Ever been just really ticked off for no good reason? It happened to me earlier this week...
I went through the drive-thru of McDonalds on my way to work. Like I always do, I ordered a breakfast sandwich and a large soda (yep, I drink soda for breakfast...I'm that addicted). As I was pulling away from the window, I opened my bag to get the straw for my drink...AND IT WASN'T THERE! They'd given me a drink without a straw! At that moment, for no good reason (I mean, it's a straw...), a rage came over me. AAAARGH! Now I have to park my ^@#%^%# CAR and walk into the @^#%^$# RESTAURANT to get a @^#%6@ STRAW!
I slammed the car into the nearest parking space, shut off the engine, and stalked into the restaurant. Anyone who saw me would know that I wasn't happy just by looking at my face, contorted into a grimacing frown. I snatched a straw out of the stack and stalked back out of the restaurant.
On the way back to the car, my heart rate started to settle, and I started to think. "What in the world am I doing? Why am I so upset about a straw?" I thought about how much energy I had just expended by being so angry for no justifiable reason. World hunger? Sure, I could be angry about that. The bombings at the Boston Marathon? Absolutely, I could be angry about that. How Obama's running of the economy is mortgaging my kids' future? I won't even go into that...but a straw?
So my next thought was, "I'm gonna choose to be happy." The more I thought about that statement though, it didn't ring true for me. I can't choose to be happy all the time. Happiness is an emotion, and emotions come and go. If my wife needs sinus surgery, I don't have to be happy about it. I my father-in-law has a heart attack and needs bypass surgery, I don't need to be happy about that either. But JOY, that I can choose to have no matter what. So my statement for that day became "I CHOOSE JOY!"
Joy isn't an emotion that comes and goes. It's a confidence that no matter what happens, I know that my God is bigger than that situation. It's a belief that everything that I face here on earth - the good, the bad, and the ugly - is temporary, and that something even greater than the best thing I could experience here on earth is waiting for me in heaven.
That's why James 1:2 says "Consider it pure JOY, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds." Even the things that make me unhappy in the short term, I can see God's hand involved, working things out for the eternal benefit of the most people possible. Even when they don't give me a straw.
P.S. After this whole episode, during my drive into the office, I dug deeper into my bag and found that they HAD given me a straw........
Friday, April 26, 2013
Friday, April 5, 2013
Turning 40
So I turn 40 next week...ugh! It's depressing, especially since I've been making a list of things that are younger than me...
- 98.9% of all major league baseball players (it's true, I looked it up)
- Hip-hop music
- The now-"outdated"-and-replaced 1984 version of the NIV Bible
- Superbowl VIII
- 6 NFL teams, 5 MLB teams, and 12 NHL teams
- The town of Oro Valley in Northwest Tucson
- The Sony Walkman
- MRIs
- GPS
- Prozac
- Ethernet networking
- Post-it notes
- Liposuction
- Laser AND ink-jet printers
- Roller blades
- Vaccine for hepatitis-B
- Microsoft
- MS-DOS
- Disposable cameras
- Doppler radar
- DVDs
- Viagra
- Cell phones
- Watergate
- Star Wars Episode IV
- The Declaration of Independence
- Barak Obama
- Fossils
- Some redwood trees in California
- Keith Rupert
- Jim Phillips
- The US Postal System
- The Roman Catholic Church
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Six Months at the New Church!
So, March 1st marked 6 months that I've been at Lifepoint Church as Assistant Pastor. The time has just flown by! The church that I left, Pathway of Hope, was an amazing group of folks that I led as Senior Pastor for over 3 years, and I was an Assistant Pastor there for almost 4 years before that. We moved here to Tucson from California to help plant that church, along with about 10 other families. Planting Pathway of Hope was an amazing experience that I don't ever want to do again...
During my time as Senior Pastor, we watched the church attendance on Sundays drop from around 80 to under 30. A lot of that was my fault - I was working another full-time job during that entire period and didn't have the time or energy to pour into every person who needed my attention and follow-up. I became more of a "preach on Sunday" pastor who didn't form those strong relationships with anyone except my core team. This was out of necessity, because of my job situation like I said, but I'm still sorry that it had to be that way.
