are fully answered but I think movies are important because they explore some of life’s important questions. Today marks the beginning of a regular feature that I am calling “Four Films for Friday.” If you dislike roaming the aisles of Blockbuster or Hollywood Video as much as I do, then let me walk with you for the next few weeks to give you a list of films I’ve come to appreciate. These are not necessarily “Christian Videos” in the traditional sense (never saw “Left Behind” and I hope I never have to) but, as people of faith, these are stories that give voice to things we know to be true. A good film helps us to reflect on the world we live in (a good book can do the same thing). A good film can even help us to take a fresh look at faith. While we might not agree with or even like all the elements in a film, a good film can always teach us something. So the first installment of “Four Films for Friday” is titled, “Four Food Films.”

If a film inspires me to eat, it’s a good film; when a film inspires me to cook, it’s a great film. I watched “Babette’s Feast” (1987) for the first time a few weeks ago. It’s been on my list for the past ten years (even the Pope has it listed on his favorite film list). I was moved by Babette’s affirmation of grace and her willingness to serve others. When the “disciples” gather at the table they are slow to appreciate all that she has done but I wonder also if the same was true of the disciples of Jesus (read John 13). Watch the film and see what you think. Another great food film is “Chocolat” (2000). This film also wrestles with the meaning of the gospel through the metaphor of food (my friend Craig says this film is an intentional parallel of "Babette's Feast" but I'd have to watch 'em again to say for sure). I’d say that the character played by Juliette Binoche more fully embodies a disciple of Jesus than does Alfred Molina’s character who is rooted in tradition. Perhaps this film is about the contrast between Law and Gospel. There’s a lot that could be said about this film in relation what it has to teach us about being “missional disciples.” (Frost and Hirsch talk about the film in the opening paragraphs of the fourth chapter of The Shaping of Things to Come). Two other food films that I haven’t seen in sometime but remember enjoying fully are “Eat Drink Man Woman” (1994) and “The Joy Luck Club” (1993). Hope you can watch something good this weekend because you need more than “reality television” to feed your soul. Bon appetite!

Committed to the Great Ends of the Church (Part 8 of 8)

This is the final entry for this series. I apologize for the length of the other entries. Sometimes I got carried away and sometimes it just took more words to make a good point. I hope you’ve enjoyed this series as much as I have enjoyed the writing of it.

Over the past year and a half, I’ve learned much about the church that I didn’t know before. As strange as that might sound, there are some things you can only learn in the right place and at the time. The time seems to be right for me now and I guess Ladera Ranch is the place. What does it mean to be the church? That’s the essential question I have long been wrestling with. And yet I know I’m not the first to struggle to find an answer. I am encouraged by those in former generations who also sought to answer that question. And yet it’s not as easy as taking the “correct” answer they came up with and then concluding the conversation. The real challenge is to apply the answer to the world we are living in. Yet I continue to draw strength and hope from the rich history of the Reformed tradition. Presbyterians have long affirmed “the great ends of the church.” And so with these good words, let me finish this series. Hopefully, in time and with great effort, these “ends” might be achieved in some way at Village Presbyterian Church.

“The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.” (Book of Order, G-1.0200)

Good Advice

Gordon Atkinson is the man behind RealLivePreacher.com. A few days ago I came across something he wrote in his new book published by Eerdmans (appropriately titled, RealLivePreacher.com). I was also glad to find the same entry available online. It's titled, "How to Find a Church." Read it and let me know what you think. These are words of encouragement if you're a regular at Village Presbyterian Church. Hey, at least we're not meeting in a laundromat. Enjoy!

Response-Able (Part 7 of 8)

“It’s a Wonderful Life” has long been near the top of my favorite movie list. For a short time in my life, many years ago, I felt like George Bailey of Bedford Falls, stuck in a set of circumstances that I could do little to change. I could identify with his despair and frustration. After all, George had dreams. He wanted to travel the world, go to college and then build bridges and skyscrapers. George Bailey wanted to make a name for himself but a deep sense of responsibility, to his family and to others, always seemed to keep him in Bedford Falls. And as the movie so beautifully shows, the world became a better place because George did not abandon his common calling. His life made an incredible difference in that small town because George Bailey cared for others.

As a new congregation, we too are granted the opportunity to make a difference here and now. How shall we respond to this opportunity? Well, I believe this New Church Development will take shape and grow only as we learn how to respond to God and to the needs of the world around us. Some people might be intimidate by the effort that such a task requires. But so also it doesn’t seem to me that in the movie George Bailey had it all figured out either. He simply responded to the needs around him. He helped to provide housing for families. He loved his own children and he never missed the chance to help a neighbor in need. Was he overextended? Perhaps he was. But at the end of the movie, I always shed tears of joy for his extravagance. I want my life to count in the same way. Don’t you?

