For two months now my church has allowed me to work as a part-time chaplain at a couple of hospitals.  The hospital I was scheduled to work at over these last two days was Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, Ca.

Holy Cross was one of several hospitals that received patients from the Metrolink train wreck in Chatsworth this past Friday. I have to say one of the most surreal experiences in my life was to be working in the emergency room yesterday evening when the ambulances rolled in and kept rolling in from the site. Last night I worked alongside some other wonderful chaplains. We also worked with and observed a hospital staff that worked together and were unified all evening and through the night. It was a relief this morning after arriving to the hospital when I heard that there were some folks who were much better this morning since yesterday’s wreck.

As I drove home tonight from the hospital I was listening to the latest news on a local radio station. The story that made the news tonight was the list of 25 persons who had died in the wreck. As the DJ read the names I couldn’t help but remember three or four names of folks, who had been read off the list, who had parents and friends sitting and waiting for answers and help in finding their loved ones last night.

My thought as I listened to the radio driving home was that all I could along with everyone else who helped yesterday, from fire crews, to the doctors, and nurses was to pray. Pray for those who are grieving this evening. Who are hurting. And praying that God would bring comfort to those who sleep tonight without there loved ones.

As I cruise the blogging scribbles of my colleagues and friends I have to confess that there was one blog today that caught my eye. Tod and his presbytery are in the midst of doing an interesting thing that you must watch and listen to as the larger church discerns what it means to becoming a missional community, doing the mission of God out in the world.  I wonder if becoming a missional community means going to that one place in our lives that makes us feel most uncomfortable. Venturing out as Tod describes into “unchartered territory.”

Had a good time at PGF this past week. Got to spend some time with old friends from seminary. Lots of Princeton folks which was cool. Saw some friends that I haven’t seen since graduation. Also got to see some buddies from my home church. As for the content of the week I was glad I was present. The one person that I actually was looking forward to hearing was Rick Warren. I guess something happened and he wasn’t able to attend. I actually think he was sitting in his back yard hanging with his pals Obama and McCain. (Just kidding) Alan Hirsch was what I thought he’d be. My favorite Hirsch quote was, “You Presbyterians are in trouble because you have defined yourselves by your structure.”I’ve heard Labberton before and wish I could some how steal just a small bit of his brain for my preaching every Sunday.

Went to the Michael Walker seminars on whether or not one can still be faithful in the PCUSA. I really appreciated his work and his willingness to help folks find some kind of balance. Even after this conference, I know in all of my heart as a follower of Jesus, a Christian, and a pastor that I still can be faithful to the call God has placed on my heart to those I minister to, with, and alongside. It broke my heart to hear the pain this past week that many are feeling and I only pray that they continue to find the answers they are looking for in deciding whether one can still be faithful in light of the denominational things that are happening and have been happening for a long time.

As for the missional stuff during the conference? Nothing new in some ways for me. I think folks don’t realize that they have been doing things missional for most of their lives as followers of Jesus. The church I still love to this day and where I came to know Christ in as a youth was a missional body long before the word became a BUZZ word dropped over a latte discussing missional things in the church. I laughed with a friend a couple of weeks ago when she said, “The church we were part of for years, just wasn’t smart enough to label what they were doing for the kingdom of God in the City as missional.”

My fear with the whole missional thing of recent is that I start to check out when I hear it being discussed and talked about. One church this past week mentioned something about going to Tijuana and building homes. No doubt this has made an impact on the people of God. How about adopting a neighborhood church in their own city and walking alongside that church in their own work as a missional body that strives to empower and equip the people of God to becoming a sent community? How about coming alongside a city church, one breath away from death and helping them find their kingdom concept (My new buzz word I learned this week) and helping them move from survival to helping them  as people of God accept their niche, their place in the City as a church that might not be the church it once was, but a church that is living out their faith and proclaiming God’s grace to those in need of grace. Let’s stop spending money on learning about being missional and lets just do what we’ve always been doing in the kingdom of God here on earth. And the funny thing is that there are churches who are doing and living a missional life and still haven’t figured it out.

