Research

Quick...where's San Jose, California? Is it by the ocean or the mountains? While the answer stays the same, the way we come to our conclusion has changed over time. A mere ten years ago, I would have gone to the bookshelf and grabbed an Atlas or Encyclopia. I would flip through the pages and find California or flip through the index and find San Jose. Five years ago I might have called a knowledgable friend or took a mental note to look it up in Encarta (remember Encarta? the digitization of an Encyclopia) when I got home. However, as we were eating dinner last night at a restaurant and the question arose, it was merely a question of who would look it up on their mobile. In less than five minutes (maximum) we had our answer complete with a visual, color map of San Jose and the surrounding area. (Its on the coast, by the way).

With all the information at our finger tips, is this good for us? We are learning how to access information at the speed of light (quite literally). However, I see reasoning, socializing, and logic getting thrown by the wayside. We are losing the tangents that reasoning and team research bring us. And really, how useful is the informaiton we are accessing anyways? Much of it is simply fluff that does not better our lives by any scope of the imagination. Consider our San Jose question: we looked it up quick and the question was quickly answered. However, if the technology had not been available, what else would we have learned? Would we have heard a story from someone who had been there? Would we have reasoned (as we did later) that their hockey team is the Sharks and why would that be a team from inland? Is my life better because I know where San Jose is? Will I even remember the answer next time the question comes up or simply turn to Google again? Would we have just let the question slide and used the five minutes for another discussion? Who knows.

Face to Face

Imagine you and I plan to meet for coffee. You're there, ready for my arrival. I show up with my brother, my tv, a deck of cards, my ipod, and a treadmill (it looks like a Verizon commercial). We sit down to coffee. While I'm talking with you and drinking my coffee, I'm talking with my brother, watching tv, playing solitaire, listening to music, and walking on my treadmill. Would you feel like we were having quality time? I would hope not. Would you feel valued in the presence of my entourage? Probably not.

Yet, this is what I see happening in our society. I sit at my home, online, watching tv, chatting online with multiple friends, talking on the phone, eating dinner, playing solitaire, and sometimes lifting hand weights...all at the same time! While this is alright once in a while, this is no way to socialize and no way to maintain the close friendships God desires for us, has designed for us, as catalysts of growth for us and others. A smaller and smaller percentage of our conversations anymore are face to face. Every day there are new ways to communicate faceless. Taking into consideration that much of conversation is non-verbal, this is sad and confusing. We are losing the art of live face-to-face conversation. I'd like to see a study on eye contact. I bet our eye contact is not what it used to be.

I think we also do this with God. Whether you are an introvert or extravert, the thought of spending even ten quiet, still minutes face-to-face with God sounds like a lazy waste. It is sad because even ten minutes are so powerful. So, stop, you can do it. You can take the next 10 minutes. Go in Peace.

A Very Good "Good Friday"

"I know another Father who lost His Son on Good Friday. It is because of that we know Jason is ok." - Uncle David Pautsch

These past few weeks have been somber. After attending a somber Good Friday service, I returned home where my dad called me with news that my 20-year-old cousin, Jason had died that morning in Iraq. A suicide bomber had driven into an Iraqi police post and Jason's convoy happened to be there at the same moment (I'm not sure if those are the exact details). The family notified, his name released, the press releases started rolling in. My family's faith became strickingly evident and no one could deny the source of my uncle's hope and the rock Jason had stood upon.

"All the other pretend gods want you to die for them, but instead Jesus died for you!" -Cpl. Jason G. Pautsch

"When he was in Desert Training last year in the Mojave Desert, he was having a discussion with some of his buddies and one got rather antagonistic saying, “What makes you think Christianity is so much better than any of the other religions in the world?!” Jason told me he didn’t know what to say but he breathed a little prayer to the LORD and said, “I need some big help on this one.”
As it turned out he opened his mouth and said, “It’s like this. All the other pretend gods want you to die for them, but instead Jesus died for you!” That pretty much stopped the mouths of his detractors." -David Pautsch

To think that 2,000 people attended Jason's viewing. To think that 700 attended his funeral, including the governors of Iowa and Illinois. To think people lined streets with flags and ribbons. To think that, as his herse made its way down the HIGHWAY, yes, the HIGHWAY, people stopped to salute their hometown hero. To think that he's gone... It boggels my mind and seems surreal that people would honor my cousin in this way. It brightens my heart to know the media is broadcasting his story of faith and our family's dependence on God. May many come to know Him through this.

To learn more, please do a web search on "Jason Pautsch"

Easter Extravaganza!

Whew! This weekend was busy! So much happened, but let me narrow it down to one event: church. This weekend's schedule included five church services at three different churches. As my dad says, "Now we don't have to go until Christmas!"

Service 1: Good Friday at my local Lutheran church
A very traditional, liturgical service complete with extinguishing candles and the sanctuary going dark at the end. It sent a shiver up my spine and I have never felt more "scared" at church before. No, they did not slam the book shut.

