The May 2012 Mid-Month Update has just been uploaded! Check out what is going on through the end of the school year!
And, if you haven’t taken a look already, the Summer 2012 calendar was posted earlier this week. It has all the events for Summer and early Fall, including links to all the forms you need. There are some changes happening next year, with middle school on Sunday morning and Wednesday nights, as well as how kick-off is going to work for all youth in September and October. Take a look!
There are only a few more weeks of school before we hit the summer break! If you are as excited as we are about summer, you should definitely take a look at the Summer 2012 calendar and check out the events we have going on.
With cookouts, mission trips, baseball games, Youth Sunday, and the end-of-summer Houseboat Trip, there is a lot to look forward to!
We should also note in the Fall, we will have a slightly different schedule. Throughout August and September, both Middle School and High School will have several special events leading up to the Mt. Hermon All-Church Retreat. We will have kick-off for regular youth group meetings (BTW for high school, YOW for 7th and 8th graders, and – new this year – FUSE for 5th and 6th graders) will start in October after Mt. Hermon. We will have them updated on our Google calendar soon, but for the moment all of those events and dates are on the summer calendar.
I should also note that we have our last BTW for high schoolers this year on Sunday, May 20th, and the last YOW for 6th & 7th/8th graders is our annual Messy Game Night on Wednesday, May 23rd. WE hope you can join us on what is always a special end-of-year event!
Some of you know that my (Matthias’) time at LOPC is coming to a close in the next couple weeks. I will be finishing seminary and moving to Los Angeles. I am not sure what comes next for me, but I do know what has been this past year.
As I was driving out to Millie’s for the freshmen guys last home group, I was thinking about how we measure a year. Most obviously you have standard measures of time (days, months, etc.). The thought that grabbed me that morning (right about as I was going into the Caldecott tunnel) was measuring a year in what was learned during its course. There is school learning, like all the material in various classes. Then there are other lessons that are learned by experience or outside of the formal setting. Sometimes, I think, there are things we learn which we can’t even articulate in words, but we just are left with a feeling.
So I am going to offer a top five things I learned this year. This is not an exhaustive list, but the top five things that come to my mind, in no particular order:
5) Learned what a houseboat is firsthand. I’d heard of these mythical hybrids, but never before been on one. Verdict: they are pretty awesome!
4) Having good worship music can help make worship happen in my everyday life. So many times this year, songs from BTW would pop into my head during the week, and I would find myself humming to God.
3) I learned about myself that I have a tendency to operate in the realm of ideas. This isn’t bad, but just means I need to recognize it when I am talking with someone who thinks more concretely.
2) Millie’s coffee cake really is as good as everyone says it is. If you have not tried it, get on that!
1) Authentic, deep relationships take time. This can mean they develop over a long period of time, but it also means if you don’t put time into a relationship, if you don’t spend time with a person, it won’t go very far. It can be with friends. It can be with God. But putting in the time pays off in real connection.
It is a good practice to periodically look back and see where we’ve been and what has changed. It helps us keep track of ourselves, our growth, and our relationship with God. What is on your top five list this year? How have you grown, changed, or learned? Where have you seen God at work in this past year?
To wrap up, I want to say a genuine thank you to you all. Being able to walk with you all at LOPC has been a great and grace-filled experience. I have seen God at work in our worshipping together, our laughing and playing together, and our sharing of life and seeking God. I hope and pray that God continues to bless you all, nourishing you as you continue to grow in faith, hope, and love.
This past weekend was Confirmation weekend. It means the Confirmation class, who has been meeting nearly every week for 3 months, finished their classes and had the opportunity to become members of the church.
Events kicked off on Friday night at the Confirmation Dessert, where each student read his or her statement of faith in front of the rest of the class, parents and relatives, members of Session, and Spiritual Grandparents (older members of the congregation who agreed to pray for individual students in the class and who responded to prayer requests during the Confirmation period). It was a great night with amazing readings from the students and incredible desserts brought to share by families!
