Remember

Every year on Memorial Day, Millersport holds a parade with a color guard, American Legion members, the high school band, and a bunch of children on decorated bikes (they also hold a bike decorating contest). The parade goes from the elementary school down to the canal, makes a loop, and stops while the American Legion members shoot a volley over the canal. Then the parade resumes back up the street and turns back to the cemetery, where the band plays the National Anthem, one of the local pastors gives a speech, Taps is played, and the American Legion members fire another volley. This was my year to give the speech; below is the text of my speech.

In my upbringing, Memorial Day meant a few things. Primarily, it meant the running of the Indianapolis 500. It also meant picnics and firing up the grill, maybe for the first time of the year. For many, this is the weekend of big sales, and it’s the last gasp of Spring before Summer hits – school children are already thinking about summer break and Memorial Day always meant the end of school.

None of these things are bad. The Indy 500 is a great race. There are great sales this weekend. It’s always great to spend time with your family and friends and to get outside and enjoy a long weekend. And the end of a school year and the beginning of summer are all great things to celebrate.

But the difficulty is that when we take Memorial Day over for all of these purposes, then we dilute and forget the true reason for the observance. I’m convinced that much of our culture has a very short memory. We spend our school careers cramming as much last minute information into our brains, hoping we remember it the next day for the test, and then, once we’ve finished the test, we jettison it all. One question I asked all the time as a student, and never understood until college, was “How does this affect me?” I lived under the incorrect assumption that history was just a bunch of stories, some of which were inspirational and encouraging, others of which were embarrassing and discouraging, but really just a bunch of stories about dead people, and that those stories didn’t have any bearing on me.

How wrong I was.

Our history is vitally important for us to remember. In Reason and Common Sense, the first volume in his five-volume work, The Life of Reason, the philosopher George Santayana writes: Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve, and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

All we need to do is look in the mirror to understand that change is the only constant in the world. I cannot go back in time. I will never be the age I was yesterday. I cannot change what happened in the past. However, this does not mean I can just forget the past. Do we want to have to fight the same fights our forefathers fought, or do we want our children to have to fight those same battles?

Unfortunately our culture has a very short memory.

Today we remember those who have given their lives in service to our country in the United States Armed Forces. As we remember them, we celebrate the freedom they fought for, the freedom that we have to spend this weekend the way we want to, the freedom to gather together, and even the freedom to ignore the sacrifices made on our behalf. If we do not remember these things, we could easily end up giving away the freedom they fought for. We can too easily slip into the attitude of “let someone else do it” or “let someone else pay for it” forgetting that everyone gets to choose whether to be part of the solution or part of the problem. But we too easily forget.

Today as we reflect on the sacrifices made on our behalf, remember to remember. In the Bible, the word “remember” is found over 166 times. In Genesis, after the flood, God provides a rainbow so that Noah will always remember the covenant God made with him. In the book of Numbers, the people of God were required to have tassels on their garments, so every time they looked at the tassels, they would remember God’s commands. God commanded the Passover as a remembrance of His deliverance of His people out of Egypt. Samuel set up a stone, calling it Ebenezer, which means “stone of help” as a constant memorial of how God helped them.

On this Memorial Day, I ask you, what helps you remember? You might not know the stories of those who gave their lives in service to our country. Rediscover the lost art of reading. Go to the library and read about the heroes of the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the War of 1812, the Spanish-American War, World War I. Talk to a veteran and learn the stories of those who were there. Don’t ever think of those who gave their lives as a homogeneous group – every one of them has a name, a family, a history. Every soldier who died in service to our country left behind a legacy, the legacy of freedom we enjoy today. When we’re done here, take a moment and walk around this cemetery and notice the flags. Note the names you see, and recognize how many of those family names are still in town, how “those people” are really our people.

Which brings me to this: it can be easy to classify some people as heroes – after all, they lived heroic lives and died for what they believed in. They accomplished heroic actions and died to give us the freedom we enjoy. It can be easy to call someone a hero and to ignore the fact that when you ask a hero about his heroic measures, he will always tell you, “I was just doing my job. I just did what I was called to do.”

And when you realize that, you might just realize that every one of us is called to be a hero, too. The memories that I’m talking about today, the memories of these heroes who gave their all for us, they are only dead memories if they do not spur us all to action. To truly honor their memory, we must learn our place in the story.