When I dream about the future of Village Presbyterian Church, I think about all that will happen because we are here. I want to see marriages made strong. I want to see fathers and mothers establish loving homes where children are secure in the love of God. I want to see children discover THE reason for living and so commitment themselves to seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). Who knows how they might serve God in this world but I hope they grow up seeing living examples of faithfulness at Village Presbyterian Church. I hope we might be there for others who struggle to conquer various addictions. Perhaps many might find inspiration among us to live joyfully and with purpose. I want to be there for the community in seasons of struggle and celebration. I think that’s what it means to be the church.

Now, movies are movies. Real life is real life but sometimes a movie captures the essence of life in a way that touches the core of our being. I believe, like George Bailey, we are able to respond to the circumstances of this world. So too, we are called to respond to the common call to love God wholeheartedly and to love our neighbor. Therefore, let us never forget that we are response-able. Lesslie Newbigin makes the same point at the end of a small book titled, A Walk Through the Bible. He writes,

“In so far as I commit all that I do, imperfect as it is, to God in Jesus Christ, knowing that much of it is utterly unfit to survive and yet trusting that what has been committed in faith will find its place in God’s final kingdom, that gives me something to look forward to in which both my hopes for the world and my hopes for myself are brought together. [Such a vision]…enables us to see the whole human story and each of our own lives within that story as meaningful, and which therefore invites us through Jesus Christ to become responsible actors in history, not to seek to run away from the responsibilities and the agonies of human life in its public dimension. Each of us must be ready to take our share in all the struggles and the anguish of human history and yet with the confidence that what is committed to Christ will in the end finds its place in his final kingdom.” (84-85)

And so let us dare to dream but let us also say yes to all that will be required in order to transform our dreams into reality. May God grant us courage because others are depending on us!

Enough Shelter (Part 6 of 8)

Why is it that the church in North America is so fixated on buildings? The early church got along very nicely without any permanent structures but since the time of Constantine the church has convinced itself that buildings are essential to its mission. Maybe it’s time to question that perspective. We’ve come to the point where it’s hard to imagine a “real” church without a building. The apostle Peter had no such illusions when he wrote these words to the early church, “Come to him [that is, Jesus], a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4-5)

The truth of the history of Village Presbyterian Church is this: there’s no way this new community of faith would be here if we waited to have land in hand before we started. How much would it have cost to purchase a plot of ground for a church in Ladera Ranch? It would have cost several million dollars. Now the Presbytery** could have said, “Forget it because it’s beyond our reach,” but they didn’t! The decision was made for us to challenge the “we’ve-gotta-have-a-building” mindset and launch out with a missional vision of the church. To say it in the words of a Sunday School song, “The church is not a building; the church is not a steeple; the church is not a resting place…the church is the people!” That’s a fine song to sing when you have a building but even more telling when you sing it from temporary spaces. It’s more true than we know. The church is the people; more specifically, we are God’s people sent on a mission. To fail to understand our identity as a “sent” people is to fail to be the church (I hope I said that forcefully enough…check out John 20:21, Acts 1:8 and 2 Cor. 2:14-17).

Is land in our future? Only the Lord knows for sure. Perhaps it would be helpful to return once again to the call of Abram found in Genesis 12. It says, “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (v. 1) The incredible thing about Abram’s call is that it didn’t include an address of any sort. God didn’t give much information at the beginning of the journey. It seems the Lord tells us only what we need to know. Essentially, the Lord said, “Go and I’ll show you the way!” Could it be that when God initiates a new community of faith in the world today that “the call” still comes in the same fashion? Village Presbyterian Church is in the pioneering phase of its development and so the Lord will only add the adventurous to our numbers. Personally, I think these are exciting days because we get to discover what God is doing together. For now the question of land is yet to be resolved. I don’t worry about it much because I’m confident the Lord will provide what we need when we need it. For me the first priority is to establish our missional identity (and we can do that as we gather for worship at ten o’clock on Sundays at the Ladera Ranch School) and then, like a growing family, we’ll face the issue of space when the time is right.

** Presbytery is the larger collection of churches to whom we are accountable. We happen to belong to the Presbytery of Los Ranchos. We are a vibrant collection of 59 churches across Orange County and parts of Los Angeles County.

[The picture in this post is an "inflatable church." Rest assured, I don't ever anticipate us having to "do church" in a bounce house style building...what will they think of next?]