Thursday, November 22, 2007

Very Interesting


Who is Our Congregation?

Way back in the Golden Years of Television Rowan and Martin had some very funny skits. One reoccurring character was a small guy dressed in a WWII German Army outfit. He had a cigarette down in his fingers and a quizzical lost look. He uttered the same phrase in every show. "Verrrrry interesting!"

It is very interesting to see our leaders fail to encourage Seasoned Believers to participate in their church

I must admit that I knew our world in general and the USA specifically were riding an Age Wave Tsunami. I vaguely understood that it would affect ever person on the planet. I had heard that it would make our current economic and political practices untenable. The Tsunami has two aspects that make its impact huge and unavoidable. The height of each aspect of the tsunami makes the wave such a giant that it will probably have disastrous effects unless we do better political and economic planning.

One aspect is the huge number of Baby Boomers in the system and aging fast. The second is the dramatic increase in longevity of Builders and Boomers fueling our population like a tsunami.

(See a fellow Seasoned Believer's blog for the numbers in the Age Wave Tsunami at http://theboomerwave.blogspot.com/)

To my knowledge, no one running for the Presidency this year is mentioning the Age Wave Tsunami. In fact, many are acting like it does not exist. They indicate that the government will be able to pay for current Medicare and Medicaid costs AND also add huge chunks not now covered. It is the height of irrational exuberance indicating an almost psychotic avoidance of reality.

But I have no political clout nor do I want any. However, as a leader in the Evangelical wing of the church for thirty years or so I think I have something to say about the need for Christians to be aware of the opportunities and the dangers of The Age Wave Tsunami.

Let me say it this way: "Most current Christian thinkers on evangelism, church growth, church planting, church music, ministry to the poor and needy and fund raising are out of touch with reality. They act like the candidates for political office. With a few exceptions, chat rooms, Christian blogs and magazine articles almost completely ignore the strengths and weaknesses of The Age Wave Tsunami." (Click on video link, http://wms11.streamhoster.com/s70x7/whatif_final.wmv

Almost everyone is focusing on young people. They fail to see this most promising reservoir of Seasoned Believers' mental, emotional and spiritual resources. They fail to recognize that Christianity will be severely crippled unless denominations and congregations take bold action to recruit, equip and release Seasoned Believers into meaningful ministries.

Join the conversation. Write me after you look at our video and read Ron Tate's informative blog http://theboomerwave.blogspot.com/

Unless you want the current leaders to retire you as a geezer, get involved.

Do You want Joy?


Do you want to have a great Thanksgiving? It is easy. Have an attitude of gratitude and give something to somebody else.

The Bible is a great book. It not only write His Story (HisStory) in plain words it offers a lot of practical wisdom about life. A great deal of wisdom is give to us about how to have an abundant and joyous life.

One well known comment that I borrow in counseling a lot is, "If I try to save my life I will lose it." This comment comes in handy when I talk with depressed, angry or anxious people who are allowing the behavior of others to keep them in misery and they try over and over again to make someone stop acting in ways that cause them pain. In other words, they try hard to save their own mental and emotional comfort but it does not work.

Maybe the most important advice is, "Give and it shall be given unto you..." and "It is more blessed to give than receive." Thees two sayings constitute a double blessing of great proportion and are rather simple. Greedy, grasping folks are usually miserable but giving folks are happy.

If you want to see this in action, click the link below and take a look at the video report of folks who have joy from giving. http://www.freewheelchairmission.org/

Some of their critics are unhappy but they have joy.

This ministry has enormous impact on people. It is something that can inspire us to REFIRE not RETIRE and find our own niche of service. Many Seasoned Believers are entrepreneurs and the world is waiting for creative new ideas about ways to make a difference in the lives of hurting people.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Family Life


The Happy Couple

Karen and Butterscotch

A birthday and anniversary gift





Today is our anniversary. Karen and I married after a whirlwind courtship of six months on the Thanksgiving Holiday in 1961. I was 23 and she had just turned 21 when we went down the aisle of the First Baptist Church in Pinckneyville, Illinois.

I was a school teacher at the Ina Grade School where I had the 5Th and 6Th Grades and taught all the subjects while coaching all the sports and driving the school bus. My salary was, as best I remember, about $3,000.00 but I received another $100.00 per month for driving the bus.

We were in love and wanted to marry so Thanksgiving seemed like a good time because I was off for vacation from Thursday through Sunday. We chose November 21 because it gave us a couple of extra days for a honeymoon.

Time flies when you are very busy and involved in life and that has been true for us. Our two children and three grand kids have provided lots of joy and lots of worry. That is life.

Marriage is not easy, that is for sure. Some marriage and family therapists say it is the most daunting of all mergers. Taking two people who are radically different as humans and asking them to live together in a mutually up building manner is a great but invigorating challenge.

After almost half a century, Karen and I usually mirror each other's thoughts and values. But is was always so. It has taken many misunderstandings and many discussions and puzzling conversations, fights and times of forgiveness. And, most importantly, God has been the glue of our relationship.