Our memories require action. What are the requirements of your memories? As we reflect on the sacrifice made by our brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents, neighbors, friends, and those who have gone before us, serving our country, even to death, a proper response is to serve your country as well. Some have served and continue to serve in the military. Others serve in their churches or in civic organizations. Here are some responses that we all need to take part in: Become an informed voter. Work to make your home and neighborhood a better place. Don’t just sit around and complain about how our society has gone downhill since you were young – do something about it! Don’t just complain about politicians and politics in general – work to affect them. Use the influence you have to make the world around you a better place.

Memorial Day is not about random cook-outs and sales. It is about the memory of those heroes who died bravely serving our country, and it is about our response to that memory. So as we go from this place, take a moment and contemplate how God would have you respond. Then don’t hesitate. Go and live out a fitting response. But know that doing nothing is no response at all.

Jesus told a story about a king who gave three of his servants money, telling them to put it to work. When he returned home, the king asked the servants what they’d done with the money. The first servant had doubled his money, so the king put him in charge of ten cities. The second servant had earned 50% more, and the king put him in charge of five cities. The last servant had hidden his money in a piece of cloth. He responded to the king:  ‘I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’

“His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words… Why didn’t you at least put my money in a bank so I would earn interest?’ Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his money away from him and give it to the one who has ten.’

“Sir,” they said, ‘he already has ten!’

“He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.’”

This parable is relevant to our situation today. We have all been given different amounts – but how we respond is what matters. The actions of the past demand a response today. What will yours be?

Cap City Half Marathon race recap

Last year I ran my second-ever half marathon race at Cap City and ran a very nice PR (1:36). This spring I was originally planning to run the Earth Day Marathon, but by February I was all stressed out about it, so I decided to bag the marathon and focus my attention on the half. After running 1:36 last year at Cap City and 1:36:51 for the first half of the Erie Marathon and running 1:37 or so in a training run in snow flurries this winter (one of the few snowy days we got), I set a goal of 1:30, which would mean averaging under 7 minute miles for the race.

Along the way, I started a friendly challenge with a friend from my hometown (who writes a very insightful and thoughtful blog); his training was stellar, and we were both shooting for 1:30, so we challenged one another to a "virtual race" (he was racing in the Indy Mini while I would run Cap City).

Two weeks before the race, I went to Texas for an intense leadership development course, and while I fit in training, it was difficult (due to the intensity of the course as well as the heat and humidity). But even though it was cold back in Ohio, that humidity turned out to be training for Cap City.

By two days before the race, I was getting twitchy, and the day before was nuts. I went to the expo and got my shirt (nice - red this year; I was disappointed that last year's was gray) and wandered through the expo. I didn't find anything I wanted (tried on a pair of racing shoes but they had that dreaded medial post that doesn't work for me). I did talk to my friend Ben for a few minutes, but other than that, and the humor I got from having to walk through the "Hell City" Tattoo convention to get into the expo, the expo was really pretty dull.

After getting home, I took my twitchy legs out for a spin - just a couple of miles (one fast, one slow) and got everything together for the race.

The night before the race, I felt like I hardly slept at all, so when 5am rolled around, I was up and ready to go. I ate breakfast (a bowl of cereal and a banana and a bottle of Gatorade) and was on my way. I met up with my friend Rob and headed for downtown.

After getting parked and finding our way toward the start, I met up with some friends from our running group (Run DMC) for a photo op, and then I made my way into starting corral A. It was kind of crazy trying to get to a good spot (the MC was calling "last call to get into the corrals" so I had to fight my way through the crowds in corral B), but when I finally got a good spot (and not directly in front of the PA), I heard someone call my name... it was friends from Lancaster who I've run 5K races with. I had a great time with them, hanging out, talking. I really needed a bathroom, but there was no time... after some interviews, some music, and the National Anthem, it was race time!

This year I was committed to not go out too fast. My Lancaster friends took off in front of me, but I stuck to where I felt comfortable. I did stop at the first port-o-john I found, and my auto-pause on my Garmin activated, so I lost a few seconds there.

There was a pretty good crowd with signs and noisemakers, but I was focused on the race and really blocked most of it out. The "entertainment" along the race course was pretty lame - it was actually a negative in most cases. I don't want to hear some guy with an acoustic guitar singing Otis Redding - that's not very motivating. The only act worth mentioning (positively, that is) was the drum corps near OSU.

I think one reason I like long distance running so much is because it's a natural for me - I tend to go inward, and running is a good way to do this. I thought a lot while I ran, not necessarily about anything, but just thinking.

As we ran along, I found myself trying to keep pace with a few people - it just seemed like we had similar pace. I trying to keep them within striking distance. On High Street (on OSU campus) I smelled the wonderful smell of fresh donuts, and that made me think of my banter with Christian High about eating donuts and running...

