Mondays are for Feel the Thaw Ramblings…

Watching a Church Thaw

The thaw is coming, the spiritual thaw and oh yeah the snow is melting too. After a massive storm last week we saw 50 plus degrees on Saturday and much of the evidence of the storm is gone. The large piles, the ones piled up over and over again by plows and shovels, they are still hanging tough, but most of the snow is gone.

Yesterday it felt like the sun was shining in worship. I feel like there is a spirtual thaw going on in our church. The last couple of years have seen a lot of storms hit this church. People have survived, but they have holed up in their homes and bundled up and sometimes grouped together like the March of the Penguins in order to survive what was being thrown at them. It takes a lot of faith to believe that warmth and growth and resurrection are awaiting you when it is dark, miserably cold and the wind is howling, but hope has remained.

That hope has begun to show new birth in 2009. It has been subtle but all the sudden you notice it isn’t so cold and then the sun breaks forth through the clouds and everything looks different. Not everyone has seen it yet, but those who have are basking in its warmth, peeling of layers and starting to dream dreams of spring. They are dreams of planting, beauty, basking, long walks, putting the windows down as you drive, hiding the snow shovel, and a harvest that is to come. They are precious dreams.

It is early still and there are more storms to come, but today I am thankful for a thaw and for thoughts of resurrection. Come Lord Jesus Come!

Faith Based Intrigue

There has been a lot of talk about the new initiatives that Obama has created with the formation of his Faith Based Initiatives Office. In an effort to formalize this relationship between the government and faith based programs Obama has brought together a diverse team to help implement and shape this relationship.

Some of the notable leaders in this groups include the president emeritus of the SBC, Jim Wallis, World Vision President Richard Stearns, mega church pastor Joel Hunter and some leading Jewish leaders as well. Strangely the office is lead by a 26 year old pentecostal named Josh Dubois.

The question is of course, “How will this effect the church.”

President Bush worked hard to get federal funding for social service ministries run by churches and succeeded in supporting many efforts. This money came with no strings attached regarding evangelism and allowed religious organizations to descriminate in their hiring based on their beliefs. The big question is whether or not this will remain under President Obama or if receiving federal money will require churches and other organizations to make sure they aren’t prosyletizing as they help those in need.

This is a sticky issue for us as a church isn’t it? It is nice to think that with the government throwing around billions of dollars that aren’t going to help anybody that some federal money would support programs that help people in a holistic manner. But, I don’t have any expectation that if the government funds these programs that they won’t start attaching requirements to that money. Getting in bed with the government should make us nervous. Money can be blinding, especially in the church.

I am hopeful that this office can do some real good and I am impressed by the diversity and quality of people selected to participate in it. We will just have to see if this is good news for the church or not.

Monster Quest

I totally got sucked into watching a number of episodes of Monster Quest yesterday on the History Channel. You know why? I believe in many of the things they were searching for. I am not afraid of stating it publicly. There are crazy things out there in the world that we haven’t discovered or just don’t understand.

I believe in the Yeti in all the forms in which he comes: sasquatch, abominable snow man, the ape man of China, and big foot. They are out there somewhere. I also believe in some form of the chupacabra or “goat sucker” that  has terrorized small farm animals through Texas, Mexico and Puerto Rico. It seems to be some sort of mutant coyote and wolf hybrid with leathery skin. Seriously, people have killed some of these strange creatures and studied their remains.

(Go here to check out some clips from the show)

I am undecided about the following monsters: Loch Ness, the suburban mountain lions, swamp monsters, the famous wumpuss cat of Central Arkansas ( a little shout out for my wife there) monster squids and monster spiders. But, I am willing to watch the episodes and see what they reveal.

So there you go, now you too can come out of your comic book closet and admit that you believe in some mysterious creatures as well. Who has the guts to admit it? Am I alone out here?