Crunch Time At the Old Church

I previously wrote a post regarding my personal struggles with our church, and tonight I feel no closer to a resolution than before.

Let me share a few things that have transpired since that initial post:

First, my wife and I checked out another church I was curious about - that was a tremendously positive experience (as I shared in another post).

Secondly, the results of our latest stewardship campaign are in - and it doesn't look good. As a result of dwindling membership, we are down 69 pledges from last year - and five of those pledges had previously contributed about $30K to our budget. So it's definitely crunch time.

I'm not involved in church politics whatsoever (I prefer to fight in the trenches rather than command), but it's interesting to hear some of the prayer requests coming from people that are - and they indicate that our church is in serious trouble right now

This coming Wednesday evening we are having an all-church conference to discuss our future. It's not expected to be terribly pleasant. We are all being urged to attend and to pray for what needs to be expressed at the meeting.

The truth of the matter is I'm not sure what I should pray for. I could easily see myself joining the church we visited on October 30 - in fact, if it were totally up to me, I'd go. But it's not totally up to me. It depends also on what my wife wants to do and upon circumstances.

A church is not just a facility or its programs - it's the people who make up a church. This other church has a wonderful bunch of people. So does my church. I've invested too much time and effort in these friendships to just walk away from my church.

Our music program is top-notch, and it is not dead - yet. We also have an organ that desperately needs repair or replacement. Another fact to consider is that our contemporary service is drawing slightly more attendance than our traditional service. I fear that our traditional music program is one of the things that may have to be sacrificed in order to save our church. I know that will stir up a lot of controversy in the church, especially amongst my fellow choir members.

There was a time in my life when I was seeking. I wanted more in my musical experience. I knew someone in a particular church choir, and I knew of the choir's reputation. After observing a few rehearsals and performances, I knew that D was more than a choir director; he was a truly a teacher and I could learn more from him. So I joined that church choir, not only finding what I originally sought, but finding things I didn't realize I was seeking. In fact, I'd say I was blessed a hundredfold. My church succeeded in its mission when I was lured there and brought into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.

I have a deep affinity for the music ministry that brought me to my church and kept me there, and was my shining beacon during those times of trouble. I have a deep affinity for the people whom I share in that in ministry, to those who benefit from our ministry.

There are times when God goes to the Vine and prunes those branches that no longer produce. We, as a church, are facing one of those times. What needs to be pruned here? Is the music program one of them? I hope not, but we have to be realistic. We have to be good stewards and make sacrifices if we're going to save this church. And inevitably we will lose people before things turn around.

For that matter, am I someone who is being pruned by God? Is this the circumstance through which I am being pruned? I don't know, but I hope it will become clearer to me in the weeks ahead.

So therein lies my struggle.

Idiot of the Week: The Dangers of Smoking

This week's Idiot of the Week Award goes to a French woman who wanted to go outside for a smoke. Only problem was that she was aboard a jetliner in midflight. Admittedly the passenger was terrified of flying (as I'm sure all of her fellow passengers are by now), so she had taken some sleeping pills with alchohol before takeoff. She also has a history of sleepwalking, and has no memory of the incident. Doesn't she know the smoking lamp is out before the paratroopers jump? Hmmm... [source article]

Let the Holiday Melee Begin

The leftovers are in the fridge and our bellies are full. And if you've waited till now to start your Christmas shopping, you may already be too late - the 2005 Holiday Shopping Season kicked off early this morning.

I have to admit that just this morning I've braved a 40-minute wait in a checkout line at Best Buy, then to a bookstore (where I now have one Christmas gift on order), and then to Walmart for dog food and a few other sundry items (I didn't go to the Supercenter, though - what, are you nuts?)

Granted, it's a little early for me to Christmas shop - it's not even December yet. After all, I pride myself at having once started - and completing - my Christmas shopping in a record two hours on December 24. Something about the thrill of the hunt.

But at my older and wiser age, I've found the holidays to be a lot less hectic if I start earlier. The day after Thanksgiving is perhaps the earliest I've ever Christmas shopped. And you know what? There's still that thrill of the hunt. Let the Holiday Melee begin!