Definitely the worst part of the race, even worse than the humidity, was the intersection of the 1/2 marathon and the 1/4 marathon. The 1/4 marathon runners/walkers took up the whole street, so I spent a lot of time and energy dodging through them. I was extremely glad to see our paths split!

I didn't care much for the brick section, either - footing was iffy throughout that area.

I brought along two Powerbar gels (the one gel I have found that I like) and I took one at the 5 mile mark and one at 10. I felt like that was a good use of them and that they gave me the extra fuel I wanted about that time. The other thing that gave me a good boost was the Run DMC group at the last water station, around mile 12. At that point, I already had a large-ish group of runners in my sights, and they propelled me forward after them. I loved the last hill; I just picked off runners one after another on my way up the hill. Nobody passed me in the last mile.

Duke (my Garmin) had me at 1:33:31, but the Cap City website had 1:33:42. Whatever the case, I was slightly off my goal, but well under my (previous) PR (1:36).

After finishing, I stuck around, waiting for my friends (including my ride). After-race fare was the usual (water bottles, bagels, bananas, oranges). I didn't go into the post-race-party, having no desire for a free Michelob Ultra or champagne (I think they were giving that away again this year), but I did grab a blessedly delicious cup of chocolate milk.

It was a very good race, despite the humidity, and despite the news I found later, that my friend in Indy had defeated me by almost a minute.

Fire Fighters, a parable

Once upon a time, there was a town where house fires were rampant. It seemed like every week, someone's house or barn or outbuilding caught fire. There was pretty much no way to stop the fires, so the townspeople just watched the fires, hoping that their home wouldn't be next.

But one day, a fire fighter came to town. He explained fire-fighting techniques and how to use tools, water, fire extinguishers, and even smoke detectors to stop the devastation. As he taught, others became interested in fighting fires, and so the fire fighter trained them.

Soon there was a solid group of fire fighters. They were committed to fighting fires wherever they broke out in their town. Instead of weekly fires, it seemed like they would happen monthly, then less frequently, and shortly there were fewer and fewer fires. More and more of the townspeople became fire fighters.

In not much time, it seemed like almost everyone in town was a fire fighter.

The fire fighters would gather together every week to receive more training and to interact with each other. They would receive the latest training and encourage one another in fire fighting. As they gathered together, they realized that they would be better off if they had somewhere central to gather and to store their fire fighting equipment. So they pooled their money and built a fire station. Now they had one central place to gather.

But gradually something happened. While most of the townspeople were fire fighters, there were still some who were not. And the fire fighters began to resent those who were not. Why should we go there and risk our lives while all of those people have had every chance to become fire fighters? And so every once in a while, a house or barn would catch fire, and the fire fighters might not put it out, depending on whose house or barn it was.

Then, based on who was a fire fighter and who was not, there came to be parts of town where the fire fighters did not go.

Soon the fire fighters realized that they didn't know everything about fire fighting, but there was a fire fighting school nearby that trained fire chiefs, so they got together, pooled their money, and hired a fire chief. He would come to town and train the fire fighters so they could be more effective.

So every week, the chief would bring the town's fire fighters together to talk about fighting fire. The chief was a really good fire fighter, always in the forefront of any fire fighting efforts. As he taught other fire fighters how to fight the fires, they found out that his methods were different from theirs, and though they were more effective, they were often more difficult. Or perhaps it was just more difficult because they were not used to all of the new equipment.

Over the years, the fire fighters became comfortable in their new role. It was a rare occurrence when a fire fighter's house caught fire, but when (if) it did, the fire fighters were quick to respond (though there were some who grumbled that a fire fighter's house should never catch fire). Outside of the fire fighting community, there were more fires than ever, but they weren't in areas where the fire fighters ever went, so it did not bother them.

Weeks, then months, then years went by without a fire. Every week, the fire chief gathered the fire fighters together to talk about fighting fires, and once a year, the fire fighters had a big fire fighting outreach, where they invited anyone who needed a fire extinguished to come and learn about fire fighting. But in all truth, the fire fighters had not fought a real fire in years.

Then one day, the fire station caught fire and all of the fire fighters died.
The end.

Worst Sermon Ever

I'm sure every preacher has had the experience where a sermon that the preacher expects to be life-changing falls flat. I'm sure every preacher has had to deal with crickets when they intentionally left a pause for the laughter to subside. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has heard "nice sermon" after a tough, prophetic message. And I'm sure other preachers have written "the worst sermon ever" before. I have even had the experience where I have had a sermon all ready to go and God told me to preach something else (very rarely!). But something that has happened several times happened this week.

