it started with an extra hour of sleep due to daylight savings, which is a blessing in itself. i really appreciated that extra hour, especially since we had huge wind gust all satuday night that kept waking me up. our 8:15 service was even affected by the wind as it knocked out our power within five minutes of the service starting. it was a great service without power as our worship team went unplugged and our pastor spoke without a mike. it is amazing how we rely on electricity and technology today. however when it comes right down to it the presence of God was there.
but to move along since what i wanted to addres was pastor appreciation. they surprised us with paying for the three staff and spouses to go to the gathering in florida the first week of january. on top of this we were showered with cards, gifts and baked goods. i am really impressed by the churches thoughtfulness. this gift of the gathering was not something they worked into the annual budget but was payed for by a love offering. it is really amazing that the board and the congregation saw this as a need.
just wondering what some of your churches did for pastor appreciation?
Monday, October 30, 2006
Sunday, October 22, 2006
if paparazzi just asked
paparazzi have gotten a name for themselves to be as invasive as a colonoscopy. i once watched a show where some paparazzi just asked to photo the celebrities and were alllowed. this way the celebrities could allow what shot was used. it was less intrusive and the celebs had a say in it.
last sunday i was doing some prep work for youth on sunday night as a student from syracuse university came by the church. he told me that his class was doing a photo story on the town of pulaski. this was something the class would do every year. they would pick a different town and this year they had chosen pulaski. daniel (su student) told me that his job was to cover our church. he wanted to take pics on the life of our church.
so the friday he showed up with his two cameras worth approximately $3000 each and he followed me throughout the day taking pics of my day. he was there with me when i met a couple guys for lunch (he did put the camera down long enough for some pizza and wings). he went along with me as i showed him the salmon fish hatchery. i visited one of the teens who was target practicing with a bow (hunting season started the next day). he even came along with me to celebrate canadian thanksgiving. (yest i know i am not canadian, but the other two pastors on staff are). he even stayed around to photo me and some of the teens as we got together to play xbox. it was a pretty long day and both of us were wiped by the end of the day. but like i said he wanted to get the whole weekend, and this was just friday.
saturday was a little more laid back as he came over and met jenny, took some pics of her and i loafing around the house. when jenny left for work he followed me over to get some pics of me in my office. most of the day he was working on his presentation so we did not see a whole lot of each other. on saturday evening. all the towns people had a chance to see the pics as a slide show at the fire hall. there were definately some amazing pics to see. they covered the town of pulaski very well.
i have never really been followed around like that before. it was a little strange but yet fun. i am sure daniel felt a little out of place as well. but through out my somewhat reality tv/ paparazzi experience i am definately glad he asked because how weird would it be to have a guy with a camera following you around for a whole weekend. it does have the potential to be quite stalkerish. but because he asked i did not have to file for a restraining order to keep him away. so i guess this is a story written to and for paparazzi. please just ask.
last sunday i was doing some prep work for youth on sunday night as a student from syracuse university came by the church. he told me that his class was doing a photo story on the town of pulaski. this was something the class would do every year. they would pick a different town and this year they had chosen pulaski. daniel (su student) told me that his job was to cover our church. he wanted to take pics on the life of our church.
so the friday he showed up with his two cameras worth approximately $3000 each and he followed me throughout the day taking pics of my day. he was there with me when i met a couple guys for lunch (he did put the camera down long enough for some pizza and wings). he went along with me as i showed him the salmon fish hatchery. i visited one of the teens who was target practicing with a bow (hunting season started the next day). he even came along with me to celebrate canadian thanksgiving. (yest i know i am not canadian, but the other two pastors on staff are). he even stayed around to photo me and some of the teens as we got together to play xbox. it was a pretty long day and both of us were wiped by the end of the day. but like i said he wanted to get the whole weekend, and this was just friday.
saturday was a little more laid back as he came over and met jenny, took some pics of her and i loafing around the house. when jenny left for work he followed me over to get some pics of me in my office. most of the day he was working on his presentation so we did not see a whole lot of each other. on saturday evening. all the towns people had a chance to see the pics as a slide show at the fire hall. there were definately some amazing pics to see. they covered the town of pulaski very well.
i have never really been followed around like that before. it was a little strange but yet fun. i am sure daniel felt a little out of place as well. but through out my somewhat reality tv/ paparazzi experience i am definately glad he asked because how weird would it be to have a guy with a camera following you around for a whole weekend. it does have the potential to be quite stalkerish. but because he asked i did not have to file for a restraining order to keep him away. so i guess this is a story written to and for paparazzi. please just ask.
