Health and Welness

This life, therefore, is not godliness but the process of becoming godly, not health but getting well, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not now what we shall be, but we are on the way.

The process is not yet finished, but it is actively going on. This is not the goal but it is the right road. At present, everything does not gleam and sparkle, but everything is being cleansed.
Martin Luther

I am in the process of trying to get healthier. I can honestly say that the bold aspect in Luther's quote is what I am doing and working on. The ELCA has a diagram on their website. It is a picture of a wheel. In the center (the hub) is you (a new creation in Christ) and there are 5 spokes going to the outer wheel (spiritual well being). The five spokes are the following:

- physical well-being
- intellectual well-being
- vocational well-being
- social and interpersonal well-being
- emotional well-being

I will let their words speak to me (and maybe you):

You are the center of the wheel as a new creation through baptism and a member of the body of Christ. Spiritual health surrounds, contains and supports us through faith and our relationship with God. Within the wheel are the individual aspects of wellness. To be whole means to keep these aspects in balance by intentionally nurturing and attending to each. If one area is neglected the whole will be out of balance.

Here is to wellness in '08. On Monday, I will give my update on how my first week went with my goals that I am striving for.

Let's Bomb Al-Qaeda

A B-1 Lancer drops cluster bombs. The head of an anti-Qaeda front said that a massive US air blitz on Al-Qaeda targets south of Baghdad killed a local leader of the jihadi network and at least 20 other militants.

(AFP/USAF/File)



The pictures sends chills up my spines. I am not even sure what my thoughts are anymore when I see these images and thoughts. Look at all those bombs as they travel down and land on land, buildings and people. Yes, I know "they are helping make the place safe".

Yes, we are still at war. Sometimes, I think that we need to be reminded. It saddens me.

Prayer for Nathan & Family

I decided to include a cute prayer picture. Through a blog that I read regularly, there was a comment that struck me. Thus, i clicked on to their blog to read some of their material. One of their postings was about a prayer request. I clicked on it and tears came to my eyes.

Nathan is a worship leader on the east coast and his family is struggling. His wife as CF (Cystic Fibrosis). She was scheduled for and they were prepping for a double lung transplant. They then found out that she was pregnant. Well this week, they finally had to make a decision. they had to "deliver" the baby at 24 weeks and see if they can get mom (Tricia) and daughter (Gwyneth) healthy.

I ask you to pray for their family. He gives updates very regularly and even as photo's of his daughter. She, now 4 days old, is doing quite well for such an early baby. Please lift them up in your prayers.

Nathan's Blog

The E Word

Today, I am going to try to grapple with the E word. There are many E word's out there but the E word that I am going to deal with today is the word "excellence".



I have always struggled with that word, especially in the context of ministry. We "must" strive for excellence. It has always been shouted to me through college, seminary and through conferences. If we do not strive for "excellence"; we are failing God and we are hampering the Kingdom of God because we are not doing everything that we need or should be doing.

I remember back in the 1990's, one of the most freeing books that I read was Freedom From the Performance Trap. However, at times, I still feel the need and urge to strive for excellence. Now is that wrong ? Is it wrong for the church to strive for excellence ?

This post will hopefully address this topic as I flush it out myself. This topic came to me in two different ways this past month. One, there was an article that dealt with this issue from Dan Scantz. He teaches at Central Christian College. The article can be found here. The second aspect is that this happends to be the subject at hand for a meeting that I am attending tomorrow night. I am part of the Canton/Akron Emergent Cohort. So, here we go.

Dan opens his article with a conversation that he had a student that was upset about a B that he received on a paper. Dan was telling the student that it was a great (excellent) grade on the work. However, the student did not see it that way. He talks about that the generation that is in school has "excellence" as their mantra.

I have to say that over the last 15 years that I have worked with students, that is definitely the case. They are so pressured to be perfect and to get the grades, the extra-curricular activities in and more. I remember being at listening to the things that they were trying to accomplish while in hs. I also remember being frightened at how they were into a frantic when their GPA might dip below a 4.0 on a 4.0 scale. However that is just the backdrop of the issue at hand.

