Out of Control by Chad Hess

This week, feeding my 8-month-old son turned into even more of a mess than it normally does. Mush from his baby cookie was all over the bib and tray, he had swatted a couple spoonfuls of peaches, and then he put his hands in the resulting puddles of food, which he then transferred to every part of himself and the high chair. I’m fine with the normal mess that happens in feeding a baby, but this one started to overwhelm me. I insisted on giving him a bath right away - while my wife laughed.

I knew I was overreacting, but I couldn’t help it. Sometimes my craving for control and order gets the best of me, and children are a great antidote to that problem. Children naturally hinder pursuits of complete order and control (which we experienced last week at the church with Vacation Bible School). But I think that releasing our desire for control is part of what Jesus called us to when he called us to become like a little child (Matthew 18:3).

God also likes to remind us that we cannot control everything. A real relationship with God requires that we surrender and recognize that he is in control. In fact, God likes to actively thwart attempts to control him and put him in a box. The solution is to place your trust in God’s goodness and your relationship with him.

Chad Hess

Father's Day by John Monday

Today is Father’s Day, and my son will be giving me a gift. I know this because he’s barely been able to contain himself all week. On at least two occasions he’d have presented his gift early if he’d been allowed. He’ll get excited, grin ear to ear, and start bouncing like he’s standing barefoot on hot pavement.

I really don’t know what he has in store, but I already know it’s perfect. It could be a hand-made card, maybe a hammer from the dollar store; a box of screws is possible.

Whatever the gift might be, its perfection won’t lie in the gift, but in the heart of the giver. I know that my son wants to please me, but more poignantly, I know he wants me.

In the story of The Prodigal, two sons both wanted the father’s things, but neither wanted the father. The younger son obtained the father’s things, squandered the father’s things, and returned home broke and broken to seek employment as a hired hand.

After being unexpectedly welcomed by the father, receiving the finest robe and being fully restored, the son realized that his joy, his fulfillment, was not found in the father’s things, but in relationship with the father…Relationship…Desire to be with the father.

My son has not yet wrestled through all the materialistic temptations this world offers, nor does he fully understand the difference between desire for the father and the father’s things. However, this Father’s Day his true desire is evident, at least to me. His gift is perfect; I wonder what it is….

Happy Father’s Day.

John Monday

Healthy Relationships by David Achata

Two and a half years ago, Pastor Andy and I attended a conference where we were able to eat lunch with Jason Jaggard and Marcus Goodloe, two pastors on staff at Mosaic [Church], Los Angeles.

We were anxious to find out how they do their small group program and so we asked. Jason’s response—“we don’t push small groups; rather, we promote the value of healthy relationships.”

It makes perfect sense. Have you ever been to a small group? Most involve sitting around with people you don’t know very well, listening to each other talk about something, praying together and then doing it all over again the next week. In a few weeks the group slowly shrinks because one group finds something better to do while the other group feels slightly hurt/frustrated, yet superior because they stuck it out and “committed.”

Doesn’t this sound wonderful?

Many of these ideas came from an article Jason wrote called The End of Small Groups. In it he writes, “I'm calling an end to small groups and crying out for a shift towards friendship. Healthy people don't need small groups- they need to bring people into their social network. People don't need groups, they need friends. Somehow the whole world has survived without the strange concoction of the 'small group' that churches readily and sincerely embraced in the 90s.”

In other words, it’s not about getting into a small group. It’s about getting some significant relationships in your life.

I had a college student tell me once that he met someone who seemed lonely, so he invited him to church. “That’s great!” I told him. “But I think you took the easy way out.” When he asked what I meant, I told him what people need isn’t solely a church service. People need each other. They need to hook up for lunch and talk.

So, “Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.” Galatians 6:2, The Message Remix

Here’s a Resource:

This weekend when the church service is over, grab the “Take Away” questions, and talk about them with some friends. Better yet—buy someone a burrito this week and be a friend.

David Achata

Dangerous Worship by Tami Cinquemani

I recently had a minor surgical procedure that required me to go under general anesthesia. After the procedure, my husband brought me home, and I crawled back in bed to sleep. Later in the day when I was feeling up to visitors, my best friend, Nicole, dropped by to see me. I love my relationship with Nicole – we “get” each other, and our friendship is incredibly easy. When Nicole stopped by, I knew there were no expectations. If I wanted to talk, she’d talk. If I fell asleep, she’d be just fine. If I got tired and just wanted to be alone, I could tell her without fear of hurting her feelings. Nicole is a truly amazing friend.

I was told to take it easy for a couple of days after my surgery, so that weekend I participated in an online worship experience. I spent Saturday and Sunday mornings “church hopping”. You can get a real bird’s eye view of a church service on the Internet. It was during a camera shot of a woman flipping through a bulletin while mouthing the words to a song of praise that it hit me. The magnitude of the moment was completely lost.

People are before their God to offer worship to Him, and they’re shuffling papers, texting, yawning, and checking their watches. And this is common regardless of denomination, worship style, or day of worship. Unfortunately, this is common in my church . . . and sadly, this is common in me. It’s not possible that we are truly realizing the fact that we are coming before our Creator – our Savior – our Alpha and Omega – and that He is actually meeting with us so we can offer Him our heartfelt and selfless worship and beg to be changed into new creatures. Have we come to consider a worship service no differently than I viewed time with Nicole after my surgery? Do we seek an “easy” God who has no expectations of us and doesn’t care if we are distracted or even fall asleep during the time He set aside to be with us?

In his book, The Dangerous Act of Worship, Mark Labberton writes, “If we are committed to protecting who and what we are now, then our greatest need and greatest danger will be in meeting God. Of course, this is also our only hope. This is the wake-up call we may not want, but it alone leads us to new life. Becoming new will complicate our lives. Whether in the power of the whirlwind or in the still small voice of the Spirit, meeting God is no small incident.”

I need to understand and experience authentic worship because I don’t want to remain who and what I am now. I want a complicated new life. And I don’t ever want to walk into a worship experience again thinking of it as a “small incident”. In every opportunity I have to worship God, I want it to be the most important, challenging and life-changing privilege of my existence.

Tami Cinquemani