Here are a couple pics!
On Sunday we had the annual Confirmation video, which is here!
And one of my favorites, a few students were baptized on Sunday as well!
If you happened to be at one of the worship services this morning at LOPC you had the honor and privilege to see an Earth Day video John put together.
He went on to preach about how we care for Creation, particularly looking at Genesis 1:1-2:2 and how the structure of this creation narrative orders the creation of habitats (Days 1-3) and then creates the inhabitants of those habitats (Days 4-6). It was paired with a great rendering/reading of Scripture from Archbishop Desmond Tutu with a distinct note about our role as caretakers. (Author’s note: I tried in vain to find a free link to this reading. All I can tell you is that it comes from a publication from Zondervan called the Children of God Storybook Bible).
It has made me think, “What am I doing to take care of Creation?” Not only that, but what am I doing about that every day, not just on Earth Day. And what are the ways that I am called to grow in the way I care for Creation? It is easy to look at some things I do – turn off lights when I leave a room, walk or bike when I can rather than drive everywhere, use ceramic/reusable mugs rather than disposable cups when I get my beloved hazelnut latte, etc. – and say I am doing enough, but we are all called to grow. The challenge of caring for Creation mirrors the challenge of growing in faith in our continual walk with Christ: we are called to a process of refinement, challenging ourselves to walk more closely with Christ rather than becoming comfortable or complacent (ie, getting to a point where we think we are doing enough… which brings up an entire other theological point about the [false?] idea that we can ever “do” enough in the first place).
Along those lines, tonight at BTW (youth group for high school) we will have a guest speaker named Kambale. He will come and share with us about a situation in the Congo where people are being exploited, mistreated, and sometimes killed – all in the name of producing goods we in the US use and probably take for granted. It is a difficult but appropriate topic for us on Earth Day: when I buy a product, where do the components of that product come from, and at what cost? There is a fascinating short documentary about it – you can search for it on youtube but I’m choosing not to post it here because there are some disturbing images in it and will leave the decision you. The website for the issue can be found at http://congojustice.org/.
If you are concerned the Congo documentary is outside your age- or taste-range, these issues also remind me of one of my favorite videos on this topic: The Story of Stuff. If you haven’t checked it out before, here is a photo-link to the video. The website has several other videos about various related uses-of-stuff and I encourage you to take a look at them, and hopefully be inspired to do something to change your life and the lives of others.
Happy Earth Day, everyone!
And, if you made it this far down on the post, I can’t help but reward you with a fun video that has only a very tangential relevance to Earth Day…
Last night at BTW, we talked about (among other things) sex and pressures on both men and women to be and behave in certain ways. For men it tends to be: don’t show emotion, be steady and stable and strong, be the initiator in relationships, always be calm and collected. For women, on the other hand, it tends to be pressures to always look pretty, be emotionally vulnerable, and your body should look a certain way in order to qualify as beautiful, and be sure to defer to men in relationships.
These are myths that get forced on us by society, and if you have watched a movie in your lifetime, you can confirm that our culture sets expectations for men and women’s roles.
Recently the actress Ashley Judd was criticized in the media for an appearance in which she had a “puffy face.” Though she usually ignores what is written about her, in this case she wrote back forcefully to highlight the ridiculousness of the way especially women are treated by our society and media. It is a brilliant and strong piece, definitely worth the read.
A couple of really worthwhile things in this article jump out at me (Matthias):
1) The idea that women particularly are judged based on their bodies suggests that who we are belongs not to us, but to whoever sees us and makes a judgment about us based on limited information. She notes that this is true for men too, if they don’t match absurd ideals of “manliness.”
2) Did you notice this quotation?: “I do not want to give my power, my self-esteem, or my autonomy, to any person, place, or thing outside myself. The only thing that matters is how I feel about myself, my personal integrity, and my relationship with my Creator. Of course, it’s wonderful to be held in esteem and fond regard by family, friends, and community, but a central part of my spiritual practice is letting go of otheration.”