Suntle Dangers When Aiming For Excellence

1. Elitist
2. Expensive
3. Acceleration
4. Inconsistency
5. Exhausting
6. Divisive

Alternatives to Excellence

1. Efficency
2. Patience
3. Inclusion

I think that the two years that I experience this the most (strive for excellence) was from June 2003 - June 2005. The church and the ministry that we were part of was striving for excellence and the "pressure" at times was difficult. We were looking to produce excellent and look excellent.

Taking Daniel's thought process. I will highlight his 6 points and show how it applied and flowed from our text at that time. For those of you who know where we were and why those 2 years ( bear with me, please ). For others, the church and time frame is not necessary ( no need to name church / minister ).

1. Elitist

We had only the "best" and we tried to "showcase" it. From the stage, we did look like we sent everyone out to Saks Fifth Avenue. We had to have the "extreme" professional image from the front. We even made sure the lights hit our "performers" at the right angle. Only the best dressed and best singers can apply. We even tried to add "a church face" to the entrance. The hire had to be just the right look *blah*. We also had the clean-up the entrance in the church. We can not have signs and brochures that advertized ministry. The "Hilton Effect" needed to be the entrance.

2. Expensive

Excellence costs money. Only the best was good enough for us. We spent $$ on the best commercials. We spent $$ on catered meals for our mid-week program and the list can go on. To perfrom with excellence does take the green. We run up deficits because of it.

3. Acceleration

The bar for us was always raised. Each week had to better than the last. Each series had to top the last. our numbers needed to be raised from the previous and so on the cycle goes. I think that when we raise the bar of excellence and do it at accelerated pace ..... we forget what is important and we do not have time for what is REALLY important.

4. Inconsistency

This would definitely apply in a very odd sence. Our members (congregation) came to church very relaxed in their dress and attitude but yet we portrait a different aspect. Also, if I was honest Daniel's third paragraph would be echoed by most of the members. I would also think that we may have been excellent in teaching, preaching and ......... but were the relationships excellent .... unfortunately .. no. So, we strove for excellence in certain areas and not others. And if we were really honest, excellence (if we have to have that) would probably be more 'profitable" if we did it in the relationships that we have.

5. Exhausting

Pefectionalism is a disorder. When you continually to strive for excellence and you try to accomplish everything right here and now ..... it is EXTREMEMLY EXHAUSTING. I remember thinking that we needed to do and offer a long list of things to have an "excellent" ministry and it was very tiring and I was not faithful in "rest"

6. Divisive

Strife is what happens when people have unrealistic goals and deadlines. We as a ministry team came up (because we were told to) a 5-year goal and plan. We were very thorough in this process and what we were expected to do and accomplish was not good (not healthy) and what led to # 5. We had a bunch of exhausted people. We were never able to keep up. The machine just kept on churning.

I think that I am in the midst of being in a place that is the alternative to excellence. There are a lot of people and individuals disagree with the concept and they think that it might even be "unbliblical". Here are the alternitives and how they are playing out in my life and the way that I am in ministry.

1. Efficency

You can be excellent and still not be efficient
You can be efficient without being excellent

I think that we need to be efficient in what we set out to accomplish. I think that we can be effective and accompish what we want without excellence. I think that at times, when we reach for excellence (especially when bar is really high) we may not be efficient and we may not achieve the goal. We may spend too much time / money in the pursuit of excellence and what we want ... passes us by. Maybe, it is the simple phrase: work smart.

2. Patience

Every situation is different and requires a different schedule of progress. I know for me at various stages in my life and ministry; we have had some high goals and the time to reach them was unrealistic. It is okay to have the high goals, but to expect to meet them in a short time period may not happen.

I am in the Patience stage right now. I have some lofty goals in my mind for where I am at. Quite a few that I have not even voiced yet because it is not time. I have to be patient. Thus, take a look at your situation, set goals and take baby steps in getting to them. Do you remember the movie: What About Bob? I am thankful that I do not have huge goals placed on me that need to be met by May. In the past, I have had that. For me, it is doing ministry, having goals and walking along in the journey till we reach the goal. Yup, there are a few ministry items that I would love to implement, but some of it will not occur for 9 months or more.

