Drawn to Prayer

Today Brice talked about our tendency to turn prayer into a sort of "shopping" or "wish list" that we take to God in the hopes of getting what we want. He suggested that often prayer becomes nothing more because we are too lazy to be spiritually disciplined or too arrogant to truly yield control or both. So, prayer seldom leads us into the kind of relationship that God intends and desires. Rather, we remain focused on our "wish list," looking for "results," never realizing the richness of the relationship God desires to share with us.

There are those who say we never truly pray until we forget our list entirely and allow God to draw us into a prayer relationship with Him. Many of us have a hard time with that concept because prayer is something we evaluate by the results we get. We miss the point that prayer in and of itself is what we need because God uses that time talking to Him and listening to shape us to see things more like He does. The process of praying is where the hidden treasure lies because we grow ever closer to God. And... then even our "wish lists" will look different... shaped by God's priorities rather than our own.

Richard Foster once wrote that if we walk into a dark room, turn on the light switch, and nothing happens, we don't draw the conclusion electricity doesn't exist. No, we recognize there is something wrong with the bulb or the switch or the breaker or... His point is that when prayer disappoints us, when it "doesn't work" the way we think it should, the problem is not with God... the problem is with us... with our approach to prayer. Something to think about this week.

Here's what our worship looked like today:

Arise and Sing
O Come, Let Us Adore Him

Welcome and Greeting

Praise the Lord

Have You Seen Jesus, My Lord

Prayer

Reading: Colossians 3:15-16

How Great Is Our God

Reading: Hebrews 10:23-25

Sing to the King

Communion: Encouraging One Another

Jesus, Let Us Come to Know You

Jesus, Draw Me Closer

Offering

Children’s Sermon

Invitation to Children’s Church (age 3 – 3rd Grade)

Open Our Eyes, Lord

Sermon: Brice Smith

I Will Praise You

Family Matters & Shepherd’s Prayer

Closing Prayer Song

Twenty Years Ago

Mike Cope had a great post yesterday. Click here to read it, then come back. See you in a couple of minutes.

I remember reading Discovering our Roots by Allen in 1989 and almost feeling I needed to not tell anyone because he was basically telling us "the emperor has no clothes," and I was pretty sure many of my friends would not want to hear that. That book, articles from Image Magazine (which later merged with Wineskins), and other readings and speakers helped point me in a spiritual growth direction that has been both challenging and refreshing.

If you've never read any of those books by Allen or Hughes, I certainly recommend them.

Employee of the Year

Each spring the Antioch Police Department organizes an awards ceremony to give recognition to officers, civilian employees, and citizens who have performed extraordinarily well or done something above and beyond. This year, Virginia, the crime analyst for the PD, was awarded Civilian Employee of the Year. Here's the really cool plaque.

And, here are some other shots from the ceremony.

Chief Jim Hyde said some very cool things about his crime analyst... and her access to her math prof daughter for all those "Numb3rs" questions.

VJ was a bit embarrassed by the whole thing, but she didn't seem too nervous and graciously accepted the award and everyone's comments.

Receiving additional certificates from representatives of congressmen and others.

The three officers on the right received the medal of valor award for successfully capturing an armed and very dangerous bad guy... and none of them was hurt. The man at the podium is Kevin Rogers, the sergeant of these officers and a fellow member at Eastside.

Outside the building.

All the award recipients: officers, VJ, and citizens.

And the most coveted prize... parking by the building for a full year!!!

Pepperdine Pics

Here are a few pics from Pepperdine. This first one includes Virginia's older sister, Diane, and her husband Mel, along with one of her younger sisters, Jean, and her youngest kid, Jared.

Our annual the-2-of-us-with-the-ocean-as-backdrop photo.

This one is taken from the front of Stauffer Chapel.

Dorm road... not your average dorms, eh?

And, last but certainly not least, Jeremy, Amber, and Little Johnson.

Happy Mother's Day

to all you moms out there

Pepperdine was wonderful as it is every year; theme lectures were well-crafted; classes were good; the singing was awesome all week; and it's always great catching up with friends. The only downside is coming home pretty worn out... but even that feels pretty good.