I wrote the worst sermon ever.

It was hard to write. I had a tough time concentrating on the text at hand. I had a hard time concentrating at all, to tell the truth. Sunday morning came around, and I wondered if God would suddenly give me an alternate text so I could bail on the sermon I had written. But God was "strangely" silent. So I delivered the sermon as written.

And it was just what the people needed.

Why should I be surprised? That's the way God seems to work - making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland, as He revealed in Isaiah 43:18-21 (which "just happened" to be the text I was preaching from). Why would God do this? To humble me, reminding me that it's not my words that inspire or change lives; it's His Word. Always.

Ten Things I Love...

There's an old joke that goes like this:

A mother went to wake her son for church one Sunday morning. When she knocked on his door, he said, "I'm not going!"

"Why not?" asked his mother.

"I'll give you two good reasons," he said. "One, they don't like me. Two, I don't like them."

His mother replied, "I'll give you two good reasons why YOU WILL go to church. One, you're 47 years old. Two, you're the pastor!" 

There are times when any of us "don't like the church" - even the pastor. When I was doing my internship at Southland Christian Church in Lexington, KY, senior minister Mike Breaux remarked that there were times when he didn't want to be pastor. He would dream about becoming a greenskeeper on a golf course. One day he approached Bob Russell, the senior minister of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville and asked him if he'd ever thought about that.

"No way!" Bob answered. After a pause, he said, "I wouldn't be a greeskeeper; I would manage a Dairy Queen!"

There are times when it's tough being a pastor - there are times when it's tough being a church member. Yet I love the church. Here are some reasons I love the church.

1. God loves the Church. He even goes so far as to call the Church the Bride of Christ. If God loves the church, I do, too! It's not cool to say, "I like Jesus, but I think His wife is a skank." 

2. I am constantly amazed by how people are growing in their faith.

3. It is great to be a part of something greater than myself. There are things that the Church does every day that I couldn't do at all by myself. An example is our "Christmas is not your birthday" offering, through which we gave over $2000 to the Hebron New Life Baby Pantry. I couldn't have done that, but the Church did. And that's just one small example.

4. People in the Church love my family. Families in the church give my kids Christmas presents just, not because they are "the pastor's kids" but just because they love my kids for who they are. When we take "extra" kids into our family, there are amazing people who step up to help my wife with them during services or to make sure our first girl has pink clothes to wear.

5. God believes in the Church. God believes that the Church can be the vehicle to carry His Word to the world, and I love that!

6. A diverse community comes together in unity. This can be hard to achieve, but I have seen it in action. When the focus is on Jesus Christ, all of the other stuff becomes extraneous. 

7. When we get together, it's celebration time! God doesn't only work on Sunday morning; God is continually at work. Therefore, when we get together once a week, we can celebrate what God is doing!

8. Praise with other people is greater than praise by myself. It is so wonderful to sing praises as I go running, but it's way better to join with others in singing, raising hands to the Lord. 

9. The Gates of Hell won't prevail against the Church! Isn't it awesome that Jesus gives humans this amazing power? We can storm the Gates of Hell, because Satan is powerless against us!

10. Jesus is here! He said where we gather together in unity, he will be there with us. Isn't this the picture of church! 

There are many, many more things I love about the Church, but I needed to limit it to 10 to make it a proper Top Ten list. What about you? What do you love about the Church?

2011 Family Retrospective

I have had several people tell me they were just ready for 2011 to be gone and to get the new start in 2012. It has been a difficult year for a lot of my friends, and it can be easy to focus on the negative. But something I heard today stuck with me; nobody has "proof" that positive thinking "works" but we know that negative thinking does.

So here are some highlights of the past year.

Early in February, I went to a conference in Minneapolis (you have to mean to go to a conference then and there - you don't get there by accident) and ended up getting snowed in and staying a little later than planned (thanks, Joel, Shay, and Juju (and don't forget Jake) for letting me crash at their place!) I went running there - outside, of course, in the -8* windchill... those northerners are tough!

Of course, less than a month later, my family got the opportunity to go on a cruise. We had never done it before but the price was right and the destination (western Caribbean) was perfect. I had to ask what one must do to be appointed the pastor of the Antigua Methodist Church! ;-) One of my highlights was snorkeling. That was a blast! We didn't even mind being "stuck" on the ship, and I was the only one who ever felt seasick. Running around the little track while the ship was moving was somewhat adventurous!

