A-"Muse"-ing Thoughts

Performing Magic at the County Fair

I was hired to be the Magician at our County Fair this year.  I only do close-up magic (not stage magic), and when the contacted me to ask if I would be willing to do this, they informed me that they were looking for a "roaming magician" that would walk around the fair performing magic for the fair-goers throughout the four days of the fair.  That fit me perfectly and so I said "yes."  

Today was my first day of magic at the fair... and it was not only a blast for me... but I feel like it went very well!  I love performing magic and love the different reactions I get.  For so many people when I first ask if they want to see a magic trick, their response is such that I can tell they do not expect much - and definitely do not expect to be fooled.  So when they are, their reaction is even better because it is overcoming their pre-suppositions even.  So much fun for me.  Three more days of it to go.  I expect it will continue to be a great, fun experience!!!!  

Well, clearly my attempt to write more regularly on my blog (that I posted about my last post... which happened to be OVER a year ago on May 27, 2023) was not successful.

So, I am renewing my commitment. I truly think writing on here will be therapeutic as well as allow me to share some things I want to be able to share with people. And as I posted before... I am not committing to a certain "regularity" - but I will commit to posting more than once per year!!!!

I am going to try...

So, I have realized that writing can be very therapeutic for me.  So, I am going to try to get back to actively posting here on my blog.  I have decided not to specify a specific "commitment" to posting - because then if I don't follow through I will get discouraged and then probably just give up.  So, I am going to commit to posting on here on a "regular basis" - whatever that means.  I CAN say that means writing and posting on here more than once every 5 years (YIKES).

So... stay tuned.

(and by now, I am assuming I lost every reader that I had on this blog... but that is ok, because I am doing this for me... but if you are reading this... THANK YOU!!!)

Yes... I am still alive!

It amazes me how time flies...

If you had told me that it had been OVER 5 years since I last posted on this blog, I would have told you that you were crazy and that you must have been looking at someone else's site....

But it has been... OVER 5 years. I am not sure exactly how frequently I will be posting again, but definitely will be posting much more regularly than once every five years.  There is a LOT that has happened in the last 5 years that I will share some highlights.  But, for now, I just wanted to post this to let people know that I am still alive and that I will be posting again... so, stay tuned....

Exciting News...coming soon!!!

Stay Tuned!!!  I'm excited to share this news with all of you. 

A Ragamuffin's Legacy

The first time I met him, he looked more like a homeless man than my junior high camp counselor. Barefoot and smelling of cigarettes, he wore an old white t-shirt and dirty jeans. I don’t think I ever saw him in anything else. He was a poet, prophet, saint, sinner, and the nearest thing to Jesus I’ve ever met. His name was Rich Mullins, and “to meet him once was to be in his life forever.

Twenty years ago this week, Rich died in a tragic car accident, but his legacy lives on in those of us lucky enough to have known him. Like a seed that falls to the ground and dies, Rich’s life continues to bear fruit. In fact, he’s the reason I’m still a Christian today. As a 14-year-old kid, I longed for someone to just be honest with me about faith, life, doubt, and brokenness. Rich was, and it was captivating. He never wore a mask, never postured, never pretended: “The power of Rich Mullins’ life lay in the power of his brokenness and unblinking honesty.”

As you disciple the next generation, resist the temptation to fool your students into believing you’ve got it all together—they won’t be able to identify with that anyway. Instead, give them your whole self, warts and all. Rich changed the trajectory of my life because he had the audacity to believe in the unconditional love of God, giving him the courage to be vulnerable. As one of his pupils said, “I have sung his songs and read his writings and stood at his grave and am convinced that in his barefoot, quirky, grace-filled wake he left a pair of shoes that no one will ever fill.” May it also be said of us.

Gary Alan

Hypocritical Counseling??

So this thought follows right on the footsteps of my last post.

I have a congregant who was sending me some text messages today of some struggles he is having and trying to keep in prayer and keep the faith.  And everything that I wanted to say to him, I paused and couldn't get it out... and the reason was not because I thought it was wrong information or anything of that nature.  But, instead, what I KNOW to be true and what i want to say to him is something that I am struggling to feel and implement in my own life at the current moment.  And so my hesitancy in sharing this is because I feel like a hypocrite with my advice (I am not a licensed counselor - so I do NOT do counseling). 