A Touching Tribute to Our Armed Forces

Here's something definitely worth checking out.

God's Sense of Humor: The Trials and Tribulations of Plumbing

A nagging spouse is like the drip, drip, drip of a leaky faucet; [Proverbs 27:15, the Message]

The nice thing about a leaking faucet is that your wife does not have to nag you about fixing it. This week I'm on vacation, and my wife did mention that it would be nice if I fixed the kitchen faucet. She wasn't nagging, mind you. After all, a dripping faucet is one of those self-nagging home improvement projects.

Instead of just fixing it, I decided to go ahead and just replace the darned thing. So after a little grocery shopping at the Walmart Supercenter, I went over to Lowes and picked out a new faucet to install.

Now I've done this before, and most times when I've replaced a faucet or a toilet valve, I've also had to replace a supply valve and the water supply tube (a friend of mine who helped me re-tile our bathroom says my house was built by apes - and I believe him). I went into Lowes knowing that I might have to do more than replace a faucet but also hoping I wouldn't have to. However today was no exception.

As soon as I tried to turn off the hot water supply to the faucet, the cheap plastic handle broke (not surprising since the cheap plastic handle has had sufficient opportunity to become brittle in the nearly 20 years since those apes built our house). The valve on the cold water supply was not budging, but I knew it would break nonetheless. This was followed by the usual string of curses and profanities commonly uttered when one is working with plumbing. And although I tried and failed, it was nice to know that people don't usually look in the cabinet under the sink to see the hole you punched in the wall with a pipe wrench. I'm just glad that the neighborhood children were in school.

So I went out and turned off the water to the house, disconnected the old faucet and removed the old supply valves. I took one of the supply valves with me to Home Depot just down the street. A nice employee - who reminded me a little of my dad, of all people - pointed me in the right direction and told me he'd meet me there in a few minutes. Sure enough he came by, looked at my old parts, and picked through some new ones. He said, "God loves you," not necessarily because he was sharing his faith (maybe he was) but because he was able to find exactly what I needed and that it wouldn't cost too much.

Anyway, everything is back to normal and the new faucet looks nice. It doesn't drip, either.

The irony of this whole thing is that I read the above passage from Proverbs 27:15 just this morning. You gotta love God's sense of humor!

Sister Act: When Making Your Kids Do Stuff Pays Off

When my wife's daughters were little girls, she would keep them from fighting each other in the car by making them sing. Not only did they learn to sing well, they learned to sing in harmony. Eventually both of them sang in the choirs at school and at church, and were pretty good at. E, the younger one, even continued to sing in the elite choir in high school and was in a few musicals at school; recently she was in a musical review at church.

Today the worshippers attending the contemporary service at church got to reap the benefits of a seed sown by my wife some 20 years ago. In what our worship leader called a sister act, our grown-up daughters sang a couple of duets during the service. It was a quite a blessing! We've known that E has a pretty good singing voice because we heard her recently. And so does J! (we just haven't heard her because she hasn't been involved in music for quite a few years).

What's really amazing is that we didn't do or say anything to encourage this - they came up with it on their own. I think our worship leader (who's known the girls since they were little) said it best for all of us when he said this was a blessing that was long in coming.

So the moral of the story here is that it's okay to make your kids do stuff - someday it just might pay off.

Open Letter To a Homicide Bomber

Not all the bombs intended to go off last week in Amman, Jordan went off. A woman accompanying her husband also intended to be a homicide bomber at the Radisson SAS hotel. But by the Grace of God Almighty, her explosives belt failed to detonate, and she was later arrested. Here is her confession:

"Sajida Mubarak Atrous, born in 1970, an Iraqi national, living in Ramadi.

"On Nov. 5, I accompanied my husband to Jordan with a forged Iraqi passport, under the name of Ali Hussein Ali and Sajida Abdel Qader Latif.

"We waited and a white car arrived with a driver and a passenger. We rode with them and entered Jordan (from Iraq). My husband arranged our trip from there, I don't know.

