From Donn's Desk

February 2010

One of the things I asked for and received for Christmas was a coloring book and crayons. When I made my request, my family gave me a number of strange looks. I don’t usually enjoy crafts, and I’m not very good at making crafts either, so the question was asked why? A number of years ago there was a short-lived TV series about a sports journalist and his job and his family. He is married and has children, including a daughter who is growing up all too fast for him (ie Middle School or High School), who goes out for her soccer team. She makes it very clear that she does not want her dad attending her practices. But her dad keeps trying to sneak in anyway. He hides behind rocks, trees, etc and keeps getting caught in different embarrassing scenarios. But he is also frustrated, feeling left out. The daughter is also frustrated. She can’t understand why her dad keeps trying to sneak around after she has asked him to not come. She complains about this to her mother and in the height of her complaining she says, “Besides, Dad hates soccer. He makes fun of it all the time on his show. Why is he doing this to me?” And the mom answers. “Yes, you’re dad hates soccer, but he loves you.” And the light clicks on in the daughter’s eyes. Her dad wasn’t trying to embarrass her; he just wanted to be a part of what she was doing. I didn’t ask for crayons because of a sudden passion for coloring. I asked for them because I wanted to share time with my family. My thought was that it would be fun to lay down on the floor like we did when they were little and stretch out and color and just talk while we were coloring. See, the idea had nothing to do with crayons and color books, it had to do with time and talking. This month we will be coming into the season of Lent. Lent is a great time for talking and listening with God. Not always in big, dramatic ways or special-effects moments, but in quietness to simply spend time with God. This Lenten season I invite you to spend some time with God. Donn

January 2010

As we enter into a New Year, many people take time to reflect and sometimes make resolutions for the New Year. Sometimes we discover that we need to make a ‘course correction.’ This is a good thing, otherwise we end up even more off course. For some of us it may be that we recognize we need to spend more time with God through study, through prayer, or through worship. Others may recognize a need to spend more time with family or friends and less time at work. Others may see a need to change to a healthier lifestyle, less junk food and more exercise. The truth is the New Year is important because we have an amazing capacity for self-deception and self-justification and the New Year offers us an opportunity to make adjustments. In Charles Dickens, “Christmas Carol” Scrooge isn’t left feeling sorry for all the bad choices he had made, he was convicted about all the good he could still do. If we are driving and get lost, feeling sad and sorry isn’t going to help us get to where we need to be anymore than assuring ourselves that we are not lost is going to get us on the right road. The New Year offers us more than just a chance to make changes; it also reminds us of the hope given to us by God in Jesus Christ. We have hope because in Jesus we see how much God loves us, in Jesus we see how much God desires to have a relationship with us, we have hope because in Jesus Christ we are forgiven. I hope each of us will use this New Year as an opportunity to make the changes that will help us deepen our walk with Christ and move closer in our relationship with God. I pray that each of us will allow ourselves to be convicted enough to change, to put away our self-deception and to receive the grace God gives us in Jesus Christ. Happy New Year! Donn

December 2009

If we knew of a co-worker, neighbor, friend, or family member who had no where to go for Thanksgiving, we would invite them to our house. We would not be embarrassed, and I don’t think we would feel put out, in fact, just the opposite, I think we would feel grateful that we had an opportunity to reach out, and chances are very good, our friend would also feel very grateful to be included. Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone, but I think the same principal applies to Christmas. Not so much Christmas dinner, but worship services during this season of Advent and Christmas. What a great opportunity for us to reach out and invite someone to worship. I would hope that we would be excited about the opportunity for that person to come into a living and loving relationship with God through Jesus Christ as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. There is nothing to be embarrassed or shy about, and yet every year there are many people who are not invited. People whom we would welcome in our homes and at our table for Thanksgiving should also know they are welcome at the Lord’s Table. As we begin this month of December, let’s pay attention to those whom God has placed in our lives. The fact of the matter is, there are some people you know who have not been invited, who do not know that there is a place at the Table for them. There are some people you know who simply need to hear words of love and grace, forgiveness and understanding. There are some people you know, who will never come up to you and ask, but will forever be grateful when you took the initiative and came up to them and offered the invitation. Donn

