"Luke, I Am Your Father..."

OK, I know that is not the exact quote, but it is a memorable moment in the movie series. Wow! Luke Skywalker - quite a character. I'm searching out other well known "Luke" characters through the ages, real and otherwise, and checking them out.

Luke Skywalker and the Force. Luke and his sister give into the Force all through the movie series. I wrote about many who were led by a force - but a bit more specific. And that force still applies to people alive today.

While not exactly a refugee, Luke spent much of his time away from home. Wheat Ridge has been involved with projects/organizations that help real refugees. Check them out.

The Millennium Falcon sure would have made my missionary trips with Paul a whole lot faster!

Sun, Moon and Stars - and gardens

I spent the last few days on the east coast of Lake Michigan. Full moon at night, rising up over the lake and then the sun dutifully followed next morning in the exact same flight path. Spectacular. And saw a very little bit of a regular (yearly, in July and August) meteorite shower earlier in the month that I have also seen back in the 1st Century. Connected through time. Part of a big picture that works so well together.

And I also saw the work of a master gardener, planning over 50 acres of trees, and grass and flowers and vegetables and ponds and more. God, The Master Gardener, must enjoy looking at his work too. I know I love looking at it. Praise the Lord!

Wheat Ridge has a great project called Giving Gardens. Check it out. A great way to help share health and wellness in a tangible way.

Phil's Friends

I visited this morning with Phil of Phil's Friends. They are one of many Wheat Ridge projects. I've had them in a post before. A great organization helping those going through cancer with Christ centered support. They are based in Roselle, IL but making national connections, and providing a way to get involved in person or through donation throughout the country.

Check them out. Similar to my last post, Phil and his friends are taking Matthew seriously. And it is clear from the conversation this morning that Phil is moved to do his work out of deep gratitude for God's work in his life. It was a great visit. God is still at work in the world through his children today as he was in the 1st Century. God's followers have been praying it, and by God's grace doing it for years: "...your will be done on earth as it is in heaven..."

Homeless people in "unlikely" places

I spent the morning at Cross Lutheran Church in Yorkville, IL. Great congregation and school; lots of great staff and volunteer leaders; and they are taking seriously the call to be God's hands and feet in the world:

P.A.D.S. is about providing shelter for those who need it. You'd never guess driving through Yorkville that there are more than 100 children registered as homeless. It happens everywhere. And the people of Cross are doing what they can to help. They are part of a group of churches who will provide shelter and a meal on a rotating basis. They are taking James seriously.

There are many others too. Wheat Ridge has a project in Seattle that focus on the hungry poor. Much to learn - back in the 1st Century and today in the 21st Century - about how to be helpful and how to work to reduce poverty and homelessness.

Amusement Park

More things I don't understand: They call it an "amusement park" but I don't think this girl is amused. I'm guessing that is her Dad beside her. That has not changed - "It will be fine Jenny. You'll love it!" Dads scaring their daughters in the name of fun.

Parents are pretty powerful. I saw a blog where a Dad blessed his son as he sent him to College for year #1. That's powerful! Parents words of blessing do so much for supporting their children.

The Bible has many stories of blessings.

Wheat Ridge has supported a project that focuses on understanding and ministering to the generation that passes on the blessing. Passing our faith in Jesus from one generation to the next... so important. 2000 years have passed since I was telling the story with Paul. Parents must be doing their job, powered by God's Spirit.

Pitiful Praise Practices Persist

Just a personal note...

I'm aware how often my prayers are "ask" and then perhaps "thank". My companion Paul was great at the "praise". And I'd like to be better. I wrote about it often enough in the Gospel, and even in the Acts of the Apostles in a variety of places. But for some reason praising God comes harder.

I've noticed it also in the prayers of the church in the worship services I've attended. Lots of asking, and thanking... little praising.

Any suggestions for how to 'raise the praise'? God certainly deserves it! One guy I ran across told me he has started the habit of doing the praising first. And he said it felt a bit awkward, but he persisted. Praise, praise, praise. It puts us in the right perspective when we praise first. Someone else said we praise God for who he is and we thank God for what he does.