Now, I don’t know all the ins and outs of Ashley Judd’s religious views. But, I think this idea is a good one, that our value depends not on what others say about how we look or how we fit the mold, but on our relationship with our self and with God.
Beyond that, I love the idea of letting go of “otheration.” She doesn’t define this term, and you won’t find much about it, but I think the idea is: we turn “other people” into just “other” without an idea of them being people. The idea that she exercises her spirituality and faith by letting go of the ways people see her. What if we try to see ourselves as God sees us? What would that look like? Imperfect, but beloved, is my guess.
Looking at ourselves in that way helps us to connect with God and find our value in Christ alone, not the way society says we should be or act or look.
Today YOW returns after Spring Break and Easter, with BTW returning this coming Sunday, April 15th. These last few weeks always pass by really fast. There are a grand total of 6 BTWs and 7 YOWs left before the end of the school year. How crazy is that?!
We also hope everyone had a fantastic Easter! We finished up our Lenten Reflection series last week with Brie and Nate reflecting on their experience reading through Acts together. I spent Easter weekend in Pala, CA where my good friend Nick, who I’ve known since 9th grade (almost 20 years!), got married. This was a great weekend for a lot of reasons; it is always special to see a good friend get married but all the more so when involved in the ceremony – I had the privilege to be Nick’s Best Man.
That also meant I was giving a speech/toast at the reception, so I had several weeks to fret about what to say. As I told Nick a week or so ago, I am still a petty man in a lot of ways. As it turns out, one of those ways is the desire to have the best speech in a toasting situation at his wedding. I bring that up only because I realized one of the reasons I was stressing the toast so much was because I was putting a lot of pressure on myself in that respect.
I hit a breakthrough with it when I was staring blandly at my blinking cursor in a blank Word doc on my monitor. I suddenly had the thought that what I really wanted was to talk about a loved friend I had known a long time. I wanted to share some of the stories we have had because I think some of those stories also tell the tale of who Nick is.
I’m getting a bit sappy here but I (re)discovered a truth in that moment: it is a wonderful gift to hold up a friend with love in words.
That is just a true thing to me. And all the more so to do that on the eve of Easter, when we experience what Christ has done on the cross and live in anticipation of what Christ will do on Easter morning.
So while I did not exactly have a traditional Easter this year, I do hold that weekend as something special, as something set apart and holy, and as a gift – even in small measure – of the gift we receive in the empty tomb on Easter morning.
“Every day [the believers] continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:46-47, NIV)
Both Lent and Easter have snuck up on me this year. I don’t know why this surprises me. The same thing seems to happen every year. Despite that, Lent and Holy week are one of my favorite times of the year in the life of the church. In the small town church I grew up in, the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Vacaville, we held services every Wednesday night during the forty days of Lent. Members of the church would gather at the church for a hot serving of soup that volunteers provided before worship and service. The environment was warm, welcoming and I found comfort in the ritual every year throughout the season of Lent. We would go through the Holden Evening Prayer in its entirety every service. This may sound incredibly repetitive, but there was something comforting about the familiarity of hearing the same music and liturgy every week. My favorite part was when Pastor Eric’s wife Joan would sing “The Magnificat.” She made this simple song so beautiful, and I always hoped I would be able to sing that piece one day.
As we’ve discussed in youth group and in past blog entries, Lent is a time in which you give up something or add something to your daily routine as a means of reminding yourself of the sacrifice Christ made for us. In years past, I’ve given up sweets, chocolate, TV, Facebook, etc. Some years, I approached Lent as not just an occasion to deprive myself of these distractions but as an opportunity to enrich my spiritual life. This was one of those years. In addition to giving up spending countless hours of my life exploring the lives of friends via Facebook, my husband Nate and I decided to read the book of Acts.
We chose to read through Acts for a few reasons. First, a little background: The book of Acts is found in the New Testament right after the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Acts is considered a continuation of the book of Luke, and presumed to be written by Luke himself, an early historian. Acts is an outline of the Apostolic Age and the Early Christian Church, focusing on the work of the early Apostles and the conversion and ministry of Paul of Tarsus–the same Paul who effectively wrote half of the New Testament(!).
