My greatest day of surfing

OK, OK.  I don’t think that anything about my surfing can be described as “great”, but I had a GREAT day of surfing yesterday at Refugio Beach.  Refugio is a great place for a beginner like myself to learn.  It is a gentle beach with mostly sand and the surfers there are easy-going and very accepting of a novice like mwa.  I usually strike up a conversation with someone in the water and ask them for tips on catching a wave, such as where to place myself on the board and where a good place is to position myself in the water as the waves come in.  I have received a lot of good advice and every single bit of it helps!

So yesterday I have been out there struggling around and missing out on lots of waves because I can’t catch them or I am out of position or something…and then in rolls a nice 3 foot wave.  I am, by sheer luck, in the perfect position to catch the wave and I catch it.  I am moving along with the current of the wave and I focus on my balance as I make the preliminary moves to stand up.  I stand up and surf this puppy for about 150 yards (There is a nice long break at Refugio)…all the way into the shore!

One thing I noticed when riding the wave was a completely new sound I had never heard before.  It was the sound of a board cutting through water!  All my short surfing life I have heard the sound of a washing-machine-like gurgle of waves crashing around my ears.  That is a constant sound, but yesterday I actually heard a swoosh-type sound–the likes of which I have only heard sailing.

So, understandably, when I hop off the board I do a Tigeresque fist pump and look to see if Tracey saw it (I think she’s napping in the van).  BUT NO MATTER!

I have been breaking into smiles or outright laughter every time I think about it.  I have not been this athletically delighted in decades!  I caught a serious wave!!  Alright, that’s the end of my story.  If you haven’t guessed by now, I am HOOKED, baby!

The Church as “salt shaker”

I wanted to put some more salt on the lima beans.  They really needed it.  (Whenever I cook, people seem to need a lot of seasonings…I don’t get it!).  Anyway, I realized something about salt.  It will quickly go bad if you pour the whole thing out over food.  You must keep it dry and separate (in a salt shaker) if you want it to retain its quality and be effective.

The church is like that.  It is meant to be separate from society and culture, and stand in witness to it.  Losing our distinctiveness and separateness (think “holy”) would be to lose our ultimate effectiveness and purpose.  We must be the church as holy and separate and in witness to culture SO THAT we will retain our effectiveness as salt and light when poured out and sprinkled in and among the prevailing culture.

Some go too far in their retreat from society, and in their justification to be “holy”.  For them, holiness means separateness to the point of withdrawal from society.  That loses “mission”.  What good is the salt shaker if it remains in the cupboard forever?  It, too, will go bad eventually and never accomplish the purpose of its design.

Let’s stay in balance with a proper theology of the church as “salt-shaker”.

The 5-Fold Ministry

The 5-Fold Ministry in Today’s Church

I think the Free Methodists in Southern California are functioning in 5-fold ministry better than we realize. The church (universally) has been reticent to title ministers as “apostles” and “prophets” and “evangelists”, but so was Paul (1 Cor. 15:9). These offices are especially honorable. We should recognize that with respect and humility. The essential aspect of 5-fold ministry is not, however, who gets called what. It is that the work of God is being done as he designed it. Are churches being planted and overseen with God-given authority? Are prophetic voices given a voice to speak and be heard? Are pastors (like Timothy—2 Tim.4:5) and leaders free to do the work of an evangelist and so fulfill their ministry?

We must keep in mind that we are living in the age of the missional church. We are not only a holy community—that is seemingly what the Jews were called to—exclusively so. When that is our exclusive goal we can quickly become a religious enclave and eventually die. God at first called out a nation—Israel—to be holy and separate unto him. They were called to be a unique witness to his ways/nature in being the recipients of His acts of deliverance and in their holy conduct (Ex 19:4-6, Num 14:13-14). Now, through Christ, God has created a church and given her a mission. The church is different from the holy nation, and for its mission the Lord has distributed ministerial offices. Clearly the New Testament gives evidence that apostles (men and women, not limited to the 12) and prophets and evangelists are ministry offices given to the church as gifts to edify and build the church (Eph.4:11-13). A metaphor…

Imagine a tall, sailing ship. You have never seen one before but are told to board it and begin your mission. You have no idea what to do! The mission-giver (God) realizes this and so he commissions a captain (apostle), a first mate (prophet), a quartermaster (pastor), a boatswain (teacher), and perhaps a lookout up in the crow’s nest with an eye fixed outward and around the ship (evangelist). These officers help train the crew, maintain the health of the ship, and set the course. The ship may then effectively engage in her mission. No one would deny that these are vital positions. Now to the extent that the crew becomes familiar with sailing they will eventually be able to sail the ship by themselves…but only to a point! While the crew, the ship, and even the fish in the sea are important, the mission has priority. Without these five offices functioning properly and maintaining the mission with serious commitment, one could imagine disaster is imminent.