In the Spring, Jonathan continued to play soccer, and I was one of his coaches. We had a good time, and it was fun to see the kids grow in their skills. Andrew decided not to play Spring soccer, because he just wanted to play baseball. But when soccer season started, he was very disappointed to not have a game!

Both boys got to play on the same t-ball team; Andrew loved it and Jonathan put up with it. I've never been a baseball player or fan, but I managed to get out a lot with the boys to play catch or to practice batting. 

In May, I ran a personal best in the half marathon at Cap City (Columbus). I ran 1:36, which was16 minutes faster than I'd ever raced (though I'd run a 1:44 in training). It was a fun race; I could get into racing half marathons!

June, July, and August had us taking short travel breaks. In June we went to Lakeside (for my Annual Conference) - we took a side trip to ride on the Cuyahoga Scenic Railroad with the cousins. In July we went to Lake Michigan with Tara's family. The boys always enjoy the beach. In August we went to Camp Sychar and spent ten days there. It was really hot, but I still managed to have the most mileage of the summer while we were there, as the Kokosing Gap Trail was a mile away from camp.

Erie, Pennsylvania, was the setting in September, as I ran the Erie Marathon at Presque Isle. I was shooting for 3:20, which was the cut-off for my (new) age group to qualify for the Boston Marathon. My training was solid, but I fell short in my attempt by 4 minutes. I wasn't upset about it, because it was still as 16 minute personal best. Who can complain about that?

Since we were already that way, we decided to go on to Niagara Falls. The boys really loved it, and I was surprised how well my legs cooperated after Erie. We walked a lot! Jonathan and Andrew got to experience their first out-of-country trip, as we stayed on the Canadian side.

In the fall, both boys got to play soccer. I coached Andrew's U5 team, the Kickers (the team chose their name). They were so much fun! Jonathan played for the CFA Academy team, meaning they traveled all over the Columbus area for their games (in addition to two practices per week). They also had a tournament in Cincinnati, where they were runners-up (losing in the championship game in penalty kicks after overtime). That was a lot of soccer, especially since I didn't play this year!

For my 40th birthday this year, I went for a three-day silent retreat, and I loved it. I loved getting to spend uninterrupted time with God. What a fantastic birthday gift.

Jonathan also started Cub Scouts this year, meaning popcorn sales, den meetings, pack meetings, badges, everything-o-rees, and Tara and I leading his den. He really enjoys it, and Andrew can't wait until he gets to be a Cub Scout.

We also joined AWANA this year, and it has been a blessing watching (and helping) the boys memorize scripture and have such fun doing it. During my Christmas sermon, I was so proud as I watched Andrew quoting John 3:16 along with me.

Through this year I have made some good friends, especially running friends, and have been blessed by so many people. I am looking forward to what God has in store for us in 2012!

Over the Top

Today for my day off, we planned a busy day, including a trip to The Chiller to enjoy their (less expensive) noon skate. On the way out, we picked up some used ice skates at Play it Again Sports (think early Christmas presents), and we were all excited to try them out.

When we got to the Chiller (we go to the "Ice Haus" one at Nationwide Arena), it seemed awfully empty... and the guy behind the counter told us why; there was no noon skate scheduled today. It seems the Blue Jackets had scheduled the ice, and, well, if it weren't for the Blue Jackets, there wouldn't be an Ice Haus. He really politely told us that if we wanted to, we could come back for the skate at 3:45, which wasn't really a choice for us, because we needed to be back to M'port around 4.

We tried to think of something else to do with the kids in the arena district, when the guy behind the counter came back out. He explained that the goalie had been out skating and had only used a corner of the ice and it would be better ice for what they had scheduled later if the ice was more cut up, so if we waited for a while, we could skate after all. We just had to wait for one guy who was out practicing.

It was actually cool to watch him practice - it can be easy to forget how quick a hockey player has to be to excel in his sport. But after he had finished, we got the go-ahead to take the ice. We had a great time!

Jonathan really is picking up ice skating. Andrew spent a lot of time on the ice. But both boys had a lot of fun, and Tara and I enjoyed it fully.

But that wasn't all. The guy behind the counter, feeling bad that we had to wait so long to skate, gave us four free passes to come back and skate. And when we were leaving, he gave the boys each a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey stick.

He didn't have to let us skate at all; after all, the mistake was ours. He could have just told us "sorry, we don't have noon skate today" and we wouldn't have held it against him, the Chiller, or the Blue Jackets. But he went above and beyond, over the top even, in his customer service. What an awesome day!