FALLING INTO THE FAMILIAR

It is so easy to fall back into the familiar when we try to change. We have all found this to be true. You know the drill, New Year arrives and you embark on turning over that new leaf and attempting an exercise plan or new budget or new diet. You might start out strong but before long you drift back to the same old habits. If it is hard enough for an individual to keep from falling back into the familiar, imagine how hard it is for a whole family or a church to change. Even when the new ways are more effective and healthier, we tend to favor the known and familiar. Maintaining change is hard.

I have been a Presbyterian for over 50 years and a Presbyterian minister for 23 years. So, I can say that I have come by my Presbyterian ways and habits honestly. I believe that there a many good things about our PCUSA systems and structures, but I also think that some of the things we’ve inherited are no longer serving us as well as they did 30 years ago, or 500 years ago. Sometimes I feel like we are still revering an 8-track system in an ipod world. I’m not into change for change’s sake, but I do think we need to experiment and risk and try to find better ways to live and grow together as a church living in the contemporary world.

Last year the congregation voted to amend our bylaws to allow for a smaller session, as way to free elders to be a governing and visioning body. As the elders are no longer chairing the majority of committees, we now allow for others who are gifted and called to lead in new and innovative ways without having to also be elders. Believe me, it has been hard not to fall back into the familiar. Especially for me as I have been a part of the old system for so long. As we end our first year and start another, I want to thank our session for the willingness to try new things and to pull us back on track when we have fallen back on old habits or gotten side tracked along the way. We are blessed with good leaders, from very diverse backgrounds, who all bring different thoughts and gifts to the mix. I am amazed at the many times they reach consensus and also impressed on how they have been willing to risk and move forward when they’ve had a difference of opinion and had to vote.

Two experiences have encouraged me in the quest to find new and better structures for Church life. The first is that I attended a conference last year that was about a new, innovative leadership structure that would work well with Presbyterian churches. Imagine my surprise and affirmation to find that it was almost exactly like what we are trying at WPC! Others are have the same problems and finding similar possibilities! The second experience was a visit to Westminster from a General Assembly committee that is looking at ways to help churches be more successful. I had a great meeting with the GA committee and they were very impressed with our plan and hope to have some follow up meetings to learn from our experience.

As we move forward into 2009, the session will be having a retreat to evaluate our progress, appoint new committee chairs and ministry leaders and seek God for his leading and direction for church. Please pray for our church leaders and encourage them as they seek to explore new and better ways to help people find their gifting and calling in the Lord.

Life Chart

I posted this a while back, but someone just sent it to me today and I think it is worth repeating

Lily's Fourth Birthday

Grandkids

I bought Lily, Jedi and Silas all Mickey Mouse ears when I was in FL... I just found this picture of them on Melia's blog and had to steal it and post it on my blog...

recovery

All is well on the recovery front. I tried a brief journey to Safeway yesterday at about 5:30 AM to forage for eggs and half and half - I thought I was up to it - but thank the Lord for the nice young man who walked around the store and got things for me... once I got there I realized that I was not really ready for any shopping trips and I wasn't willing to try out the little motorized shopping cart. So the rest the day I kept my foot up as per the doctors orders and Shannon's ever ready reminders... Today is great so far. I found I can sit up and work at the dining room table and keep my foot over my heart by putting my foot up on a pillow on the table. (We'll see how long this lasts) So far no need for pain killers and I am very thankful for that. Side comment: There is not much worth watching on daytime TV.

Foot Surgery

Hey - If anyone is wondering the surgery went well! I am home alone recovering (don't tell my Dr because he wanted to someone to be with me all day). I just watched Will Smith in the Pursuit of Happiness and the switched to Oprah and she is interviewing Will Smith today...do I see a theme...what does this mean...probably that I WILL be able to continue to PURSUE HAPPINESS until the meds wear off in a few hours...

More Tree lighting pictures

Christmas Tree Lighting

We had a great crowd for the 15th Annual Tree Lighting at Westminster. The mayor of San Jose was here. Three area schools attended - There was standing room only!

The Father's Love Begotten

QUESTION: How do our holiday celebrations reflect the love of God as expressed in the life and ministry of Jesus?
ANSWER: Not very well.
The very sad truth is that our Christmas celebrations are often marked by consumerism and overindulgence. It is not that God is anti-celebration. God loves it when his people celebrate. In fact the Bible commands us to celebrate the good things of God.
During Advent we’ll look at four Advent celebrations in Scripture and ask two questions: What is being celebrated? And how could our Christmas celebrations reflect the Father’s love begotten through Jesus in the world today? Come and explore new ways to celebrate that are more congruent with the one whose birth we are celebrating November 30 – December 21 at Westminster.
So here is an advent idea:
How about having a family meeting this week and talk about Christmas and how you celebrate it?
Share stories about the “comfort foods” of Christmas – not just he foods but the things you always want to do because they bring you closer together and remind you of home and family.
Share the things that drive you a bit crazy at Christmas and could be discontinued.
Share about new things you could do to make this Christmas more Christian.
Agree on a plan for a simpler, more Christian Christmas.
For ideas- Find out about the Advent Conspiracy:
www.adventconspiracy.org