For Mother's Day each year we sing songs our moms have turned in, so it's a special time. Here's what we did today.

Hosanna
Anywhere with Jesus

Welcome and Greeting

Lord, I Lift Your Name on High
Prayer

Father

Reading: Psalm 86:9-10

How Great Thou Art

Reading: Chronicles 20:15

The Battle Belongs to the Lord

He Is Wonderful

Richly Blest

Communion: A Time to Be Close

Just a Closer Walk with Thee

Offering

Children’s Sermon

Invitation to Children’s Church (age 3 – 3rd Grade)

Home of the Soul

(3 speakers sharing)
Stories of My Mom
Three Things I Like Best About Being a Mom

Three Reasons Kathy Is a Great Mom

There’s a Stirring

A Day for Moms – Brice Smith

It Is Well with My Soul

Family Matters & Shepherd’s Prayer

If We Never Meet Again

Closing Prayer

Pepperdine Bible Lectures

The annual trek to Pepperdine for the Bible Lectures, a wonderful collection of classes, singing, events, and old friends, is going well. We're experiencing warm east winds, affectionately known in SoCal as Santa Anas, so the weather is warm and beautiful.

I love this quote by John Andrew holmes: "Speech is conveniently located midway between thought and action, where it often substitutes for both."

One of the goals of the Bible Lectures is to offer talk that stimulates thought that leads to action. I guess we'll see.

Who's in Control?

That was the question we explored as we worhipped on Sunday. Brice really challenged us.

Blessed Assurance
He Leadeth Me

Welcome and Greeting

You Are Holy

Prayer

Reading: Mark 4:37-41

Master, The Tempest Is Raging

Reading: Romans 12:1-2

Lord, I Give You My Heart

Communion: Remembering His Commitment

His Grace Reaches Me

Offering

Children’s Sermon

Invitation to Children’s Church (age 3 – 3rd Grade)

Jesus, Flow Like a River

Sermon

Lord, Take Control

Family Matters & Shepherd’s Prayer

Look Who's Talking

The trouble with America is that there are far too many wide-open spaces surrounded by teeth. - Charles Luckman

Anger is the feeling that makes your mouth work faster than your mind. - Evan Esar

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by human beings, but no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. - James, brother of Jesus

Empathy

Words tend to take on more shades of meaning when they are misunderstood or used in ways that differ from earlier and/or accepted meanings. One of those words is empathy. Even a first year counseling student has learned that empathy has to do with understanding another person, their perspective, feelings, point of view, or, as the dictionary describes it, "the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another"... sort of like the reported Native American saying about needing to "walk a mile in another's moccasins" in order to fully understand someone. Empathy is NOT sympathy, which is a "harmony of feelings" or identifying with someones feelings because you have similar feelings. Empathy is an intellectual phenomenon; sympathy is an emotional one.

All of this made me smile at some of the reactions to President Obama's description of the kind of person he would look for as a Supreme Court nominee. He said he would look for someone who was empathetic... someone who could understand people, a quality I think we'd want in any judge... the ability to not only look at the law, but also the ability to identify at some level with those he or she is judging, so as to better use judicial discretion to make good judgements.

However, what at least some heard was that he was wanting someone who would judge according to their feelings about various issues... a totally different thing altogether, and certainly not what he actually said. My guess is the air waves will be filled with pundits from the networks and representatives of both parties expressing their opinions.

A lot of hype over a comment that, at least to my thinking, simply meant he wants someone who wants to "walk a mile" with people before making judgements. Language is indeed an adventure!!

Almost One Year

Back around Christmas both Jennifer and Jeremy took their old dad out for brief jogs at different times. They were very kind and we stopped and walked several lengthy stretches over the 3 miles we covered. At that point I wasn't too sure I would ever get back to consistent jogging or running. As I thought about it over the course of the next few weeks, I decided that I would continue to work hard at the gym, get back on my bike this spring, and just wait and see if the jogging would ever come around.


Every couple of weeks I'd try the same 3 mile course, jogging more and walking less each time, including a couple of outings while vi sting my mom in March. Then, two or three weeks back I managed to plod the whole three miles without stopping. That was pretty cool and helped me work harder on the elliptical machines at the gym.