I’m the result of a church being missional. I’m confident that Jesus loves me and that it is his grace in my life that gives me strength to BE in the world doing the mission of God.

All in all? A nice time to be away. Do I have answers yet? No, but I still proclaim GOOD NEWS. News that needs to be shared. News that sometimes is awesome to hear and yet sometimes hard to hear. News that is radical and should make us feel uncomfortable. News that calls the church to WAKE UP!

My preaching professor in seminary once said, “preaching is sometimes making the people of God feel uncomfortable. You might not be preaching if you’re not moving them to a place of responding to God’s call to GO and do something with what they have heard.” (My paraphrase)

When I think about the church I think of the church as one great big surrogate parent sometimes. If it weren’t for the church and its role in the shaping of my life as a follower of Jesus and now a pastor I could honestly say that my life would be a whole lot different. Folks from all different walks of life who all had a love for the city and loved making a difference in the lives of God’s people. When I was a kid, these people on at least one occasion fed my family, paid some hospital bills, or even saw to it that we always had a way to get to church camp as kids. As I got older the amount of money spent on meals feeding me alone I could never repay back, but the conversations I had with these folks I still remember like yesterday.

Some of my coolest memories as kid growing up in the city was the time I spent on the boulevard. Now I know you are wondering, “why is it that the boulevard holds for me so many memories?” Well, the church happened to be about a block away from the boulevard where we lived in Hollywood. At one point as a kid our home was less than a mile from the church, a half block above the boulevard. On another occasion we lived just over a mile from the church, again both places were a short walk either way. Growing up in a city like Hollywood, your mode for transportation as a kid was to usually walk and the boulevard was the path one would usually choose. It made the walk to the church a little more enjoyable. For example skateboarding was always an experience, because the way the wheels of your skateboard felt under your feet while skateboarding always seemed to tickle your feet as you cruised down the boulevard. The city bus (formerly known as the RTD) was another enjoyable experience (if you had the change) because the joy of watching the interesting yet entertaining persons on a city bus always was a smile to anyone riding a bus, even to us kids.

One memory I have was a time in elementary school on Halloween during a costume parade. When I was an infant I was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, which is simply water on the brain. (Now for those of you who know me, I know this gives you a smile and I hear you saying, “no wonder he’s such a goober.”) What happens with some who are diagnosed with hydrocephalus as an infant and as children, the child’s head sometimes appears larger than the child’s body. Thankfully, doctors were able to treat it with a shunt, but of course as I grew up I got the occasional, “hey dude, you have a big head.” On this particular day at school during the Halloween parade, I decided that enough was enough with the “big head stuff.” What I remember that day was that my mother was called and the next scene was us sitting in a hamburger stand right on the boulevard minutes from our apartment. Of course food is always the best cure for a growing kid and mom saw to it that we had some one on one time which allowed for the “big head stuff” to become a thing of the past.

My next post I will continue to reflect on those memories I had growing up in the city and the small yet important role my parents had in being used by God in helping me in my faith journey. I will also share some other thoughts about life growing up in Hollywood and how this played a role in my faith as a follower of Jesus.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNb9ETJFeWE]

I know this old. But you forget sometimes that there is a whole world still needing good news.

HT: ipastor 

Last Tuesday our food bank served 78 families. The Sunday prior to the food bank I shared with the church we needed over 60 turkeys. I’m blown away that when you put a call out for a need people respond.

A couple of things happened since last week. One of our members was in the post office and found a one hundred dollar bill. He says, “did anyone loose a hundred dollar bill?” A little old lady came up to him and said, “it’s your lucky day.” The member comes to the church office and hands me a hundred dollar bill and says, “use this for the turkeys.”

Another member calls last week and says, “my son knows where to get some turkeys and hams wholesale.” She finds out she can’t get the turkeys, but can get the hams. We needed approximately sixty hams at around 600.00 dollars. The same member says this past Sunday morning that we raised almost enough money from donations from people in the church and living in the community.

Two of the donations were from the chamber of commerce and a hardware store.

This Tuesday we have another food bank. I think things are going to be okay.

Its a special moment when community “literally” comes together to help do God’s ministry.

And people are still bringing turkeys.

nice.

