Pastor Dave's Blog
The Goofiness of God
Posted by: Pastor Dave Lee | Thursday March 4, 2010
Recently 3 of my 4 kids attended a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. The older two were just tagging along. Evidently they took a whole bunch of photos in this machine that converts your photo into a stylized pencil sketch. I was flipping through this stack of 8 of these pictures and the last 3 cracked me up. Have a look...
When my wife Jeannie and I looked at these together, we knew exactly where they get this goofy side from - me. No one coached them - they are weird all by themselves. It's in their very nature.
So I got to wondering, if they get it from me, where do I get it from? Of course I can say I get it from my dad, and to some degree I do - though you'd have to know my dad for years before he'll show you that side of himself.
But ultimately where does humanity get our levity from? Why do we love to laugh? Why do absurd things make us chuckle? Why do we delight ourselves in things that don't have a point or serve some functional purpose? I believe with all my heart that it is a reflection of God.
Granted, we can take levity too far and venture into the realm of crass and destructive expressions. But I don't think Jesus was a stiff. I think he knew how to laugh. I believe he cracked jokes.
Jesus had three years on earth to establish an earthly ministry that would endure until today, yet I believe that he took some of that precious limited time to just delight in being alive. I don't think levity in any way detracts from the serious business of life that all of us must engage in each day. I think laughter and even sillyness are lubricants for the soul.
One of the things I love about working with our church staff is that from time to time (don't worry, it's all done in moderation), we can send each other a funny clip from Youtube that causes an eruption of laughter. Have you laughed today? If it's been a long time since you've burst out in a deep "who-cares-what-I-look-like" belly laugh, you're missing out on the full picture of life as God intended it.
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Free Range Parenting
Posted by: Pastor Dave Lee | Wednesday December 2, 2009
File under: Perspectives & Pleas
My friend Dan recently lent me his issue of TIME magazine where the cover story was an article entitled, "The Argument Against Over-Parenting." Turning to the page where the article started, I was greeted with a colorful photo of a mother wrapping her child with bubble wrap.
It was an interesting article with what I saw as two major themes: (1) That we have become over-protective of our children even in areas where the world has become safer; and (2) So many American parents have become "so obsessed with [their] kids' success that parenting turned into a form of product development."
The article referenced a woman named Lenore Skenazy who, as a columnist for the New York Sun, let her 9-year old son ride the New York City subway alone as a "ride of passage." She was exoriated by many in the media as "America's worst mom." In fact, if you Google that phrase you see Ms. Skenazy's name everywhere. In response she launched a movement and a blog called "Free Range Kids" that advocates for a more relaxed approach to parenting. On a recent visit to her blog I saw a crazy video about how some kids in a remote Columbian village ride a 1/2-mile zipline on free-hanging pulleys to get to school - the point: let's not fret over our kids walking a couple blocks to their schools.
I have mixed feelings about all of this because the world has become a more dangerous and unpredictable place. But the answer is not to abandon faith in God or to smother our children. You can draw your own conclusions but I think it's an interesting issue to think through. You can read the article for yourself online here.
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Flashes of Trust
Posted by: Pastor Dave Lee | Friday October 30, 2009
I was working on my sermon at a local Starbucks while waiting for my daughter to get out of her preschool program. All the tables were filled so I took a seat at the windowside bar area. There was one other person sitting next to me - a woman who was working pretty intensely on some stuff.
I had all my stuff laid out on the table but had to run to the bathroom so I asked her to watch my stuff. As I walked to the bathroom I wondered to myself how I coud be so confident she could be trusted. After all, my beloved MacBook Pro was lying untethered on the table. Would she really be watchful? Would she defend my stuff if someone started snooping around? How did I assess her trustworthiness just with a glance? Were there others in the place whom I wouldn't have trusted so instinctively?
All interesting questions, but in the end I realized I'd just decided to trust her. I was appealing to what I hoped was a basic sense of goodness. And no, I don't believe theologically that mankind is basically good - we are morally corrupted. But I do believe that even in our fallen state, many people remain capable of doing what is right.
To my surprise, when I returned to my seat, she said, "As long as you're here, let me run ot the bathroom as well." And without even waiting to hear my response she left for the restroom fully trusting me with her stuff (pictured here). Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it felt like we had this unspoken agreement that for the couple hours we were here, we'd formed a little bond of trust with very defined boundaries that served our needs while we worked here. It makes me realize that we all come hardwired with a need to live in community and trust others, if only for an hour or two in a coffee shop.
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Propagating Error
Posted by: Pastor Dave Lee | Thursday July 16, 2009
File under: Perspectives & Pleas
I saw an interesting thing on Ron Edmonson's blog today where he lists the 6 most misquoted movie lines. It was funny because I've personally misquoted a number of those lines, each time being absolutely convinced that it sounded right. I never really went back to the movies to confirm because it was close enough to what I thought was right that i just went with it.
Perhaps most surprising was that the line "Beam me up, Scotty" was never used in any Star Trek tv episode or motion picture! Yet is is a line that even non-Trekkies recognize and associate with the franchise.
I remember putting together this quiz for my students when I was a youth pastor in Philadelphia, where i put a bunch of quotes on the page and asked them to identify whether each was from the Bible or Shakespeare. To further fool them I put some lines in that were from neither source but many of them swore that lines like, "God helps those who help themselves" was from the BIble. I guess to them it just sounded right...sounded biblical.
