Author: JRMITCH85

Is the question “why?” reserved only for little kids to ask their parents? Or is it rather intended for all of us to ask throughout our days? It really appears to be one of the dividing lines between two distinct personality types. One personality always wants to have the understanding behind what is happening, or why they are asked to do something in a particular order. While the other is given a set of rules and they either comply or ignore without ever understanding why they were asked to do something.

The other day I got frustrated at someone for giving direction without fully understanding the rationale for doing such a task. I pushed them to want to know these things, because the instruction may not be appropriate for all situations. Even though the direction was not given to me, I felt that in order to be a good leader one must first comprehend the purpose for a specific direction, otherwise there is a lack of credibility in spite of a person’s credentials.

This desire to ask the “why” behind our tasks may in fact be a requirement for someone who is desiring to lead in a particular field, it certainly is not a requirement for all individuals. In order to build a widget, there is a need for the person designing the widget and teaching the production team how to build the widget to understand the “why”, but each member of the production line need not understand “why” each part is produced in its specific manner or order. However, it is important that there are the eyes upon the overall task ensuring that each task is laid out such that the overall goal of manufacturing the widget is carried out to the highest quality, which helps the quality of the widget to be the highest possible.

If we were working on a single part, and got caught up on every single detail of the part, even those that have no impact on our task, and we would hold up the production asking all of our “why” questions. Thus I learned that it is important to set aside my “why” at certain times, and bring them back up later. There are times when it is prudent to allow leadership to lead us, even while we may not fully understand the purpose. However, we must be willing to challenge leadership, when the directives take us in a direction where we are living in opposition to our standards and values.

Depending on what situation we find ourselves, you may be the one asking “why?”, or you may be called to follow. Ultimately, in my life I must listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and allow myself to be led to following after God’s mission for the world. My questions sometime are directed at God, but ultimately I have learned that while it is part of my relationship with God to ask “why”, I am, however, called to be obedient to God’s call on my life whether or not I understand “why”.

Thus I want to add a line to Ecclesiastes 3:

“There is a time to ask why, and a time to accept as is.”

As I sit down to eat dinner with my almost three-year-old son we “talk” about the day. It usually ends up with him telling me about playing with toys, and with “the kids”. Many of these “talks” are not terribly deep, but the other night, he wanted to tell me a funny story, or at least a story that was funny to him because every time I try to tell the story, no one else laughs. However, the funniest part is that when he gets to the part he really thinks is funny, he repeats it, followed by, “I said that.” In a way, he is saying, “Daddy, I don’t know if you will get this, but it is really funny, and I really want you to hear it.”

It is during these times, I can’t help but smile, not because he has a knack for telling jokes, but because he wants to share this time with me, and really wants me to engage in his story. I am more than overjoyed to be able to give him this time, as an added bonus I am given so much joy because he wants to spend this time with me.

In the show Parenthood this week, I also saw an example of how a father desired relationship with his son. I won’t give away how this ends, because so many watch these shows on Tivo or DVR, but it captures the father’s desire to engage with his son.

Similarly, God desires relationship with us. God desires us to engage in relationship. This requires us to tell those stories that we find funny, those things that are on our minds that are stuck for one reason or another. My son found value in telling me his funny story, and I engaged and was captivated not because it was profound, but because it was important to him, similarly God doesn’t just want our polished Sunday morning prayers, but rather God desires each and every one of us to sit down and talk, and share our lives.

Unfortunately, I am not always willing to give this time fully over to God, as my son is fully engaged in our conversations. Too often I am distracted by what is on television, or the list of things that I need to get done in the day, or even playing games on my computer. These things prevent me from the full relationship that God desires from me.

God went to extremes to restore relationship with us, but too often we merely give lip service to that relationship. I challenge each and every one to take some time and sit and tell God a joke, a story, or simply sharing with God in prayer. Honor that relationship, and give of yourself. Put the “Nintendo DS”, or whatever is distracting you, down and actually spend some time with the Almighty Creator of the universe that simply wants to engage you in relationship. God wants our stories, because they make up who we are, and when we really want God to hear us, our relationship becomes a unique connection to the Almighty.

