Dude, Where's My Trailer?

I love being a part of a "mobile" church. Some people might think that's crazy. I actually enjoy most of it. I think there are advantages to meeting in the local school cafe-teria-nasium, movie theater, or whatever other building is available.

There are disadvantages, too.

Nearly everything our church owns is stored in a trailer that is towed to and from the school we meet at every Sunday. This trailer is packed full of sound equipment, video equipment, communion supplies, etc. It's quite convenient.

But, every once in awhile, I hear about a church trailer that has been stolen. Whenever a news story like this comes up, I always think, "Wow, that would stink. What would I do?"

I hope I wouldn't react like this guy.

Look, I am sure he's a great guy. He might be a great minister, a great church planter, a great husband, and a great father. I have no idea. I don't know him.

But, his reaction is...crazy! Actually, I'm thinking that it's a joke. It is a joke, right? Please tell me it's a joke. He's probably one of those guys that if you knew him, you would read his blog and laugh hysterically because you know how sarcastic he's being.

OK, I've convinced myself that this whole thing is a set-up. That makes me feel better.

Sooners

Last week, Christy and I traveled to Bartlesville, Oklahoma (where the wind goes sweeping over the plains). We had three reasons for making the trip. In fact, on a side note, with gas prices being what they are, I now require myself to have at least three reasons before I go anywhere.

Anyway, we had three really good reasons for traveling to O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A.

Reason #1 - Christy spent her elementary years in Bartlesville, OK. For a long time now she has been dying to go back. More than once Christy has been to my "hometowns" (Osage, IA and Clinton, IL). So, it was about time that I visited hers. After about two seconds I was annoyed by her running commentary on everything that we passed.

"Look, Johnny Smith used to live there."
"I used to ride my bike there."
"That's the pool I used to swim in."
"One day Suzy threw up by that tree."

Then I realized, I do the same thing - BIG TIME - when we are in my towns. I vowed to never do that again - to anyone - EVER.

It was actually really fun for her to see the places and people again. And, honestly, it is fun to see the places and meet the people from your spouse's past.

Reason #2 - This is one of those "Small World" moments. My youth minister growing up in Clinton, IL - David Mabon - is now the senior minister at the church in Bartlesville where Christy's family used to attend. Weird.

I hadn't seen the Mabon family in a very long time. They offered to house us and feed us for the entire time we were there! We had a blast. The kids are all grown up and very cool. Dave and his wife Carol are still awesome to be around. And Carol totally hooked Christy and I up with some awesome meals and snacks.

We sat around and talked about the good old days forever.

Reason #3 - The Voice Of The Martyrs. This organization is based in Bartlesville. We went to Bartlesville to attend VOM's Persecuted Church Conference.

Christy and I both agree that this was the best conference we've ever attended. It was amazing to listen to people from all over the world speak about the persecution that is happening in the countries where they serve. There were speakers from the Middle East (Israel, Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Iran), Columbia, North Korea, China, Bangladesh, and Romania. The stories that these men and women had to tell were both shocking and inspiring. The whole event was truly eye opening.

I know in today's world of a billion conferences, it's probably unrealistic to think that most Christians would choose to go to the VOM conference. Most would rather go to a conference that will help them with whatever field of ministry they are interested in. They will choose to go to a worship conference, a church planting conference, a youth ministry conference, or a leadership conference. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Obviously, all of those events are beneficial. But I really do believe that every follower of Jesus would be profoundly changed if they attended the VOM conference. It's a definite change of pace from all of those other events - I believe it's an important and necessary change of pace.

The Face Of The Earth

No, I didn't fall off of it. But, my 3 month blogging hiatus has come to an end.

Coming soon are thoughts on The Voice Of The Martyrs, the NACC, and Summer 2008 in general.

I'm on the edge of my seat just thinking about it!

Lectio Divina

As a part of my day of solitude and prayer yesterday, I read the book Divine Intervention by Tony Jones. The book is about "encountering God through the ancient practice of lectio divina."

I was already somewhat familiar with lectio divina before I read this book, but I had never practiced it before and I had never been quite sure what to make of it. When I saw this book on the shelf I decided to pick it up. It seemed interesting. Plus - it was super short and you've got to love that.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with what this is let me briefly explain it as Jones does in his book.

Basically, lectio divina is an ancient method of prayer. It means "sacred reading." There are four steps: Lectio (a selection or reading from the Bible), Meditatio (thinking over or meditation), Oratio (speaking or praying), and Contemplatio (contemplation).

