K.C. Wahe - Follower of Jesus, Husband, Father, Pastor, Student, Blogger

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.

I’ve been in ministry for a long time. Right out of high school. Okay it seems like a long time. As a matter of fact the first time I had the chance to lead in ministry was in an after school program where we’d pick up kids from a neighborhood near the church we attended in Hollywood. We’d bring them back to the church for a Saturday morning ministry almost like a VBS program. Did this for a long time.

My first real full-time ministry gig was at that same church that loved me often and my way of giving back to the church was by loving their kids often as I could like Jesus loved me. There are kids I still talk to on occasion and its hard to believe they’ve grown so fast. Teachers, physical trainers, Army folks. It seems like yesterday I was just sitting at camp with these same kids, eating, drinking, and watching kids come to know Jesus or serving side by side with them on some Mexico mission trip.

Hard to believe that someone took the time and believed in me that I had something to offer. Something to give. That my testimony and faith in God was of value in the kingdom and some how I got my little toe into the big show. As pastors I wonder if that’s how we’re perceived by others in the church? In some ways its like the way we look at an athlete. When they get to that place in their lives where they’re at their peak of their game. Maybe we are looked at in this way as pastors. This can be a joyful thought or an overwhelming thought in which I’d like to throw against a wall sometimes. With a smile of course. I hate that metaphor but it fits at least for now in my processing that occurs in ministry as a pastor.

Me in the big show? Hard to believe. Sometimes I have to pinch myself. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it took a long time for me to get to this place. God’s overwhelming grace. Not my strength. And sometimes I have to thump myself on the head that I’m still not completely ready and prepared for what I’ve already faced and will face on a daily basis in the life of the church as a pastor.

On a sweeter and yummier note there are times that I have to admit that although I continue to grow I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else in the church universal. At least not right now.

What’s frustrating is the assumption that we as pastors have got it all together. Because we are in the positions we hold that we are the chosen ones. We’ve been selected by God to proclaim “good news.” At least that’s how we’re perceived. This morning the heater wouldn’t work in church. One person said something to the affect, “just do that hot air stuff you do.” I smiled. There is a member I’ve served with who reminds me that I’m the dude with the robe. The robe? This robe that people like Calvin wore as a means for telling the world he was now in the big show. He earned his way and that he had some brains regarding who God was and is for us as his children.

Sometimes I don’t like that robe. It’s to heavy. In the summer time especially in the church I pastor it’s too hot to wear. I think it scares people. There are those though of previous generations in the church who love when I wear my heavy black robe. It reminds them of a time when the church was at its peak. Its glory day. There is this one sweet lady who reminds me that I look good in a tie with my robe. I made a deal with her that I’d wear it when I did a baptism or administered communion. She smiled. And when I forget she makes sure to jolt my memory not to forget.

Hard to believe. Much to learn. Still growing. Praise God that at this time in my life I get a small part in the sharing of GOOD NEWS. A little toe in the big show. I love what I do!

Found this picture in those albums I mentioned last week…

I think our boy scout troop was picked to have a couple of rent a kids go hang out with Charles Bronson and assuming that’s his wifey for a March of Dimes photo shoot. Notice the t-shirt I’m wearing. The Boys & Girls Clubs hadn’t yet added the “Girls.”

Now this pic…

Another rent a kid shot!

What’s up with my hair?

Pretty cool stuff.

These guys rock and every time I attended these events it was always a treat to be blessed by them and so true.

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-9029952269350585116]HT: Brian

I mentioned that some photo albums have come back to jolt my memory of what it was like to grow up as a kid especially in a place like Hollywood. It made me dig deep and some of the pictures I remember like yesterday, others I can’t remember and want to remember badly.

I can tell you this much. I miss my mom. I miss my dad. I miss my brothers. In spite of the joys and struggles of growing up in an interesting family unit I still miss them and thank God for the chance to have had a family. Even if it was just for a few years. Although I’d love to throw them and hang them from their toes and pull each of their nose hairs out one by one I am grateful that they did their best as parents.

Each picture tells a story. Each picture has a memory. Some are goofy.

Others I’d love to hide for a long time. What was neat was watching our boys pour through the pictures. Our oldest who sports the stache and some much cooler long hair said, “dad you look like a coconut head.”

I hope to find some time to blog about some of the pictures I found. It might actually be healing in some ways.

Anyways, enjoy the picture!

Yesterday I mentioned I received a box of albums.

In the box of albums there was this picture…

The kid second from the right?

Johnny Grant or Mr. Honorary Mayor had received his star on the Hollywood walk fame that day. Today Hollywood remembers Mr. Grant and all his work in Hollywood as he moves on to that big star in the sky!!!

As a young pastor (turning forty in less than six months) there are some days I am busting with joy that God has blessed me with the coolest calling anyone could ever receive from God in being a pastor to a church. There are other days I wonder if I’m even coming close to making a difference for the kingdom.

What are people looking for in a church? What are they needing? Are folks simply wanting someone to entertain them and make them feel all mushy inside or are they wanting simple truths that can challenge them to look at the gospel in a way that motivates them to think outside of their box of naiveté?

