e r i c . s p a n g l e r

Reformation Day!

It's Reformation Day!

Here's a LINK that will give you info about a significant event that we usually don't think about on Halloween...

"Reformation Day is an important liturgical festival that is celebrated by Lutherans and Christians of many Protestant denominations. It commemorates Dr. Martin Luther's posting of his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31st, 1517.  This act triggered the movement in world history known as the Reformation.  While the historical date for the observance of Reformation is October 31st, most churches celebrate it on the last Sunday in October."   MORE HERE...

Discipleship Training Wheels

I wrote this just over four years ago, when we were living in Indianapolis.  Bethany just turned 11yrs old, as you may have noted from a previous post:

Not long ago I was working outside, keeping an eye on Bethany, our six year old as she rode her bicycle around our driveway. I suddenly realized inwardly, “She is ready to ride without training wheels.” I asked my son to bring me a wrench and called Bethany over. She watched carefully as I operated on the back of her bike. She squealed with delight mixed with fear as she realized what I was doing. The next step was to hang on to the seat to provide some stability while she adjusted to life -- absent the training wheels. I quickly realized that I could let go. I was so proud at how quickly she tackled the task. It was not without a tear or two, some discouragement, and many tries. But now she rides like a pro. “Throw those in the trash,” I told her, pointing to the stabilizers, now lying useless on the ground. She picked them up and asked, “Shouldn’t we save these?” “Nope!” I replied. “You won’t need them any more!” Later I thought about how that experience with my daughter mirrors the relationship I have with my heavenly Father. He knows when I am ready to jettison the crutches in place to teach me to function at a new level of faith. I watch carefully as he makes the adjustments, and with excitement mixed with fear, I pray almost desperately that He’ll hold on until I’m ready for Him to let go. The new level of faith-life comes not without a tear or two, some discouragement, and many tries. “Can I have those back for a while?” “Nope!” He gently replies. “You won’t need them any more!” Soon I am doing things in faith that I never dreamed I could do. What happens when I’m not willing for Him to do the removal? I miss out on the freedom of riding without restraint! Being on mission with God requires that I have regular fresh experiences of freedom in Christ. Bethany would have it no other way now. And neither would I.

Top of Mt. Pilchuck

Went hiking with some guys from Lakeside Saturday morning, up to Mt. Pilchuck.  5,324 feet to the lookout.  Incredible hike, view, fellowship...

Not sure who the guy in the photo is, but he sure helped make a great pic.  Click HERE to go to my flickr site and see more photos from the hike.

Did You Know?

Sweet Pea is 11!

Our Sweet Bethany is 11 years today.  Happy Birthday!

Choir Singing at Jen Willson's Bedside

Our friend Jen Willson has been hospitalized in Malawi.  After her surgery, a local choir came to sing for her:

Sjogren Quote

"For all of us, in this past year, innumerable things have happened for the good that have come from God alone. It boils down to this simple question: 'Where would I be now if God had not stepped into my situation?' If you examine your life in this area or that, it becomes quickly apparent, that little of lasting value would have happened over the past 12 months if God had not 'shown up' when we had exhausted all of our resources, all of our 'natural' human abilities. That's when the fun begins! We get to the end of ourselves, and God shows up --- big time!  Though I don't know all of you personally, I know this about you: The best is yet to be! God is going to show up in a spectacular way as we come to the end of our resources! We give thanks for your provision oh God, let your ways be expressed naturally through us!"  -Steve Sjogren

Internet Gaming: Too much!

Too much Internet:

State-run media report that a man died Saturday after three days of non-stop gaming at an Internet cafe in  Guangzhou, China.

"Paramedics tried to revive him but failed and he was declared dead at the cafe," Beijing News says, according to the Associated Press. The Chinese paper theorizes that the 30-year-old man "died from exhaustion brought on by too many hours on the Internet."

Pastors Outta Here

From the Pastor2Pastor site:

Did you know:

• 1400 pastors in America leave the ministry monthly
• In a 5 year period, 10,000 churches disappeared in America
• Less than 20% of churches grow due to conversion growth
• Less than 20% of churches recognize or appreciate their pastor in some way annually
• In 70% of the churches in America, the pastor is the only full-time staff person

Focus: Inward

What's wrong with focusing more on ourselves?  Shouldn't we take care of 'home' before we try to take care of others?  I've heard these kinds of remarks many times over the years.  I found this quote over at the MissionalChallenge site:

Bill Easum says, “Church members…who see their church as the focus of their mission have missed the entire point of Christianity."   In The Externally Focused Church, the authors recognize that they do not know any churches that claim to be internally focused, yet that does not mean they do not exist. Here is a word-picture of many churches in

America

:   Internally focused churches concentrate on getting people into the church and generating activity there. These churches may create powerful worship experiences, excel in teaching, offer thriving youth programs, and have vibrant small groups, but at the end of the day, what is measured is the number of people and activities within the church.

I think this is a good challenge.

However, I also think (and perhaps these writers would agree) --that being missional includes being healthy internally.  We must certainly understand that we are God's missionary people.  At the same time, having been involved in helping identify and send career missionaries the last five years, I believe in the importance of a good process and of identifying people who are healthy.  If we send a couple to the mission field that is spiritually immature or is struggling personally or having trouble in their marriage, the pressures of serving as missionaries will almost certainly undo them.

Mars Hill & Mark Driscoll

Here's a teaser and a link to a thorough article about Mark Driscoll, pastor of the other Mars Hill Church here in the Seattle area:

Mark Driscoll looks no different than he does any other day. He's wearing the hip pastor uniform—blue jeans and an untucked shirt with the top two buttons undone. Yet he speaks in a subdued tone that hints at wear and tear.

He begins his talk about lessons learned as a church planter with common-sense advice about how pastors can blow off steam. Driscoll, 36, plays T-ball with his three sons or feeds ducks with his two daughters. Hardly the stuff that provokes raging blog debates and church pickets. As Driscoll's Mars Hill Church in Seattle has grown to 6,000 members in 11 years, quiet moments like this with his family have preserved some of his sanity.

Poverty Quotes

    Martin Luther King Jr. said about poverty and the poor: "The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty."
    Even Collin Powell has had something to say about poverty: "The US cannot win the war on terrorism unless we confront the social and political roots of poverty."