Each step is actually a bit more detailed. But, that's the super simplified version. The bottom line is that it's a way to read God's Word, pray, and hear from God.

After reading the book, I decided to try out lectio divina for myself. It was actually pretty cool. I have to admit, it does seem like a good way to focus on God's Word and to clear your mind of distractions that many times drown out God's voice and what He's trying to say to you.

The only thing that bothers me is the fact that my entire knowledge of lectio divina comes from a newer book that is 100 pages long. I'm sure there are tons of things written about this practice that shed light on it in a whole new way. I'll have to dive into it more to see what I really think.

But, at this point, I am glad to have God open my eyes to some important scripture yesterday and for Him to speak to me through it. No matter what "method" of prayer or Bible study you use, I hope you find your time with God as rewarding/challenging as I always do.

My World View

Over the past year, I have found myself more concerned with humanitarian issues than I ever have been before. That being said, I feel like I should make clear that my previous concern with those issues has been next to nothing. So, to say I am more concerned isn't saying much. It's not that I don't care about people who are hurting, it's just that as I look back on my life I realize that I've done very little to actually do anything for people who are in horrible situations.

As I said, though, over the past year I've been thinking about this stuff more and more. I've been reading about it more. I've been noticing reports on TV more. I've been hearing people talk about it more. I don't know if this is because this stuff is actually being discussed more, or if it's because my eyes and ears are more open. But, whatever the case, I have felt the need to act.

I read an interesting story on nfl.com last week. When I was very young I was always amazed that the machines that make t-shirts and hats were so fast that within seconds of victory the winning team was wearing appearal that declared them as champions. As I got older, and smarter, I realized that obviously shirts and hats were pre-made for both teams. Duh! But, while some of the clothes were being passed out after the game, the other clothes were left in the boxes.

This brought me to a question, though. What happened to the unused shirts, hats, etc.? I always assumed the shirts that had been printed (that were now wrong) must be thrown away in some secret dumpster, never to see the light of day.

When I read that the NFL had donated the Patriots shirts to World Vision, I was actually surprised. I have been impressed with World Vision's humanitarian work. Last summer I participated in the "Step Into Africa - AIDS Experience." It was super powerful. If this exhibit comes to a city near you, I highly recommend you walk through. I couldn't walk away from that exhibit without sponsoring a child who lives in a community deeply affected by AIDS in Ethiopia. I am glad to hear that the NFL didn't let a few hundred t-shirts go to waste. It would have been easy for them to throw them away - no big deal. But, then again, most of us can't imagine a life where receiving a single t-shirt improves our situation.

My point is this: Too often I walk through life - doing and not doing certain things - without even giving a second thought to how my actions (or lack of action) are actually contributing to a humanitarian crisis in some other part of the world. I hope that all of us who have been given so much will begin to be willing to purposefully live in a way that eliminates crisis.

Bodies - "Very Good"

Christy and I decided to check out Bodies...The Exhibition at the Cincinnati Museum Center this past weekend.

I know there is some controversy surrounding this exhibit. Many people have questions about whether or not something of this nature is appropriate based on different religious and personal beliefs.

While I think that discussion is important and interesting, I want to take this time to focus on something different - what I walked away thinking as I left the museum.

I have never been a person who is super interested in the human body. First of all, I can be a bit squeamish when it comes to blood, injuries, and exposed internal organs. I wouldn't call my feelings toward these things a phobia and I think there are a lot of people who are much more squeamish than I am around that stuff. But, being in the presence of those things definitely isn't my favorite thing.

Also, I think my lack of interest in Human Anatomy can be proven by the grade I received in the Human Anatomy class I took in High School. To this day I have no idea why I chose that science class instead of Biology 2 or Chemistry. Maybe I didn't enroll in Biology 2 because I knew I would be sick when they forced me to disect a cat. Maybe I didn't enroll in Chemistry because of my lack of interest in everything related to that study. I don't know. I am sure that I assumed Human Anatomy would be the easiest of the three choices I had. I was wrong, though. I found it impossible to memorize all the details of all the different bodily systems. Not to mention I hated the units where we had to draw the blood of our classmates and test our own urine (I'm serious, we did that).

Anyway, as I was saying, I've never been a big fan of studying the human body. But, as I've grown older I have to say that the topic has become more intriguing to me. It probably has a lot to do with my own minor health issues that I deal with from time to time. I have begun to realize that the bodies that we have need to be taken care of (as hard as that is to do). It's amazing to me that our bodies work as well as they do for as long as the do!