While I haven’t been present on the “blogosphere”, I have been busy studying and taking ordination exams, and moving in to my new place of residence. As I write this, I am offically done with all of the moving in, and organizing my living spaces, and I have my office setup in a manner that I am comfortable. These tasks have taken varying amounts of my energy, and have prevented me from having that truly restful sleep that I so desire.

Throughout my life I have heard that you need this number of hours, or that number of hours of sleep to remain healthy. However, it seems unrealistic for me, who has never had a time when I felt I needed to be in bed in my entire adult life, to start coming up with a “bedtime” so that I will be able to get a good eight hours of sleep. Some weeks I get up at 5:30am to be able to get my son ready for school, and so I can get a workout in before heading into work. This would mean going to bed no later than 9:30pm, which IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. On these days, I am pretty much content with the 5 hours that I get, assuming my sleep is not interrupted, which is usually a 50-50 proposition with an almost 3-year-old. However, this results in the occasional “sleeping in” until 7 or 8, and missing my workout.

I go to sleep so late because unless I am absolutely exhausted, I find it hard to fall asleep and I am completely unwilling to take anything to assist in this endeavor. In this I have found that my body will usually adjust itself to force me into a longer sleep if I need it. In particular, the week following the ordination exams had me sleeping many more hours, 9-10 hours a night. SO while I know there is a great deal of science behind the necessity of our sleep, I have trouble understanding why it has become an imperative for all people to find that exact schedule for sleep.

I look at the difference between my sister and me with regard to sleep. She does need the exact amount of sleep or else she ceases to function. However, I will sacrifice sleep for good conversation, I will sacrifice sleep for the sake of exercise, I will probably sacrifice sleep for pretty much anything worthwhile.

I will, however, “sleep-in” given the opportunity, and I really enjoy sleeping in. If I need the sleep, my body tells me, thus I just need to listen to it and it will guide me, which sounds so much more reasonable than trying to place my sleep on a schedule dictated by a set of general guidelines. However, to each their own, some need it regimented, which is fine, but from personal experience I just need to listen to the weight of my eyes.

Sweet Dreams everybody! I hope you enjoy your (regimented or not regimented) sleep tonight!

I received this from Invisible Children, which is a charity that I was introduced to through High School kids I was working with at Hollywood Pres, and is something I believe in and personally support. As I read it, I am reminded how life is fragile. While I didn’t know Nate, I am moved by the fact that he got up and lived life, and fought for change. However, because of senseless violence, he lost his life.

Do not be deterred by this violence, but be inspired to live your life to it’s fullest!

The following is from the Invisible Children e-mail.

It is with deep sadness that we write to tell you that one of our dear friends has been lost in Sunday’s terrorist attack in Kampala, Uganda. Nate “Oteka” Henn was killed by an explosion that ripped through a rugby field where hundreds of people had gathered to watch the final match of the World Cup.

To be clear, this attack, and the 74 total deaths, was not related to the LRA. These attacks were unexpected and unprecedented from an international militant terrorist group. It should in no way be confused with our advocacy work.

Nate fought for justice in this world, and he died next to the friends he forged along the way.

Here at Invisible Children, we are a strong family of support, both here and in Uganda, and we want to honor Nate’s legacy. His family needs time to mourn and asks for their privacy for the time being, but they also request that anyone wanting to help can make a donation to the Nate “Oteka” Henn Memorial Fund, supporting other people wanting to live as Nate lived – in service of others. You can donate, and find out more, at www.NateHenn.com.

With Nate in our thoughts and prayers,
Invisible Children

To find out more about Invisible Children, please visit their site: http://www.invisiblechildren.com

I have been thinking for a while that I needed to get new tires, but kept pushing it off until “tomorrow.” This “tomorrow” became today, because as I went out to get in my car yesterday I realized that my tire was flat. Even though I was planning on getting new tires today, it ended up being a day too late. Because of my procrastination, I ended up having to scramble to borrow someone’s vehicle so that I could pick up my son on time. Fortunately, things worked out and I was blessed with some good friends who could help me out in my time of need, but this was the grace covering my mistake, my sloth, and my poor planning.