More alternative celebration ideas:
www.simpleliving.org

Westminster Stuff

Someone once said, “Change is always difficult and if it isn’t difficult it isn’t significant change.” If that is true and I think it is, I am very happy to say that we’ve been experiencing true change at Westminster this last year. At our congregational meeting last year we voted to change our number of elders from 12 to 7. This may have seemed like a small change, but it was an important piece of a bigger plan.
For many years sessions have been seen as the managing center of the church. In some ways this has worked well, but in other ways it has not. A plus is always having people to fill positions, but a negative is that the gifting and passion of the incoming elders does not always fit the open positions. Another downside is that the visioning and governing role of elders is often lost, as session members are too focused on their own individual committees to have a sense of the whole picture of the church. When the session is in essence a committee of committee chairs, it is easy to lose a sense of the overall vision and leadership can degrade to turf wars.
The new plan relieves the elders of most of the committee and ministry responsibilities so they can actually be the visioning and governing board of the church. The committees and ministries are then lead by gifted lay leaders and/or staff who work under the direction and broad guidance of the session. The structure allows for the ministry leaders and committee leaders to have more freedom to move forward without session having to micromanage every action. The result is more actual ministry and less committee meetings and red tape.
This first year has not been without its bumps and everything is not yet functioning as envisioned, but much great progress has been made. The most progress has been in the growth of small groups, more community building opportunities and the good work being done to beautify our church campus We now have 7 study groups and 5 fellowship groups! Our Sunday Welcome Table and New Dinner Groups are helping build community. The painting of the sanctuary and the remolding of the bathrooms are just a few of the projects that have been accomplished. There are many good things happening.
In January at the annual session retreat will be evaluating our progress, regrouping and moving forward into 2009 and beyond. Thanks to everyone who has been patient and willing to take risks to try something new. Remember the 7 last words of the church are: We have never done it that way before.

Florida Trip Pictures

Shannon and I spent a few days visiting the Piper's in Florida. Due to our 50 and over year old bladders, I think we visited every restroom in the park. It was great to see Greg and Julie and Dave and Debbie. I was able to show off my awesome driving skills at the Magic Kingdom. The day at Disney concluded with a wonderful dinner on the top floor of the Contemporary Hotel watching the fireworks display.

A new poem

Here is a poem I am enjoying that I heard a while back on the the Writer's Almanac:

Sing we and chant it
While love doth grant it.
Not long youth lasteth,
And old age hasteth.
Now is best leisure
To take our pleasure.

All things invite us
Now to delight us.
Hence, care, be packing!
No mirth be lacking!
Let spare no treasure
To live in pleasure.

"Sing we and chant it..." by Anonymous. Public Domain. 1595

From "A Word about Praise" in C.S. Lewis's Reflections on the Psalms:

But the most obvious fact about praise - whether of God or anything - strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. The world rings with praise - lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game - praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians of scholars. I had not noticed how the humblest, and at the same time most balanced and capacious, minds praised most, while the cranks, misfits and malcontents praised least...
I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: "Isn't she lovely? Wasn't it glorious? Don't you think that magnificent?" The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about.
I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.

You asked for it!

A lot of folks have commented that they noticed that I’ve lost a lot of weight from seeing my pictures on my blog and have asked for my secret. Here it is:

As of today, I have lost 80 pounds and 4 pants sizes! It has taken about 2.5 years. About a year or so ago my son-in-laws parents shared this diet with me. It speed up my weight loss and it has worked wonders. I have lost around 50 of those pounds on this diet. I don’t know where the diet originated. It says it is from the Max Planck Institute of Nutrition in Germany – but they claim that it is not from them.

I do the diet for 2 weeks and then stabilize at that weight for at least a month if not two before trying it again. Exercise has also been key. I started with cardio once or twice a week and now exercise every day for an hour and just added weights a few days ago.

Just a couple of more things about the diet:
• It is not really from Max Planck Institute of Nutrition, Germany. They deny any connection.
• The diet claims that you can lose 20 pounds in two weeks. The Max Planck Institute of Nutrition also says that even if you were starving you would not lose the amount of weight the diet claims you would lose - so don't expect a 20 lb loss!
• I do think you can expect a 5 -10 lbs loss.
• I would follow it as closely as possible the first time to do it and modify it later. I have suggestions for modification when you go for it the next time. I did break down the second week my first time through and added cream to my coffee and salad dressing...
• Taking a multivitamin is really important and drink lots of water. I take a multivitamin for men, E, C, Fish Oil, Garlic and cranberry pills.
• You should also try to exercise 3 times each week for a minimum of 30 mins of good cardio - like a treadmill or bike - bikes are good for lower impact on your feet and knees.
• I would then take off a week or two (sometimes a month) before doing the diet again - during that time I would eat low carb (Adkins maintenance style) and no sugar and alcohol only once a week (why does beer have to be so fattening?)
• Sleeping at least 8 hours is good for weight loss
• Eating after 7:30 PM is a bad thing
• Tell yourself constantly “It is only for two weeks!”
• I found it helpful to buy all the food for each week in advance and pre-make as many meals as possible- especially the lunches - I often graze on the food for the day rather than just eat it at meal time


