Riverflow

A Fun Day

2007-06-23T13:48:00.001-07:00

06j59
Originally uploaded by paddlepastor

What a great time I had on the river yesterday. Jesse and his eldest needed some father/son time. Eric hasn't been on the water in a couple of months. And Cody was out from Minnesota visiting his dad, but really wanted to go kayaking. And it all worked out. What a sweet opportunity to take the kayaks the Lord has blessed me with, and put them to good use providing fun & fellowship for others.

I love the water. Getting out in my kayak provides a real soul restorer for me. Beauty, solitude, fellowship, exercise, the coolness of the water on a hot summer day, these are just a few of the blessings available when I go kayaking.

I love to share this experience. Over the last 20 years I have literally taken out hundreds of people. I can count on one hand how many have NOT enjoyed the experience. So many end up remarking on the same qualities of enjoyment as me. And quite a few have made purchases as a result (hey, kayak/canoe industry, you owe me a commission!).

I am really happy that the Lord has blessed me with a ministry that includes kayaking.

Let's Talk

2007-05-30T01:19:00.000-07:00

I had a mom who was a stickler for grammar. All through my childhood and well into my adulthood she would correct my speech if I slipped even a bit. "Don't end a sentence with a preposition." "That's a double negative." "That's lay down, not lie down." (Or is it lie down, not lay down? I don't remember). Yep, oops, yes, this got old very quickly, and I admit I put a stop to it later on in my life. But I have to say that it really did teach me a lot of correct speaking, and today I value what was drilled into me. The irony of this for me is that my mother was southern born and raised (the south has sort of been looked upon as linguistically inferior to the north), and she never went to college. But she was educated, nonetheless, and, by golly, (notice all the commas, I hope I got them all correct, darn it, correctly) she was going to make sure her kids got it right.

I came across this test on the web, and having taken it, I was intrigued by the results. I can definitely see some Kentucky influence in the 20%, and the 5% midwestern is from my dad. By the way, General American English really means Californian. We speak it right out here in the Golden State!

Have a great day.

Your Linguistic Profile:

55% General American English

20% Dixie

10% Yankee

5% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Telling All???

2007-05-26T01:40:00.000-07:00

John has written an interesting blog today over at Smulospace. How personal should one get about their life on a blogsite? Most of what I have seen in the Emerging/Missional blogsites centers around ideas, beliefs, and book reviews. Sometimes someone may get intensely personal about their own experiences. But it seems fairly uncommon. Sometimes someone may rant and rave over a particular issue or pet peeve. And then there are many blogsites I've perused that read rather like a diary, but usually pretty light-hearted. I guess I haven't seen a lot of mixing going on. But when a blogger is going through a particulary tough time, a personal crisis, tragedy, or duress, how honest should they get? I suppose this is up to each individual.

When we are really under the gun, it is important that we not stand alone. This is the time when the devil can really pick at us if we bear all the burden of trial upon our own shoulders. The Bible commands us to bear one another's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ. This isn't only about my willingness to shoulder someone else's pain, but my willingness to reach out for help when I'm in pain, as well.

But there is a deep core of fear in most people's hearts that opening up honestly and sharing our burdens will make us vulnerable to rejection, ridicule, and even betrayal. Many who grew up in dysfunctional homes can well identify with the experience of being shamed or humiliated when as a child they may have tried to express something tender, or sensitive, or sentimental. Others of us may have experienced this as adults, on the job, or, unfortunately, even in our marriages. Precedent dictates that it seems safer to hide our pain.

Recovery teaches me, however, that I need to disclose my real self, to be honest with God, myself, and to another human being, and perhaps to several people. The trick is to find a safe place in which to do so. In most 12-step recovery meetings, there are rules that are in place to create this safety, rules such as anonymity, confidentiality, no cross-talking, judging, or advice giving. I have personally found that when these rules are in place, respected by all and followed (or enforced), the meeting becomes an incredible place for healing. Where they are absent, the possibility of further trial or harm becomes likely.