Well, this morning my running buddy, Randy Moser, showed up at the house around 8:30, and we slowly headed out on a slow and steady run (jog really). We ended up covering about 5 miles. Other parts of my body were stiff and sore from not having run anywhere near that far in almost two years, but my Achilles felt fine, and I was pretty pleased, even as slow as we ran.


Sooo... six days short of one year post Topaz laser debriement of my right Achilles tendon, I am officially back on the roads... at least once in a while. :) I'm thankful for the skill of my surgeon, the Topaz procedure, and for God's creative genius as revealed in the body's ability to bounce back. Thank you!

I'll take my running shoes to Pepperdine next week and try to get in some short jogs in addition to climbing all those stairs. And... we'll see how it goes.

May Rain?

Tomorrow is May 1st, and it's supposed to rain. Now, I'm not complaining... we need pretty much all the rain we can get. It's just not too common for us to get a good rain in May. I think our last significant rain last year was early March.

Makes me wonder how we humans will deal with increasing water shortages in the coming years as the world population continues to increase and traditional water sources like mountain snow melt diminishes. It's actually pretty amazing how much water the average American goes through daily... and how little water is available for those in 3rd world countries. Oh well... better go flush that low flow toilet.

Couple of Quotes

A few years ago I remember seeing a cartoon where a guy was unpackaging a computer as quickly as possible. The caption said something like, "I need to get this set up before it becomes obsolete," highlighting just how quickly technology changes, a fact we all live with.

Here's a quote by R. D. Laing, Scottish psychiatrist and existential philosopher, that suggests we live in a time when tech isn't the only thing subject to rapid change:

We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up
that we begin to see the present only when it is already disappearing.

I wonder what the impact of that is on the church in general and upon people of faith who want to make a difference but wonder how best to do that.

This quote (courtesy of Heartlight.org) is one I need to read pretty often:

It's hard for God to walk with a man who gets his mind made
up to do things his own way. -- Norvel Hayes

Logo Shirts

A little over a year ago Brice got one of his buddies to design a new logo for us. Pretty cool, eh!?! This winter one of our members started pushing the idea of getting shirts with the logo on them to wear at service projects, conferences, to work, around town, etc.

The husband of one of the ladies Virginia works with at the PD has a T-shirt (and other printed stuff) business, so he we asked him to work with us. We decided to offer white, gray and dark blue shirts in regular t-shirts, long sleeved T's, and polo style shirts. They came out great. We ended up ordering over 90 shirts for our members, so the project totally paid for itself.

All of this made me think: Is living like a Christian in this world as simple as just wearing a logo shirt? Somehow I don't think so, but maybe for some of us it will be one more step. Want one? We have a few left.

Looking to the Hills

Today we focused on the God who does not always remove or prevent pain but who walks with us through the valley and comforts us no matter what the pain.

He Has Made Me Glad
When We All Get to Heaven

Welcome and Greeting

Faith Is the Victory

Reading: Psalm 121:1-2

When I Look to the Hills

Reading: Romans 8:27-28

Blessed Be Your Name

Communion: Celebrating Our Rescue

O Sacred Head

Praise Him! Praise Him!

Offering

Children’s Sermon

Invitation to Children’s Church

Blessed Be Your Name (reprise)

Sermon

I Am a Sheep

Family Matters & Shepherd’s Prayer

This Is How We Overcome

Closing Prayer

Tough Times with God

This morning we moved away from the celebration to explore together as a church family the difficult times in life when pat answers simply do not bring comfort and peace. Brice did a remarkable job helping us face and struggle with some of the tough times in our lives without losing our connection to a God who loves us and blesses us. Here's our road map for the morning:

Ah Lord God

Ancient of Days

Welcome and Greeting

A New Anointing

Prayer

Responsive Reading: Psalm 42:1-3

As the Deer Thirsts

Responsive Reading: Psalm 42:6-7,9,11

Deep Calls to Deep

Communion: Deriving Strength from God

By Christ Redeemed

Still

Offering

Invitation to Children’s Church

Blessed Be Your Name

Sermon

It Is Well with My Soul

Family Matters & Shepherd’s Prayer

Blessed Be Your Name

Spring Color

Last Saturday we made it out to the Black Diamond Mines for our annual spring church egg hunt and picnic. Here's a shot of the road heading up to the corral area. The green hills are beautiful, but they will soon change to the most-of-the-year "golden brown" that can be seen all over the state.

