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Category Archives: Travel

Random Thoughts from Seattle

24 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by laceduplutheran in Church, Theology, Travel

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

homelessness, poverty, Seattle, training

I’m currently in Seattle, WA – at a training with mission developers.  My focus is on poverty and homelessness.  It’s been an interesting week so far.  A lot of great networking opportunities, hearing about great ministry, and learning some great stuff.

A few things I’m taking away as we move towards wrapping up the training:

  1. There are some great people in ministry.  People who are in mission development are a unique breed of people – very entrepreneurial.  That’s not really a new insight.  But it’s great to be around people like this.  It’s great to be around people who come up with as many ideas for ministry as I do and not think it’s insane.
  2. Even while I’m away, ministry continues to happen – and sometimes there is no escape.  Ok, often, there is no escape.  As I was listening in to a conversation on homelessness and prison ministry, I was busy trying to help a friend find some kind of shelter for a few days.  From three-time zones away.  Technology makes this possible.  Which is incredible and amazing.  And it also is a constant reminder that there is no break for those caught in poverty and homelessness.
  3. We in the church need to have more fun.  We get so wrapped up in our work and so stuck on being serious for worship that all to often we forget to have fun.  Where there is life, there is fun.  There is fun where there is health.  Yes, the institutional church is in decline, but where are the things we can celebrate?  Where are the things we can have fun with?  There’s enough crap in the world to bring people down.
  4. There are plenty of things in the secular world that the church can learn from.  I was in a bar last evening with friends.  This was an incredible place.  More than just a bar.  It was a brewery.  It was packed.  I would estimate there was over 200 people inside.  It was open and movement was easy.  There were large tables, specialty groups (we saw a camera group, a medical group, a Birthday, and more).  Dogs were welcome.  And there was even a kids section.  Games were available for guests – for free.  Bathrooms were even different – one entrance with separate very private individual stalls, with a central hand washing station.  It was packed – did I mention that?  We sat and wondered what church would look like in such a location?  Or if a church took on aspects of this.  What would it look like?  How would it be different?  There was great life in the place, and a sense of openness and welcome.  And it wasn’t forced.  It felt natural.

As we wrap up, I come away with plenty more ideas and enthusiasm.  I look forward to being back home, seeing my family, and trying out the ideas that have been learned.  And seeing what God is up to and how we are creating environments where people will encounter God in unique ways.

The church model

09 Monday Jul 2018

Posted by laceduplutheran in Church, Society, Travel

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

Church, society

For as long as anyone can remember, the model the church has used is to have a building, a pastor, a musician, and to make worship the primary function.  There has been other support involved – education, fellowship, and special gatherings like funerals and weddings, celebrations, etc.  The church grew because people in the denomination moved and found similar churches, or had babies to help replace members who had died.  The culture assisted the churches too – ensuring that “blue laws” existed, telling the story of Christianity, etc.  In other words, the church held a privileged position in American culture.  It was expected that this would continue.

Except that’s not happening.

“The model we have used — a church, a pastor and a commitment by people to support the enterprise — is getting harder and harder to maintain.”

(Source – click here)

That’s a quote from an article about churches closed in Minnesota.  But it’s not only about churches in Minnesota.  It’s nationwide.

The church needs to face the reality that the times have changed.  The church no longer has a privileged place in society.  But the church still acts like it does in many cases.  The church no longer can count on members of the denomination moving into the area to fill the pews.  There are more and more “nones,” people who don’t believe.  The church can’t use the same model it did before because the circumstances have changed.  But that’s exactly what many churches are doing – holding onto a model that doesn’t meet the current challenges.

Fashion changes, sports teams change, businesses change, politics changes – but somehow many in the church don’t think that change applies to the church.  The problem with this is that there are fatal consequences for this.  If the church doesn’t change its model, it will die.

What would a new model for the church be?  I don’t think there is just one model that will work.  I think it depends on the people gathered together in community.  One church may thrive by turning to ministry in the community, another by a focus on worship, another by selling it’s building and the expenses that go with it.  The point is, we’re in a new era where a new model is needed – or rather, new models are needed.

A good set of questions might be, if we were gathering together as believers in Jesus for the first time, what would this look like?  What would we be doing?  Where do we see the Spirit at work?  What is drawing in people?  What allows us to best carry out the mission God has for us?