When God opened up the door for me to move over to Lifepoint Church as an Assistant Pastor, I wanted to be sure that it was where God wanted me. I wanted to be sure that my old congregation was left in good hands, and that the new church would be a good fit for me and my family. The first concern was addressed when my Assistant Pastor at the time, Karen Kelly, agreed to become the Senior Pastor. She has done an amazing job, and I don't think the church has lost a single person since I left (which is really unheard of during a pastoral transition like that). She has really taken the bull by the horns and grown a whole lot in her ministry and leadership!
The second concern, fitting into Lifepoint, has not been a problem either. My kids have blended in seamlessly into the children's ministries, and Jackie and I have a lot of good friends. It helped that we knew about 10 people right out of the gate who used to go to Pathway, so we weren't starting from scratch. My weakness, though, has always been names, so trying to learn the other 190 people's names all at the same time has been a big challenge!
I love both Pathway and Lifepoint, and I'm praying that God blesses both churches. What's most exciting about the whole situation for me, is that we have had two opportunities already to get our churches together for prayer and worship nights. We're all one family, no matter where we worship on Sundays, as long as we're worshiping the same God!
There are two things that I've learned through this experience of changing churches. First, anywhere that God's people are trying to make a difference and shine a light in the darkness for the Kingdom, Satan will attack and try to knock them down. I watched spiritual attacks come from both internal and external sources at both churches, and nothing surprises me anymore. The Devil is one sneaky dude, and once he gets in your head it's hard to refocus back onto where God wants our vision to be.
Secondly, I've learned that God has planted amazing people all over. I left some incredible warriors of the faith behind at Pathway of Hope, and I've met some new fellow soldiers at Lifepoint Church. Wherever you are, whatever you're into right now, find a church and plug in. Locate those people who are solid in their faith. They're there, they're in every church. Grab hold of them. Watch how they live, how they act, how they persevere, how they react to opposition. Then do the same.
During my time as Senior Pastor, we watched the church attendance on Sundays drop from around 80 to under 30. A lot of that was my fault - I was working another full-time job during that entire period and didn't have the time or energy to pour into every person who needed my attention and follow-up. I became more of a "preach on Sunday" pastor who didn't form those strong relationships with anyone except my core team. This was out of necessity, because of my job situation like I said, but I'm still sorry that it had to be that way.
When God opened up the door for me to move over to Lifepoint Church as an Assistant Pastor, I wanted to be sure that it was where God wanted me. I wanted to be sure that my old congregation was left in good hands, and that the new church would be a good fit for me and my family. The first concern was addressed when my Assistant Pastor at the time, Karen Kelly, agreed to become the Senior Pastor. She has done an amazing job, and I don't think the church has lost a single person since I left (which is really unheard of during a pastoral transition like that). She has really taken the bull by the horns and grown a whole lot in her ministry and leadership!
The second concern, fitting into Lifepoint, has not been a problem either. My kids have blended in seamlessly into the children's ministries, and Jackie and I have a lot of good friends. It helped that we knew about 10 people right out of the gate who used to go to Pathway, so we weren't starting from scratch. My weakness, though, has always been names, so trying to learn the other 190 people's names all at the same time has been a big challenge!
I love both Pathway and Lifepoint, and I'm praying that God blesses both churches. What's most exciting about the whole situation for me, is that we have had two opportunities already to get our churches together for prayer and worship nights. We're all one family, no matter where we worship on Sundays, as long as we're worshiping the same God!
There are two things that I've learned through this experience of changing churches. First, anywhere that God's people are trying to make a difference and shine a light in the darkness for the Kingdom, Satan will attack and try to knock them down. I watched spiritual attacks come from both internal and external sources at both churches, and nothing surprises me anymore. The Devil is one sneaky dude, and once he gets in your head it's hard to refocus back onto where God wants our vision to be.
Secondly, I've learned that God has planted amazing people all over. I left some incredible warriors of the faith behind at Pathway of Hope, and I've met some new fellow soldiers at Lifepoint Church. Wherever you are, whatever you're into right now, find a church and plug in. Locate those people who are solid in their faith. They're there, they're in every church. Grab hold of them. Watch how they live, how they act, how they persevere, how they react to opposition. Then do the same.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Disneyland is in the Bible
So, since my family and I were at Disneyland last week, I started thinking about the different rides, and what Bible verses might go well with them...if you have any to add, let me know:
It's a Small World - Ecclesiastes 3:1,4 "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:...a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;" Get it? It's a world of laughter, a world of tears?
