Christ Seeker

Lessons from Little League...

Tonight I reached the pinnacle of my softball coaching career.  No, my team didn't win the championship although they did win the game they played.  No, we didn't break any records or set new standards of excellence for the under-10 Sun Prairie girls softball league.  What did happen was one of our players got her first hit of the season and was rewarded by her parents with ice cream!  Woo Hoo! 

Savannah came to us with absolutely no experience or knowledge of softball.  She was a late addition to the team because her parents recently moved here and had missed the deadline.  At her first practice, she couldn't throw, catch, hit, or field.  She knew how to put on her stiff, brand new softball glove and that was about it.  But over the course of the last several weeks, my assistant coach and I poured our lives into her.  We worked with her in one on one situations.  We had her try different positions in the field.  We gave her opportunity after opportunity to learn and she soaked it up.  Her parents also worked with her.  They spent a ton of time playing catch and teaching her how to hit.  She told me this evening that they even spent all of Father's Day at the diamond working on her hitting.  And tonight it paid off.  With us clinging to a one run lead and runners in scoring position, she drove a ball right up the middle into the outfield. 

The crowd roared.  Savannah grinned.  She high-fived me so hard it made my hand sting.  In that moment you could tell she had "arrived".  She no longer thought of herself as a girl trying hard to learn how to play softball...she was now a "softball player." 

So tonight I am reflecting on what God has taught me through Savannah.  First of all, faith is something that is caught more than taught.  The reality is that I gave Savannah all the tips she could handle about hitting.  I told her to keep her eye on the ball.  To balance her stance.  To keep her back elbow high.  But until she put it all together and that bat made contact, it didn't matter.  Our faith is like that.  It is meant be experienced.  Not that learning isn't important, it is, but the reality is our lives have to make "contact" with God and with the world God is desperately reaching out to if we are to understand what faith is all about. 

Second, the effort has to be there.  Savannah has spent countless hours practicing in order to get better.  She has pulled her mom, who up until recently was nine months pregnant, outside to throw her the ball.  As I mentioned above, she pulled her dad out onto the diamond for Father's Day. She has asked me and my assistant coach to work with her before and after practices and games.  She clearly has thrown herself into becoming a better softball player.  Growing in faith is very much the same. The Bible talks about us "working out our salvation with fear and trembling".  Jesus tells us that unless we lose our lives for his sake we will never find them.  James tells us that faith without works is dead.  Growing in faith and becoming more faithful disciples requires all that we have and all that we are. 

Third, Savannah would be nowhere without community.  Her mom and dad.  Her sister.  Her teammates.  Her coaches.  She is surrounded by a network of people dedicated to her growth as a softball player.  We all need that kind of community.  We all need people in our lives who are committed to our spiritual growth and maturity.

You know, I don't know where our team will go from here.  I don't know if we will win any more games or the end of the season tournament or the league championship.  I don't know if we will set any scoring records or place any more kids on the all-star team.  I don't even know if Savannah will get another hit...although I am pretty sure she will!  What I do know is that there is a young 10 year old girl heading to bed with a smile on her face, joy in her heart, and a tummy full of ice cream.  Can life get any better than this?

Beautiful signs...

My family and I planted our first garden this year.  We took some friends up on the offer to use part of their large garden plot to put in our own vegetables.  Sort of a community garden kind of thing.  Over the past few weeks, we made our plans.  We went to the store to pick out the plants we wanted.  We hoed each row.  We planted the seeds.  We covered them up and watered them.  We have tried to be vigilant when the milkweeds and thistles threaten.  And we are now beginning to see the fruits of our labors.  The seeds have sprouted.  The plants are poking through the earth.  Peas, beans, carrots, lettuce, and cucumbers.  And every time I go over to the garden with my children I am reminded, by their "oohs and ahhs", of the wonder of life. 

This week I find myself in a similar place of wonder at the life that is starting to spring forth in Allelon.  Friendships are continuing to grow.  People are finding their place of service.  Worship is touching us more deeply.  Leaders are beginning to emerge.  Surely these signs have been there all along but it has not always been as obvious or on the surface or perhaps I simply didn't have the eyes to see it. 

Yesterday, a few of the families gathered for the community block party in Sun Prairie.  It was awesome.  We watched our children go from booth to booth for balloon animals, to see the fish, and to dunk the poor guy in the dunk tank.  As they played, we caught up on life.  We also got the chance to meet several new friends in our community.  People who popped by to say "hi" and to find out how we are doing.  It was very cool for all of us to see how connected we have become to our community in such a short period of time. 