Take a look at this article in The Wall Street Journal to see how important marriage is to all people. I am very blessed after 46 Thanksgivings as a husband to have a wife of my youth.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/?id=110010888

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

A Seasoned Saint




J.C. Penney is a name synonymous with department store. He first launched his chain of "The Golden Rule" stores in 1907. In 1910 his first wife died. Three years later, he incorporated as the J.C. Penney company. In 1923 his second wife died giving birth to his son. In 1929 the stock market crashed and he lost $40 million.

By 1932, he had to sell out to satisfy...creditors. This left [Penney] virtually broke. ...Crushed in spirit from his loss and his health suddenly failing, Penney wound up in a Battle Creek, Michigan sanitarium. One morning he heard the distant singing of employees who gathered to start the day with God: Be not dismayed, whate'er betide, God will take care of you.... Penney followed the music to its source and slipped into a back row. He left a short time later a changed man, his health and spirit renewed, and ready to start the long climb back at age fifty-six.

By 1951 there was a J.C. Penney store in every state, and for the first time sales surpassed $1 billion a year. [John Woodbridge, ed., More Than Conquerors (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1992), 340-343.]

Monday, November 19, 2007

Where ar they Now?

When the Little Children Came to Him

I often think about our friends from the Jesus Movement and wonder what happened to them. Then, when Deb Smith, one of the midwives of the Movement, died, dozens of them contacted the blog set up to pray for her and many returned to honor her and Tom at the Celebration of the Resurrection.

It seems to me that a very large percentage of the people who were touched deeply by the Lord back then have remained faithful to Him and have tried to follow His ways. Some have fallen by the wayside but that is a minority.

Quite a few of our friends have been in Helping Ministries of one kind or another. Some chose a pastoral or teaching ministry while others became missionaries and worship leaders. It seems that not a few heard the call into counseling and healing ministries. That was always a focus in the old days and it excited us.

This listing and conversations reveal that almost everyone of the Jesus Community caught a lot of compassion from direct contact with the Spirit or from His word. One man told me, "I blame Tom Smith for my lifelong commitment to love and mercy. He pounded that message into our heads at every service."

No matter what career these folks have chosen, and the variety is almost endless, a streak of interest in helping the poor and downtrodden is usually present in their lives. When I read that a reporter has discovered for the very first time that "Evangelical Christians have just recently started being interested in issues other than abortion," I want to write a letter to the editor.

Ministry to the poor has ALWAYS been central to the lives of the Jesus People. It is not a new thing but a constant factor and a deep one. It is new to the political writers but not to us.

The same can be said for our interest in caring for creation. We have always been interested in what God made. We are also interested in and committed to life because God gives it. These same values continue to resonate with aging Boomers and Builders.

However, we are also skeptical of too much governmental intrusion. We saw what happened at Kent State when the government tried to slap down a student protest. By and large we want to see individuals care for other individuals and we volunteer to help people and donate to help people. Maybe it is our individualism that seems suspicious of big government. We came to Christ individually and personally and we like it that way.

The Jesus People have always been special to me and special to the Lord and His heart for hurting people. Now is the time for these Seasoned Believers to Re fire and not Retire. We need another Movement.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

How Did I get So Seasoned?


Whitfield Preaches at the First Great Colonial Awakening


It occurred to me that I am well done and well seasoned. Randy Moody, an old friend from the Jesus Movement at U.C. in the Sixties and Seventies, wrote a long letter telling us he has a bunch of old audio tapes on which many original songs have been recorded. These songs vary in skill and tone but they do help us think about the fun and holy experiences we had so many years go.

There we were in the midst of one of the great revivals of history and we were largely unimpressed. Oh, I dimly remember discussing the amazing things that were happening in us and around the country. Sometimes international speakers came through Cincinnati and spoke about how broad and deep was the Jesus Movement. But for the most part we were not very self conscious about our "place in history".

There was too much going on to be reflective and insightful or terribly academic. Karen and I had two small kids and I was working as Associate Dean of Students while doing a doctorate in counseling. We lived 300 miles from our parents so family demands were great.

And, there were the small things we called, "Campus Disturbances". The Baby Boomers hit campus in 1964 and they shook things up. Viet Nam was a big deal with peace activists threatening to kill folks like me because we were, "Pigs" who needed to be "offed". The Black Panthers were also threatening to protest and the whole world was in an uproar.

The bombing in Cambodia brought violent protests and Kent State exploded into an overwhelming problem when the National Guard lost control and began to shoot students. Sit ins, protests, threats and FBI reports that people had targeted us with bombs and Molotov Cocktails kept us on edge almost every day.

Through all of it The Community of Jesus, a loose association of Christian groups, house churches and hangers on met regularly for prayer and mutual support. All of it brought us closer together in fear, anxiety and excitement about God's love and power.

Many students came to faith in Christ and others re-committed their lives to Christ after having dramatic experiences with the Holy Spirit. It was. as Dickens said, "The best of time and the worst of times." Those youngsters are now grandparents. Wow! Time passed fast.

We saw God work miracles of healing, deliverance and reconciliation. Many of us wanted to stay on the mountain top with Jesus. The people we prayed with and for as well as the things we did together made an indelible impression on us. Thanks be to God who gave us Himself and called us to be His own.