What does this look like in the church context today? It looks like new works of God, like church plants, missions, and creative ministries to needy people. Prophetic voices are those that are unafraid and courageous, speaking words of challenge, edification, comfort, correction. Evangelists are those effectively engaged in fresh and relevant ways of reaching the lost.

Finally, pastoral leadership in all churches must be accountable to apostolic and prophetic leadership, who keep us on our mission. These offices form the foundation of all churches. The apostles and prophets are God’s first “balance of powers”.

A truly SUPER Sunday

Here is why I love sports…(and it’s not because the Super Bowl was a great game either).  Yesterday after church we went over to Stow Grove park for a goodbye party for Nathan K.  Nathan is heading to Germany and we’ll miss him.  Anyway, after some food it was suggested that we play some touch football.  We had a great game!

Here are my MVP’s

Defensive MVP (Dick Butkus award)…Becky Hunter

Prolific Passer …Sam Hahka

Barry Sanders award for toughest little guy to tackle…Ben Hoffmann

The Jerry Rice clutch hands award…Katie Hahka and Elijah Walton

Longest run of the day (mostly in her own backfield, but still great)…Anna Hoffmann

Here’s how it came down to the wire.  The game is tied 35-35.  We agree that the next score wins the game.  The game really goes up a notch in competitiveness.  We turn it over on downs.  They turn it over on downs.  We get the ball back and have 4th down with half the field to go.  Elijah sneaks behind big Pete Hoffmann and catches the game winning TD.  YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN HIS FACE.  This young man of 8 years old could not suppress that grin for anything.  Clearly the highlight of the day.  You should have seen it.

A Quick Testimony

Tracey and I are driving to Las Vegas on Monday, January 26th, where I am going to address the boys volleyball team at Desert Pines High School near downtown at 2:00.  I am really looking forward to addressing these guys with my story and encouraging them with some of the lessons both practical and spiritual that helped me transform as an athlete and a person…and a tire blows out.

Fortunately, we made it off the freeway just fine.  (Thank you, Lord)  But, of course, we were three hours late getting to LV and had to cancel the speaking engagement.  One of my first thoughts was, “Why did you let this happen, God?  You know what a great thing it would have been for me to speak to these guys!”  And just as soon as the thought was finished, I (or the Lord) reminded me of yesterday’s message and asking the wrong questions.  The “Why did you let this happen, God?” question is no longer relevant when we consider his WILL in light of his NATURE.

God’s nature is Triune.  He gives himself in agape love to Jesus and the Holy Spirit and that is reciprocated/initiated throughout eternity.  That is the first assumption.  No longer is my mental starting point GOD’S OMNIPOTENT POWER AND WILL OVER THE UNIVERSE!  I certainly believe that He is omnipotent and that he is the sovereign power over all others, BUT that power is conditioned by self-giving love in relationship with the Trinity.  The amazing thing is that God has invited you and me into this relationship of self-giving love and that is the starting point…our first assumption.

So, when my tire blew out, the first question I should have asked was, “How would you lovingly relate in this situation, Jesus?  That would have brought me peace and not stress and a search for opportunities to serve up a plate of God’s true love to whomever might come along (the AAA guy, the tire guy, etc.?).  People could leave their encounter with me thinking, “Wow, he wasn’t stressed/pissed/angry at all.  In fact, he was just the opposite”.  To tell you the truth, that kind of happened.  Let’s continue to encourage one another in this new way of thinking, which I believe is closer to God’s heart and nature than ways most of us are accustomed.

Obama thoughts

As for me (a far-right guy), I have my concerns about Obama’s spirituality. When you hear Jeremiah Wright’s messages, it is a tough pill to swallow for many evangelicals, including me. Granted, the social injustices are real and so are the foreign policy mistakes and I have no problem with them being addressed from the pulpit at the appropriate times. As pastors, we must speak to the issues of our day! But I have always felt that social justice issues and policy, for the Christian, must follow from personal piety. I realize many disagree with me on this, believing social justice must come first and personal attitudes will change in the process. But the risk is run that a person will never experience the transformation of the soul. I believe that only comes from a run-in with Jesus Christ. Obama has likely had such a transformative encounter/experience/etc., but I am unfamiliar with the flavor of his “spiritual fruit”, so to speak. When I tasted papaya for the first time, I hated it, but now I love it. Let’s give it time.