November 2009

As we approach Halloween and face again the flurry of costumed children looking for some sweets, I would have us remember times when perhaps we wished we were a super hero who had super powers. Of course when we were young we were more likely to use those powers for personal advantage, but now that we are older we might try to convince ourselves that we would use our powers more responsibly. Some of you may have seen the movie, “Bruce Almighty” in which God entrusts the title character with supernatural powers. Bruce promptly uses his powers in a wide range of ways, mostly for selfish advantage with disastrous results. Eventually Bruce learns that our problems do not arise from being powerless, but from either not using the power we have, or using the power we have, irresponsibly. Mahatma Gandhi was once asked, “If you were given the power to remake the world, what would you do first?” And he replied, “I would pray for power to renounce that power.” The fact of the matter is that God has already entrusted us with the greatest power. It is not weapons or science or technology, but rather the simple power of love, the unconditional love of God given to us in Jesus Christ. Each of us have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to use that power in a way that saves others, (i.e. introduces them to Jesus Christ) or to save ourselves, (i.e. stay silent and save ourselves from embarrassment). The issue isn’t if we have the power to change the world, we clearly do, after all looked at how the early church began, with 11 disciples who had failed and 1 apostle who started out as an enemy of the church. Everyday we are faced with the ability to choose. We can choose to honor God by coming to worship, or we can stay away. We can choose to study by reading or listening to God’s Word, or we can read the paper and watch the news. We can choose to pray, or we can say we are too busy and go back to our own agenda and our ever-growing lists of responsibilities. At Halloween a number of people are going to come to us, pretending to be something they are not and hoping for a treat. But what the world really needs is people who are courageous enough to quit pretending and getting on with the very real business of being who they are and doing what God has called them to do. The choice is up to us what we will give, a trick that fools them into believing we are something we are not, to treat them by offering a living relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Donn

October 2009

Some of you may be familiar with a saying attributed to Mother Theresa, “I know that God will not give me more than I can handle, but sometimes I worry that God trusts me too much!” I am sure that many of us can relate to Mother Theresa’s sentiment. Because we are people of faith, when we are feeling overwhelmed, we remember the basic truth affirmed with both the birth of Jesus and his resurrection: God is with us and nothing can separate us from God’s love. Such a perspective frees us from panic. Where others may see a crisis, as people of faith we see challenges and opportunities to express our faith, our trust and our hope in God. Still, there are times when we may be tempted to look up at the heavens and wonder… At such times I am reminded of Paul’s encouragement to the church at Rome, ‘For we know that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.’ (Rom 5:3-5) There is an old story told about 2 children: One child is put in a room filled with every toy imaginable while the other child is put in a barn filled with manure. When the first child is visited, he is in the middle of the room, crying because he cannot make up his mind which toy he wants. When the second child is visited, he is seen laughing as he runs and jumps and slides and digs through all of the manure. When he is asked why he is so happy the child responds, “with all of this manure, there must be a pony in here someplace!’ The child’s focus is not on what everyone else sees, the child’s focus is on his hope. As Christians, we are called to live as people of hope, who are able to point beyond suffering or challenges that seem unfair and overwhelming and instead point to the faithfulness of God who loves us and who has promised to always be with us. Paul reminds us that even if we start with trouble, as people of faith we end with hope. Our troubles do not define us. Our sorrows do not define us. Even our pain does not define us. We are defined by our faith, not by our circumstances, by our hope and trust, not by our situation. We remember that with God all things are possible, and when we do, we too rejoice. Donn