On the web, then, on blogsites, the question is, "how safe is it to disclose?" Some may bare their souls and may find they are not alone. Some may feel it is worth the repercussions. And some may feel quite wary. If we think this, then let us quickly seek out other safe places to share our burdens and trials. If we don't have any resources available, then we should at least start by emailing someone we think we can trust and see if they are willing to dialogue privately. And let us not feel like we are unqualified to teach, blog, share, or explain on our blogsites, even if we are going through a hard time. It is important to keep talking. At least I have found this in my own experiences in life.

Finally, I want to note that many of us experience the love, respect, and camaraderie of others when we are giving something good and valuable, when we're strong and well. But let us not forget that deep down in our hearts, there is an ache, a genuine need to be loved, accepted, and even esteemed, when we are hurting or not doing well. One will never know the depth of true love when one hides themselves in the time of need. When we are hurting, and when we risk disclosure, we will find a love that goes far beyond the love we get when all is going well.

Synchroblogging: movies and Christianity

2007-05-15T23:12:00.000-07:00

My first attempt at synchroblogging. And I don't think I got it right. Oh well, here's my thoughts on the subject.

I go to movies to be moved more than any other reason. I like to laugh, and some light-hearted fare provides some good temporary escape from the demands of life, but I long to be moved in my heart by what I've seen and heard on the big screen.

And redemption themes ring my bell more than any other. I will NEVER, NEVER forget the scene of Jesus hanging on the cross, blood running down His arms and legs, mingling in with the flowing rivulets of storming rain water, spreading down the mountain and across the land, as Miriam and Tirzah are suddenly healed of horrific leprosy in the movie Ben Hur. I viewed this on tv at the tender age of 15, six whole months before I would discover my Savior for myself. I tried to swallow a sudden squeak, a cry climbing up from within, trembling, wanting the rescue that they received. I look back now at the not so tender age of 50, and the movie seems oh so 1950's melodramatic. But that scene went inside of me to a place that has never relinquished the hope I received that day.

Other redemptive favorite moments? When Shoe-less Joe Jackson looks at Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams, and says, "this was all for you". When Luke Skywalker begins crying, "Father, save me" in Return of the Jedi. When the victim and the murderer, the itinerant cotton farmer and the widow, the adulterer and his wife, when the orphan boy and his sister pass our Lord's cup at the very end of Places In The Heart. There are more, many more, but these are some of my best.

Tumwezabe

2007-05-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

We had the wonderful priviledge of hearing Pastor Fred Tumwezabe speak to us this last week on two occasions. Hailing from Uganda, he is in the States bringing God's word to us, and raising awareness and support for his outreach program in Uganda. Burdened for the millions of children left homeless by the AIDS epidemic, he has set up a broad program that includes schooling, orphanage, fostering services, and vocational assistance. Several of his American supporters who have visited him in Uganda have come back inspired at the work the Lord is doing through him. As to him being missional, well, I was inspired by the story of a well that was funded by American contributions and dug on church property to provide clean water. The villagers thought the well was only for the church people, but Pastor Fred has opened it up to the whole community. It has made a big impact for the work of the Lord!

Last Saturday, we held an outdoor church get-together/service at Mather Lake. Hauling out around 20 kayaks, we had a good time paddling around the lake, with teens, kids, and even some retiree's with us. Then the bbq started with our hamburger flipper Corey braising up a feast of burgers and hot dogs for us. After eating we gathered everyone together, had three worship songs impomptu, but done wonderfully by Carol, Mary, & Dave, and then Pastor Fred got up to speak to us. The breeze kicked up, but it was though the Holy Spirit was clearing out the junk in our heads and hearts so we could hear the good word the Lord spoke through Pastor Fred. I personally got convicted and am so thankful to the Lord for speaking to me through Pastor Fred!