One of the buzz words that is often used in our denomination is the word connectional. I love the fact that I could call any of my colleagues in ministry for advice, wisdom, or even a little prayer. In some ways with the birth of the blog we’ve even become more connectional within the church universal.

A couple of nights ago I was sitting in one of the longest presbytery meetings I’ve ever been part of and there was an older woman in her sixties sitting behind me in another pew. I had figured out that she was being welcomed into the presbytery and that she was waiting for her turn to read her statement of faith that evening and be interviewed by members of the presbytery in regards to her faith and call as a pastor. She leaned over to me during the interview process of another pastor that was taking place in the meeting and said, “is my statement of faith ok?” I had mumbled something like, “just give them your heart.”

When I read the docket for the meeting I figured out she was a hospice chaplain and had served for several years as a presbyterian minister. Now mind you I’ve never met this woman before. As the meeting continued I had stood up once during the interview process for another pastor and asked a question. When you stand up in a meeting like this its customary to say your name and what church you pastor. After I asked my question I sat back down. The woman sitting in the pew behind me waiting for her turn to finally come to be interviewed leans over to me as I sat back down in my pew and said, “you were the pastor that worked with Jimmy? Apparently she was one of the chaplains that cared for Jimmy over the year while he was dying of cancer.

Its an honor in that all of us who follow Jesus have an opportunity to be part of a connectional relationship as the body of Christ and in the church universal. We all have a part in the proclamation of the “good news” of a Savior who will come to bring hope to a world in need of hope. This Sunday we get to sing, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” Have you ever wondered what it might be like for the the Lord to sit and listen to his people sing?” Not just my church or yours, but the church “Big C” universal?

Happy Advent.

I had some friends come and worship with us in church yesterday. Dave shared his experience in serving in another country along with his wife. You see Dave and his wife were among many who played an active role in my life as a kid. They were two of many who shared “good news,” with me that God is an awesome God who loves us. There was a point in their lives where they moved and it wasn’t until this last year that God brought us back together again. When we prayed before the services and when I could hear Dave and his wife teach Sunday school in between services I couldn’t help but think that God’s work comes full circle. It was great to have them come and speak because there were some who appreciated a different outlook on the world and the presentation of the Gospel and how we are to share “good news.”

Survived the first week of an online experience at fuller for the doctor of ministry program. This online experience is very unique. I’ve never participated in something like this in that as a class we interact through a chat board if you will. The papers I write are uploaded to a “drop box” and if I need to chat with the professors I send them an email through the message system set up in my “virtual” class room. The cool thing is that you can even track your grades for assignments. Very cool. In many ways its a global community of followers of Jesus trying to make a difference in the kingdom of God. This week our readings are from Nouwen’s, “In the Name of Jesus,” and Bonhoeffer’s, “Life Together.”

Community is vital to me. It has always been a desire of my heart to live amongst friends. When I was involved early on in my ministry as a youth worker and as a wannabe collegian I participated on two occasions in a community of friends who lived in community serving a local neighborhood near our church. It was one the most powerful experiences of what community should be as the church. It was an honor to serve Christ, but the honor came from being with friends who were like minded and who desired a more intimate relationship with the Lord. Bonhoeffer’s opening line in his book summarizes the importance of followers of Jesus living together as “friends”, “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” Ps. 133:1 In community I find restoration for the soul. Forgiveness and grace. In community I come broken ready for God to change me, and in community I find with friends a desire to go back into the world and into the neighborhoods around us with the same message we found together living in community. Hope. And the cool thing about my call to serve Christ as a pastor??? The church is my community of friends and we together represent to the world what it means to follow Jesus and we get to represent what the kingdom of God here on earth should be and should look like.

Reading a book by Alan Hirsch for class called, “The Forgotten Ways.” He describes what he calls “Apostolic Genius” as the primal missional potencies of the gospel and of God’s people. Simply that there is something innate in all of us as followers of Jesus that needs to be unleashed.  What would the church look like if we focused our energy on helping followers of Jesus find that power within, the heart of God, to transform our communities in the Name of Christ? There’s another book for you to read Steve!!!