3. Inclusion

We need everyone. At times, the superstars were the only ones who needed to apply. That is so not the case. We need to include everyone in the process. We are all the body of Christ. We need to be with our prople and help place them in ministry and empower them to do ministry.

For me, what this comes back to is that we really need to know what is important. It kinda reminds me of a post that I read yesterday. I think that we need to spend more time and energy with people. I think that we need to be spending time with those in our church. We need to be spending time with people in our community. We need to be living out the greatest commandments ( Loving God & Loving Others ).

One of the greatest thing, we as a family is enjoying is spending time with people. Wether it be at the free clinic, or meals on wheels, sharing with folks that are at the sports events, dinners with family, youth events ... the list goes on.

If I was spending time going for complete excellence, I would not have the time to be with people. We need to be with people.

Alrightee, I know this was long. I know the flow was not great. But, hopefully, there was a nugget in the midst of it all that you could grab onto.

LSU: National Champions

Congrats LSU. You struggled for the 1st 5 minutes out of the gate but then it was "game on" for you and you took care of business. The route was on. A 14 point lead and the statistics may not show it ... but as an observer; it sure felt like a route.

Ohio State .... congrats on going to the National Championship 2 years in a row. I am sorry that you did not make either one of them a game. Your rally cry is that this was suppose to be a down year ... we will see. You have a lot coming back. You can circle September 19 on your calendar.

I know those in my new-beloved state and community (who love sports and OSU) do not want to hear this ... BUT, I think that you should be lucky that you play in the BIG TEN (11). If you played in the SEC and faced LSU, Georgia, Florida, Auburn, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, and Arkansas for your 8 conference games ... you would not be playing in the NC game.

Hmmmm, I am sounding like a SEC supporter. Even though I lived in (with) SEC fans for 10 of the last 18 years ... that is not the case. I just think that they have a tougher conference from top-bottom

Bible in One Hand & Gym Bag in the Other

In the recent magazine "the Lutheran", there was an advertisement from the ELCA Board of Pensions about the Wellness Journey. I have decided that in 2008, I need to focus on some physical and spiritual wellness.

I am going to try to break down the calendar year in "quarters" and focus on different aspects to get me more "fit" by the end of the year.

January - March

During this three month period, I am going to focus on the following:

1. Walk where I can

This should be a fairly easy step for me. I already walk the kids to school and to the church everyday. I also walk back to the school and home after the day is over. However, if there is anything that I need to do "downtown", I am going to hopefully walk.

2. Go to the YMCA and Cycle

I can tell that I am "out-of-shape" with my cardio. I think that it was evident the last weekend in December. While at the retreat, the b-ball game and the trail walking and the "hikes" up the hill made me "windy". Thus, I am going to go to the Y 3/4 x a week and ride. At the present time, I am not sure how much I am going to do (or try). I really do not have a "logical number" in my head. If anyone wants to throw out a suggestions, please do.

3. Please hand me the water bottle.

Drinking water is usually an "easy" thing for me to do when I am "committed". However, I have not been committed and I have not been drinking water like I should. Thus, I have my "jug" on my desk that I will be filling and hopefully, the water intake will be high (flush me out).

4. Eat More Regularly

I need to eat more regularly. I have a bad habit of "not eating" in the morning and early afternoon and it catches up with me and I eat more in late afternoon / evening. Thus, I am going to spread the food out more during the day.

Those our the four physical aspects that I am going to put into place for me over the next three months. Hopefully, these little changes will make a difference and they will help me make bigger changes and strides in April - June time period.

I will go ahead and put my "weight" out there; so I can monitor that as well on a weekly basis (Monday's). I (have a goal in my mind) will not share what I hope/want to get to and maintain but I will share that my weight this morning was 193.5

On the spiritual side ......