Service 2: Volunteering in the kids ministry at my church
Always fun, we had about 60 kids when we usually have around 20.

Service 3: Saturday night Easter service at my church
This was their first time there. They liked it. My church focuses on a few things and does them over-the-top well. My mom commented, "This is the Disney World of churches."

Service 4: My parent's local Lutheran church
After Disney church, we decided we missed the traditional, so woke up for 6am service at their local Lutheran church. A youth lead service, it was liturgical and contemporary. Communion was served. They can fit a lot of people all around their stage for communion. By the third round (our turn) we notice communion wafers (which our friends fondly call "Christ chex") litering the floor. The air-light wafers were flying off the plate as the priests and vicar hurridly served the sacrament. We tried not to laugh.

Service 5: My parent's church
Off to my paren'ts church for a different kind of liturgy. They do the same thing every year and my mom and I predicted it to a T. Say "He is risen!" (though he might have said "He is reason") which is answered by cheering and clapping. The pastor always says, "We celebrate Easter every day!". And Kirk Franklin's "Hero" is sung. Ah, Easter.

Off to our friends for dinner and the Easter weekend is over.

A Vulnerable God

I often like to think of God as strong and in control, but a service I went to tonight helped me think about God in another aspect, the aspect of a vulnerable and rejected God. As we anticipate Easter, I see God in this new light. Like a high school boy asking out a girl he likes, the perfect God thoughtfully says "I love you" to us desperately flawed human beings, giving up His control and risking rejection (one of the worst feelings). He knows people will reject Him and yet, He loves us so much and knows that we need His love. He choses to share His perfect love with such fallen humans.

Jesus served his disciples by washing their feet, touching the dirt they had picked up from where they had been. Jesus is not afraid of where they've been. He humbles Himself, touches their dirty lives, and offers His perfect love. When I hear this footwashing story being told, it is often followed with comments such as "Be like Jesus" or "Be a servant like Jesus" and we are encouraged to picture ourselves as the one washing feet. But we need to remember that our feet too need washed and Jesus has offered to wash them. Our part is simply to accept His love. Simple, right? I find this hard. It is easy for me to admit I'm not perfect. It is easy for me to admit there is a hole in my heart. But it is hard for me to accept that a perfect, flawless God loves me so much He has risked rejection to love me. It is hard for me to sit and let Him wash my dirty, stinky feet. I'm overwhelmed by all the love God gives me when I am so un-deserving, so unlovable.

Bethany the Baker

Since winter in Minnesota never seems to end, I thought it would be fun to try my hand at baking. I used to bake a lot in college, but haven't done much since. I figure, since I'm related to thefrugalgirl I might have an ounce of baker in me. So, yesterday I made bagels (with two neighbor children under foot!), friendship bread, and started the mixture for cornbread (my oven was too busy to bake it). I like making bagels. They are good, inexpensive, and relatively easy. There are, however, a lot of steps: broiling, boiling, and baking! Whew! And the cornbread mixture was $3 at the store! Way more than the simple ingredients used to make it. I made noodles from scratch during my time of unemployment, but thought it was a lot of work for the small amount when it is so inexpensive at the store. Well, I have to go put the cornbread in the oven. More baking adventures later!

The Horrible Man

I haven't written in a long time. I've had a lot to think about and life has been busy, but here we go:

Recounting a news story he was reading off his iphone, my friend told us about the man who entered an Illinois church, shooting and ultimately killing the pastor (http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/03/08/church.shooting/index.html). An eight-year-old at the table muttered, shaking her head, "What a horrible man!" While a few at the table nodded in agreement, I was taken aback. Saturday night I had gone to church with my friend and heard a sermon based on Luke 18:9-14 (I will post it later). This passage is a parable about a pharisee (religious leader) and a tax collector (an unfair traitor) coming to the temple to pray. I came away from the sermon learning that we are all equal, we are all sinners. God saw the religious leader and the unfair traitor on the same level. None is greater than the other. I am no better than the horrible man in Illinois. So, I spoke up, "No, he is not a horrible man. He made a bad decision." The eight year old was surprised, "But why would he do that?" "I'm not sure," I replied, "maybe he was mad or hurt, but he is not horrible. He is no different than us." How easy it is to be like the pharisee: earning God's love. The thing is, God's love can't be earned. It is freely given. God loves us as much as He ever will. He will never love us less. He will not love the Horrible Man less. How radical! We can experience less or more of His love in our lives when we allow it, but His love remains constant....for you....for me....for the Horrible Man. But how do we change our thinking to this radical way of ascribing God's infinite worth to everyone we meet? We see it in the Disciples' question in Luke 17:5 where God talks about radical forgiveness. They simply say, "Lord, increase our faith." It is only when we experience God's radical love and forgiveness in our own lives that we can then project it on to others and see them the way God sees them.

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTsYAZvHsEQ