It's not Christmas

It’s not Christmas, so I feel safe uncovering my true feelings on most holiday pageants. They’re cheesy: recorded music, poor drama, cheap costumes.

But there’s something we love about having kids up on stage even when the presentation is less than professional. I wonder if this might serve as a metaphor for our spiritual lives and the ministry to which God calls us.

We can’t remember our lines. We get distracted and lose focus.

A boy picks his nose. A girl cries and is carried off by her father. One child plays with the ears of another child’s costume.

So many Christians are like the younger children who enjoy the songs and feel important being up front. Sometimes, there’s fighting over who gets to hold the baby. There’s a slightly older group that thinks about levels of responsibility and resents those bigger speaking parts or prettier costumes. They are impatient when others don’t do it right. And there are those who are bored and disillusioned, silently asking, “What’s the purpose? Why do we make a spectacle of our foolish immaturity?”

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Frog's Visit

Typing at my computer, I sit next to the basement window with a view of the sky and the lawn above. Sometimes, I have visitors — dead leaves from last fall, a plastic bag on the loose, bits of bright green clippings from the mower, a dandelion struggling toward the sun. And once, there was a frog.

I might have failed to notice, but he jumped against the window, gently knocked two times, then three. And as I watched, he slowly climbed the wire mesh screen, inserted tiny legs in small square holes and pulled, straining for the top. He fell and stayed so still that I lost track, went back to typing until he knocked again. He stopped and sat astride a leaf and stared in silence as it rained.

I’m not quite sure that I can do the moment justice. It seems that I too often miss the beauty of the everyday. I focus on computer screen, my link with other places, other people, other things I have to do. But God, in His wisdom, all the while is whispering in my ear to look away from monitor, just for a moment, and marvel in what He has made. In the midst of my busy-ness, God intervenes, invites me for a walk in the garden.

“But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of His divine being.” Romans 1:19, 20 (The Message)

Read more at Barclay Press.

Mom Died from Cocaine

NAMPA -- Alysia Baxter, 14, lost her mother to a cocaine overdose almost nine years ago. But the Destiny Christian School freshman refuses to use her past as an excuse not to excel.

"I did not know at the time what the lesson of my mother dying would be," Baxter said, "but I am learning a lot of lessons now."

She credits the Nampa Boys and Girls Club for many of those learning experiences.

"They taught me my dreams were attainable," Baxter said, adding that the local club provides her an opportunity to help others.

Baxter said she first attended the club because her dad made her go. But now, she's a recognized leader at the local organization and is one of five state finalists for the Boys and Girls Club State Youth of the Year Competition slated for Thursday.

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No Time

The world never stops. Its citizens scurry from home to work and back with barely time to breathe in a frenetic freeway rush of activity. Climbing the corporate ladder requires extra hours, so even sleep is sacrificed to the gods of success. Those removed from the work-a-day world whirl through meetings and projects of clubs and causes. Or they focus their time on leisure activity, the great oxymoron of modern society.

Activity is addictive. And like any addiction, there are consequences. The symptoms of life’s staccato speed are universal: headaches, depression, loneliness, irritation, shallow relationships, mountains of debt in the frenzied pursuit of bigger and better. What will it take to regain perspective, return to sensible living? Where does rapid-fire, war-torn living end?

A doctor from Australia, now living in Seattle, suggests a solution. Christine Sine writes of a different way in Sacred Rhythms: Finding a Peaceful Pace in a Hectic World (Baker Books, 2003). And she starts with her own experience: “I was so busy being zealous for God that I did not take the time to renew and replenish my spiritual life,” Sine writes. “I ended up in the hospital.

“I spent time reflecting on what had brought me to that place and how I could have avoided it,” she continues. “The underlying cause was a viral illness, but I am convinced that my body rebelled against my fast-paced, high-stress lifestyle. I had abused my body. I had lived in a state of constant spiritual arrhythmia . . . . Now I was paying the price.”

In just over 230 pages, Sine offers a challenge to Christians in the western world. She asks them to stop for a moment, diagnose the arrhythmia of their own lives, and seek out the proper rhythm established by the Creator of life itself.

Sine recognizes that separation from the world — in most cases — is neither desirable nor possible. She insists that we need balance: “a rhythm that both paces us through the everyday and sustains us through the mountain passes.” And she spends considerable space selecting and explaining disciplines intended to restore a healthy focus to our lives and balance existence in the world with a spiritual perspective.

Celebration: “Christ is meant to break the power of the eternal winter of our souls and bring festivity and celebration to our lives.”

Prayer: “Intimacy does not develop from a one-sided monologue.”

Relationship: “We know that the darkness is dispelled and the dawn has come when we can see in the countenance of another the face of Christ.”

Sabbath Rest: “For the Jews, Sabbath is fundamental to life and to both their spiritual and emotional health. It is the culmination of the week, the day that gives purpose to all other days.”

Christ’s message, according to Sine, is not one of guilt or condemnation. Instead, God longs for His creation to rediscover the gift of life He gave in the garden. It’s not a duty. It’s not a space in time waiting to be filled by human activity. This gift of life is opportunity and only the beginning of what God has in store for those who seek Him.

Death on a Farm

I found a dead cat in the hay. It was late last summer. I was sorting boxes in the barn while my mom visited with a neighbor at the gate.

It’s not so unusual to find death on a farm. Coyotes kill the ducks, and chicken eggs sometimes fall from makeshift nests. So I wasn’t surprised. Instead, I pondered the juxtaposition of my silent discovery with the sounds of life from just outside.

I remember hearing a dog — barking from across the field — and children laughing. Barn swallow hatchlings cried for food while a sheep bleated below. In spite of tragedy — no matter how momentous — life goes on. I found in this moment both peace and encouragement.

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This morning, thinking about what it means to minister, I remembered a thought that came to me eight years ago. I was struggling with the measures we use for outreach activities in the church. We count commitments. The argument goes something like this: “We count people because every person counts.“ It sounds like a great bumper sticker slogan, but if that’s what ministry is about, I reasoned, than Christ commissions salesmen. Back then, I refused to think of myself as God’s salvation huckster. I still find the idea repulsive.

My focus must be on letting God have His way in me rather than trying to push my way on others. I’ve seen the church commercial with it’s cheap grace: “You can have all this for a quick, repentant prayer and no payments for the rest of eternity! But wait, there’s more! Act now and receive quality Sunday morning programming for your entire family!”

That’s not what I need, and it’s far from what I desire. I want to meet God. I want to know Him. I want to follow Him. I want to die to self and live in Him so that I might have life and have it to the fullest. In turn, I hope that others will glimpse Christ alive in me and begin to recognize their own hunger for what is real rather than that which is easy or cheap.

“The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.” John 12:25, 26

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More than 100 Americans have died in Iraq this month. And suicide bombings in Basra Wednesday along with continued battles in Fallujah leave the conflict with no end in sight. Our “war on terror” is not going well, and Congress is holding simultaneous hearings on how much more we’ll have to spend as well as what went wrong. The pre-emptive strike — hailed as an operation of surgical precision — has ended in a quagmire.

In the beginning, it seemed this was the only sane method for removal of a madman. Using force to capture Saddam made sense. Now, we’re committed. Spain, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic announced they’ll withdraw their troops within the next few weeks, and Poland may join suit. Meanwhile, we have close to 135,000 fighting men and women in the region with thousands gearing up for transfer to Iraq.

I don’t know what will happen next, and I don’t have any good advice or words of wisdom. But Jesus — in His introduction of God’s Kingdom — offered us another way.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” Matthew 5:38-42

Here is a different kind of pre-emptive strike. We respond to those who would make us victims by offering more than they require. It seems like foolishness, this loving of enemies and prayer for those who persecute, and it runs counter to my personal concept of equity. But Jesus understood the weight of His words. He called us then and now to a holy revolution. And He made it personal when he instructed us to begin by loving our neighbors.

