Month: April 2004 (page 1 of 3)

In the Ghetto…
Nope, not the Elvis song! I hear these horror stories about the Christian ghetto “where sanitized saints…separate from the world and keep safely out of its way.” Sometimes, I’m not sure what to make of them. But today, I had my own “ghetto experience,” and it was kind of comical and a little tragic at the same time. Here’s the deal…

I was looking for a “slimline” version of the Bible to tuck into my briefcase, so I headed off to our local ghetto. I headed over to the Bible section and began to look around at all the different translations and versions and editions (Yes, the US Marines, Little League coaches, and women executives all have their own edition…go figure!). Anyway, I had decided to get either a New Living Translation or The Message: Remix, depending on which one was the thinnest and took the least space.

I found an NLT that was just about perfect, except I didn’t really want it in black (I know, picky, picky!). I also found a hardcover edition of Remix. I gathered these two and headed over to the customer service counter to ask if there were any others beside the ones on the shelf.

The very nice, very friendly woman said, “No, what’s out is pretty much what we have. Maybe you missed some in that section. Let’s go take a look!”

OK, I thought. Maybe I did miss some. She took the two I had in hand and off we went!

“Why are you looking for these particular Bibles?” she asked. Then this…

“You do know this one (holding up The Message: Remix) is just somebody’s paraphrase, don’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied.

“Well, why do you want this particular one?” she asked again.

“Because it has the verses marked in it,” I said.

She had that disgusted kind of look, and then put it back on the shelf! Holding the black NLT, she said, “And this one…well…this one…um…this one is not a word-for word translation, you know. If I were you, I don’t think this one would be my first choice. Do you have a good English study Bible?”

I tried to conceal my laughter. “Yes, ma’am, I actually have several good English study Bibles. I’m looking for one to stuff in my briefcase.”

She wasn’t through yet! “Well, you really ought to re-think these Bibles, because they aren’t as literal as some of the others. They kind of stray away from the usual text. I’d just hate to see you get something that doesn’t have the right language in it.”

At this point, I don’t know which was annoying me more – her condescension toward the NLT and The Message, or the fact that the salesperson was actually trying to talk me out of a purchase!

So I did what every self-respecting annoyed pastor would do, I guess. I said, “Thanks for your concern, but when I really, really want to check out the right language, I break out my Hebrew and Greek editions. I’m just looking for a Bible in one of those translations that won’t take up a lot of space in my briefcase.”

She put the black NLT back on the shelf, and picked up a “gift and award” edition of the New King James Version! “This may be more what you’re looking for,” she said. I thanked her, and said I’d just take the black NLT after all.

We got to the counter, and of course, she asked if I had a “Perks” discount card. I pulled my “Pastor Perks” card out and I thought her jaw was going to drop! Literally! She started backpedaling and stammering and apologizing profusely! As though it was OK for me to get something “different” since I was one of the “anointed” or something.

Anyway, pretty funny to me…

Guess I should stick to my “own” ghetto from now on. Naaah…don’t even get me started there!

In the Ghetto…

Nope, not the Elvis song! I hear these horror stories about the Christian ghetto “where sanitized saints…separate from the world and keep safely out of its way.” Sometimes, I’m not sure what to make of them. But today, I had my own “ghetto experience,” and it was kind of comical and a little tragic at the same time. Here’s the deal…

I was looking for a “slimline” version of the Bible to tuck into my briefcase, so I headed off to our local ghetto. I headed over to the Bible section and began to look around at all the different translations and versions and editions (Yes, the US Marines, Little League coaches, and women executives all have their own edition…go figure!). Anyway, I had decided to get either a New Living Translation or The Message: Remix, depending on which one was the thinnest and took the least space.

I found an NLT that was just about perfect, except I didn’t really want it in black (I know, picky, picky!). I also found a hardcover edition of Remix. I gathered these two and headed over to the customer service counter to ask if there were any others beside the ones on the shelf.

The very nice, very friendly woman said, “No, what’s out is pretty much what we have. Maybe you missed some in that section. Let’s go take a look!”

OK, I thought. Maybe I did miss some. She took the two I had in hand and off we went!

“Why are you looking for these particular Bibles?” she asked. Then this…

“You do know this one (holding up The Message: Remix) is just somebody’s paraphrase, don’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied.