So that got me to thinking about the question:  Because the truth does not change whether you feel it or not, believe it or not, and even live it or not... is it still appropriate to share this advice with someone when you are struggling to live it out (or feel it) in your own life?  Just a question to ponder... but I'm certainly open to anyone leaving comments about what they think on this topic.

Peculiar behavior of men in public restrooms

No... this post will NOT be gross, or inappropriate, or crass, or rude, or TMI, or anything of the nature... so it is safe to read on.  :-)

Men have some very strange "habits," one might call them, when using a public restroom - especially those with stand-up urinals.  Some men will flush the toilet immediately before they even start using it (and most of the time those men do not flush a second time when they are done).  Some men will flush in the middle.  Some don't even flush at all.  But there was one instance I observed the other day that baffled me more than any other.  There was one man, when he was finished using the urinal, for whatever reason I am not sure, did not use his hand to flush, but instead used his elbow.

Now, I can understand someone not wanting to use their bare hand to flush at a public urinal - and maybe grabbing a towel or something to use.  But here is why this man baffled me.  If you get something you do not want on your hand when you are flushing (like germs or cooties... hehehe), you are about to wash your hands and you can wash it off.  But this guy used his elbow to spare getting anything on his hand.  I wonder if he has paused to think that he is getting the same thing he is afraid of getting on his hand onto his elbow... AND he doesn't wash his elbow until the next time he takes a shower.  So, that one really baffled me and made me almost laugh out loud (and definitely did cause a little chuckle while I was standing there).  Well... I am glad his hand is safe and clean.  I wonder if anyone will ever point out to him (or if he will eventually figure it out) that it is much worse to use his elbow.

Anyway.... that is my random thought that I had yesterday.

Being Real

One of the things that is challenging in my life surround the whole idea of being real.  We are supposed to be real, not fake.  Especially as a Pastor, I am supposed to set the example of being real for others.  But that is a challenge because there is also pressure placed upon me as a pastor to be strong and set the example of someone who "has it all together."

Most days I find myself in a dilemma of how to do both of these things at the same time?  How can I be strong and set the example of someone who has it all together while also being real - especially when I am struggling?  And, I often find myself asking the question as well, "Who can I be real with?" 

There are times that I want to share with those in my congregation that I am close to what is really going on in my life, or how I am really feeling, but then feel that pressure on the other side that makes it so I do not feel the freedom to be vulnerable.  And so I find myself a lot of times feeling alone, lonely, and not able to share what is the "true" me.

Not sure what to even do with this... but decided to share this anyway... for whatever it is worth.

For anyone else who is in ministry... how do you balance these two things?  What do you do?  Who do you share with, and how much do you share?  My inquiring mind wants to know!

Last 4 posts

Wow... if you look back at my last 4 posts... there is a common thread among them - Time flies, I meant to blog more, I will try to do better.

Hmmm... does that mean I should keep trying or give up? I would ask my readers to respond and let me know their opinion on this, but I think with the infrequency of posts, I may not have any readers left. However, if you are reading this... give me your feedback... should I keep trying or give up?

Where does the time go?

I swear, the days, months, and years just meld together into one long stream of, "what?  Where did it all go?"

In addition to that, the best intentions are just that... only intentions.  There are SO many reasons and excuses I could give for why I have not had a post again sooner than this one... but that won't change the fact that it's been so long.   So I will just leave it at this... I am truly hoping to get back to blogging on a more regular basis.  How regular?  Only time will tell.  But if it means anything, I do have the best of intentions.  :) 

Flashback Posts

You know your favorite drama, where you don't know a lot about the character who you have grown to love, and you are so curious about what happened to make your character the way he or she is?  And then, your favorite drama gets even better because they start interspersing flashbacks in the middle of the action that reveals more and more of the story, and piece by piece you get the full picture of what had happened in the past, helping you to more fully appreciate the current situation and character.

Well, I have decided that is what I am going to do with my blog here.  Because I think it is important, for my current status, thoughts, ideas, etc. to create a fuller understand and picture, that you have to know what it was that got me to where I am now.  And since I have been MIA for the past two years, I thought that would be a good way to catch you up.  So, interspersed as I feel led, will be some "flashbacks" over the past two years of the A-"Muse"-ing Thoughts I've had.

welcome back!!!  :)

New Blog Post - Amazing!

Wow!  Time flies...

