Praying for Politicians

So, I don't know about you guys, but I have been crabby lately.  I try to be a well informed guy, watch the news, read up on things in the world, etc.  But the dealing with our national debt and debt-limit crisis has been really tough to watch.  I know I've yelled at the TV a lot, and I've agreed with Jon Stewart a lot.  And, in general I've been breaking one of my personal rules.  And that's to simply pray for my politicians.  If you're a Christian, I'd be curious as to where you stand on the issue of prayer for politicians.  For me, I try to practice what I preach, and this is to simply pray for all my elected officials.  And not to pray to change their mind, not to pray that they might agree with me more.  But simply to pray for their health, their safety, and their work.
I know most of us have pretty tough jobs, tougher than most on the outside would realize.  But being a politician today is really tough.  And, perhaps I'm naive, but I really believe that the vast majority of politicians get into the "biz" in order to serve others.  However now, perhaps more than ever, that's a tall request.  It seems that as soon as you get into office at least half of your constituency immediately is angry that you're there.  Not just disappointed, but angry.  And the half that isn't angry (yet) wants to see you fix all the things that were done wrong by the previous guy/gal or they'll get angry.  In the meantime, you have to immediately begin raising a ridiculous amount of money if you ever want a chance of being elected to your position again.
And in the midst of this, there's a huge pool of Christians throwing out to God a whole host of prayers about you.  And I want to include myself in that mix.  But, because of the nature of their jobs, and I think because of the nature of mine, I hope my prayer is heartfelt and simple.  I want to offer a prayer of care, love, and kindness.  No agenda, no politics.  Just prayer.  And, part of my hope is that if I'm doing this in my prayer life, I might be a little more gracious and loving in my day-to-day life and thoughts and conversations about said politicians.  That's where I've been failing lately.  My words about some politicians recently has not matched how I want to pray for those politicians.  Granted, these have been extraordinary times in the political world, but really, isn't it always an extraordinary time?  Isn't there always a crisis?  Isn't there always a time to choose kindness and civility in our words and in our prayers?
Anyway, as I'm writing this it's likely that our current political crisis is nearly over.  And in the aftermath, we'll talk about winners and losers, and who we'll never vote for again.  And, if you're a Christian, I hope you lift your leaders up in prayer.  Not with an agenda, not with malice, or with an attitude.  Just because some men and women spent a great deal of time at one of the hardest jobs in our world today.  And they need our prayer for it.

Don't go to church, Be the Church
Bill

Stop

We had a great conversation at Hope the other day on what it means to Stop.  And we used the "example" of a Stop Sign.  Actually, I should put the Stop Sign in quotes, since most of us seem to take that particular road sign with at least a little bit of latitude.  The California Stop seems to be the norm doesn't it?  We rarely stop at stop signs.  We slow down, we're cautious, we look for others, sure.  But to stop?  To add the extra 5 seconds to our drive time by coming to a full and complete stop?  Very few of us do that with great consistency (myself included :) )
So what does this say about us?  Perhaps not much.  Perhaps it's just a bad habit that many of us find ourselves in.  Or perhaps it says loads about our inability to stop in our life.
We're like Sharks, needing to always move forward in order to survive.  The thought of stopping and doing nothing, even for a few seconds is horrid to our world of multi-tasking addicts.  We have so much to do, we have so many places to be, we can't stop.  Not at home, not on the road, not ever, it seems.
Which, the more I think about it, is really a statement about our trust in God.  To stop means that we think we can stop.  That we can stop for a moment and the world will keep on spinning.  To stop means that things can happen without us.  Without our energy, without our presence.  To stop means that we don't have to be doing it all - all the time.  To stop means God might be more in control of things than we are.  And most of us don't really believe that.  Not deep down.  Not in our hearts.  No, again most of us (myself still included :) ) believe that we keep our world spinning, that we are responsible for keeping things going.  We believe that if we stop everything around us will come crashing down.  God isn't really in control.  That's just something we say, but don't really believe.

All that just because we don't stop at Stop signs?  Yeah, I think maybe so.  Please feel free to tell me if you think I'm wrong, but I would challenge you to ask the question, when was the last time you stopped?  When was the last time you trusted God to be in charge, and didn't try to do it all yourself?  The answer to that may be more telling than you realize.