How important it is for all of us American Christians to get out of our small, ethnocentric view of our faith and hear what God is doing in His WORLDWIDE church. How wonderful to be taught by a man from a far away land who loves Jesus and brings many valuable insights to us.

God For People Who Hate Church

2007-05-05T11:05:00.000-07:00

John Smulo & I are here at the above named conference. A panel of speakers just finished presenting different ways to be out-reaching to those who don't know the Lord. The emphasis in this conference, though, is two fold:

1. Learning how to show love & respect in our approach by using language that is unassuming and unoffensive.

2. Being a people of action that affects the welfare and immediate needs of the community and individuals we know. This is sometimes known as the "social gospel" but is known around here as the gospel in action.

A lot has been said about becoming very excellent listeners, something that seems to be lacking in the evangelical world. "People won't care what you say, unless they know that you care." "Preach the Gospel and when necessary, use words." I think St. Francis is the author of that last quote.

Earlier this morning there was a panel discussion with three atheists who told us of their world view and how they view Christians and Christianity. Since so many Christians have treated atheists as the enemy, as almost unhuman, they do not trust Christians. But in reality, atheists, like all other groups of people and like Christians, are humans.

I've also met some wonderful Christians here, and I'm excited to read many of their blogposts. That's all for now.

Steve R.

Missional Thinking & The 12-Steps

2007-04-19T15:56:00.000-07:00

When I read so many missional/emerging conversational web sites, I get excited because so much of it rings true for me. I am no longer alone in my thinking or my experiences. I also get excited for another reason. Many of the issues I see others grappling with I realize I have found some very certain answers in the program of 12-Step recovery. I have known for a long time that this program of recovery has power to address many afflictions, not just drugs & alcohol. Little did I realize how much this program would be relevant to the experiences that have brought me to the missional conversation today.

It is exciting to see that John Smulo has brought up the topic of the 12-Steps on today's posting of his blogpage, and I am grateful that he has mentioned River City Ministries. I am wondering how many others out there in the missional blogosphere have had exposure to the 12-Step program of recovery, whatever form it was (alcohol, co-dependency, gambling, debt, etc.), and if it has been helpful in adding to your understanding of the way God works, & the way as Christians we outreach to the world. I find strong missional parallels.

There's a ton of things to talk about in this, and in the weeks ahead I will be posting topics that I feel overlap the missional conversation and 12-Step recovery.

So how about it? Any of you been positively affected in your faith by the dynamics of the 12-Step recovery?

A Time of Giving

2007-04-16T23:40:00.000-07:00

There are so many bloggers who have responded to Rick Meigs request on behalf of John Smulo of SmuloSpace. The response has been really good. Talking with John about his needs, the difficulty in letting it be known to others, and the humbling but grateful sense of help coming in has resulted in some real growth in us and in glory given to the Lord.

I've just started blogging and so many of you I do not know, but I read so many of your sites and have been personally blessed by your thoughts, hurts, musings, studies, and your dreams. How I wish I could meet you. But distance has not stopped us from getting to hear each other and even knowing each other.

In one of John's recent posts, he talks about the validity of fellowship even though it's done through virtual means. I can not affirm this more than what I have seen these last few days in regards to John's needs. The virtual community of bloggers has stepped forward so generously and wonderfully, though the actual number of you that have met John face to face is extremely small. This has not stopped you from a tremendous demonstration of your love. Do we need proof greater than this of our love and commitment that has been established by the tool of the internet? I think not.

I can't really thank you on behalf of John. That's his priviledge. But I do thank you, all of you, for inspiring me.

SteveR.

Joy of blogging; the joy of Easter

2007-04-07T16:47:00.000-07:00

Boy, is this world of blogging addictive or what?! I have been to dozens of sites lately and I can't seem to shut off the computer when it's time to teach a Bible study, eat a meal, or go to bed. But it sure is rewarding. I never knew there were so many people out there, Christians like me, who've been questioning and re-examining their whole church experience and what it means to be a follower of Jesus. So many good topics are brought up and others are wonderfully and aptly voicing so many of my thoughts. Thanks to all of you...