I, myself can hardly believe that it has been OVER two years since I last posted a blog post.  So many things have happened in the last two years, and SO many changes in my life.  If I were to begin to write them all in this blog post, it would become a short book, which I realize no one would actually read to the end... so rest easy, I will not (at least in one blog post) try to update you on everything that has happened and the massive changes in the last two years.

As I was thinking about this blog and blog posting, I realized that the biggest challenge for me in posting a blog post is actually finding (or making) the time to sit and write it.  It does take time to write, and with the schedule of my life right now, it feels as if I don't have any "extra" time to do anything else - even write a blog post.  This got me to reflecting on one of my closest friends and something he did.

My friend made a New Year's resolution about 5 years ago (which he kept for 3 full years).  His desire is to be a writer, and one of the things that is important for anyone who is (or wants to be) a writer, is actually writing.  A lot of times they say that the best thing to get past writers block is to sit down and write about anything.  Well, this friend of mine made a resolution that before he went to bed he would write a minimum of 1,000 words EVERY day!  He made the commitment to himself as a writer to not sleep until he had completed his writing "assignment." 

As we all know, most New Year's Resolutions are broken within weeks, if not days, of the resolution being made.  But my close friend did not break his resolution - not after days, or weeks, or even months.  He kept that commitment every single day for 3 years.  Absolutely amazing to me.  And consider, as of this word you are reading right now, I am only at 357 words - so not even half of what he would write (at a minimum) every single day.

I have come to realize, even in his life, that this commitment was made quite a bit easier because during that time he was single.  So, if he decided to stay up until 2 am to finish his writing to keep the commitment, he could without worrying about impacting anyone else.  Nevertheless, as it has been two years since I even posted a single blog post, I found myself reflecting on his resolution and commitment and being very impressed at his making it - and keeping it!

What does this all mean for me and my blog here?  Well, in short, it means that I am hoping to not wait another two years before I blog again.  Will I be blogging daily - I'm pretty sure I won't.  But I do hope to get back to blogging and writing some thoughts.  Over time, I do hope to update everyone on what has been happening in my life the last couple of years - especially as God has been doing a LOT of work in my life.  I hope that through my sharing of these thoughts that anyone who reads this would be encouraged, moved, convicted, challenged, or any other thing that the spirit might do in your heart.  For some it will just be a chance to hear what is happening in my life and get caught up.  For others, I pray God will use it in some way.  And still, for others, it won't really matter... and that's ok.

So, the journey begins anew...

Everything’s Discipleship | Junior High Ministry

Every now and then in junior high ministry conversations, the topic of conversation turns to discipleship. It’s always a fairly interesting discussion largely because it tends to get stalled out of the gate by the inability for folks to agree on what, exactly, discipleship is; specifically how it’s defined and implemented in a junior high ministry context.

I’ve heard every possible definition: “Helping students become more like Jesus”, “Helping them learn to grow on their own”, “Developing fully devoted followers of Jesus”, “Mentoring and modeling faith”, “Walking in Jesus’ footsteps while they walk in ours”, and on and on it goes.

I recently came across this formal definition of discipleship: To help one embrace and spread the teachings of another. That MUST be an accurate definition because I found it on the internet.

I’m normally a fairly strategic thinker…I like the method of defining my end goal(s) and then working backward to create the steps and processes to get there. But what do you do when you can’t define the end goal? What do you do when the end result you think you want isn’t easily identified? How do you create steps to achieve something unclear? That’s the frustration I’ve often felt with the task discipleship: How can we accomplish that which we can’t even define? What if we do it wrong? What if we THINK we are discipling students, but the target we drew is off? Wait, what target…we don’t even know what we are aiming for! Uhhggg!

I propose a new junior high ministry rule: EVERYTHING IS DISCIPLESHIP. That’s it. Easy. The reality is that most folks would agree that discipleship has something to do with helping junior highers grow closer to Jesus and become more like him. We may not agree on a precise definition….but maybe we don’t have to! When we have an “Everything is discipleship” mindset we begin to minister out of a sense of freedom instead of prescription.

When you crack open the bible and dig deep into with an 8th grade small group (which rarely happens): DISCIPLESHIP!
When you play kill ball after church: DISCIPLESHIP
When you treat a trouble maker with grace: DISCIPLESHIP
When you visit a sick student in the hospital: DISCIPLESHIP
When you show up to a 7th grade girls basketball game: HELL ON EARTH! (ummm…I mean, DISCIPLESHIP!)
Junior high ministry….everything is discipleship.

via www.juniorhighministry.com

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