Here is an entertaining and accessible summary of the Book of Acts:
What appealed to me about Acts was how it serves as a reminder of the primary functions of the church: facilitating the presence of the Holy Spirit, prayer, care for the oppressed and persecuted, and sharing the good news. So often I feel that we (the church) get caught up in the details and politics of our beliefs that we neglect the purpose of why we are here: to be a part of God’s kingdom on Earth. Throughout history we’ve seen churches divide over issues that prove to be awfully petty in retrospect. We have become more passionate about the things that divide churches rather what brings us together in fellowship as a part of the Body of Christ. Inevitably, every church has its baggage, but how we deal with these challenges in order to pursue God’s work is what defines us.
As I write this, I am listening to Please Come by Nicole Nordeman, the song I sang this Thursday at LOPC’s Maundy Thursday service, and am struck by this line in particular: “ Oh the times when I have failed to recognize/How many chairs are gathered there around the feast/ To break the bread and break these boundaries/That have kept us from our only common ground.” Peter the Apostle had something himself to say about the spirit of unity: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.” (Acts 10:34-35, NIV)
What really strikes me about Acts are the great lengths the apostles went to spread the good news. I ask myself what lengths have I gone to, or even what lengths would I go to, I mean, actually go? In theory, I can sit here and say I would absolutely go to jail or put myself in harms way…but would I really? If I were an apostle of the early church I would be terrified to face the kind of persecution they were subjected to. Here I am, a professed follower of Christ, grumbling about heeding His teachings and how I (imperfectly) put them to practice, and yet the early church leaders were often killed for their devotion to Christ. It really puts things into perspective.
Originally, I thought reading through Acts would be an achievable goal for us. However, I have to admit that we’ve struggled to stay diligent in our endeavor. The reality of our world is one in which we find ourselves pulled in all kinds of directions. This is just as true for Nate and I. When we found ourselves scrambling to finish up the book in the face of the closing of Lent, we came to the conclusion that it was better to take our time and read through the rest of the chapters at a more measured, thoughtful pace, giving us room to ask questions and explore what we were reading, letting the significance of it all sink in.
While I am bummed by the fact we were not able to finish Acts before Lent was over, I am still glad we made the decision to commit to reading it. I am choosing not to feel like we failed, because that is not what this is about. It’s been a humbling reminder that being in God’s word is an ongoing commitment, not one reserved exclusively for Lent.
I hope those of you who have read these posts have taken something away from following our efforts this season. Enjoy your Easter with your family and friends. We hope that you remember what this season of introspection has been leading us to: the ultimate gift and sacrifice of Jesus.
During the 4 weeks prior to Easter, four people – Zach, Matthias, Kris, and Brie – are going to post about his or her Lenten experience. Each person is approaching Lent a little differently, either giving something up, or adding something, or reflecting on the time of preparation for Easter in a unique way. It’s a little window into the experience of others during the Easter/Lenten season, and hopefully it helps you prepare for Easter as well! This week we hear from Kris, one of the leaders with 7th/8th graders on Wednesday Nights at YOW!
Part III: Kris
Did you see it?
Bird Man.
I saw it early one morning on the news. I was barely awake and my eyes were still all squinty, trying to adjust to the light, when there was a snippet of footage of a man – flying like a bird! I didn’t see the whole story, just the part where this guy was flying through the air, looking just like a bird. It was awesome.
So I went about my business but over the past couple of weeks I couldn’t help thinking about it. I mean, wouldn’t you like to strap on a suit and fly freely like a bird? (That’s assuming we could also land safely like a bird, right?) I lived in Alaska when I was a little kid and my favorite memory from that time was in the summer, lying on my back in tall grass, watching Bald Eagles soar overhead. I wanted to do that so bad!
