Newman Surfacing

It's a Dog's Life

Well we are in our third week of having TWO dogs. It's fun. The puppy is into everything, kind of like a toddler. But after playing together for a while they crash. Case in point:

A Sign I Cannot Believe

The following sign can be seen at a church in our neighborhood. The church changes its "billboard" periodically. I simply cannot understand why a church would put a sign up like this.

Short blog posts

I usually don't write very long posts on my blog. Sorry if that's a bummer for you. I just don't have that much to say that will hold people's attention. I'm sure others do.

I try to live by the adage that Franklin Roosevelt taught his son about public speaking, "Be brief and be seated!"

Baptisms!

Last Sunday at our church picnic we baptized 12 people. Aram, one of our co-pastors is in the photos with people. It felt like such a great new beginning for Lookout in a lot of ways. We baptized several teens, a couple of pre-teens, and some adults. It was a great celebration of what God is doing in people's lives.

 

Welcoming Kerry Conner

Over the years that I have been in ministry I have had the privilege to work with a number of worship leaders. They are a rare breed.

When I was with Christian Associates it was always great when Marty, Rogier, or Dwight led worship. There was a bunch of other wonderfully gifted people in CA who also led worship (most of whom I did not know as well as these three guys).

At Crossroads Amsterdam, Jeannette and I worked together for 5 years and had a wodnerful time doing that (although sometimes we got frustrated with each other :o). She coordinated several other worship leaders - Janike, Laurence to name a couple - who were also great.

For the first year I was at Lookout I was privileged to serve with Justin, who is a tremendously gifted (and humble!) young guy with an amazing future as a worship leader. In March he moved on from Lookout and we have been searching for a worship director.

 I'm excited now that Kerry Conner has joined the team as Worship Pastor. Kerry led worship for the first time this past weekend. He is not only a great musician and vocalist, he is a gifted lead worshipper and a humble guy as well!

Welcome on board the crazy train called Lookout, Kerry!

Visiting with the Rabbi

Today I am meeting with a rabbi who I met back in May. He is interested in talking about our faith and the possibility of having a dialog/speaking together at Lookout. I am both fascinated and a bit uptight about this conversation. My memories of the rabbi at the synagogue I went to as a kid still impact how I think about rabbis in general. More about that another time!

Two Articles by Tim Keller

In my opinion Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City is among the best thinkers and voices for theological discussion in the 21st century.

Two articles are worth a read:

* The first is titled, The Gospel in All Its Forms. Click here to read it.

* The second article is titled, The Importance of Hell. Here is a copy if you want to read it.
Download the_importance_of_hell.pdf

Keller helps us wrestle with some important issues in both articles. He is gracious yet clear, does not come across as a punitive Christian seeking the destruction of people but rather a caring pastor who is motivated to share his faith in Jesus.

The Sport of Bashing the Local Church

It has become cool to bash the local church, especially the established, institutional church. One person called it "the unfortunate cul-de-sac of local church supremacy" in discussing the fortress mentality of churches.

I have been on both sides of this discussion - for many years I was a missionary funded by individuals, churches, and foundations. I attended a local church but stood outside it and was able to lob grenades. Twice I have been a pastor in the local church (for a total of 8 years). I find myself continuing to struggle with some theology and practices of the local church, but I don't lob grenades as much. Partially because they will land in my own lap!

Here is my theory - those who are the most critical and sometimes condescending toward the local church are not as tied to the church for their finances , emotional support, or spiritual input. They are authors who generate income from book sales, they are mission executives who have a rock-solid financial support team, they are ecclesiastical communities which are totally volunteer driven, they are people whose spouse is the "bread winner."

All this is fine with me. I would simply suggest that the people who take time and energy to bash the local church redirect that energy to start new ones that won't be as messed up as churches are today.

I love Estes Park, but ...

I really love being up here in Estes Park. It's about 10 degrees F cooler than in Denver, in late summer there are few tourists here, there are great cafes (Kind Coffee is where I hang out) and restaurants along Main Street. It's restful.

But there is a qualifier: Wildlife who think they own the place!
Yesterday I saw an elk camped out on someone's porch as I drove by in a neighborhood. I honked my horn, stopped and shined my headlights at the thing. It just looked at me as if to say,
"Do you think this is your house? Hit the road, punk!"

I don't have violent tendencies, and I don't like guns and hunting. But I would have given some thought to downing the animal if I could have!

While driving up to Estes yesterday there was a herd of deer meandering across Highway 36 as I drove on it. Cars were stopped for 10 minutes as the 50 or more deer slowly walked across the road, sort of daring anyone to speed them up! Sure, they are cute! But they could move a LITTLE faster!

Heading to Estes Park

Some years ago, Susy and I and the kids used to retreat to Big Bear in the mountains outside Los Angeles. It was a special place for us when the kids were younger.

 My new retreat location may be Estes Park, just on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park about 75 miles north of Denver.

I have parked our pop-up trailer there for the summer at a house where my friend is working. So I am heading up there today, will hang out with Jim for a day, and bring the trailer down tomorrow afternoon.

I'll write some more tomorrow from Estes.