A few modifications:
I interpret green salad as any vegetable you would put in a salad – cucumber, tomato, olives, onions, and so on.
Sometimes I get sick of salad and have a vegetable.
I have mushrooms and onions with my steak.
I use steak sauce, ketchup, mustard, salad dressing.
I often fry stuff rather than grill or boil it.

Here is an unedited version of the diet. Don’t believe what is claims at the end:

Saturday
Breakfast as much black coffee without sugar as desired
Lunch 2 boiled eggs, spinach with little salt
Dinner 1 big steak (grilled or broiled) or 3 roasted mini-steaks, green salad and any
amount of fruit

Sunday
Breakfast as much black coffee without sugar as desired, 1 serving-sized bread item
Lunch 1 big steak, green salad and any amount of fruit
Dinner boiled ham without limit

Monday
Breakfast as much black coffee without sugar as desired, 1 serving-sized bread item
Lunch 2 boiled eggs, lettuce and tomatoes
Dinner boiled ham and green salad

Tuesday
Breakfast as much black coffee without sugar as desired, 1 serving-sized bread item
Lunch 1 boiled egg, boiled or raw carrots, Swiss cheese
Dinner fruit and natural yogurt

Wednesday
Breakfast as much black coffee without sugar as desired, carrots with lemon
Lunch steamed fish and tomatoes
Dinner 1 steak and green salad

Thursday
Breakfast as much black coffee without sugar as desired, 1 serving-sized bread
Lunch grilled (or broiled) chicken
Dinner 2 boiled eggs, carrots

Friday
Breakfast tea with lemon and without sugar
Lunch 1 grilled or broiled steak, fruit of choice
Dinner free: whatever one chooses – whatever one wishes

The food and drink items cited above without any quantity or amount specified may be consumed in any amount desired. Throughout this diet, one should be drinking large quantities of mineral water. Throughout this diet, alcohol in any form is strictly forbidden. On the 8th day, the diet plan begins again from the beginning and runs for another week (2 weeks altogether). After the two weeks, one may resume normal eating habits.

When one strictly keeps to this diet plan as it is laid out here, he/she will lose 9 kg. (ca. 20 lbs.) in the two-week period. Clothing size will be changed, and the lost weight will not be regained for three years.

(From the Max Planck Institute of Nutrition, Germany) (not)

Camp pictures on Sunday

Just a note to say that we will be showing slides of the Hot August Moons Church Camp Out this Sunday after worship.
Bring your slides on a CD in .jpg format and we'll add them to the show!

Prayer for today...

I have a prayer book that has a prayer written by a Christian brother or sister from history for each day of the week.

Here is one for today from Dwight L. Moody (1837-99)

Use me, then, my Savior, for whatever purpose, and in whatever way, Thou may require. Here is my poor heart, an empty vessel; fill it with thy grace. Here is my sinful and troubled soul; quicken it and refresh it with thy love. Take my heart for Thine abode; my mouth to spread abroad the glory of Thy name; my love and all my powers, for the advancement of your believing people; and never suffer the steadfastness and confidence of my faith to abate; so that at all times I may be enabled from the heart to say, ‘Jesus needs me and I am His.” AMEN

A poem I enjoy

Here is a poem that has been running through my heart and mind the past few weeks. I first read this in my English Lit. class at Bethany and have loved it ever since. This summer, while enjoying the beauty of God's creation it came to my mind. Don't let the "old English" put you off - this poem is worth wading into and spending some time in the images, rhythm and sounds...

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89). Poems. 1918.

13. Pied Beauty

GLORY be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.

Message from the Present to the Future

A few days ago, Lily and I were digging out the stump from an old bush in the front lawn. While we were digging we thought we hit a big rock, but it turned out to be an old water turn off box. It was really sort of exciting to uncover the box and look inside. Finding it empty we decided to write a letter to the future, when someone might be digging in that spot to plant something new. We wrote a note telling who we were, the date and added, "Jesus Loves You." Placed the note in a baggy and buried it back up.

Discovery Museum

Last Friday Shannon and I took my grand daughter, Lily, and Shannon's nephew, Finn, to the Discovery Museum in San Jose. Here are a few pictures. If you are looking for Africa pictures - they are coming! I also just posted a few more sermons on my pod cast site and more are coming.

What I really was up to in Austria

Africa pictures are coming soon - But first I had to cleanse my soul and confess what the trip to Austria was really all about: DESSERT!