Bill
Don't go to church, Be the Church.

The Mariners and Church

So, with the "Second Half" of the Mariners season starting today I've been curious hearing the thoughts/consternations of fans and bloggers about the Mariners season so far.  It's been pretty interesting, in my opinion, to hear people this year.  I think especially in light of the last few years.
Of particular note has been how people have compared this year to 2009 and how they feel about that squad in hindsight.  It's funny.  In 2009 Ken Griffey Jr. was back, the Mariners exceeded expectations and everyone loved them.  No, they didn't make the playoffs, but we had winning baseball in Seattle and that was fun enough for most.
However, after that season we crashed and burned big time in 2010.  Why?  Most analysts say it was because the Mariners of 2009 were "old" and couldn't sustain their winning ways long term.  They weren't built to last into the future, just have a good time in the present.  Yeah it was fun while it lasted, but we should have seen it wouldn't last very long at all.
Which is what we're hearing is different about this team.  They are, supposedly, a similar but different team to the 09 squad.  They're exceeding expectations, winning a few games.  But this winning will be sustainable.  It's being built for the future.  Everything this year is supposed to help this team be even better next year.  Ackley, Pineda, Smoak, Hernandez.  They're all looking forward as much as to today.
Well, we'll see.

But it got me thinking about churches.

As we're starting a new church here in Lake Stevens, it's easy to look at a number of churches around us and wonder, can we see the same patterns with them?  I see a lot of churches that have great histories, but sketchy presents, and pretty dismal futures in terms of continuing to reach new believers for Christ.
I see a number of churches with strong presents, but I wonder what their futures will be?  Are they built to sustain, and grow, and reach new believers in the future, or will they turn inward and begin a slow decline in the years to come?

And, to be honest, I don't think I'm a talented enough "scout" to know which churches will thrive in the future years, and which ones will stagnate.  I've got my guesses, and those guesses definitely color how we're building "Hope" here in Lake Stevens.  But will my guesses be right?  I suppose time will tell with us as well.

In the meantime, enjoy the Mariners these next few months.  They are more fun to watch then they've been in a long time.  And if you're looking for a church that is interested in being an effective place to share Christ with a world that desperately needs Him this year and the years to come, check us out at Hope.  We plan on being in this game for a long, long time.


Don't go to church, Be the Church

Bill

A New Hope!

So, have you done something epic in your life?  Something worth making a movie out of?  That's been the question challenging me for the last several months, thanks in part to a great book I read, and in part to a lot of things on my mind lately.  As I shared in my last post, I really do feel that the story of our family bringing Sage (our youngest daughter) into our family is a pretty spectacular story.  And if that's the greatest story that I'm a part of, I'm good with that.  But I've been feeling like God is calling me and my family into a new thing that may just become an even bigger story.  We're going to start a church!
Yeah, I know, we just moved to a new church.  Shepherd of the Valley is a great church, and I believe it has a number of great years ahead of it.  But I no longer believe that I'm supposed to be part of that future.  I believe God wants Sarah and me and our family to do something we've always thought He wanted us to do: Start a new church.
So, we're going to do just that.  We'll be starting a Covenant church in Lake Stevens, WA beginning this Fall.  Actually, we'll start doing some meeting and planning and worshipping this Summer.  It is incredibly exciting.  And terrifying.  And thrilling.  And nerve-wracking.  In short, it's got all those things that help make a good story.
So, if you're in the Lake Stevens area, we'd love to chat with you about this.  I really believe this world needs more good churches, and we aim to be exactly that.  A good church, interested in making an impact in our community, because, more than anything, we believe a relationship with Jesus Christ changes lives.
It's going to be an adventure.  And our whole family gets to do it together.  Join us.  Pray for us.  Come watch this story unfold.  With God as the director, I really think it could be something amazing.

