Thursday, May 27, 2010
You know you're from Washington when. . .
You're going to an Elementary School track meet in the rain. I hope to see some of you other Parents out there as well! Perhaps we can huddle together for warmth.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Jimmy Kimmel
So, on the JKL episode after Lost, Jimmy started off by saying: So in my religions, Christianity being one of them, they see life as a Test.
Here's the deal. Most of the modern media has no idea what Christians really believe or think. For someone to have the impression that as Christians we believe life is a test to be "passed" is so missing the point. But, how do we respond?
I feel like often we respond in anger, or frustration, or just dismiss the media as wrong and move on. But we can't. The modern American Media is portraying Christianity inaccurately. They portray us as mean-spirited, judgmental, and often put statements or beliefs in our mouth which are nowhere accurate or true.
In my opinion, the bestway to change that is to live out an authentic Christian lifestyle that is different than this perception. As Christians we need to be seen as bringing joy to dark places. We need to be seen as welcoming and gracious. We need to articulate our core beliefs, and not worry so much about the minor stuff. If we can do that right, people will notice. They'll notice because we won't be acting like we're portrayed to be. And when we're noticed, people are drawn to find out more about the one who we live for, which is the whole point in the first place.
I really hope Jimmy Kimmel has a solid Christian somewhere in his life who politely corrected his statement about life being a test. But, more importantly, I hope that Christian lives life in such a way to make Jimmy really watch, and wonder. That his pre-conceptions are challenged. And that he comes to want to know more about the real Jesus in whom we have faith and belief. Who are the Jimmy's in your life?
Don't go to church, Be the church.
Bill Walles
Here's the deal. Most of the modern media has no idea what Christians really believe or think. For someone to have the impression that as Christians we believe life is a test to be "passed" is so missing the point. But, how do we respond?
I feel like often we respond in anger, or frustration, or just dismiss the media as wrong and move on. But we can't. The modern American Media is portraying Christianity inaccurately. They portray us as mean-spirited, judgmental, and often put statements or beliefs in our mouth which are nowhere accurate or true.
In my opinion, the bestway to change that is to live out an authentic Christian lifestyle that is different than this perception. As Christians we need to be seen as bringing joy to dark places. We need to be seen as welcoming and gracious. We need to articulate our core beliefs, and not worry so much about the minor stuff. If we can do that right, people will notice. They'll notice because we won't be acting like we're portrayed to be. And when we're noticed, people are drawn to find out more about the one who we live for, which is the whole point in the first place.
I really hope Jimmy Kimmel has a solid Christian somewhere in his life who politely corrected his statement about life being a test. But, more importantly, I hope that Christian lives life in such a way to make Jimmy really watch, and wonder. That his pre-conceptions are challenged. And that he comes to want to know more about the real Jesus in whom we have faith and belief. Who are the Jimmy's in your life?
Don't go to church, Be the church.
Bill Walles
Monday, May 24, 2010
Lost!
Well, for those of you who watched the show, and watched the series finale, what did you think? I consider myself a pretty true Lost fan. I didn't love season 3, but then who did until they pulled that flash-forward? Regardless, the end finally came, the show really is over, and it provided a number of answers, some heart-felt reunions, and left a lot of questions still hanging.
Personally, I kind of loved the first 90 minutes of the finale, and then started to like the last hour less and less as it went along. As a Christian I had to chuckle at the "One Mountain many paths" silliness at the "church" at the end. And the Titanic ending was kind of a cop-out for me. But, with the expectations laid on this show, I think they did alright simply by not setting off riots from fans all over the world, so there you go.
One thing I had been thinking about that I wanted to pass on. It's been funny to hear people react to the Jacob vs. Man in Black dynamic the past several weeks. As it became clear Jacob was, at some level, a god of the Island, the arbitrariness of his actions really bothered people. They wanted rules that "god" had to follow. They wanted fairness. And yet, Jacob seemed to make his own rules, and do what was right in his eyes, his eyes having a much bigger scope and picture than anyone else.
It made me think that, on that issue, the writers were doing a better of painting some Christian themes than they might have even realized. How many people do you know that are frustrated and angry with God? They're mad at His seemingly arbitrary nature, how He doesn't always play by the rules. Good things happen to bad people. Bad things happen to good ones. Life isn't fair, and the real God should always be fair (at least, what we think fair should be.) I thought it was funny. Many of the complaints thrown around about Jacob in the show, could be made about the one true God in heaven. And, they might have the same sting, if not for one thing: Jesus.
The thing about Jesus is that He's not arbitrary, He is infinitely fair. Jesus came and died for everybody. His forgiveness is available to all who ask. He loves everyone. Jesus changes everything. God doesn't have to explain Himself to us, His view of our lives is greater than our own. The inconsistencies and unfairness that surrounds us don't need to be explained away by Him. Because He asks us to focus on something greater. He asks us to believe that the frustrations of this world are temporary. That this world is not our home. And instead of wasting so much time trying to make sense out of this world, we should give thanks and praise for the Kingdom to come through His Son and through His sacrifice.
Lost was a bold and stimulating show. I'm not sure we've had anything like it before on television. And if you didn't get all your questions answered I understand how that can be frustrating. But, to quote the Princess Bride, Get used to dissapointment. We aren't promised the answers to all our questions in this life. We're only promised a life to come, where the answer probably don't matter to us nearly as much as we think.