“Well, why do you want this particular one?” she asked again.

“Because it has the verses marked in it,” I said.

She had that disgusted kind of look, and then put it back on the shelf! Holding the black NLT, she said, “And this one…well…this one…um…this one is not a word-for word translation, you know. If I were you, I don’t think this one would be my first choice. Do you have a good English study Bible?”

I tried to conceal my laughter. “Yes, ma’am, I actually have several good English study Bibles. I’m looking for one to stuff in my briefcase.”

She wasn’t through yet! “Well, you really ought to re-think these Bibles, because they aren’t as literal as some of the others. They kind of stray away from the usual text. I’d just hate to see you get something that doesn’t have the right language in it.”

At this point, I don’t know which was annoying me more – her condescension toward the NLT and The Message, or the fact that the salesperson was actually trying to talk me out of a purchase!

So I did what every self-respecting annoyed pastor would do, I guess. I said, “Thanks for your concern, but when I really, really want to check out the right language, I break out my Hebrew and Greek editions. I’m just looking for a Bible in one of those translations that won’t take up a lot of space in my briefcase.”

She put the black NLT back on the shelf, and picked up a “gift and award” edition of the New King James Version! “This may be more what you’re looking for,” she said. I thanked her, and said I’d just take the black NLT after all.

We got to the counter, and of course, she asked if I had a “Perks” discount card. I pulled my “Pastor Perks” card out and I thought her jaw was going to drop! Literally! She started backpedaling and stammering and apologizing profusely! As though it was OK for me to get something “different” since I was one of the “anointed” or something.

Anyway, pretty funny to me…

Guess I should stick to my “own” ghetto from now on. Naaah…don’t even get me started there!

“Just a quiet, sad little place for quiet, sad little people.”
I haven’t read much of N.T. Wright’s stuff, but the more I see, the more I’m convinced I probably need to get a little more familiar with his stuff. I found this quote tonight (Thanks, Jordon!) and this is what I’m afraid of – in my own life and in the life of our church…

“Meanwhile the Church, like so many of its older buildings, seems to be saying to the passer-by: ‘Not much happening here. Just a quiet, sad little place for quiet, sad little people.'”

Tonight I’m Thankful…
…for the people who lift me up! I just came home from one of those long personal confrontations that have to happen from time to time, and I put Josh Groban in the CD player. In shuffle mode, the second song that came up was “You Raise Me Up,” and I realized how blessed I am to have people who will – from time to time – gently get in my face and help me me get “over” myself!

I know some people think it’s cheesy and all that, but tonight, these lyrics are kind of hitting home…

“When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.”

“Just a quiet, sad little place for quiet, sad little people.”

I haven’t read much of N.T. Wright’s stuff, but the more I see, the more I’m convinced I probably need to get a little more familiar with his stuff. I found this quote tonight (Thanks, Jordon!) and this is what I’m afraid of – in my own life and in the life of our church…

“Meanwhile the Church, like so many of its older buildings, seems to be saying to the passer-by: ‘Not much happening here. Just a quiet, sad little place for quiet, sad little people.'”

Tonight I’m Thankful…

…for the people who lift me up! I just came home from one of those long personal confrontations that have to happen from time to time, and I put Josh Groban in the CD player. In shuffle mode, the second song that came up was “You Raise Me Up,” and I realized how blessed I am to have people who will – from time to time – gently get in my face and help me me get “over” myself!

I know some people think it’s cheesy and all that, but tonight, these lyrics are kind of hitting home…

“When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;

When troubles come and my heart burdened be;

Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,

Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;

You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;

I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;

You raise me up: To more than I can be.”