“Christ didn’t say, ‘Love humanity as thyself,’ but ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself,’ and do you know why? Because your neighbor, by definition, is the person nearby, the man sitting next to you in the underground who smells, perhaps, the man next to you in the queue who maybe tries to barge ahead of you, in short, your neighbor is the person who threatens your own liberty.” Luciano De Crescenzo

Source: Daily Dig

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I help to cover politics for the newspaper in Nampa. Today, I interviewed a local man, a profile. He seeks a legislative seat. He’s anti-tax and wants to bring more jobs to Canyon County. He spoke of education and construction and the elderly. And while I jotted notes, I thought how similar this sounds to all the rest. Each one defines his character according to accomplishments. Each list — the same — with clubs and causes, offices, endorsements. Individual aspects are accounted relative to others, a blobby shape at best. The only differentiation comes from what’s been done and what’s opposed. We have fences but no foundation.

And what about me? I too am guilty of self-image by comparison. Instead of seeking Christ’s character, I create a rubric for success, assess myself by personal performance and how much better or worse it is than that turned in by others.

This is not the way of truth.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

A metaphor. Spiritual growth, the discovery of personal purpose, can never come from comparison, one branch to another. I have tried to define my being by what I do. And all this time, I had it backwards.

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NAMPA--If students fall short of state standards on a test this week, they might get to switch schools.

Public schools that miss the mark two years in a row may be required to offer students a choice of where to attend as soon as next fall.

The standard is measured -- in part -- by what percentage of a school's students test at or above grade level in math and reading on the Idaho Standards Achievement Test. Students statewide are taking the test this week.

More than half of Canyon County schools missed the standard last spring. But local school officials said this week there is no reason to worry.

Superintendent Vaughn Heinrich said most of the Vallivue schools in question made the list because they did not test enough students last spring. He said the schools missed participation standards but met state performance requirements.

Heinrich said the district paid close attention to every student when testing this fall and has easily surpassed the state participation standard.

"I'm not feeling uncomfortable," Heinrich said, adding that Vallivue has worked to fix the problem. "It would be premature to panic."

Jay Hummel, Nampa's assistant superintendent, pointed out that even if some schools miss the target twice, giving students a choice is something the district already does.

"We have open enrollment," Hummel said, explaining that Nampa students can apply for any school in the district. "We believe in choice. We've got lots of schools. We're able to provide some options."

But there are limits. If there is not room for all students who choose to transfer to a certain campus, priority is given to low-achieving, low-income students.

But they don't have priority over students in the attendance area, so they won't bump students out of their home school.

Caldwell Assistant Superintendent Chuck Randolph said some local schools will go on school improvement plans in the fall. But he said missing state standards for adequate yearly progress does not make for a bad school.

"It would be instructive if you would take a look at our lowest-achieving school and look at the multitude of things they have going," Randolph said. He cited before and after-school programs that mean more than two hours a day of extra instruction for many students.

Randolph said these students show marked growth over the course of the year. But he pointed to Caldwell's highly mobile population, which means the district often does not have long to work with a student.

"People have to understand the deficit a kid is in if this is his third school in one year," Randolph said. "No apology, we take in (whoever) comes to the front door."

Find more at the Idaho Press-Tribune.

I log on to the Internet late at night to play chess. In between moves, I check my e-mail, read the news, and think. It’s quiet here at the end of the day. But peering through computer screen — mystical aperture — brings close the noisy conflict of a war-torn world.

Hamas vows vengeance. Warnings of a terrorist attack. 127 New York passengers injured when one train bumps another. A boy who died in an oven.

My life seems small.

I pray that God will use what I have, that I might be a harbor of peace and a vessel filled from streams of living water. I pray that I might be a friend to the afflicted, a living message of hope. I know I have no such store of good things for I, too, am impoverished. But I pray.

And I remember His words: “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed . . . nothing will be impossible for you.”

I pray for change.

Find more at Barclay Press.