This morning, we met at our usual place and time for worship.  We fellowshipped.  We sang.  We studied and discussed God's Word.  We prayed for one another.  God is clearly drawing us closer to himself each and every week through our worship together.  I had the privilege of spending time with the children of our community and it is always amazing to witness their spiritual depth and growth. 

This week, many of us will be participating in mission together.  One of our folks organizes and directs a VBS camp for inner-city kids out on a country farm.  Starting tomorrow we will be crafting, doing activities, reading Scripture, singing, and having a blast sharing our faith and our lives with these precious children.  People from Allelon are volunteering at various times all week while others have been involved in the preparation it takes to pull off a camp of this size. 

In another week, several of us will be meeting to pray and discuss what a leadership team might look like.  If Allelon is to continue growing as a community, we will need godly leaders.  People with gifts and passion and a calling from God.  It is so exciting to think about what God is going to do in the coming months and years in and through us for the sake of His Kingdom! 

Yep, more and more I feel like I am seeing the sprouts beginning to break through...and I find my soul "oohing and ahhing" with the wonder of it all. 

More thoughts to ponder...

This certainly squares with my experience not only with the Millenial generation but also Generation X which is my generation.

Some key Scripture passages on Christian community...

Without a doubt, there are millions of different ways to live in "Christian community". Some are good and lead to an increase in faithfulness and spiritual maturity.  Others are not so good and only reinforce habits of the heart that keep us far from God. And still others are downright destructive - see Jonestown or the Branch Davidians as examples. Imagine for a moment that you have never heard the Gospel or experienced authentic Christian community.  How would one begin to sort through the myriad of options out there to find a spiritual home?  And, on the flip side, how can those of us who are engaged in Christian community already continue the hard work of transformation so that we can become a spiritual home for those seeking to follow Jesus?  Here are some key Scriptural passages that certainly should guide our thoughts and actions...(all passages from Eugene Peterson's, The Message)

Acts 2:42-47:

They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers. Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met.as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved. They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God.  People in general liked what they saw.  Every day their number grew as God added to those who were saved.

Acts 4:32-37:

The whole congregation of believers was united as one—one heart, one mind! They didn’t even claim ownership of their own possessions. No one said, “That’s mine; you can’t have it.” They shared everything. The apostles gave powerful witness to the resurrection of the Master Jesus, and grace was on all of them.  And so it turned out that not a person among them was needy. Those who owned fields or houses sold them and brought the price of the sale to the apostles and made an offering of it. The apostles then distributed it according to each person’s need.Joseph, called by the apostles “Barnabas” (which means “Son of Comfort”), a Levite born in Cyprus, sold a field that he owned, brought the money, and made an offering of it to the apostles.

1 Corinthians 14:26-33:

So here’s what I want you to do. When you gather for worship, each one of you be prepared with something that will be useful for all: Sing a hymn, teach a lesson, tell a story, lead a prayer, provide an insight. If prayers are offered in tongues, two or three’s the limit, and then only if someone is present who can interpret what you’re saying. Otherwise, keep it between God and yourself. And no more than two or three speakers at a meeting, with the rest of you listening and taking it to heart. Take your turn, no one person taking over. Then each speaker gets a chance to say something special from God, and you all learn from each other. If you choose to speak, you’re also responsible for how and when you speak. When we worship the right way, God doesn’t stir us up into confusion; he brings us into harmony.

Galatians 3:28-29:

In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s famous “descendant,” heirs according to the covenant promises.

James 5:13-20:

Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out.  Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again. My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God.

I am sure that these just touch the surface as there are many more we could cite.  But I think this gives us a good picture of how the early church sought to order their life together in authentic Christian community.  Did they do it perfectly?  Nope.  All one has to do is read through Paul's letters to see the struggles they had.  Thankfully, though, they never gave up and we now stand as inheritors of what they persevered to create under the guidance and with the power of the Holy Spirit.  And in a world of rapid change and massive cultural shifts, the question is pressed...what kind of community are we leaving behind?  Do we offer a spiritual home for the weary traveler?  Or merely a set of religious goods to offer the consumer? 

Meaning of Data...

Rise of the non-religious...

Another great link for folks looking at cultural shifts in society that are going to have a huge impact on the 21st century church...