Happy Monday,
Pastor Bill
Personally, I kind of loved the first 90 minutes of the finale, and then started to like the last hour less and less as it went along. As a Christian I had to chuckle at the "One Mountain many paths" silliness at the "church" at the end. And the Titanic ending was kind of a cop-out for me. But, with the expectations laid on this show, I think they did alright simply by not setting off riots from fans all over the world, so there you go.
One thing I had been thinking about that I wanted to pass on. It's been funny to hear people react to the Jacob vs. Man in Black dynamic the past several weeks. As it became clear Jacob was, at some level, a god of the Island, the arbitrariness of his actions really bothered people. They wanted rules that "god" had to follow. They wanted fairness. And yet, Jacob seemed to make his own rules, and do what was right in his eyes, his eyes having a much bigger scope and picture than anyone else.
It made me think that, on that issue, the writers were doing a better of painting some Christian themes than they might have even realized. How many people do you know that are frustrated and angry with God? They're mad at His seemingly arbitrary nature, how He doesn't always play by the rules. Good things happen to bad people. Bad things happen to good ones. Life isn't fair, and the real God should always be fair (at least, what we think fair should be.) I thought it was funny. Many of the complaints thrown around about Jacob in the show, could be made about the one true God in heaven. And, they might have the same sting, if not for one thing: Jesus.
The thing about Jesus is that He's not arbitrary, He is infinitely fair. Jesus came and died for everybody. His forgiveness is available to all who ask. He loves everyone. Jesus changes everything. God doesn't have to explain Himself to us, His view of our lives is greater than our own. The inconsistencies and unfairness that surrounds us don't need to be explained away by Him. Because He asks us to focus on something greater. He asks us to believe that the frustrations of this world are temporary. That this world is not our home. And instead of wasting so much time trying to make sense out of this world, we should give thanks and praise for the Kingdom to come through His Son and through His sacrifice.
Lost was a bold and stimulating show. I'm not sure we've had anything like it before on television. And if you didn't get all your questions answered I understand how that can be frustrating. But, to quote the Princess Bride, Get used to dissapointment. We aren't promised the answers to all our questions in this life. We're only promised a life to come, where the answer probably don't matter to us nearly as much as we think.
Happy Monday,
Pastor Bill
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Winter Break
In the interest of full disclosure, I figured I would only do the blog over the Summer. Hence the long break. But, for those of you interested, it will be back in just a few months. See you then!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Sports
I have both picked on, and held in awe, our American fascination with sports in my last couple of sermons. Anyway, that got me thinking about our sports teams here in Washington right now. Maybe I'm just a homer, but with the Mariners out of the playoffs I have no interest in the Baseball playoffs. I won't watch the NBA (r.i.p. Sonics!). The Hawks have more supporters than they probably need already. I guess I'm just a college guy right now. I'm loving the Huskies football and basketball teams right now. Truth be told, since I went to PLU, I even like WSU (they're just a little harder to watch right now is all.) Funny how sports can engender passion and loyalty for no real reason other than your address is in the same state. But, still, Go huskies!
See you in church,
Pastor Bill
See you in church,
Pastor Bill
Monday, October 12, 2009
Snow!
So, my friend called from Omaha on Saturday morning to tell me that they had 5 inches of snow fall in Omaha that morning. And I laughed and thought, I'm glad I live here. And then, I just heard reports that we have snow on the passes here in Washington! I guess snowboarding season is coming early. Always a bright side.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
My favorite meeting
Well, this past weekend, after finishing up my morning church duties, I flew to Minneapolis for my favorite meeting of the year. It's where I am fortunate enough to be able to give away money, as scholarships, to help with the schooling for men and women who want to serve as Christian missionaries. Again, in brief, I get to give money to people who want to serve as Missionaries. How cool is that!
It's all done in honor of my Father-in-law and Mother-in-law, Maynard and Nancy Nelson. When Maynard passed away several years ago, a number of his friends and family wanted to honor his passion for evangelism and sharing the Gospel throughout the world. So, some great thinkers came up with this idea, to create an Endowment fund that would provide money for Scholarships for years to come. The fund was in place before Maynard passed away, so he was able to see what we had come up with, and was deeply touched. Nancy, who is still with us, also serves as part of the committee, and it's such a blessing that she can see the fruit of these efforts firsthand.
We seem to be in a lot of meetings in our world. Work, school, what have you, there seems to be no issue that a meeting can't be called to discuss it. But this meeting, it's my favorite every year.
We'll see you in church,
Pastor Bill
It's all done in honor of my Father-in-law and Mother-in-law, Maynard and Nancy Nelson. When Maynard passed away several years ago, a number of his friends and family wanted to honor his passion for evangelism and sharing the Gospel throughout the world. So, some great thinkers came up with this idea, to create an Endowment fund that would provide money for Scholarships for years to come. The fund was in place before Maynard passed away, so he was able to see what we had come up with, and was deeply touched. Nancy, who is still with us, also serves as part of the committee, and it's such a blessing that she can see the fruit of these efforts firsthand.
We seem to be in a lot of meetings in our world. Work, school, what have you, there seems to be no issue that a meeting can't be called to discuss it. But this meeting, it's my favorite every year.
We'll see you in church,
Pastor Bill
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