I have to admit that sometimes it all gets a bit overwhelming. And the controversies...it definitely gets hot in the kitchen at times! My co-dependent/ACA self keeps wanting to find out who has the right answer. That is, which viewpoint actually represents the Lord's truth? I really want to land there. I don't want to be wrong and get in trouble for it...

What the Lord speaks to me, though, is to stay close to HIM. I don't need to have an answer to feel safe or right. Answers didn't die on the cross for me, He did. It's so tempting to want to get in the middle of a controversy and want to be right. But I realize that some answers or truth most likely won't even be settled till we get to heaven. I just need to keep my contact with Him alive, walk humbly & closely with Him. That will make me safe. That will make me right (even though I'm wrong much of the time).

It does feel good to have a voice! And it feels great to hear others! I never would have guessed how much the Lord can use the internet for His purposes. It's great "meeting" brothers and sisters all over the world; it's wonderful just to meet anybody and get contact going with them. So many have so much to add to my life.

Here at River City Ministries our "Easter" service was held last Thursday on our normal date and time to have Bible study. A little bit of special music, some last minute changes to the teaching, a killer dinner afterwards, we celebrated our Savior's crucifixion and resurrection together. I personally had a blast and knew my cup was brimming full when it was over. And I believe & hope the others there felt that way too. But you know what the best thing about it is? I don't have to wait another year for this goodness. We preach, teach, celebrate, & live His resurrection every day around here, and I'm as confident in His meeting me tomorrow as He did today or last Thursday.

And it's all because He's alive. Thank you Father!

Happy Easter to all.

Higher Power

2007-04-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

The term Higher Power is used extensively throughout 12-step communities. It's sort of a loose designation for God. As a Christian I first balked at this terminology when I began attending recovery meetings. After all, I know the Lord, right?! His name is Jesus and He has an identity and a character. But the Lord initiated me on a journey that would broaden not only my title of Him, but reveal my own limited thinking.

As a Christian I want to represent the Lord accurately. I also want others to represent Him accurately (a subtle but very certain manifestation of my co-dependency). I would feel threatened when others did not use the appropriate terminology when talking about God, and I felt an almost instant compulsion to start correcting their concepts. I felt they were making God too small. Their limited, personal understanding diminished the wonderful Savior that I knew. Little did I know how much stinking thinking and pride were involved in my own outlook, and the Lord began to turn the tables on me.

The concept of Higher Power in Alcoholics Anonymous comes from Step 2: Came to believe a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. When we began studying this step, it seemed easy enough for me, I knew the power of the biblical God. I thought I had this one down, but one day the Spirit whispered to me, "yes, but do you really believe that I'm bigger than your problems? Your mouth speaks the words but your heart is full of worry and doubt." I had to sit down and begin to review what I really felt & believed. And I began to realize that I so seldom let go and trust in His higher Power, Wisdom, Timetable, & Ability to take care of the things troubling me.

In the weeks to come I started to look at my problems, my feelings about those problems, even my prayers concerning my troubles, in a new way. Was I confident that His Higher Power would take care of the situation? Instead of worrying prolifically over the situation, did I accept by faith that God could and would restore the situation? And instead of detailing all the tremendous difficulties and impossibilities of the situation in prayer (which basically filled me with more fear!), I began to hold up my problems to His hugeness. What a difference this made. For too long I had been stuck in the smallness of my own thinking, my perspective warped by my own feelings of worry. Just coming to Him in prayer as He is truly a Higher Power released faith so much more frequently. And the first (and maybe best) benefit of this was feeling peace.