Alice in Wonderland - Psalm 65:8a "The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;"
Star Tours - Philippians 2:15b-16a "Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life."
Mr Toad's Wild Ride - Luke 13:28 - "There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out."
Ariel's Undersea Adventure - Micah 7:19 "You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea."
Grizzly River Run - James 1:6 "But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."
Storybook Land - Jonah 1:17 "Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." (because at the beginning of the ride you go through the whale's mouth)
That's what I've got. What more can you think of?
It's a Small World - Ecclesiastes 3:1,4 "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:...a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;" Get it? It's a world of laughter, a world of tears?
Alice in Wonderland - Psalm 65:8a "The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;"
Star Tours - Philippians 2:15b-16a "Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life."
Mr Toad's Wild Ride - Luke 13:28 - "There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out."
Ariel's Undersea Adventure - Micah 7:19 "You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea."
Grizzly River Run - James 1:6 "But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."
Storybook Land - Jonah 1:17 "Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." (because at the beginning of the ride you go through the whale's mouth)
That's what I've got. What more can you think of?
Friday, February 22, 2013
Pieces of my Brain for Sale (Finally!)
Wow, my first blog! I feel like I'm about 5 years behind the rest of the tech world, but that's okay. I've always been a bit behind the tech wave, not wanting to get bit by the buggy new stuff, but rather waiting until it's stable to jump in with both feet. Like Windows - I never get a computer with the latest OS unless I can absolutely help it. I bought Dell computers for years because they were the only ones that still shipped with Windows XP. When I finally had to buy a computer with Windows 7, it was stable and I loved it.
First, the blog name, dougisfun...back in college, I had a dial-up account with America OnLine (AOL, remember them?). The account name was dougisfun. Back in those days, there were no privacy settings for the accounts, and anyone could search for anyone's login IDs. I got more than a few Instant Messages from men of the less-than-straight persuasion who wanted to know just how "fun" I was. Kinda funny, and I was secure in my masculinity, so I kept the name.
That said, I hope this doesn't turn into a complete rambling mess...Our family has been at Disneyland for the past two days. We head home tomorrow night. Today we saw a woman running around Fantasyland screaming for her daughter who had disappeared. A Disneyland worker was walking with her helping her, and so were Alice and the Mad Hatter! It seemed strange to me that characters would be searching and calling for this little girl, but it impressed me that they were willing to help, even if it took them away from the line of people waiting for autographs. The little girl's more important, right? It reminded me how precious my kids are to me, and how shook up I'd be if they disappeared suddenly. Panic-mode! Luckily, we saw the woman walking about 10 minutes later, holding her daughter in her arms, whispering in her ear. Both of them looked pretty shaken up and scared, but relieved.
As a pastor, I can find a sermon illustration in just about anything, but this seems rather obvious. Our Heavenly Father is searching for us every time we slip away and start doing our own thing. When we finally return to Him and run back into His arms, He doesn't reprimand us or punish us. He simply holds us in His arms and whispers in our ear.
First, the blog name, dougisfun...back in college, I had a dial-up account with America OnLine (AOL, remember them?). The account name was dougisfun. Back in those days, there were no privacy settings for the accounts, and anyone could search for anyone's login IDs. I got more than a few Instant Messages from men of the less-than-straight persuasion who wanted to know just how "fun" I was. Kinda funny, and I was secure in my masculinity, so I kept the name.
That said, I hope this doesn't turn into a complete rambling mess...Our family has been at Disneyland for the past two days. We head home tomorrow night. Today we saw a woman running around Fantasyland screaming for her daughter who had disappeared. A Disneyland worker was walking with her helping her, and so were Alice and the Mad Hatter! It seemed strange to me that characters would be searching and calling for this little girl, but it impressed me that they were willing to help, even if it took them away from the line of people waiting for autographs. The little girl's more important, right? It reminded me how precious my kids are to me, and how shook up I'd be if they disappeared suddenly. Panic-mode! Luckily, we saw the woman walking about 10 minutes later, holding her daughter in her arms, whispering in her ear. Both of them looked pretty shaken up and scared, but relieved.
As a pastor, I can find a sermon illustration in just about anything, but this seems rather obvious. Our Heavenly Father is searching for us every time we slip away and start doing our own thing. When we finally return to Him and run back into His arms, He doesn't reprimand us or punish us. He simply holds us in His arms and whispers in our ear.
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