"Praise to you God. There is no one like you!"

Which reminds me that songs can be a great way to praise. A great way in worship to focus on praising God too.

Herb Brokering was a great friend of Wheat Ridge and a great hymn writer. Check out some of his writings and hymns.

Support Your Pastors

I'm getting ready to deliver my first sermon here in the 21st Century (at Our Savior Lutheran in Gladwin, MI - in fact you could say the whole time-travel, Dr Luke thing was born there).

I'm not really too nervous - I've talked (and written) about the good news of Jesus many times before and in many different places. But I'm always aware of the importance of the words a Pastor shares, as God's people gather in various places all around the world to hear again the power of forgiveness and new life in Christ. And then, the rest of the week is important as the Pastors help God's people in all those places to be witnesses themselves in their work, and family, and neighborhood.

Pastors have very important work - in whatever century they live! Wheat Ridge is committed to supporting Pastors (by helping congregations to support their pastors) through a variety of resources such as Living Well days and a sabbatical grant program.

Hug your Pastor this week! - or at least shake their hand and say thanks!

Any Last Words?

Some things don't change, and some things change dramatically over time. Death is still the end for everyone. How that death comes has changed very much since the 1st Century.

I came across two different sources for an article from the New Yorker that does a wonderful job of describing the challenges you face here in the 21st Century at the end of life. (I'll warn you it is very long, but very well written and filled with real stories about real people that help it hit home.) The article revolves around being prepared to live well at the end of life. That sentence seems to not even make sense... live well? when you are dying? The author is a physician - an insider in the medical profession - and so speaks with first hand knowledge of how things often happen at the end of life, battling whatever medical condition is hastening death.

I'd encourage everyone to read it all the way through. It can help families prepare. It can help Pastors who help families prepare. And perhaps lost in the middle is a key part of the piece that speaks of critical faith questions:
a 1415 medieval Latin text was reprinted in more than a hundred editions across Europe. Reaffirming one’s faith, repenting one’s sins, and letting go of one’s worldly possessions and desires were crucial, and the guides provided families with prayers and questions for the dying in order to put them in the right frame of mind during their final hours. Last words came to hold a particular place of reverence.

It appears that you have come to expect miracles from the medical profession. Miracles do happen, but death still comes.

And Wheat Ridge has some excellent resources available. Check out Odyssey Through Cancer from Wheat Ridge Ministries. (There are other excellent booklets in that series as well.)

The Play's The Thing!

We can be entertained watching movies in a theater, movies at home on TV, on Wii, on our computer... we can watch TV shows - on TV, and on the computer - hundreds of channels worth. But, the play IS the thing. Live entertainment was our only option back in the 1st Century. And I'm glad you still have it today.

For my money, live performance with skill in the writing, acting and producing, is very hard to beat. Something about the interaction between actors and audience that lifts the experience. I witnessed one of the better examples of that last night at Looking Glass Theater in Chicago and their signature piece: Looking Glass Alice - a remake (I'd never heard of the first one) of Alice in Wonderland. Great for all ages. The production has traveled a bit, so you might catch it in your part of the country. Don't miss it!

Wheat Ridge ministry has supported a project about parenting. I'm sure parents appreciate something you can take the kids to and not worry about what they will see or hear. Too much of what is in the list in the first paragraph is a problem that way!

Distractions

I don't know how you handle it... It is kind of driving me crazy. So many distractions coming all the time: commercials in the middle of a TV show, text messages in the middle of a conversation, advertisements in the middle of everything... Do you eventually get used to it? Doesn't it bother you?

And then there are the times that the mind is oh, so focused - like when you are in for cancer treatments. A little distraction might be a welcome thing then. But not just a distraction - a welcome connection, that brings support and encouragement. That's what Phil's friends, a Wheat Ridge Project, is all about. Check them out. Perhaps get involved.