So, to see the inner workings of a human body in such an upclose and real way was unbelieveable. To see the nervous system and the circulatory system in all their detail - crazy! To see the smallest bones in the body (from the inner ear) - wild! To see the whole body working together to achieve life to the fullest - amazing!

I am sure I am sounding like a promotional ad for the exhibit. But really, I am not trying to talk anyone into attending. I simply wanted to point out that as a Christ follower, I sometimes forget something. While it is true that I never forget who created me, I often forget how amazing this creation is.

Psalm 139 reads:

"Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
You formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God - you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvously made!
I worship in adoration - what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
You know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
How I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

Christy and I read that scripture before we entered the museum. I thought about it the whole time I was observing the exhibits. I wrote it in the guest book we could sign as we left the museum. I will never skim through Psalm 139 again, only catching bits and pieces here and there. I now, in my limited human way, am able to grasp why God said, "Very good," when he created man.

Tax Time Is Here!

I am not quite sure why I wrote the title of this post in a way that indicates excitement. In reality, tax time is my least favorite time of the year and I dread it with every ounce of my soul. In fact, the only thing that I can think of that I dread more is going to the dentist. And now I don't even mind that too much because I found an awesome place to go (Advance Family Dentistry - http://advanceddentist.e-siteworks.com/home/). They have a sign up in their office that states "The best compliment that we can receive from you is a referral." So, AFD, consider yourself complimented.

The problem with tax time is that not only do I find it extremely complicated, but I also seem to always end up paying more than I expected or doing something wrong along the way. I actually have a great tax guy who has helped me a ton - but even he can't save me from my inevitable goof ups that I seem to pull off without even realizing that I am doing anything wrong at all.

Let me give you examples from the past and the present.

I moved to Ohio from Virginia in March of 2005. When it came time to pay 2005 taxes in April of 2006 (see - even that confuses me), I got a statement in the mail from Virginia explaining that one of the many taxes that I owed them was the tax that they impose on their citizens for owning a vehicle. Yes, every year in Virginia you are taxed on the car you drive. I think the amount you pay is based on where you live in Virginia and the type of car it is, but I could be wrong about that (actually, the chances are pretty good that I am wrong about that). Anyway, since I lived in Virginia for 2 1/2 months at the beginning of 2005, I owed them.

What was shocking to me was that I owed them for 12 months - the full year! I asked them why. After all, my car was only in that state for less than 3 months. They explained that it didn't matter. Actually, they told me that while some counties in Virginia are able to process payments for the exact amount of time you lived in that county, the county that I owed the tax to did not yet have that option available. So, I would therefore be charged for the entire year. Whether or not that is true, I have no idea. But, like a good citizen, I paid the stupid tax.

Well, this is what is happening in the present. Today, I received in the mail a "Notice Of Assessment" from - Guess Where? - the Commonwealth of Virginia. This document informed me that I owed Virginia money from the tax year 2004. "2004," you ask? That's right! Not only was that 4 years ago - but I personally have not lived in Virginia since 2005!

So curious was I about this most recent development in my life as a tax payer that I gave Virginia a call. They explained to me that their computers had recently discovered that I was given too large a refund in 2004. Therefore, I have to pay them back - with interest!

Oh, that seems fair.

You might think I am joking. But the sad reality is that I am not. I was also informed of some other fun facts.

Fact #1 - It was also explained to me that there is no statute of limitations on past bills. If fact, they have past due bills that go all the way back to the 1970's.

Fact #2 - In the amount of time that it takes me to get together the paperwork and proof to appeal this charge, interest will continue to accrue.

Fact #3 - Every state operates 4 years behind when comparing the state returns with the federal returns for individuals. And, in reality, it is not actually operating "4 years behind" but it is "normal."

Fact #4 - The south will rise again.

Because of my intense dislike of tax season, I usually prefer to make it as short of a season as possible. I'll devote a week or less to actually hitting it hard and "doing my taxes." But, thanks to the Commonwealth, tax season for Jake has now been extended to many weeks of suffering and anxiety.

I'm not going down without a fight, though. I know I am supposed to give to Caesar what is Caesar's. But, I don't think this chunk of change is Caesar's. And, my Caesar isn't Virginia. Ok, now I am just confusing myself again. What does that even mean?

Did I mention I dread tax time?