Then yesterday our family was looking online at this cool exhibit that’s in Italy. They have taken Leonardo DaVinci’s drawings (From around 1500!) and built his contraptions out life-size. And there we saw it, hanging from the ceiling. Renaissance Bird Man (it’s the second image if you click this link)!
I got excited and asked the kids if they had seen 2012 Bird Man – and they hadn’t. Ahhhh! How could I have failed them like this? A man actually flew and I forgot to tell them! Well I couldn’t get to You Tube fast enough. And there we found the actual video. A “Dutch engineer with robotically assisted wings”:
But it turns out he’s not an engineer; he’s an animator and film-maker. He admitted it was a hoax and calls it “an exercise in online storytelling”.
Sheesh. Now we have to contend with people who “specialize in blending computer generated images with live action”. Which is maybe really cool if you want to see a James Cameron movie, but not so much when someone fakes your favorite kid-fantasy and you believe it.
Have you ever heard the expression “I’ll believe it when I see it?” That’s one I grew up with. If someone said something unkind about someone else, the adults said “I think I’d have to see that to believe it”. Likewise if someone described something unbelievably mind-blowing like, I don’t know, ummm… flying?
So this brings me to the important season of Lent. This is our time of spiritual renewal when we, as Christians, come together in voluntary actions such as praying, serving, and giving things up. During this time, I’ve aimed to start the day with prayer toward a specific mission. I’ve decided to do a better job of living with integrity – to try to glorify God by being mindful in my actions. I usually try to do that anyway but you might know how it goes, I start every day with good intentions but then life gets in the way. I get a little busy and distracted and kind of forget. But during Lent, I’ve tried to really think about my actions EVERY day, THROUGHOUT the day.
And it got me to wondering, where does this talented “animator and film-maker” fall in the whole spectrum of integrity? Frankly I’ve been really cranky that I can no longer assume that if I see something I can believe it. I have found myself bitterly wondering,‘does he care about integrity at all?’.
But it’s really not my place to judge, is it? Maybe it didn’t even occur to him that some of us might be bothered. Maybe he was so excited about what he can achieve creatively, that he couldn’t wait to share it with the world. He probably loves the idea of flying too. And so maybe I should try to lighten up. Maybe I should enjoy the fact that for a while I was reallyhappy to see my childhood dream come true.
When I think about it, letting go of my resentfulness and embracing joy is the least I can do during this time when we’re reflecting on the great sacrifice of our Lord and the joy he was preparing to deliver.
From the bottom of my heart I wish you a joyful Easter!
This really doesn’t have to do with anything. But Christopher Walken is a funny guy. I mean, not like a comedian, but he is just a really unique person… I’m not sure I’ve seen him play a bad role (not to say he hasn’t been in some really bad movies, but he is always a bright spot in a film).
I heard a rumor – and thus have no idea about the truth of this – that when he gets a script he has someone remove all the punctuation from it, then he is able to insert his own pauses, which results in the sometimes genius but always interesting delivery.
I hope that rumor is true. First, because it speaks to someone who has enough influence that he can have someone go through a script and tediously remove the periods, commas, capital letters, etc. Second, because I like a commitment to a craft that allows you to approach it in your own way, even down to the lines that someone else has written for you to say. It is like someone is giving him a song which he then chooses to approach from a jazz perspective. Third, and this is the most subjective point, I like to think we should approach life the same way. We are so often told where the periods are, where the commas go, where the appropriate question marks reside. In middle school and high school I think you get berated for actually marching to the beat of your own drum (or walken to the pauses of your own punctuation, as it were). And that’s a shame, because the coolest and most amazing people I know obey their own drum thoughtfully and joyfully.
As an aside, I rank Walken as one of the most intimidating guys I have ever seen. I mean, look at this photo. If you were going to date someone and it came time to meet his or her father, is that not the face of your nightmares?
I should note I’ve heard he is a really nice guy. Sometimes really nice guys have really intimidating faces. It’s part of life.
If you don’t know who Christopher Walken is, here’s a little lesson.