A New Virtue…Grace

As Matthew begins his gospel, we find in the genealogy a list of four women, all sinners and probably all Gentile, who are included in the lineage of Jesus.  Conspicuously absent are the great matriarchs of Jewish history, namely Sarah, Rebekkah, and Rachel.  Why?  Because Matthew has the understanding that the faith of the Jewish Christians (and that of all Jews) is rooted not in a heritage of favor or special status in God’s eyes, but of GRACE.

In verse 19, immediately following the genealogy which opens the book, Matthew goes to the work of establishing a new righteousness (and he will continue it through 28 chapters!).  This righteousness is established not from keeping the letter of the law (as the Pharisees were purported to), but from living well in response to the grace of God.  May we all live well in response to grace.  Amen.

The Inverted Economy

God’s Kingdom economy is upside down. First become last. Weak and poor become rich and blessed. The “Masters of the World” are last or not included at all.
Here’s another good example from Hebrews 6:12 for the counter-intuitive ways this economy functions. The verse reads, “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”
Now wait just a cotton-pickin minute. Isn’t the verse supposed to read, “…but to imitate those who through hard work and diligence inherit what has been promised.”? That’s just it! What it says is exactly opposite of what we would think. WOW! Meditate on the “Kingdom Work” of faith and patience for a while. It’s good business practice!

The Theology of Wonder (perhaps it’s Calvinism that is depraved)

Too often we Western evangelicals have been hampered by our hyper-Calvinist leanings.  We buy into the idea of the “Total Depravity” of man too much.  In fact, we’ve maxed out our spiritual credit cards doing so. 

When we do this we actually buy into an old form of Gnosticism.  Gnosticism was the idea that the spiritual was the only good realm and the earthly/material world was completely evil and depraved.  Gnostics held that Jesus himself only “appeared” to be human.  He was an “enlightened spiritual being” who had the knowledge or “gnosis” that we needed to attain to as well… and He could show us the way to get it.  

Well, gnosticism is heresy.  Our modern day brand of hyper-Calvinist gnosticism is, of course, not this overt.  What it does encourage, however, is an absolute distrust of anything earthly.  The reasoning goes something like this…The world is fallen.  It is in the power of the devil.  Our fleshly bodies are totally depraved as well and not capable of any goodness whatsoever.  Only by God’s grace can we know or produce anything good at all (via spiritual intervention).

I don’t buy it.  When God created the world he declared it good.  When he created mankind, he declared them very good.  Yes, we are sinners.  Yes, we have lost our way.  Yes, we are depraved.  But there is goodness all around.

Brennan Manning writes, “In the grasp of wonder, I am surprised, I’m enraptured.  It’s Moses before the burning bush “afraid to look at God” (Exodus 3:6).  It’s Stephen about to be stoned: “I see the Son of Man standing at God’s right hand” (Acts 7:56), and Michelangelo striking his sculptured Moses and commanding him “Speak!”  It’s Ignatius of Loyola in ecstasy as he eyes the sky at night, Teresa of Avila ravished by a rose.  It’s doubting Thomas discovering his God in the wounds of Jesus, Mother Teresa spying the face of Christ in the tortured poor.  It’s America thrilling to footsteps on the moon, a child casting his kite to the wind.  It’s a mother looking with love at her newborn infant.  It’s the wonder of a first kiss. ” (I have to disagree with Brennan on this one…my first kiss was a disaster!)

He continues: “The gospel of grace is brutally devaluated when Christians maintain that the transcendent God can only be properly honored and respect by denything th goodness and the truth and the beauty of the things of this world.” (The Ragamuffin Gospel, p. 98)

lessons learned this far

Here are four:

1.  Don’t be offended by people.  Love ‘em through it, even if they can be difficult or a challenge.

2.  Learn to say “no” to some very good things.

3.  Recognize who you are and what you are called to do.  Do this by asking people, praying, taking personality, leadership, and compatibility-type tests, and being a good listener.

4.  Make a grid through which to pass ministry choices to determine your yea or nay.  (For us this is a simple question–”Will it be something that we can do together as a family or will it split us apart?”)