This is one of my major character flaws, I am a procrastinator! I have been since at least the fifth grade, when I would wake up at 3AM to finish my homework. I wait until the last minute to do almost everything, and this leads to a lot of rushed work, and certainly not the best that I can do. This is simply cannot please God, because the work I do, and the way I do it are supposed to serve and be my worship to God. Thus I should no longer wait until the last minute to do so many things, because I should strive to do the best and be the best I possibly can be; doing so will be the best reflection of the transformation that is within.

Procrastination can be rationalized, and I have rationalized it plenty. I have said each of the following:

“I work well under pressure, therefore by leaving my work for the end, I am allowing myself to work at my best.”

“If I can do it in a short amount of time, what is wrong with that? I got an A on that paper I wrote in the last 12 hours, so if I can do that, is it really wrong?”

“Who am I hurting, other than myself by adding a little stress to my life.”

However, all these rationalizations are simply lies that I tell myself to try and be okay with procrastinating. There is no doubt that my procrastination is sin, it is what keeps a gap in my relationship with God, and prevents me from worshiping the God I love with my WHOLE HEART! God demands our hearts and our minds.

Surely, we all have some vice that attacks us at our very core, and if we don’t work on working them out of our lives they soon will define us. I often run late, and I have hurt too many of my friends and family because of this. The reason I run late is rooted in my procrastination. Thus, people who love me, have come to know me as someone who always is late. This is just one thing, but it is a way that my lack of control over my problems with procrastination has come to define me in many people’s eyes. Thus my reflection of God’s grace is less than what it ought to be, so I strive to be more organized, and procrastinate less. Pray for me that I may be one who doesn’t procrastinate, but is rather proactive, and get going on the work to which I have been called.

I have included here a part of a written piece by Tedd Lyons, the Associate Pastor at UPC-Fresno, my “home” church, and Tedd has been a pastor, friend, and confidant to me and my family for many years now. He was probably the first pastor that really challenged me in my faith and the pastor who turned me toward reading Bonhoeffer.  I have learned, and continue to learn a great deal from Tedd, and if I am half as good as he is at being a pastor and at pastoral care, then I know that I would be a success at following the call of God in my life.

On Sunday evenings, Abraham Lincoln would from time to time walk to the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, where the pastor would leave his study door open so that the president could sit in quiet and anonymity and hear the evening sermon. One evening, as Mr. Lincoln was returning to the White House, his Secret Service agent said to him, “Didn’t you think the sermon was marvelous tonight?.  So well-delivered, so intellectually sound, so passionately true.” Lincoln’s response was simply “No.”  When the Secret Service agent asked the president why, the answer came back, “Because he did not ask us to do anything.”

The Protestant Reformation brought a great correction to the Christian faith. Luther and Calvin and others stressed the priority of God’s action over ours, and emphasized that “by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God–not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)  When Luther read in his Bible “The one who is righteous will live by faith” (Rom. 1:17), he took his pen and wrote in the margin, “alone”.

As important and fundamental as this truth is, its over-emphasis (perhaps I should say its distortion) has led to innumerable sermons that “did not ask us to do anything.”  Protestants too often have behaved as though being right, being theologically sound, being the winner of the debate, was more important than being loving.  The tragedy is that many who profess strong faith, who know what the Bible says, act in the world as though this faith and knowledge have only one function, to assure believers of their worthiness to enter the next world.  So, in this world you live by the rules of this world, while believing that a better world is coming and that your faith assures you that you are saved and eligible to enter it as a free gift of God.

Over the last several years, UPC has taken on a yearly “practice”, a focused “doing”, that is intended, not to make us worthy of God’s grace, but to bring us into contact in this world with that grace at a level deeper than just the intellect.  This year our practice is “face-to-face service”.  This practice asks that we find ways to live out our faith in concrete acts of love and service to a real person or people.  In so doing, we will not only make this world a better place (a noble goal), but we will personally come into contact with the God who saves by grace.