"In Jordan, we rented an apartment. He had two explosive belts. He put one on me and wore the other. He taught me how to use it, how to pull the (primer cord) and operate it.

"He said it was to carry attacks on hotels in Jordan. We rented a car and entered the hotel on Nov. 9. My husband and I went inside the hotel, he went to one corner and I went to another.

"There was a wedding at the hotel with children, women and men inside.

"My husband detonated (his bomb), I tried to explode (my belt) but it wouldn't.

"I left, people fled running and I left running with them." [source]

So tell me, Miss Atrous: Did your explosive belt really fail to go off? Did you feel compassion for those celebrating a wonderful life event? Did you feel compassion for the children you saw? Did you find yourself in a position where you just couldn't pull the cord? If so, bless you. And may God help you through the ordeal you now face - widowed, imprisoned, and despised by millions.

Or did you go into that hotel of your own free will? Did you feel nothing for the people you were about to murder? Did you not think your own life to be precious? If so, I praise God for sparing you and the ones you would have taken with you. But in the eyes of the evil ones that made you do this, you are no martyr - you are a failure. And may God help you through the ordeal you now face - widowed, imprisoned, and despised by millions.

I can assure you that you've been misled by the Evil One. There are no forty virgins tending to your husband and the pigs he associated with. Where he is now is a place described in the Holy Bible where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth."

The late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir put it this way to the Palestinians: "We can forgive you for killing our children, but we can never forgive you for making us kill your children."

But you know what? God can forgive anybody, no matter what. God has spared you for a reason. Perhaps for your salvation. Remember that He loves you and does not desire that anyone bear His punishment. He weeps for your husband because they will not spend Eternity together. Don't let Him weep for you. Come to Jesus.

More Pics from ASU Homecoming

More pictures from ASU's Homecoming game have just been published on the ASU Band website. The Alumni Band did pretty well.

I'm in this picture - I'm the one just to the right of the tip of the "V" formation (actually it's an "S" but you can't see that). We're playing Star Spangled Banner in this photo.



Here's a slideshow of pregame (performed by the Alumni Band) and halftime (performed by the Sun Devil Marching Band) show that day.

Outrage in Jordan

Now that al-Qaeda has struck one of it's own (namely the three hotels bombed in Amman, Jordan), we're finally seeing some significant outrage from Muslims. It's about time.

Granted, in al-Qaeda's eyes, Jordan was probably asking for it. After all, they are quite friendly with the United States, and even with their Jewish neighbor, Israel, to some degree. They're also one of the more liberal Arab/Muslim states. You also don't see a lot of foreign fighters crossing into Iraq from Jordan.

But sadly enough, we're not seeing the same protests in Cairo, Tehran, Istanbul, Tripoli, Ramallah, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Damascus, Riyadh, etc., etc., etc. That doesn't shed a favorable light on Islam. Sounds like they condone the bombings, eh?

Recommended Reading For Children

This is pretty cool...my wife just read this to our grandson:

[go to Amazon.com]

You Know What Happens When You ASSUME

This is a most bizarre story - apparently a man found himself glued to a toilet seat in a Home Depot. When he called for help, store employees assumed it was a hoax. Well, you know what can happen when you ASSUME - and that's what has happened to Home Depot - they made asses out of themselves after they inadvertently made an ass out of this poor man. He's now suing for damages.

I especially loved the statement, "The company, Home Depot, could not immediately be reached for comment." That's really no surprise - rarely can a store employee can be reached for a price check, let alone real customer service. Frankly, I'm surprised the toilet seat appeared to be clean in the first place.

Don't get me wrong. I love Home Depot. There's one in my neighborhood. But when I go I always make sure I have my cell phone with me; otherwise my wife thinks I've had some sort of accident or I was abducted by aliens when in reality I'm strolling down the aisles dreaming of projects I'll never start. Besides, you can't have too many light bulbs and duct tape.

Home Depot truly is a do-it-yourself store. The moral of the story here is: be prepared to pry yourself off the toilet seat. Better yet, just look before you plop yourself down - you know what happens when you assume.