Don't go to church, Be the Church

Bill Walles

My Movie

So, as I mentioned last time, this book, "A Million miles in a Thousand years" has really got me thinking about my life.  Am I living a life worth writing about?  Am I living a life worth making a movie out of?  Boy, I'd have to say most days, not really.  I sit in front of my computer a lot.  I check facebook more than I should.  I read great stories written by other authors, and watch shows and movies put on by other people.  But, as for doing something truly epic and worthy with my life?  Meh.
Now, that's not to say I've never done anything epic or note-worthy.  I've had some colossal failures in my life, you could easily write a tragedy or two from some of those.  There's even a few "I shall overcome" moments worth writing about, but those happened back when I was 10 and 11, and I'm not sure I've done anything as impressive lately.
My biggest accomplishment I would say, with true joy actually, is my family.  I love my family.  I have an amazing wife, and 4 fantastic kids.  All of them are talented, and kind, and they all love Jesus (my greatest joy of all.)  And, actually, it is the story in how we came to have our fourth child that I figured would be the greatest story I would have told in my life.
For those of you who don't know, Sarah and I were blessed to adopt our last child, Sage, from China about 2 years ago.  And she is amazing!  We have been so blessed by her addition to our family, I truly cannot remember what life was like without her.  But, when I think about it, it was a pretty big story.  Maybe not a story worth making a movie out of for some, but I would go see it. 
You see, this was a story that we did together as a family.  Sarah and I felt called for a long time to adopt, and just seemed to keep having kids the old fashioned way so we never got around to it.  But, after our third child, we decided that if there was going to be a fourth Walles' kid we were going to adopt. 
And when we felt God push us to be more serious about that, we talked about it together and with our kids.  Because this would be a big deal for all of us.  Adoption is awesome!  And one of the reasons it's a blessing is that you can plan on certain things as a family.  You can really talk about the reality of what adopting might mean.  And for us, as we began to feel called to adopt a girl with special needs, it was such a blessing that we could talk about that as a family.  We talked it through with the other kids - what it would mean to be gone from them for 2 weeks, only to return with a little girl who would need a great deal of special care and medical help for who knew how long.  It was going to be a fair amount of work.  Sage was going to need a lot of unconditional love, and the sacrifice that everyone in the family was going to have to make was something we got to talk about and prepare for.  It was such a unique opportunity that you don't always get when adding a child to your family.
Now, to be fair, it wasn't always easy when we brought Sage home.  All our preparations and conversations still didn't ward off some hard days, and even harder nights.  But now, as we look back over the last 2 years, and see how Sage is healthy, and happy, and unconditionally loved, I know without a doubt it was all worth it.  It was an amazing story, one I never tire of telling.  All the main characters played a great role, our other kids, Sarah, Sage herself.  Our family is complete, it's exactly as God intended it to be, and the fact that we got to play a part in this story is humbling.
And, again, in many ways I would be just fine if this were the greatest story of my life.  If bringing Sage into our family is the highlight of my life story, I'm good with that, because it's one of my favorite stories ever.  But I'm beginning to think God has one more great and exciting story for our family as well.
What is your greatest story?  What is it in your life that you think, "Yeah, that'd be worth making a movie out of."  Give thanks for that story.  And then ask yourself, does God have another story in mind for you as well.  My next post will be what I think that next one is for us.  I'd love to hear about yours as well.
Happy Easter!

And, don't forget,
Don't go to church, Be the Church

Bill

A Million Miles

For those of you who follow this blog you know I tend to take a break during the Winter months and then pick up again as we head towards Summer.  It would appear this year was no different.  Part of my intent is to connect with people as they're off on vacations and such, which tends to happen more in Spring and Summer, but I appreciate the opportunity to engage at any time as well.  And, I thought this was a great subject to start that back up.
I recently finished a book by Donald Miller called, "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years."  Now, I continue to hear sad statistics about how adults in America read, on average, only the ingredients of a box of cereal in any given year.  I'm hoping that's not true, and there are still a number of avid readers out there.  And, even if you're not, I really recommend this book.
It's a memoir by a guy who got pretty famous when he wrote his first memoir, "Blue Like Jazz".  It was a quirky little book with this guy's take on life and faith that seemed to connect with a lot of people  After that he wrote a few more books, and life was "pretty good".  Then, a couple of movie guys came around and asked to make a movie about Don, basically crating a fictional story out of Blue Like Jazz.  And so Don agrees, and works with these two guys to create a movie about the fictional 'Don' with help by the real "Don'.  Kind of meta, I know.
But here's the kicker.  In this process, Don really comes to see that he's not living a life worth making a movie out of!  Don's life isn't bad, but it's not movie material.  That's why they have to invent a fictional Don whose life has greater highs and lows, because that's what all of us are looking for when it comes to a movie or a great story.  And it causes Don to ask himself (the real Don, that is), can we choose to live our lives so that they are Movie-worthy?  Can we choose to live a great story?
It is a great question that drives the rest of the book, and has really driven me lately as well.  My next couple of posts will be on this idea.  Looking at my life, would it be worth making a movie out of it?  Some things I've done, yeah maybe.  And I hope that's true for all of us.  But am I really living a life that's a great story?  Every day?  Now that's a tough question. 
I think our little family did something great in the last couple of years, and that will be my next blog post.  And then, I think we're going to attempt something great in the next few years of our lives as well.  I'll talk about that one next.
But, in the meantime, read this book.  "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years."  It's fantastic, and hopefully challenges you as much as it did me.  Is your life a great story?  Are the choices you make defining?  Would anybody see a movie about your life?  Now that's a challenge worth answering.