Powerful Stuff from Donald Miller’s Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance…
�I have, in the training of the church, acquired the proper language, the gestures, the utterances of Scripture which carries a young man to his perceived success. I am �a fine young man,� �an anointed child.� God�s hand is �on me� and He will �use me to do great things.� All of this swells the head and develops a lust for more and more. I read C.S. Lewis and quoted him in a Bible study. I was then asked to lead the next study, having been thought an intellectual by my contemporaries. So I read more of Lewis, and of Paul Johnson and Calvin Miller, and then finally elevated to Kipling, Herbert, and Thompson. This branded me as more than literate; I was an appreciator of beauty and of the higher elements in life. All this in complete contradiction to the truth. I rarely felt what I read, only reading to pull quotes and have it appear I resonated with such noble ideas. Still, pushed by my contemporaries, I precipitated further into the ranks of church culture. Having developed an ability to communicate with a degree of drama and insight, I was acquisitioned as a staff member. I led a college group and taught twice each week. Twenty-one being an early age to bear such responsibility, my aspect was that of leader, but my heart was empty. I led, not in obedience to God, but for the reward that comes with the position: the comments and the looks and the shaking of hands and admiration that accompany a �man of God.��

�I was the one who was asked to pray when eating lunch with friends. I was asked advice on subjects I had never thought of nor experienced. I studied, not for the joy of learning, but to pass myself off as a man of books. I read and memorized lengthy passages of Scripture, not for the feeding of my soul, but that I might repeat them in public. Upon analyzing my behavior, I became despondent. In the midst of knowing about God, the very being I studied, to me, was evasive, was invisible, was no one I knew.� (p. 77-78).

�My knowing God will not come through convincing others that I know Him, it will come in seeking, in the effort and in the joy that increase with my familiarity of His goodness.� (p. 78-79).

Powerful Stuff from Donald Miller’s Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance…

�I have, in the training of the church, acquired the proper language, the gestures, the utterances of Scripture which carries a young man to his perceived success. I am �a fine young man,� �an anointed child.� God�s hand is �on me� and He will �use me to do great things.� All of this swells the head and develops a lust for more and more. I read C.S. Lewis and quoted him in a Bible study. I was then asked to lead the next study, having been thought an intellectual by my contemporaries. So I read more of Lewis, and of Paul Johnson and Calvin Miller, and then finally elevated to Kipling, Herbert, and Thompson. This branded me as more than literate; I was an appreciator of beauty and of the higher elements in life. All this in complete contradiction to the truth. I rarely felt what I read, only reading to pull quotes and have it appear I resonated with such noble ideas. Still, pushed by my contemporaries, I precipitated further into the ranks of church culture. Having developed an ability to communicate with a degree of drama and insight, I was acquisitioned as a staff member. I led a college group and taught twice each week. Twenty-one being an early age to bear such responsibility, my aspect was that of leader, but my heart was empty. I led, not in obedience to God, but for the reward that comes with the position: the comments and the looks and the shaking of hands and admiration that accompany a �man of God.��

�I was the one who was asked to pray when eating lunch with friends. I was asked advice on subjects I had never thought of nor experienced. I studied, not for the joy of learning, but to pass myself off as a man of books. I read and memorized lengthy passages of Scripture, not for the feeding of my soul, but that I might repeat them in public. Upon analyzing my behavior, I became despondent. In the midst of knowing about God, the very being I studied, to me, was evasive, was invisible, was no one I knew.� (p. 77-78).

�My knowing God will not come through convincing others that I know Him, it will come in seeking, in the effort and in the joy that increase with my familiarity of His goodness.� (p. 78-79).

“A Car to Make Weak Men Strong, Strong Men Invincible.”
The Mustang turns 40! I remember the ’65 burgundy convertible that my fraternity big brother had in college! I remember the day we drove around Tallahassee just so we could party when the odometer reached 100,000 miles! Very cool!

Here’s some shots of the Mustang through the years…

This one comes out later this year!

There’s a New (Caf�) Kid in Town!
Had a chance to visit the newest neat place in Olde Towne Woodstock, Georgia today – The Serene Bean! Homemade biscotti, a great, GREAT cappuccino, WiFi, meeting rooms, wonderful-smelling clam chowder, and lots of good-looking pastries, sandwiches, etc. About 35 cents cheaper than…well, you know! And the coolest part? The coffee cup sleeves with very neat art on them!

I heard – through our resident “grapevine” – that the owner said she was going to give…well, you know! a run for their money, at least locally! Right now, she’s got my vote! I’ve been waiting for a local caf� to come along that’s worth supporting. This is it! I hope she makes it!

Oh…I still love…well, you know! My secretary is still part-time there, and she, being pregnant and all, is not drinking caffeine. So, I’m the beneficiary of her “free pound a week” or whatever. OK…if you won’t tell her I’m going somewhere else, I won’t either! Deal?