Numbers don’t lie – even in the age of fake news.  Trends tell us important information.  We can either ignore the trends or learn from them.  This much I know – continuing with an old model, because it’s what we know, will lead to many more churches closing their doors.  Adopting a new model is a risk – a big risk.  It could be a complete and utter failure.  Or it could mean new life.  The first option isn’t a good option.  The second option is a risk.  This is where the church has to ask itself this question – are we all in?  Do we trust Jesus and where he is sending us? If so, there really is only one option.

What the Gospel is

10 Thursday May 2018

Posted by laceduplutheran in Travel

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Christianity, Gospel

What is the Gospel?

Have you really thought about what the Gospel is and is not?

Here is your fair warning – you may not like the result and what it means for your life.

Is the Gospel something that offers us only comfort and security?  Is it something that confirms our beliefs and matches up with what we believe about the world?  Is it something that matches up with our political stances nice and neatly?  Is it something that never addresses touchy subjects?  Is it something that never addresses controversial topics?  Is it something that never challenges us?  Is it something that is can be claimed but makes no other claims on our lives?  It is something that is never political, but only used as a weapon in the ongoing partisan political wars for power over people?

There are many who proclaim this type of gospel.  There have been many who have proclaimed this message for many centuries.  It’s the gospel of don’t rock the boat.  It’s the gospel of comforting the comforted and ignoring the afflicted.  It’s the gospel which is used as a weapon for political expediency.  It is a gospel that is not the foundation of life, but merely just another tool to be used to our own ends.

The Gospel was never meant to be comfortable.  It is uncomfortable and inconvenient.  It is radical in nature because it flips the world right side up.  The Gospel calls into question our loyalties and allegiances.  It smacks us in the face more often than we prefer.  We try to put it away when it becomes uncomfortable and is in conflict with our preferences and beliefs.

The Gospel isn’t about membership – it is about discipleship.  It’s not safe – it risks bringing the world’s shame on itself.  It’s not wrapped in any flag, any nation, or any politician – it supersedes all of these things.  It is not the avoidance of death, but rather calls us to death.

But the Gospel is more than a political platform for some political party.  It is more than just some nice sounding rhetoric that we can voice and then set aside and do what we were doing.  It is a message of life – transformed life, renewed life, restored life.  It is a message of resurrection – that which comes after death.  The Gospel calls us to death – death of our egos, our loyalties, our desire to be right, our judgements, our separation from others, our ideologies, our desire to be strong and mighty, our sins, our brokenness.

When we encounter the Gospel, it changes our lives in uncomfortable and lasting ways.  And it causes conflict.  The conflict arises because the world’s ways are revealed to be empty promises that lead and end with death.  And the world doesn’t want us to see this for what it is.

It is only in the death of these things that resurrection can happen – where the Gospel is truly revealed.  And the resurrection that Jesus offers is life giving.  Where else are we to go to receive this kind of life?

The answer is this – no where.

Church is like a Hostel

06 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by laceduplutheran in Church, Theology, Travel

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Church, faith, God, Hostel, travel

I’ve mentioned previously that I am part of a group of pastors who gather each week to learn and practice discipleship.  We gather into what is called a “huddle.”  It’s been a great experience.  Yesterday was no different.  During our time together, the one who has been leading us talked about the church being like a youth hostel.  A hostel is a simple place where travelers can stop for a time on their journeys.

Often church is much like a hostel rather than a mighty fortress, even though most would prefer it to be that fortress – where people come in and never leave.  A hostel has people come for a time and then leave – being sent out to plant more seeds for the kingdom where God calls them.  That can be true for people who are a part of the congregation for a time, for pastors, for others who have interactions with the church, and more.

Two days ago, our church was a hostel.  A family stopped by seeking a place to stay for the evening.  It was windy and cold – too cold to sleep in their van.  They were from Maine and had traveled to West Virginia for work.  The short version is that the work didn’t pan out for them, so they left.  They loaded up all of their belongings into their van and started to head back to Maine.  Carlisle happened to be a stopping point for one night on their journey back “home.”  They got off the expressway and we were the first church they came across.

I spoke with them, got their names, heard their story, and helped them find a location for their family for the night.  During the course of our time together, I heard the great faith that God had given them.  I could feel it and see it in their mannerisms and expressions.  I sensed the blessing in them in their gratitude.  Who was helping who here?  I felt just as blessed by their expression of faith, as they were in receiving a small amount of help for the night.  It felt as though I were in a re-enactment of Joseph, Mary, and child in their journey from Bethlehem to Egypt.  I can only imagine the encounters that the holy family had with those they came across in their journey – if only for a night.

Church is like a hostel in many ways.  Sometimes we encounter people for many years – we walk with them in their journey of faith from birth until death.  And other times we come across people for a short period of time, saying goodbye before we are ready for them to go.  Either way, none of us are permanently here.  At some point, it will be time for us to go – either through travel or job, or by sickness, age, and even death.

