Books Finished in May 2012

Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton (First time read; I see why people encourage reading it, but I also think it's usefulness will lag in the years to come. He mentions lots of people not alive today by name. These ideas are repeated every generation or so, but these names of the late 19th century have been forgotten.)
Fellowship of the Ring by Tolkien (I try to reread the Lord of the Rings every few years or so; always excellent. Glad to be onto Two Towers; this could be my favorite book of the three.)
Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (another book worth rereading every few years)

"Happy Holidays"

In a sermon a few weeks back I said something like, "I think Santa Claus makes Christmas better." To the shock of many in the room, I (an evangelical, sometimes labeled fundamentalist, Christian Pastor) gave props to the secular rituals that have come to be associated with the yearly holidays.

To be forthright:
1) Our family dyes Easter eggs, hides Easter eggs, eats chocolate Easter eggs, and yearly puts out beautifully painted wooden eggs (in Norwegian Rosemaling) .
2) At Christmas, Santa comes and brings candy and presents. We do get a Christmas tree. We even say "Happy Holidays" on occasion.

For all those doubting my salvation, C.S. Lewis comes to my rescue in Reflections on the Psalms. Lewis observes that a devout young boy can appropriately place the resurrection of Jesus and eggs together in celebrating Easter. Admittedly, a time will come when the boy will have to place emphasis on the eggs or Jesus. Lewis writes, "If he puts the spiritual first he can still taste something of Easter in the chocolate eggs; if he puts the eggs first they will soon be no more than any other sweetmeat (British for candy)."

Mirth should and can be added to most religious holidays, but at the end of the day we must let the holy day fuel the mirth rather than the mirth fuel the holiday. Otherwise we worship the mirth rather than the Person that brings forth the mirth. At that point we have became pagan revelers rather than pious worshipers.

I pray that your future Holy Days (holidays) would be filled with mirth because they are based on the Savior who came as a baby and died as a criminal to save the world from their sins.

A Pastoral Moment...Work Matters!

Back in April, I had the opportunity to participate in a commissioning service. A family in our church is launching an animal grooming business. The family from church, the veterinarian in charge of the business, and a few friends gathered to pray and dedicate the labor to the LORD. I gave a mini message spanning Genesis 1-3 to Revelation 20-22 celebrating the glory of work, the privilege to honor God and do good to neighbor, and the redemption Christ offers to souls and society. My prayer was that this grooming business would be the most loving place in the city, that people would come in weeks early to get their dog groomed just so they can be loved and valued once again.


The commissioning was spawned through the reading of "Work Matters." I also gave a copy to all participants (who didn't already have the book). Glory to God.

Death and Sheol, Heaven and Hell in the Psalms

My main argument: Beware of inviting people to believe in God so that they go to Heaven. Rather invite people to Heaven so they can be with God.


Most scholars rightly observe that the Psalms (and most of the Old Testament for that matter) do not focus in on heaven and hell.  In fact, the word sometimes translated "hell" is really the Hebrew word sheol, meaning "the place of the dead." The place of the dead appears to be a place of emptiness, shadows, and non-existence.

It would be inappropriate, however, to assume that the ancient Jews' final word on the afterlife was nothingness. Rather, their understanding was minimal and so they admittedly spoke of death as nothingness and emptiness because they had nothing better to go on. Later revelation from God in the New Testament gave us a fuller understanding of heaven and hell (and yet admittedly, we only have metaphors to begin grasp the glories of the new heaven and new earth and the agonies of hell).

But a person might go on to ask, why didn't God give the ancient Jews more to go on than sheol? C.S. Lewis gives a worthy answer to this question in his little work, Reflections on the Psalms. Lewis surmises that many of the competing pagan religions of the ancient Jews had overemphasized the state and well-being of the dead to their detriment. Rather than focus on living well in the here and now, the pagan cults stocked up for eternity and performed all kinds of religious acts with a hope to bend the gods to act mercifully beyond the grave.

