Wooden Excellence

I just back from Kansas City for the second time in two months. Yes...I did have more barbecue, this time having Jack Stack's and Gates' versions. Now that I've had the top rated barbecue places (see my earlier post), I have to say that Arthur Bryant's is the best, with Jack Stack second.

But I didn't just go to eat barbecue. I learned a lot at the School of Congregational Development. Here are two things:

1. One of my workshop leaders, Doug Anderson, shared a story about Coach John Wooden, who won 10 NCAA basketball titles at UCLA in the mid 60's through the mid 70's. One of the things he always reminded his players: "Gentlemen: never substitute activity for achievement." In all of life, we often are busy and do lots of things, but what do we do that is truly noteworthy? Especially when it comes to our faith? We might pray, read the Bible, help out...but is it with passion, is it with excellence?

2. In many places, including and especially church, we often lose effectiveness. Why? A common cause, according to Doug Anderson, is that there is an emphasis on personal preference and a tendency to stay within your own comfort level, instead of focusing on the mission and purpose you have for your life, your church, your career, etc. Move toward a mission focus in all things, and you'll be surprised at how much more your life has focus, direction, and effectiveness.

A Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition

In my sermon for July 8, I mentioned the below printed prayer, which is just key to finding a fulfilling faith life, which is to take the attention from one's self and put into covenant with God. A covenant is a mutually beneficial, mutually responsible, mutually faithful agreement between two parties. Here is a Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition. It's not an easy prayer to say, but if you can incorporate this into your life, it will make all the difference in the world:

I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,

exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield

all things to thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

thou art mine, and I am thine.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,

let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.

Cathedral Thinking

I found this great article called Cathedral Thinking. If you've ever been to any of these great buildings, you are amazed by the scale, the beauty, and the engineering that went into it. The Washington National Cathedral (pictured here) is a good example. It's just down the street from where I go to school a couple of times a year. It is a magnificent example of Gothic architecture and was voted one of the three most beautiful buildings in America by the American Institute of Architects (The Empire State Building was ranked No. 1, and the White House, No. 2; go here for the full list; the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on the Big Island was the only Hawaii building listed)

The article pointed out that many of the great cathedrals were built in a span of time that exceeded the lifetime of any of the participants of the planners and original builders.

For example, the Washington National Cathedral was first envisioned with the setting aside of land for a national church in 1792. Plans to build the cathedral weren't renewed until 1891, and construction didn't begin until 1907. The cathedral was completed in 1990. This means that 198 years passed from the beginning of the vision to its completion.

The people who first thought about building the cathedral knew that they might never see their ideas and dreams come to complete fruition in their lifetimes. That did not keep them from going ahead and putting this dream into reality. They wanted to build a place that would serve untold generations of people.

In anything in life, I think that cathedral thinking is important. Our thinking, planning, and dreaming should have the future in mind - what we do now will affect future generations, for good and for bad.

May what we do be remembered as something that was a blessing.

Of Barbecue, Strip Steak, and Resurrection

I made it home to Hawaii last Friday afternoon, bringing along a little cough. I was in the Kansas City area for my Doctor of Ministry program.

It was great to be able to visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the American Jazz Museum.

Those of you who know me also know that I am always interested in the local cuisine. Kansas City is known for two things: barbecue and the famous Kansas City Strip Loin steak. Over the two weeks I was there, I tried three barbecue places: K. C. Masterpiece, Gates, and Arthur Bryant's. Arthur Bryant's was by far the best, but to be honest, either of the other two places would be considered the best barbecue in Hawaii.

I was also able to find a delicious, but reasonably priced steak for lunch at Plaza III, where the price goes up double for dinner. Great steak, full of flavor.

Of course, I didn't go to Kansas City just to eat. For this session, we were blessed to spend time at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in nearby Leawood. It is one of the largest churches in America, with over 14,000 people. What it is unique to me about the place is that it is proud to call itself United Methodist.

The pastor of the church, Adam Hamilton, spent the entire second week with us. It was a great experience to be with someone who built up the church from just his family to that size.

What's his secret? I don't think there is really a secret. He has a strong vision, he is well thought out, and plans out ahead of time in great detail.

Oh yes...and it seems that everything his church does is dedicated to letting people know about the good news of Jesus Christ in some way. It isn't a hard sell like the stereotypical televangelist. Hamilton's way is invitational, low pressure, and friendly.

I learned a lot about how to do ministry there. It may very well be the most influential visit of my ministry. I've been to Willow Creek Church and Saddleback Church, and they are very impressive, but it seemed that what they did was just so out of reach, it was almost surreal. There is nothing about the Church of the Resurrection that any church couldn't do; maybe not as fancy - such as super high tech video - but they even taught us how to take consumer level equipment and produce good stuff.

I'll be unpacking a lot of stuff as we head into a great future at our church.

P. S. their website is cor.org.

Backup

I'm here in the Kansas City area for my Doctor of Ministry program. It didn't start out too well. Two days before I left, the hard drive on my laptop computer crashed. This would ordinarily be cataclysmic, but I had backed up my hard drive shortly before and I was only missing a couple of weeks worth of work. Fortunately, I have drafts of most of the missing work because I e-mailed the office or in the case of sermons, I have the podcasts.

I packed very carefully, and I was proud of myself that I had forgotten nothing. Then, when I got to the TSA screening at the airport, I was horrified to discover that my laptop was missing! I had packed the power cord, but forgot the computer itself!

A call to my wife was to no avail. She had already gone to her hula class and the calls went to voice mail.

Fortunately, I called my assistant, who agreed to pick up the computer and deliver it to me. I am so incredibly grateful to him!

Backing up a computer is very important. But also knowing that you have people who will back you up is a great comfort.

And knowing that Christ is backing me up at all times is the greatest comfort and blessing of all.

Father's Day Article

I'm in the L. A. area today. but I wrote an article for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. They asked me not to post the article here, but here's the link: http://starbulletin.com/2007/06/16/features/onfaith.html

Happy Father's Day!

A Real Man

Since I am going to be traveling for a few weeks, I'm not sure when I'll be able to post on the blog. So here's something I wrote a few years ago you might find interesting:

"REAL MAN"?
I read in a newspaper about a man who burst into a restaurant in New York, shot two people (fortunately, none were killed) and while brandishing a shotgun, began dousing the patrons with gasoline. He pulled out a fireplace lighter and apparently was about to ignite the people, when two brave women rushed at him and stopped him. Police arrived and in a struggle wounded the man.
In the initial interview with the police, he explained that he had hoped to be shot and killed by the police. It was also discovered that he had been living with AIDS and he said, "A real man chooses when he is going to die."
This is just another example of an unfortunate trend: people willing to die in the act of killing others. I think the answer boils down to this: they had lost a sense of the sacredness of life, and they had lost hope that living in the world was better than death.
A truly "real" man lived to show us a truly better way, truth and life. I believe what many people have been saying: that the church is the hope of the world, because we carryJesus' message of faith, hope, and love. This is the importance of sharing the message of Jesus Christ. I hope that this will be our growing conviction in a world that needs it so much.