Today when I find myself fretting over situations for a long time, when I have lots of doubts about something when I go to prayer, I stop and ask myself if I'm viewing them in the light of my Higher Power. It usually reveals that I am not, and coming back to this basic concept of my Lord leads me back to a simple place of letting go & trust. Because I am a worryaholic, it has taken lots of practice, but it sure is working better than the old way.

I have lots of names for Jesus: my Savior, my King, the Almighty, my Best Friend, my Lover, my Helper in the time of trouble, my Tower of refuge, the Lifter of my head. To all of this I now add He's my Higher Power, and it has added a whole new richness in my identity of Him.

As far as accurately portraying Him? Well, why not let someone start with Higher Power? Why not let people's first glimpse of a personally interested God begin with a concept that there's someone out there greater than themselves and they need that greatness?! When it gets right down to it He is GREAT. I have only begun to scratch the surface in my own experience of that greatness. I'll let the Holy Spirit not only ever broaden my idea of my Lord, but let Him start where ever He wants to in revealing His identity in another person's life.

How do I do church?

2007-03-28T23:54:00.000-07:00

People frequently ask me where I go to church on Sundays, after leaving my old place of worship for 32 years. Many assume that River City Ministries, where I work now, holds services on Sundays; but we do not. One of the many liberating aspects I have experienced in this new chapter of my life is that there is NOTHING in the Bible that requires me to worship on Sunday. It is the tradition of man.

After 32 years at my old church, and 26 of those years as an associate pastor, I am thrilled to have Sundays off, in fact I'm off the whole weekend. I am now free to go places, plan trips, camping, & weekend get-aways. There is an exhilartion at being on the same weekly schedule as most of my friends, actually, as most of society. It's new to me and it feels good.

But getting away is not the only benefit of being out of church on Sundays. I have actually experienced more Sabbath rests in the last few months, than in the many years of being a pastor. Not a few times I have lazed around the house, spending time with the pets, reading, napping, and having excellent prayer times with my Savior. The next day I have felt wonderfully refreshed, and this has given me a new appreciation for God's Sabbath purposes.

I must admit that I have taken a few Sundays to visit other churches, and it's been a blessing. Being committed to my own church for years greatly inhibited my opportunities to see how God is working in other gatherings of my Brothers and Sisters. Seeing different approaches, different worship styles, and different outreaches have been a blessing to me particularly because it greatly broadens my view of our God and King. Not only so of His greatness, but it gives me a better view of His diversity. One of the goals I have this year is to visit a number of churches here in Sacramento that are culturally different from my ethnicity or upbringing. I not only want to see other Christians' ways of worship, but I want to experience that worship as well.

This last 9 months has seen the return of contact with several of my old friends. One of them, Dana, said to me that he and his wife were looking for different ways to have church with their family, not necessarily looking for a new church. This started me re-thinking about the practice and meaning of church. A lot of new ideas and a surge of creativity has awakened in me, and church has a freshness to it for me that has been lacking for a long time. In my next blog, I will share a few more thoughts on the subject, and some recent alternative church services that I've experienced that have blessed the socks off of me!

May His River keep flowing through you and me!

Steve

Flowing into the world of blogging.

2007-03-21T18:41:00.001-07:00

Yes, I've made a late start into the world of blogging compared to most, but I'm ready to take the plunge.

A big thank you to John Smulo over at SmuloSpace for posting the question which blog services did his readers prefer most. Lots of good answers came in. Blogger seemed to be the most popular. I'm looking for simplicity more than anything else, quick & easy, graphically intuitive. You see, I've got a life to live, an active & interesting one at that, and I don't want to spend too much time at the computer (something I've done in the past). So here goes.

This blog will be about my three main passions, all rolled up in one: Kayaking, Recovery, & Christianity. These interests may at first appear disparate, and perhaps my interests are a bit eclectic, but they help make my life wonderfully my own. And in the future, as my postings began to grow in number, you might begin to see a golden thread running through each of these passions that ties them all together.