The God of the Jews (Yahweh) took a different approach. Rather than produce worshippers who strove to find satisfaction in the afterlife, Yahweh invited people to find their satisfaction in Him in the here and now--not a satisfaction in the things of this world (think money, sex, and power), but in the God who is both in and above this world. God invited the Jews to delight in Him now, to see that He was the source of life and joy now, and to love Him now.

Lewis goes on to say, "For then those who love God [now] will desire not only to enjoy Him [now] but to 'enjoy Him forever,' and will fear to lose Him. And it is by that door that the truly religious hope of Heaven and fear of Hell can enter (emphasis added)..."  In other words, if you do not delight in God now, you won't delight in Him in later in Heaven. If you don't fear losing Him now, you won't fear losing Him forever in Hell. People choose Hell because they don't love Him. People choose heaven because they love Him.

My main argument: Beware of inviting people to believe in God so that they go to Heaven. Rather invite people to Heaven so they can be with God.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (NIV)

Thoughts on Reading

Where have all the good readers gone? Some lament the end of good books; I don't think that is true. We are in an age that not only produces good new books (albeit with a truckload of garbage tales), but we are also at a point in history where we have an accumulation of amazing books over centuries of publishing.

My lament is over the nature of reading itself. There is nothing wrong to read for pleasure. But we are in trouble if that is the only reason we read. There is nothing wrong with reading to be acquainted with the worlds of thought. But we are in trouble if that is the only reason we read. There is nothing wrong with reading to enter into dialog with other human beings for fun, work, and critical reflection. But we are in trouble if that is the only reason we read.

My suggestions:
  1. Read to grow as a person. Read proven (old) books that make you think. Read history (so it is not repeated). Read non-fiction books on character development.
  2. Read award-winning books...not just best-sellers.
  3. Read books that are too deep to ever make it to the screen.
  4. Read books aloud with others.
  5. Read simultaneously with other readers and plan to express thoughts. (book clubs exist, but often you may need to create your own)
  6. Read outside your preferred interests and vocation.

Oh, and please, please, keep reading for pleasure as well. But what you may find out is that reading with intentionality (like suggested in #1-6) may be even more pleasurable (the less carnal and thus more redeemable version of pleasure).

Recent Books Finished as of May 10, 2012

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (theologically-rich, fun, and delightful read by an Iowan!)
Thomas Wingfield, Curate by George MacDonald (beautiful read, free for Amazon Kindle)
A Sketch of the Life and Labors of George Whitefield by Ryle (free for Amazon Kindle)

$$$ Make all you can....(but that's not all)

$$$ Craig Blomberg on making money...http://www.denverseminary.edu/craig-blombergs-blog-new-testament-musings/gain-all-you-can-save-all-you-can-give-all-you-can/

If you have a job, like money, and desire to honor God, this would be a good read for you.

An Imperishable Word (a poem)

The perishing soul withers like grass,

   Withered by blazing sun, no root,

A hopeless hump, a lifeless mass,

   Left alone, ending empty of fruit.

But then the imperishable word is sown,

   The dead stump begins to grow,

What was lifeless begins to groan,

   A bud of hope begins to show.

Glory-less life now breathes splendor,

   Acrid death-decay drops off,

Life from above comes upon her,

   She rises and is lifted alof'.

Once dead, now destined for harvest,

   Yet no longer chaff for the flame.

No longer reaped like the rest,

   Now raised by Judah's Lion, the Untame.

Inspired by a meditation of 1 Peter 2:22-25: Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, "All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever." And this is the word that was preached to you. (NIV)

Aunt Lacey's Wedding!!

These are a long time coming, but here are some photos from Aunt Lacey's big day back in January!

Mom, I have a new calling...

While Mom left Dad in charge, Caleb decided to become a punk rocker. (oops, sorry Mom)

One bonus pic...Caleb was complaining about Elias being messy on a previous day :)

My children never cease to amaze me...

Today, my boys are on a roll.  The things they do and say are a continual source of astonishment to me, if not always joy. :)

1)  Samuel is looking at me through a magnifying glass.
Sam: Mom.
Me: What, Sam?
Sam: You are huge, Mom.  You are like a big, giant lady.
Me: Why thank you, Sam.

