Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Brokenness ~ Pastor Aaron
We rent. I kind of like it.....purely for lazy reasons. I don't have to mow the lawn. When something isn't working right...I don't have to figure out how it gets fixed.
Well our shower has been a problem for awhile now. Not a big problem...but our landlady (who is SUPER COOL for having to live next to our noise) is getting it fixed. Basically everything got ripped out and they're throwing up new stuff.
That begins said, there have been guys walking through our house all week long (which I'm not a big fan of as you can imagine)
So the other morning Corban looks into the bathroom and sees what you see above. He said something like, "Dad are they fixing our tub?" "Yeah it should be done in the next couple days." Then he said, "But why did they break things if they're fixing it?" Without totally thinking what I was saying, "Well sometimes things need to be broken before they can be fixed the right way." For some reason he was OK with that explanation.
As the day went along and I walked past our broken bathroom, I contemplated what I said to my son. I wonder if we're not often too proud to be broken. I don't like admitting that something's wrong. That I need to be fixed. I'm fine just the way I am. Status quo. I'm good to go. I can point to some major periods of my life where I wanted nothing to do with brokenness. My ego and my pride got in the way.
Pastor Mike teaches a lot on reconciliation and forgiving one another. I am constantly challenged by that. As the worship leader I try to select music that goes along with the general theme of the week. Can I just tell you that there are tons of songs about forgiveness and repentance as it deals with us and God....but very little (or I'm looking in the wrong places) the deal with forgiveness between ourselves. [I've joked with him recently that I'm just going to start writing songs about forgiveness so I have something ready for our fellowship next time he preaches on it]
I've never broken a major bone in my body. My understanding though is that the doctor has to "set" the bone just right so that it will heal properly. I've also heard of a doctor needing to re-break the bone because it's not healed properly. From what I've read, if the bone heals wrong, it might be very problematic, or possibly not useable.
If we're brutally honest with ourselves, we don't want God to point out problem areas in our lives that need ripped apart so we can get it fixed properly. If we're brutally honest with ourselves we don't want to ask forgiveness of people because that would also admit that we have problems in our lives. We're willing to let the bone set even if it's at a funny angle. We don't really want the dust and clutter of someone walking through our living room to fix the job the right way. We'll just let the mold and mildew rot areas of our lives out.
Please hear me when I say that this is self-examination, not condemnation. I'm not pointing fingers. I'm saying that far too often my pride hinders the needed brokenness in my life.
How about you? Am I off base here? Also, do you know any good worship songs/hymns that deal with person to person forgiveness and repentance?
~ Pastor Aaron (Pleasant Community Church / Time 4 Revolution Dude)
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Taking two... for the OTHER team!
Team's gesture supports grieving opponent
Two missed free throws, ordinarily the cause of a coach's headache, became the symbol of sportsmanship in a Milwaukee boys basketball game earlier this month.
Milwaukee Madison senior Johntell Franklin, who lost his mother, Carlitha, to cancer on Saturday, Feb. 7, decided he wanted to play in that night's game against DeKalb (Ill.) High School after previously indicating he would sit out.
He arrived at the gym in the second quarter, but Franklin's name was not in the scorebook because his coach, Aaron Womack Jr., didn't expect him to be there.
Rules dictated Womack would have to be assessed a technical, but he was prepared to put Franklin in the game anyway. DeKalb coach Dave Rohlman and his players knew of the situation, and told the referees they did not want the call.
As a principal, school, school district staff, and community you should all feel immense pride for the remarkable job that the coaching staff is doing in not only coaching these young men, but teaching them how to be leaders. 
--Milwaukee Madison boys basketball coach Aaron Womack Jr.
The referees had no choice. But Rohlman did.
"I gathered my kids and said, 'Who wants to take these free throws?'" Rohlman said, recounting the game to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Darius McNeal put up his hand. I said, 'You realize you're going to miss, right?' He nodded his head."
McNeal, a senior point guard, went to the line. The Milwaukee Madison players stayed by their bench, waiting for the free throws. Instead of seeing the ball go through the net, they saw the ball on the court, rolling over the end line.
"I turned around and saw the ref pick up the ball and hand it back to the player," Womack said in the Journal Sentinel. "And then [McNeal] did the same thing again."
Said Rohlman: "Darius set up for a regular free throw, but he only shot it two or three feet in front of him. It bounced once or twice and just rolled past the basket."
"I did it for the guy who lost his mom," McNeal told the newspaper. "It was the right thing to do."
Womack, overwhelmed by DeKalb's gesture, wrote a letter to the DeKalb Daily Chronicle, which had first reported the story.
"As a principal, school, school district staff, and community you should all feel immense pride for the remarkable job that the coaching staff is doing in not only coaching these young men, but teaching them how to be leaders," Womack wrote.
Rohlman said in the paper. "We got lots of positive calls and e-mails because of it. Even though we lost the game, it was a true life lesson, and it's not one our kids are going to forget anytime soon."
Live Responsibly... Love Responsibly!
A week ago Saturday our community, and teens/families in our church, suffered the loss of 19 year old Andrew Marketich. Andrew was very close to one of our families in the church, a number of students, and I knew him through my work at the local Christian school where he graduated from in 2006.
I was asked to co-officiate the funeral and embraced the opportunity to help in any way possible. It was very difficult to spend 3 hours at the viewing and repeatedly witness people physically, emotionally, and spiritually go through that part of the grieving process. The most tragic reality was that many of Andrews peers do not have a living understanding of Jesus Christ. Though many others do, I cannot escape the eternal dangers of those who choose to live a silent faith among their peers and those they have the greatest influence. This thought came out as a rather emotional challenge to my students this past Sunday morning. When will WE share the hope that changes everything... including times like this! If we do not... what does that say?
Matthew 10:32-33 ~ 32"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
Please pray for the Marketich family and Andrews friends. Andrew leaves behind three brothers and one sister. Pray that those of his friends who know the living Christ will have opportunity to share with those that do not. Be responsible with the hope you've been given through Jesus. LIVE RESPONSIBLY! LOVE RESPONSIBLY!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Peace & Rest
[Pastor J. 1/26/09] We all intrinsically desire peace & rest. It pervades our physical, emotional, and spiritual longings. We unfortunately have often become so turned off by spiritual representatives that we try and focus that search and place our hope in the political and intellectual. Well, you won't ever find peace in the political arena (historically proven). The intellectual on the other hand is the desire to pursue... but pursue what? I mean... doesn't that need to be identified. In fact, go ahead and pursue disproving something but at least you've got a focus... and you may be shocked at the proof you find!?!?John 14: 27 ~ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Matthew 11:28-29 ~ "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
These are the words of Jesus... not of a politician, world leader, mega church Pastor... Jesus who at the very least legitimately WAS someone (then & more so now) that the world took significant interest in, and as a historical figure has not been disproved... nor has his way of BEING! Who is Jesus beyond that? Well, critics from then until now have and continue to pursue that question... as do you and I... at least at some point.
Allow me to apologize on behalf of anyone who has ever represented... and subsequently embarrassed Jesus simultaneously. I'm not Jesus... they aren't either! You may have searched your candidate, political party, philosophical standing, or reason for being a Buffalo Bills fan... and whatever else you hold closely... but do you have peace and rest? When life is not peaceful and rest will not come... do you still have it?
At the age of 18 I encountered Jesus... not the church, not a charismatic orator (in fact, it was a very humble and simple man), not an emotionally fueled concert/worship service... simply Jesus in a field in Ohio. A field in Ohio? Really? Well, he did like to hang out in the countryside after all... I guess he found peace and rest there!
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