Paul commended the Bereans in Acts 17:11 because (according to the NLT), "They searched the Scriptures day after day to check up on Paul and Silas, to see if they were really teaching the truth." Misquoting a movie line does not carry any serious consequences, but each time we say something that "sounds" biblical but is even a little off, we are propagating an error that can have serious negative impact on people's lives.
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Remembering the Dead
Posted by: Pastor Dave Lee | Tuesday July 14, 2009
File under: Perspectives & Pleas
Much has been made of Michael Jackson's death on June 25, 2009. His memorial service was so huge it required a venue like the Staples Center. Many people gave heartfelt statements remembering and celebrating Michael's life. Despite the controversy that marked his personal life, it was nonetheless touching to hear so many speak so fondly of someone who'd touched their lives. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that Michael's music was a huge part of my own teenage years. The Thriller album will always be close to my heart.
On the same day on the other side of the world, 1st Lieutenant Brian N. Bradshaw of the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, died of wounds suffered when a roadside bomb detonated near his vehicle in Kheyl, Afghanistan. He hailed from Steilacoom, WA and lost his life at the age of 24 in the service of his country.
I don't think it would be profitable or decent of me to try to compare these two lives because I don't know either of these men on a personal level. I imagine that both men did good to others while they were alive. And I imagine both men had flaws and shortcomings they never conquered in life. That’s pretty much the story for each of us isn't it?
Death is an occasion that makes those left behind reflect on the lives of those who have passed. Often words like "hero" are spoken to honor the dead. But I think in the final analysis it's how we live, not so much how we die, that is the measure of our lives. Someone once told me that as he wandered through a cemetery and looked at all the headstones, he reflected that our whole lives are basically the hyphen between the year of our birth and the year of our death. I hope my hyphen is worth something to God and others around me.
Michael Jackson has had his day of being remembered and then some. I just wanted to make sure that Mr. Bradshaw also got some public mention. And if you want to see a listing of all those who have lost their lives in military service go here. And remember that in addition to these two men, an estimated 150,643 other human beings passed from life to death on June 25 as well.
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The Ultimate Missionary Vehicle
Posted by: Pastor Dave Lee | Tuesday July 14, 2009
File under: Passions & Pastimes
So I was driving on Golf Road the other day and saw this beastly looking truck pull up behind me. I'd never seen anything like it so I let it pull ahead of me to get a better look. It's called The Earth Roamer and in my opinion it is the ultimate missionary mobile. I'd love to roam the earth in this baby.
This is the vehicle of my dreams, but with a pricetag of $200,000-230,000 and rising gas prices it's only a fantasy. Can you imagine cruising taking this thing to the outermost reaches of the planet in God's service? Find out more at www.earthroamer.com.
Exterior Shot
Interior Shot
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Just had to post this one...
Posted by: Pastor Dave Lee | Thursday July 9, 2009
File under: Perspectives & Pleas
I've flown nearly 350,000 miles in my lifetime and have had more than a few frustrating moments with airline customer service, so when I came across this I felt I had to post it to give this guy a bit more publicity. Hope you're not offended.
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Have you heard of Pétanque?
Posted by: Pastor Dave Lee | Tuesday June 30, 2009
File under: Passions & Pastimes
I was recently reading a short article on the yips, muscle spasms that affect athletes when doing fine motor skills. It is most commonly associated with golfers when they're putting, but I read that it can also affect pétanque chuckers.
Being an insatiably curious person, when I come across a word I've never heard of before, I have to know what it is. That's one of the reasons I'm so thankful for the Internet. It lets me get it out of my system in minutes.
Anyway, it turns out that pétanque is a game that originates from France and involves players trying to throw hollow metal balls and land them as close to a small wooden ball as possible. I thought to myself, "Big deal...wake me when it's over." That is until I saw this video on youtube. It's amazing that you can take the simplest thing and people will find a way to bring it to the highest level and gain such mastery over the required skill set. Some of the highlighted throws are just unbelievable if you think about it.
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The Harvest Stooges
Posted by: Pastor Dave Lee | Friday May 1, 2009
File under: People & Places
I love the fact that I serve a church where a picture like this can be proudly displayed in a frame on the desk when you first walk into our office. What i love even more are the two men pictured with me in this photo. It has been one of the great joys of my life to serve with these men. In some ways Frank, Matt, and I could not be more different. In other ways we are most definitely birds of a feather.
One dictionary defines stooge as, "One who allows oneself to be used for another's profit or advantage." While that definition carries the implication of being a sucker, I think it is actually captures one of the things I love most about these brothers. They are so selfless and are willing to suffer loss for the sake of Christ and others.
It is my sincere hope that I will get to serve many more years alongside these guys. And we are hoping that our ministry will raise up many more men and women who will find their joy in serving Jesus side-by-side with others who they can genuinely call friends.
BTW, big props to Sunny, our Communications Director, for a masterful piece of Photoshop wizardry.
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How Safe Do You Feel In Your Own House?
Posted by: Pastor Dave Lee | Friday April 3, 2009
My sister-in-law sent me a video clip very similar to this one and it alarmed me. I know that in the end my family's security rests in God's hands. But after watching this, it seems prudent to change the locks on my house as an act of wisdom and stewardship.
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