2)  Samuel illustrates so beautifully the heart of the self-righteous.  He sighs and say to me, "Mommy, aren't you tired of Caleb not obeying you? I'm so tired of it."

3)  Samuel calls to me from his seat on the porcelain throne, "Mom, Caleb had a accident!" In the bathroom?  That's odd.  I enter.  "Caleb, what happened?" I ask.  He says to me, matter-of-fact, "Sam was taking long so I peed in the baftub." (Translation: I peed in the bathtub, on the rug and all over myself.)

Happy Thursday from the ever-eventful Proctor house!

Books Finished in March 2012

The Count of Monte Cristo (6 months later, my wife and I finish reading this book aloud...quite possibly one of the best books ever written)
The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson (great, great book on prayer)
New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton (some real gems in this book)
The Hunger Games Trilogy (fun reads!)

Easter and Holy Week Services in Marion and Cedar Rapids, Iowa

I'm excited for the upcoming Holy Week worship services with the Cornerstone Church family.

Sunday April 1 "Palm Sunday": Any kids interested in our Palm Sunday processional will need to arrive at the church no later than 9:45AM.

Friday April 6, 7PM: We will be doing a combined Good Friday worship service with the congregation of Northbrook Baptist Church at their church facility, 1700 Boyson Ave. in Cedar Rapids.


Sunday April 8: See all the festivities below that will take place at Collins Road Theater on Easter Morning!
    9:30AM: Easter Brunch
   10AM: Resurrection Sunday Worship Service

More info here: http://cornerstone-marion.org/2012/03/14/holy-week-2012/

May God richly bless Cedar Rapids and Marion, Iowa this Easter Season.

Serve our Youth Fundraiser

Carrie has been an employee of Serve Our Youth Network since 2005 recruiting volunteers at first but now as a part-time grant writer. If you'd like to support this great organization, please consider their run/walk 5k this Spring. For more info see below or check out their website: http://serveouryouth.org/ 1st Annual Spring 5K Run/Walk for Serve Our Youth Network DATE: Saturday, April 21, 2012 TIME: 8:00a (Registration), 9:00a (Start) LOCATION: Gray's Lake Park in Des Moines. MORE: Registration fee is $20/person (kids under 5 free), t-shirt included with registration.  Deadline for t-shirt is April 6th.  Registration forms here.

Join Our Mailing List! Serve Our Youth Network 309 Roosevelt Rd Pella, Iowa 50219

 

Elias is now 6+ months - big boy!

Below you'll find two series of pictures I'll call "Elias and Parents."  Not because I don't have anything better to do with my time, but because I'm procrastinating.  I hope you'll enjoy anyway.  :)

What's Daddy going to do to me????

This seems harmless enough...

Oh, I get it!! :)

Say cheese, Mom!

OK, now look at me.

You just try 'em, Mom, they're pretty tasty.

Pastoral Fame or Is it Shame?

I read a convicting article today entitled:
The Dangerous Pursuit of Pastoral Fame by Bob Hyatt

(http://www.outofur.com/archives/2012/02/the_dangerous_p_3.html)

I find myself guilty of nearly everything he writes about...For instance, Hyatt writes,

Over the last few years, I’ve thought long and hard about “my platform” as a pastor, a writer, an occasional speaker. And as I’ve done so, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is a danger to my soul in pursuing more exposure, more name recognition, more money to be made from thinking, writing, and speaking about ministry issues. Especially while I am still in full-time, paid ministry to a local community.

Bob offers a few wise words on some of the signs you too might be in danger:
You look at the speaker roster for a conference and think, Why did he/she get an invite and not me?
You feel jealous of others because of the size or scope of their ministry.
You begin to dream that somehow “hitting it big” (or even hitting it medium) will free you from ministry, or you begin to resent the small, mundane and unnoticed tasks of local church ministry.
You regularly Google yourself (please, no jokes in the comments.)
Your face appears on the front page of your church’s website.
You become a “friend collector” who racks up the Facebook/Twitter followers with the idea that someday, you’ll be able to leverage that when you write that book you’ve been talking about writing forever.
You find yourself thinking more and more about how you can get your name “out there.”