The beauty of a hostel is that everyone recognizes they are on a journey and they stay temporarily.  They look forward to the relationships they develop, and for what they will see and experience during their stay in a location.  Yes, church is like a hostel – a holy hostel.

What I learned from my 6 hour hike

27 Tuesday Mar 2018

Posted by laceduplutheran in Theology, Travel

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Appalachian Trail, hiking

Yesterday I decided to take our dog Jimmy on a hike.

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I took Monday as my day off for the week due to all the worship services later in the week.  Pastors need a day off – even in the midst of Holy Week.

I decided that I would hike a portion of the Appalachian Trail near our house.  I loaded up a lunch and some snacks and water, got Jimmy ready, and off we went.  Jimmy loves all car rides, so for him, it didn’t matter where we went, just that we were going somewhere.

We arrived at the parking area and we started heading off going north on the trail, unsure of what to expect.  I just knew that I wanted to spend the day out in nature.  I came with no expectations, and not really anything on my mind either.  It was just an opportunity to be with God in nature.  Often guys don’t need to talk about anything or think about anything – but just be.  And today was one of those occasions.

We started off.  And found many interesting things along the way.  Things like stairways that help hikers get across fences.

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So much for the fence.

One of the more interesting finds was the cemetery we came across, right next to the trail.

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But the best part of the hike were the spaces where there were nothing – just the trail.

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We came across man-made things too, but these also seemed vacant.

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One of the things I learned from this hike is the footprint of humanity on literally everything.  There were few places in which I could see were not touched by humanity.  And even worse, there were still fewer spaces where humanity hadn’t created noise pollution on nature.

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But we went on.  Hiking away the day.  Seeing the beauty that was around us.

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And taking full advantage of the human-made things that helped make our hike easier.

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The weather was beautiful – shifting between slightly cold to comfortable.  This meant that I was putting a hat on and then off multiple times.

It also meant that the mud was an issue – due to melting ice.  Which is why I was grateful for the wooden path near where we turned around.

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In total, we walked about 14 miles – over 32,000 steps – from Trindle Road up to the Scott working farm.

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Jimmy did amazing and was a wonderful hiking companion.  By the end, we were both a big mess due to the mud that was kicked up on my clothing and his fur.

He was exhausted and so was I – but it was worth it.

One last picture.  It was posted at the end of a driveway.

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I saw it and had to laugh.  I guess turn-arounds are a big problem for these folks.  But I took the sign differently.  Once you travel that far – there is no turning around.  You just have to finish the path.

 

Around the grounds…

22 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by laceduplutheran in Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Costa Rica, La Fortuna

…of the A-frame.  Beautiful.

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Rooster!

21 Thursday Dec 2017

Posted by laceduplutheran in Travel

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Costa Rica

One of the first things we discovered at our deluxe open air accommodations were the neighbors.

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Yes, a rooster.  There were several hens to go with the rooster. But it was the rooster who made himself known.  He woke up early and let everyone know.

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A-Frame house

20 Wednesday Dec 2017

Posted by laceduplutheran in Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Costa Rica, La Fortuna

Our first stop in Costa Rica was in a little town outside of La Fortuna.  This was our backyard.

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We decided to stay in some unique lodging – an A-frame “house.” What was unique about it was that the ground floor had no walls, except around the bathroom.

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Considering that it rained every day at some point, the ground floor never got wet.  It gave us some open air to enjoy being in nature.

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Lizard!

19 Tuesday Dec 2017

Posted by laceduplutheran in Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Costa Rica

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Costa Rica has plenty of unique animals roaming about.

Driving through the rain

18 Monday Dec 2017

Posted by laceduplutheran in Travel

≈ Leave a comment

It was June in Costa Rica.  That means it is rainy season.

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It’s some of the most beautiful rainy season I have ever seen.

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Everything was vibrant, full of color, and felt so alive.

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Beautiful!

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laceduplutheran

laceduplutheran

I believe that God, church, and theology are approachable, enjoyable, and relevant for everyone. I write about this a lot because people need to hear it. So many people feel lost, hopeless, alone, and are searching for identity and meaning. I'm an ELCA Pastor (Lutheran) who has a background in politics, business, and the non-profit worlds. I take churchy theological ideas and words and communicate them in everyday language that people can understand, in ways that relate, and show that God, church, and theology matter a great deal. Oh, and it doesn't have to be boring either - mostly because it's the best news ever!

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