Sickening Story

Well this sickening story has certainly been a hot topic locally. Turns out a young couple here in town kidnapped a teenage girl and made her their sex slave. They kept her locked up in a dog kennel and threatened to kill her and her family. The woman finally confessed to police because she was afraid their victim was suffocating in the box under the bed. Probably more afraid she'd lose her meal ticket. I understand that the "man" was charged on hundreds of counts. Doesn't look like these animals will ever see the light of day again.

Worried About Avian Flu?

There's a lot of attention being given to the avian flu - more specifically the H5N1 virus - that's out there infecting and killing a lot of birds, and some people, too. Vietnam has just reported its 42nd death from the avian flu. Many are expecting a potential pandemic and comparing it to the one that struck the world back in 1918-19 and killed some 40 million people.

Personally, I'm not much of a chicken (get it? chicken?) when it comes to this bird flu thing. But I think it's a good thing that many health organizations are taking this seriously. Certainly people have contracted the H5N1 virus and have died. Many of these victims are those who work in close contact with poultry to make a living - and catching the flu (I've learned this is actually not an uncommon occupational hazard for these folks). Then there's the folks who don't cook their poultry long enough or not at all.

I once watched a show on the Discover Channel about what our bodies go through when we have food poisoning. It was not very pleasant to watch. The victim in this program had eaten undercooked chicken (many healthy chickens carry salmonella anyway). I've never been fond of pink chicken myself. But after watching that show - trust me - I don't eat undercooked chicken. If it has even the slightest hint of pink, back in the oven it goes.

So far, H5N1 has not proven to be terribly detrimental to mankind. Although it has spread from poultry to human on several occasions since 1997, the dynamic of human-to-human spread has not happened. Once it does, then we should definitely take notice. Perhaps at its first onset, we will still have time to prepare.

Now I'm no doctor, but it has to be noted here that the Spanish Flu of 1918-19 had a lot of help. World War I had just ended. There were a lot of malnourished people in Europe (many farms were not being worked since lots of farmers were making war, not food). The conditions were quite ripe for a virulent strain of influenza to come in and ravage a population whom most already had a weakened immune system. But obviously this was a very deadly strain, too, as many who were strong and healthy were killed by this virus, too.

I don't want to come off as seeming unconcerned. As for myself, I've made reservations for Heaven in advance (or as a good friend of mine says, "I have fire insurance."), so whatever happens to me is in God's hands. Now certainly the avian flu, if it turns pandemic, will take quite a toll on the U.S. But I think we'll do okay, considering. I'd be more concerned about Africa and places around the world like Africa. With a population already weakened by AIDS and hunger and what-not, Africa will be ripe for Death's harvest. I think it could very well turn out to be the most devasting plague thus far in history.

So are you worried about avian flu? Knowledge is your best weapon. The CDC has some good information to start. I even found a map where you can monitor the spread of this season's flu.

There's Something Rotten In Denmark, Too

You're not hearing a whole lot of news about this, but there's Muslims rioting in Denmark, too. [story] Not to mention that Danish police may have thwarted a terror plot there. [story]

French Culture - Getting a Bit Ripe For Some

Well, the French certainly have a mess on their hands. For 11 nights rioters (mostly youth and minorities - French-born children of Arab and black Africans) have taken to the streets in the suburbs of Paris and across France, setting fire to cars, businesses, homes, and schools. And now they're shooting at police. President Chirac is vowing that order will be restored. [story] Yes, I'm sure it will be, but at what price?

Perhaps the French are paying for their snobbish attitude against immigrants. I guess not all of them have been treated as nicely as some of their guests, notably the Ayatollah Khomeini and Yassir Arafat. What a better way for the rioters to show their disdain - by destroying their neighborhoods.

How this will be resolved is anyone's guess, but I fear it may get worse before it gets better. Certainly there will be a lot of arrests. And French have a pretty bad record when it comes to treatment of prisoners. Probably make Abu Gharib look like after-school detention. Maybe they'll bring back the guillotine.