I am going to focus on 2 things. I am going to go through the Psalms and I am going to practice the body prayers.

Alright, let us begin the jouney.

Salvation Message & Church Promotion

I was one frustrated dad, basketball coach and Christian this afternoon. Today was our Upward Basketball Awards Ceremony and it made me SICK.

One would think that at an award ceremony, the kids may receive some awards. One would think that they may recognize the kids. One would think that they may recognize the teams that played in the league. But, not at this awards ceremony.

What we received was the following:

- a 2 minute welcome

- a 3 minute video highlight of the season but mixed it was look how far we have come since we began this ministry. In '01, we had X amount. In 2007, we had X amount - YEAH, US !!

- a one hour message on Salvation and do you know where you are going to go when you die (at least he did some chalk art)

- a 5 minute, come here if you do not have a church home. You have spent numerous Saturdays in our gym. We have worship in the gym; so your know the gym; so come and be with us.

The kids on the team was wondering if they were going to get recognized. They were wondering if their names were going to be called. They were wanting to know if they would get some kind of trinkit. I just shrugged. I had no answer for them except that we did not have the afternoon schedule.

Today, I truly experience the "BAIT & SWITCH" tactic by a church and I felt "fooled". It truly upset my stomach. I also wanted to reach out and grab someone after hearing:

If something would happen to you today; do you know for 100% sure that you would spend eternity with Jesus.

for the 8th time ........

If you wanted to give a "gospel" presentation; at least let us know that is what the afternoon will be; so we can "plan" for it or NOT SHOW. Do not cover it as an award ceremony.

At least ( the very least ), you could have done the following:

1 - Called each teams name and have them stand
2 - Get a 4-5 minute song and place each team picture on the big screen as the song is being played.

Alright, I am done being negative. I will wrap this up with my highlight of the night and reminder:

Please do not give me a gospel presentation and promote your church under the "scheme" of an awards ceremony.

Christmas Morning

The kidios always walk into the living room together on Christmas morning. In this manner, they can all see their presents at the same time. Their reactions at time are quite often a little different. This year, Bethany was the one with a little different reaction. For your information, the present from "Santa" is always unwrapped and their presents from us surrounds their present from Santa. They are allowed to ask "Santa" for 1 present. This year, "Santa" brought all 3 of them their wish.

Here is the video of them on Christmas morning:

WVU Crushes Oklahoma

Slaton went out very early in the 1st quarter but Devine came in and played a great game. His speed lit up the OU defense a few times and he finished with some nice stats for a frehman rb. He carried the ball for 12 times for 105 yards and 2 TD's. He also caught 2 passes for 47 yards and he also returned 4 kicks for 89 yards .. pretty impressive.

Pat White played a great game as well. The best things that he did was that he did not turn the ball over and he manage the game well with good reads all night. His stats weren't bad either. He had 151 yards rushing on 20 carries and he was efficient in the passing game. He was 10 for 19 for 179 yards and 2 TD's. A few of the misses (incompletes) were the WR fault.

WVU ended up winning by 20 (48-28) in the Fiesta Bowl. Not many people gave them a chance to win the game. Heck, most people did not even think that they would be in the game. They thought OU would blow them out. The team proved the experts wrong.



Congrats, Mr. Bill Stewart. I think that you did a great job holding the team together and brought them the the bowl with great energy. The govenor and AD will not be calling me for advice, but I would be very happy if they took interim off of you and named you our new head coach.

My Heart Goes Out To Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya - A mob torched a church sheltering hundreds of Kenyans fleeing election violence on Tuesday, and at least 50 people burned to death, police and a witness said as the president came under increasing pressure over the disputed vote.

Violence has been escelating. President Mwai Kibaki came under increasing pressure for what protesters called his sham re-election. People are venturing out but violence and riots are occurring. The country is in a little unrest.

I know that there are many Christians in this country that have a real hear for Kenya and are doing great relief work there and trying to help them especially in creating safe drinking water and being able to help raise food for themselves. May your work not be hampered and may you be safe.