Don't go to church, Be the Church

Bill

Matthew's Genealogy

If you've been at Shepherd of the Valley over the last several weeks, you've heard me talk about the great stories we read from Matthew's genealogy.  If you're not familiar with this, go ahead and get your Bible open to Matthew chapter 1.  This is the first book in the New Testament, and in the first chapter we get a story that most readers (let's be honest) usually skim at best.  It's the record of historical genealogy from Abraham leading up to Jesus.
Now, in church we talked about why Matthew would do a such a thing.  From a theological standpoint, this line of ancestry shows that Jesus comes from the line of King David and before that even, from Abraham.  So, Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecies we see in the Old Testament about being the Messiah, the Savior.  In order to be the Messiah, Jesus' heritage matters, and so Matthew makes that case.
We also talked about, however, the spiritual side of this genealogy.  I stole a line from another great preacher that Matthew wrote this genealogy, and included all the names that he did, because they are "The point of the story."  The people listed in this ancestry were sinners and outsiders, just like Matthew was himself.  They prove the point of why Jesus came - that He came for sinners and outsiders.  He came to offer grace and forgiveness and wholeness to all.  That's a pretty cool message.
But Matthew's genealogy offers a couple of tough questions for the serious student.  One - it's different from the genealogy written in Luke 3.  How can that be?  And two, possibly of greater concern, if Joseph wasn't Jesus' "real" dad, then why does his ancestry matter?  Shouldn't the genealogy trace Jesus' heritage through Mary, since she at least is related to Jesus by blood?
Two good questions.  And, I'm not sure if you'll find the answers satisfactory.  There are many possible answers as to why the two genealogies are different.  One answer says that the genealogies follow different lines back to David, certainly very possible in such a tight-knit and inter-married community.  Some say that Luke does trace the lineage back through Mary, hence the difference and an answer to both questions.  Most scholars actually don't find evidence for either of these possible answers, but that doesn't mean you can't find truth in them.
As to Joseph not being Jesus' "real" father, I'll admit my perspective on that has changed a bit now that I'm an adoptive dad myself.  Because that's what Joseph is with Jesus, he's His adoptive dad.  And just as I would defy anyone to tell me that I'm not Sage's "real" dad I bet Joseph felt just as fiercely paternal towards Jesus.  Blood doesn't make you someones parent, Love does.  Something I think God understands fully as He uses adoptive language throughout the Bible in terms of how He sees us - His adoptive children.  Since God looks at us that way, what a perfect image for Joseph and Jesus.
But, again, if you're a strict student of things, I don't know that any of these answers truly satisfy.  Which bring us to our last point.  The thing is - the early Christian church apparently wasn't bothered by this at all.  After all, they could all read just as well as us.  They saw the same Gospels that we read today, they saw the same issues.  And we have no record of the early church struggling with these issues.  Our two big questions didn't appear to make their list of things to worry about.  It's hard for us, we want so much certitude from the Bible that, honestly, the Bible isn't all that interested in providing.  I guess that's why they call it Faith. 
For Matthew, the point of the genealogy is much more important than any problems with it being "right" or "wrong".  Matthew knew where Jesus came from, and why He came.  That's what mattered.  And the challenge to us is, are we able to see that as well?

Don't go to church, Be the Church!

Bill