September 2009

Some of you may have seen the movie, “A Beautiful Mind” based on the life of John Nash. John Nash was hailed as one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century. To say he was a genius would be an understatement. His thesis on the dynamics of human conflict revolutionized economic theory and eventually earned him a Nobel Prize. He was a distinguished professor at MIT before he was out of his 20’s. But at the height of his career, he suffered a breakdown. He interrupted a lecture to say he was on the cover of Life magazine disguised as the Pope. He claimed foreign governments were communicating to him through the media. He turned down a prestigious post at the University of Chicago because he said he was going to be named the Emperor of Antarctica. In his head John Nash saw people and heard voices that made him feel important, as if he was the center of the universe. They played on his darkest fears. When he listened to the voices it distorted his perceptions, made him obsessive, irrational, terrified, it destroyed his relationships, they led to death. In a scene towards the end of the movie, John Nash comes out of a classroom and encounters a man waiting to speak to him, a man he has never seen before. The man tells Nash that he has come to talk with him about being awarded the Nobel Prize. Nash is silent for a moment. He has suffered too much from listening to voices of grandiosity. He is not going to listen to the voice on his own. He stops one of his students and asks if the student sees the man standing there. When the student says, “Yes.” Nash turns to the visitor and says, “OK. I’ll listen to you now.” A humbling thing for a man with a brilliant mind to have to do, but Nash learned that community could help him discern which voices were worth listening to and which were delusional. Part of the gift of a Christian community is knowing there are people who love us and care for us and can help us separate what we need to hear from what we want to hear. But we have to be willing to listen. This past Sunday I spoke some truths about our lives that needed to be said and hopefully were heard. As a spiritual leader of our congregation I am concerned that too many of us are listening to fanciful voices that are far removed from the reality of what it means to live a life of grace. There is a cost to discipleship, it cost Jesus his life. Therefore, it would be foolish for us to think it won’t cost us anything. A life of faith means a willingness to put God first, which means we are not. A life of discipleship means we recognize the difference between trying and training, between want and need, between voices of delusion and the voice of truth that sets us free. Donn

August 2009

Here are some summer time thoughts about buzzards, bats and bees. The Buzzard: If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top. The Bat: The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. The Bumblebee: A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists. People: In many ways, people can be like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee. As Christians we’ve been blessed with the Good News, the Gospel of Salvation. We know how to escape the prison of sin, we have been blessed with wings to fly. As Christians we are given a hope that elevates us, lifts us out of the flatness of our lives. And finally, we can tell others who seem bent on trying to find a way where there is no way, we can tell others that the way out is not at the bottom, but at the top, we can tell them to look up. Many of you may remember the story I’ve told about the Eagle and the Chicken. The eagle flies and sees an eaglet scratching on the ground with chickens. The eagle is shocked and dismayed to see this and asks the eaglet what it is doing. Come to find out, the eaglet thinks it is a chicken. The eagle has to convince the eaglet that it is not a chicken, and finally does, helping the eaglet discover its true identity. I would change the story now to reflect the responsibility we have, who once thought we were chickens and discovered we are eagles. Our mission is to save the others, who think they are chickens, to save others who think they are hopelessly trapped. We are called to share the good news with others that they too may stretch their wings and fly as God intended and discover their true identity as children of God. Donn

July 2009

Summer has officially arrived. A time when many have an opportunity to take a vacation, take some time off work, change their routine, at least for a few days. A time when children are free from school and parents receive the mixed blessings of more time with their children in an unstructured environment, away from homework hassles, but into cries of ‘I’m bored.’ It’s not that summer is a slow time (for many it is a busy time), but summer is a different kind of time. There are trips to the beach, the pool, the zoo, the museum, even the backyard. There are cook-outs, ball games, Frisbee tossing, bicycle rides, and maybe a movie matinee. There is staying up late, getting up late, and not worried about being late for appointments or schedules. Of course not everyone embraces summer this way. For some it is too hot, the kids are too much underfoot, and there is too much chaos. For some, summer is not a time to be enjoyed, but endured, and some parents begin to anticipate the start of the school year the way some children count the days to Christmas. But for all of us, summer offers opportunities that are too often neglected. The chance to be a counselor at one of our summer camps, the opportunity to help with Vacation Bible School, to take a shortened Bible Study course, to become involved in a new ministry like Celebrate Recovery. God created and designed the world and our lives around the seasons for a reason. God helps us to recognize that there is a rhythm and rhyme to our lives. I pray that we will make the most of this opportunity God gives us, to rejoice with God and the loved ones who share our lives. I pray that we will also take time to give God thanks, and to reflect on the ways we can trust God in all the seasons of our lives. May you have a blessed summer. Donn