As a help to us all, in our summer worship, we will hear from a number of witnesses who have been helped by “A Rule of Life”, a little guide to faithful living that has been circulating among us for a while now.  It is important to notice that this Rule is made up of eight imperative (do) statements. They begin “Open your heart”, “Keep yourself clear”, “Do”, “Take”, “Do”, “Keep watch”, “Practice”, and “Above all, love”.  They point us to the God who saves by grace and empowers us to act as saved people.

God has blessed us with a wonderful gospel, and a great calling to be advocates for the Gospel. This calls each of us to live out our everyday lives with this understanding, this requires a full life examination. From what we do getting ready, to driving into the office or school, to the things we do at our jobs or in the classroom, to the drive home and going to bed, everything matters to God. Thus we should examine those things and determine if the way you go about your day to day reflect the Christ living in you. (Galatians 2:20)

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Recently, I related the fact that in our lives we are being watched by people and by God. This is an amplified version of a Las Vegas casino with their “millions” of cameras. People watch to see if we live lives that show evidence of transformation, to see if that “Gospel” has any effect on us, and God watches over us like a parent that just hopes and wishes his children will represent themselves honorably, and thus represent the “Gospel” in a worthy manner.

What value would the “Gospel” have if our lives are not transformed by it? Do we simply live our lives accepting the free gift without responding in a manner or attitude of thankfulness? Unfortunately, too often we allow the grace presented to us in the gospel to be accepted without even saying thank you. Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls this “cheap” grace, because through our living lives filled with sin we are taking it for granted that God loves us so abundantly that He would send Jesus, His Son, to the cross to suffer, die, and defeat death with the Resurrection. However, if our lives show signs of renewal and transformation, then we reflect that this encounter with the grace of the “Gospel” is powerful.

One of the first things we teach our children is to say “please” when asking for something, and “thank you” when receiving it. I was reminded of this when checking out at the grocery store this evening, and the clerk handed my son a roll of stickers (which are quite possibly his favorite things in the world). I prompted him to say, “thank you”, but because he was feeling shy, he didn’t say anything. In response to his lack of response I began to get a little flustered and prodded him more to show his appreciation. The clerk then said, “I can see by the way he is using the stickers that he really appreciates them.”

While I know that there are a number of issues at play here, but what if we treated the “Gospel”, and used it in a manner that showed God, and the world that we really appreciate this unmerited favor that is the gift of the “Gospel”. What if instead of simply saying “thank you”, like we are taught at a very young age, we lived changed lives in response. Isn’t that message much more powerful?

If you didn’t know, I am a Lakers fan. I know that to many this makes me a fan of one of the “Evil Empires” in sports, however, I grew up in Fresno, California and when I was introduced to basketball I didn’t even know about the Kings, Clippers, or Warriors. All of that aside, I am happy about the victory and another championship.

However, I was impressed at how they won. It was not through the super-human performance of their superstar Kobe Bryant, but rather through the collective joining of forces and a little bit of luck. Particularly noteworthy, was the performance of Ron Artest.

This paragraph is an admitted side note, so feel free to skip it if you don’t want to read about my “encounter” with Ron Artest. Shortly before the birth of our children, a close friend, along with our wives, went to Maui. During that trip we decided to go to a luau, and sitting at the table next to ours was Ron Artest and his family, somewhat memorized  by this man who has been portrayed by the media as an absolute lunatic. However, he was just a normal guy who actually seemed uncomfortable being up on stage when the emcee called him up to dance. In other words, although my contact with him was hardly anything, I would say that he is 90% just a normal guy, with a 10% goofy guy who wants to get a rise out of you when the lights are on him. Thus from that 10%, we probably got the most entertaining post game interview and press conference in recent memory.