Monday, October 02, 2006
our perfection is imperfection
one of my friends in college told me of a friend of hers who scored a 1600 on his s.a.t.'s. she told me that he had a free ride to harvard. not too shabby i thought. scoring a perfect score on any test is pretty good but to get through what is roughly a 4 hr test without getting one question wrong is very impressive.
joe mauer of the minnesota twins won the mlb batting title with a .347 average. which is amazing in its own right. the interesting thing about this is the best hitter in baseball only got a hit 35% of the time.
perfection is different from every angle. in academics we see it as being smart, one who can remember a statistic or fact from a time of study to answer a question correctly. what really stands out in this is our perfection is still imperfection. this guy who received a 1600 on his s.a.t.'s still doesnt know everything. he is still limited in his knowledge. as smart as this guy is, he might not have any common sense, he might not know how to give a car an oil change or fix his plumbing when there is a leak. as he is perfect in one area he still might not be able to conquer another.
joe mauer saw success with getting failing 65% of the time. i am personally awed by both of these achievements because both show skill, hard work and a sense of achievement. they have reached the top of what they were achieving for. as good as joe is he still could show improvement because he is not perfect.
wesleyans have in our doctrine what is called holiness or as john wesley called it christian perfection. as much as we discussed it in classes throughout college, it is still something that sits before me as a mystery. how does one attain it. if one does attain it does that mean i will always have it or can i lose it. psalm 119:96 says "to all perfection i see a limit; but your commands are boundless." this verse shows that perfection does have a limit, at least in human terms. it does not mean that if we are holy that we are perfect and we can never sin anymore. it only means human perfection is not necessarily referred to as 100%. it cant because it puts it on our terms, that we do not need Christ to attain perfection. it is saying that our imperfection is only perfected through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. show me a perfect human and i will still show you his flaw. show me an imperfect person and i will show you a perfect God who can use this person.
community has been talked about a lot lately as well. and as much as God will help us with our imperfections i think perfection comes out in community. where one is strong he can help out someone who is weak in that same area. everyone has their own gifts and talents that can be used. each one of us also have our own weaknesses that can be helped with someone elses strength. we will always do better in a pack, herd or group. it helps with protection, encouragement and challenge. when one is sick, someone takes care of him. when one is strong he provides strength and leadership. perfection is still limited, because we are human. however in a group things do get improve chances.
joe mauer of the minnesota twins won the mlb batting title with a .347 average. which is amazing in its own right. the interesting thing about this is the best hitter in baseball only got a hit 35% of the time.
perfection is different from every angle. in academics we see it as being smart, one who can remember a statistic or fact from a time of study to answer a question correctly. what really stands out in this is our perfection is still imperfection. this guy who received a 1600 on his s.a.t.'s still doesnt know everything. he is still limited in his knowledge. as smart as this guy is, he might not have any common sense, he might not know how to give a car an oil change or fix his plumbing when there is a leak. as he is perfect in one area he still might not be able to conquer another.
joe mauer saw success with getting failing 65% of the time. i am personally awed by both of these achievements because both show skill, hard work and a sense of achievement. they have reached the top of what they were achieving for. as good as joe is he still could show improvement because he is not perfect.
wesleyans have in our doctrine what is called holiness or as john wesley called it christian perfection. as much as we discussed it in classes throughout college, it is still something that sits before me as a mystery. how does one attain it. if one does attain it does that mean i will always have it or can i lose it. psalm 119:96 says "to all perfection i see a limit; but your commands are boundless." this verse shows that perfection does have a limit, at least in human terms. it does not mean that if we are holy that we are perfect and we can never sin anymore. it only means human perfection is not necessarily referred to as 100%. it cant because it puts it on our terms, that we do not need Christ to attain perfection. it is saying that our imperfection is only perfected through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. show me a perfect human and i will still show you his flaw. show me an imperfect person and i will show you a perfect God who can use this person.
community has been talked about a lot lately as well. and as much as God will help us with our imperfections i think perfection comes out in community. where one is strong he can help out someone who is weak in that same area. everyone has their own gifts and talents that can be used. each one of us also have our own weaknesses that can be helped with someone elses strength. we will always do better in a pack, herd or group. it helps with protection, encouragement and challenge. when one is sick, someone takes care of him. when one is strong he provides strength and leadership. perfection is still limited, because we are human. however in a group things do get improve chances.
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