June Newsletter

Nancy used to work at a home health agency in Los Angeles. She would drive to the homes of her patients to make sure that the agency’s nurses and aides were giving proper care and service. Her district covered a wide area, from multimillion-dollar homes to run down one bedroom apartments. One Tuesday afternoon, she was in a lower economic neighborhood, most of the houses were pretty ramshackle, so she was surprised when she pulled up to the address to find a modest, well-kept home, with a small but lovely garden out front. The family she was visiting had just recently emigrated from Mexico, so Nancy knew they probably had little support in terms of extended family or long-time friends. Nancy checked the file, there was a husband, a wife, and 2 little boys, 7 and 3 years old. Unfortunately the 7 yr old had been diagnosed with adrenoleukodystrophy, (the topic of the movie, Lorenzo’s Oil) two years earlier. This disease is genetic and fatal. The mother answered the door and invited Nancy into the living room where the 7 yr old lay on the couch. He was very thin, wore a diaper, and had a feeding tube in his nose. His body was skeletal, contracted in the fetal position. He was unable to communicate except for a soft groan. In broken English the mother told Nancy that the Dr believed he was most likely blind and deaf at this point. Touch was the last form of communication she had with her first-born son. The mother offered Nancy a cup of tea while the 3 yr old played on the floor. In her limited Spanish, Nancy asked about the boy’s treatment and care. The mother showed her the cabinet where the boy’s medications were kept. Nancy noticed that the rest of the cupboards were practically bare. It was a pretty bleak situation, very little furniture, very little food. The insurance only provided 8 hours of care a week. The few friends that the mother knew really were not able to help with her son’s complicated care. Nancy asked about the husband’s availability to help. The mother grew very quiet. Nancy asked again and the mother said the husband had left her 3 weeks ago. That was the day they had visited the Dr who told them that their 7 yr old probably only had 6 weeks left to live. At the most. Then the Dr told them that their 3 yr old had also tested positive for the disease. He would likely come down with the first symptoms in a couple of years. The mother wept, the father left. And Nancy, who was used to hard-core cases, left the home and cried. Then she got busy making a list of things she could do to help, people she could contact, resources she could line up, from food to babysitting, she had a list of people and agencies to call. Nothing can take the place of losing 2 sons and a husband, but no one should go through such terrible pain alone. No one. Unfortunately that was as far as Nancy got. She made a good list, but she never made a single call. Ever. As far as sins go, that one is pretty bad. Nancy had a great opportunity and great ideas. She could have made a difference, but she didn’t. Fortunately most of us will never be in the mother’s position or even Nancy’s position. But each of us are in a position to make a difference. I pray that we will do so. Donn

From Donn's Desk - May, 2009

From Donn’s Desk: Baseball season has started, and as most of you know I’m not really a baseball guy, but I am familiar with some of the legendary names of baseball: Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Kirk Gibson. Jackie Robinson is credited with breaking the ‘color’ barrier in baseball. Babe Ruth was the home-run king, Ty Cobb’s lifetime batting average (.366) still stands as a record. So here’s the pitch (it’s a pun, get it?). Just like Jackie Robinson, we are called to break down barriers all the time, to show the inclusive nature of God’s love, and grace, and kingdom. Babe Ruth not only led the league in home-runs, he also led the league in strike-outs, no matter how good we are, sometimes we are going to miss (Greek word for sin = to miss the mark). Same with Ty Cobb has the best lifetime batting average, he still struck out more than he hit. Understand, these baseball players are legendary for their achievements, but they still missed. I’m sure you can make the point with our Christian life, no matter how good we are, we are still going to need God’s grace because we are still going to miss the mark, we are still going to sin. Imagine now that it’s the World Series, the ninth inning, your team is one run behind, one man on base and two outs. The world’s greatest relief pitcher is on the mound and Kirk Gibson is up to bat. Kirk Gibson, badly injured, gimpy knee, five-o’clock shadow who hits .250. That means that he strikes out ¾ of the time. What happens? Then there is Kenny. Kenny was a professional baseball player, a pitcher, who could throw a baseball as if it were coming out of a cannon, until he got injured, and never recovered. Life goes on, and Kenny gets married. He has a relative by marriage who was extremely ill and facing death unless someone donated a kidney. None of the biological relatives were a good match, but Kenny was. Kenny stepped up to the plate and donated his kidney. And maybe right now you’re thinking, what happened to the game? How did we jump from Kirk to Kenny, from the World Series to kidneys? Tell us what happened! What happened was the relative lived. See, ultimately our lives are about giving life to others, not necessarily by donating a kidney, but by sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ, when we do that, everyone gets to home. Donn PS, 1988 World Series, L.A. Dodgers vs Oakland A’s, one of the great moments of baseball, and the reason why Dodger fans believe in God and A fans doubt.