Back to my original thought. Ron Artest played his best game as a Laker last night, at times when the superstar Kobe Bryant struggled shooting and scoring, the Lakers were led by Ron Ron (a nickname of Artest), not a phenomenal percentage, but every time they seemed to need a basket there he was shooting a three-point basket, or dribbling into score, or rebounding the ball and scoring. Although he did not end the night as the scoring leader for the Lakers, he was instrumental in their offense. However, the Lakers wanted to get better on defense, and Ron Ron has been one of the best defensive players in the NBA in recent years. So they allowed one of their key players from last year’s championship team to leave as a free agent, and they signed Ron Ron. Through the entire season there were times when the Laker fans were happy with the move, and there were times when Laker fans really wondered why would they would essentially trade one player with promise for an inconsistent player like Artest. Last night, that went away, forever Ron Ron will be given the title, Champion. Most Laker fans also forgive this man who was the most unlikely of people to bring them back with both his defensive game AND his  offensive game.

Life is a lot like this, it is not always the superstar that makes the last shot, nor can we always rely upon the best and brightest to win the games that we play in life. Sometimes, we are the the tarnished players in this game of life, and sometimes we are given the opportunity to rise to the occasion. It doesn’t matter how much tarnish we have, it doesn’t matter how much we have done something that makes us “unreliable”, all that matters is how we react in the next moment. Each opportunity is a chance to rewrite our legacy, each time is a chance to become a champion, a chance to live lives glorifying God.

Ron Artest did not dwell on his failures, instead he knew that he had the ability to help his team win a championship. Through just going out and doing the same thing he had done time and time again, he stepped up to become an unlikely hero. I never thought I would say this, but learn a lesson from Ron Artest, don’t allow yourself to be defined by your failures and mistakes, but move forward and play, excel, and earn the title CHAMPION.

A few days ago I finished my last paper I will ever write for a M.Div. class at Fuller. I became aware of the fact that I struggle with keeping myself disciplined. I love to procrastinate, and do things at the last-minute, and certainly the quality suffers because I haven’t given these things the time they require. I also realize that I do in fact like writing, (this is why I find it somewhat befuddling that I wait until the last month in any class to actually get to the writing of a paper I should have started at least a month ago.) Thus I find myself here, starting yet another blog, however, I desire to keep myself disciplined and write at least two blog entries a week. (Another side note: I think I have only got past two blog entries total on one previous blog attempt.) However, I don’t think it is terribly interesting just to read about what I intend to do with my blog, I just want to put this out there so if anybody is actually reading this, they can hold me accountable.

So the next step was figuring out a name, and it came to me as I raised my hands to my head. Hope and Peace! These are the two tattoos I have on my wrist.

Hope (in GREEK), is the eager anticipation of the action of the Almighty God. This is on my left wrist, because I seek to allow my heart to be moved by this hope. I need to remember to allow my heart to be moved to be an instrument bringing the hope found in the gospel to the world. God has called me as a servant, and in all I do I must be an instrument of hope, which means that I must be aware of how my words and actions affect those in the world, but I can not be still, I cannot allow fear to prevent me from doing anything because hope is not passive, but active.

Similarly, Peace (or Shalom) is not passive. This is not only simply the absence of war but rather it is the making whole of humanity. Therefore, I placed this tattoo on my right hand, because I am right handed, and I am reminded that when I lift my hand I must not raise it in violence, but rather to build people up and to work for justice and peace in all endeavors. I must work to break down the walls of injustice that continue violence in this world.

Both tattoos are placed on my wrists so that I can read them, thus they are for me, to remind me to act according to these principles the Almighty guides me through. They are not instructions for others to act, but rather I hope that through my actions I can reflect these principles and through the witness of the Holy Spirit working and acting in my life, I pray that others might be inspired and driven to live in the light of the Almighty’s goodness.

There we have it, 500 to 1000 words, every Tuesday and Friday, I hope and pray that the discipline of writing this blog may help me grow, and strive after God more fervently, as well as open myself up to being a person who strives after correction and accountability. As I seek to live out the words of MLK, Jr. when he said:

If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that the host of heaven and earth will pause to say; here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.

I want to do this well, hold me to it!