I had a conversation with a relative during the holiday season that left me wondering about the way I preach the gospel. This relative basically said in so many words, “What’s the matter with folks wanting to hear a feel good message?” Of course we talked about pastors and churches that are doing the “feel good stuff” and who are growing by the thousands. Pastors who are polished presenters of a “make you feel good gospel message.” Another relative sitting in on the same conversation says, “when I was a kid, my parents took me to some baptist church and all I remember was hearing a you’re going to hell sermon. What’s matter with the “feel good stuff?”

I came across another person a couple of weeks ago from another church in the area that implied that my role as preacher is to entertain from the pulpit. This person had implied that people want to hear politics and the gospel message somehow intertwined together. I had shared that my call to preach good news was simply to preach good news. Preaching good news meant that there couldn’t be room for the politics of today to interfere with the proclamation of the gospel message. The pulpit wasn’t a place for dancing on the heads of the parishioner with my take on the world.

I don’t have a problem using an illustration or two from the world to make a point. People get the “fluff and stuff” from the outside 24-7. When they enter the doors of the church they need to hear something more than just “fluff and stuff.” In the same respect I had a preaching professor say to us soon to be preachers while in seminary, “You ain’t preaching the gospel if you ain’t making people feel uncomfortable.” Implying that Jesus came with a message that called people to face the troubles of the world and that called people to turn away from sin which made people feel uncomfortable. How do I do this and yet still bring some kind of hope to those looking for just a small bit of hope when they enter the church on a Sunday morning?

One of my hopes for 2008 is that I’d continue to find “my preaching,” voice. A phrase I heard often thrown around seminary like snowballs. I want to be the kind of pastor and preacher that speaks the truth of the gospel. I also want to be the kind of pastor and preacher that helps others become more than just pew participants warming up some old pews. I want to be a pastor where when the words I put on paper somehow become the words that speak to a persons heart via the mouth of God. Words that move people from the pew out into the world.

We recently purchased a new car that needed to have some extra gadgets installed. I took the car to the dealer this morning and I decided to kill some time and walked to the local Panera to do some work for church and to crank out around 3000 pages of reading prior to a class that I’m taking at the end of the month. As I was sitting at one of the tables a group of folks sat at the table next to me. The group was a committee from a local church meeting to do some planning for an event they were having in the community. The church seemed to be a large church because I kept hearing things like, “our four worship services.” They were speaking my language. The conversation sounded familiar.

As I sat and listened (Of course reading my book) I have to admit that the conversation they were having was very concerning to me as a pastor. It was very concerning to me as a follower of Jesus. It overwhelmed me. Their meeting gave me flashbacks of serving at a couple of other larger churches where it seemed that all we were ever doing was programming. We never really talked about the people and I wondered if I do the same thing even today as a pastor?

As the group sat and worked at planning this event, they covered every detail they could think of. They talked about child care that was needed. They talked about who was doing the food. They even talked about which committee needed to make the announcements in church and what the church secretaries job was for this event. What was concerning to me was that there was a huge element missing in their planning. I couldn’t figure it out until they left the table. They forgot to pray and to include God in the process. And I wondered if I do the same sometimes in the midst of the chaos of “planning church.” Now don’t get me wrong. They opened their planning meeting with prayer for the meal. I have no doubt these folks have a heart for the Lord and for the people they serve. Their planning seemed scattered. They were all over the map. At one point the conversation even took a turn for the worse in that the head of the committee made reference to a member in the church who had lost a ton of weight and was a huge success at a certain diet regimen and forgot that the lady sitting next to her was obviously dealing her own weight issues. I wanted to crawl out of my skin.

When they left the table I wanted so much to say, “Can I pray for you all?” I wanted so much to say, “what are you really trying to do in this event and who are you really trying to reach? I even wanted to pray that the church they were serving would come to know truly what it means to love others as Christ loves us. The church seemed stuck in some time warp in the 80’s where program and success were a priority over people and needed to be jolted back into 2008.

My prayer for 2008? That I’d include God in my planning. I want to be the kind of pastor that includes God in everything I say and do. I want to be the kind of pastor that adds the simplest of elements to planning. Prayer. I want to be a praying pastor. I want to be bold in the way I pray.

Something else in 2008? That I’d listen to the nudge of the Spirit when God tries to get my attention and wants me to do something that people usually don’t do for fear of looking silly. I should of offered a prayer for them as they were leaving.

What a day we had on New Years Eve.  22 friends. 13 of the 22 were kids. Lots of rockband. Some bubbly. Lots of food. Lots of noise.

And now with thanks 2008 has begun.

I thank God for several reasons that 2007 was just plain awesome:

1. My wife who loves me and keeps loving me and who puts up with the hectic life of a pastor and the fun stuff of church.

2. That our kids ROCK and continue to blow us away.

3. That the Lord brought my family and I together with an awesome church who love the Lord and care about making a difference for Christ.

 Thanks to all those who took the time to stop by my very small contribution to the blogosphere.

 Happy New Year!!!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC4TP_KBEvM]

Invitacion Fountain
Michael J. Pritzl

Let all who are weak
All who are weary
Come to the Rock
Come to the Fountain

All who have sailed
On the rivers of heartache
Come to the sea
Come on, and be set free

If you lead me Lord, I will follow
Where you lead me Lord, I will go
Come and heal me Lord, I will follow
Where you lead me Lord, I will go

I will go, I will go,