Old barn on some property that is now owned by the school district which dates to a much earlier era.

Back at home, the spring flowers are really busting out with lots of color.

The ice plant blooms for a short while each spring.

Iris growing in a pot out front.


Close up of one of the many blooms on the apple tree. Hope the apples are good this year!!

I like the roses on this bush... so big... so pretty!

Ah... those famous California poppies. VJ loves them!

More wild flowers.

I forget what this stuff is called. Most of the time it's a ground cover, but often really mature plants like ours sort of grow into bushes or small trees. It blooms with these blueish/purpleish blooms each spring, although the color in this pic doesn't do the color justice. The bees really like them.

Determining Worth

I've always liked those short, pithy sayings that actually contain more wisdom than words (a short commodity these days). They usually have roots that go back to earlier generations and, like Proverbs in the Bible, are based on common life experiences. We've all heard them... we've probably used some form of them... and we probably have our favorites.

When I was a kid and wanted to have or do something my parents weren't going to let me have or do, I would sometimes complain. At those times my mom would often use one of those sayings her mom had used on her:

"It ain't what you want that makes you fat... it's what you get."

As I kid I really had no idea what that meant, beyond understanding that I indeed wasn't going to get to have or do what I wanted. It wasn't until later that I was able to put those words into the proverb classification. Since then, I've used those words myself... and usually gotten the same blank stare I used to give my mom.

Well, there are sayings that are easier to understand, and sometimes they grow into several versions. For example:

Nothing worth doing comes easily.

Anything worth having is worth fighting for.

Nothing worthwhile is ever easy.

Anything worth doing is worth doing well... or right... or overdoing.

Nothing worth having comes easy, save your breath.

Anything worth saying deserves some thought first.

Perhaps the version of this saying that has impressed me the most is this one:

"Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope." -- Reinhold Niebuhr

Quote of the Day

Maybe this too is why I like quotes???

"I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself." - Marlene Dietrich

Easter Sunday

This morning was a wonderful time of worship and reflection... one of those times when God uses people and music and words to powerfully work in the hearts of those who have gathered.

A quick look at the order of worship below reveals a definite "Easter" theme. Brice began his sermon with a cool video clip from Igniter. If you'd like a to check it out, click here.

Our God, He Is Alive

Welcome and Greeting

Come Worship Christ, the King

Prayer

Reading: John 19:16-18; 38-42

Low in the Grave He Lay
That’s Why We Praise Him

Reading: Philippians 2:9-11

Sing to the King

Had It Not Been the Lord

Communion: Grateful for the Resurrection
Give Thanks
Jesus, Draw Me Closer

Offering

Children’s Sermon

He Is Wonderful

Sermon

Amazing Grace

Family Matters & Shepherd’s Prayer

In Christ Alone

Prayer

Also, the feedback about the new configuration was overwhelmingly positive, with a few suggestions about how to tweak the pew placement.

The Eastside Church building was built in the 70's. Besides being well-maintained, the rich wood ceilings and beams are quite attractive... beautiful, really. The architectural style is common among Church of Christ buildings erected in that era and has served many churches well over the years.

The one drawback to this elongated style of seating is the distance (even in a relatively small auditorium) from the back pews to the stage up front. It's easy for people sitting even mid-way back to feel disconnected from what is happening up front... sort of like cheap seats at the theatre. :-)

Many buildings built in the last 20 years or so have a more "landscape" or "fan" layout to help correct that feel, but most churches don't have or want to spend the $$ to re-build just to achieve a closer feel. However, some churches have tried to do things within the existing facility to address this issue... including us!!

Brice and I have been tossing around some ideas for a while now, and Tuesday night we floated them to the elders and they liked the approach. Anyway, last night we moved some pews and laid some platforms to extend the stage out into the room a bit more. Well... take a look below to check out the result... we think folks will like it!!

Hey, if you're in the area, come join us for worship Easter Sunday morning. See you at 9:30!!