Author: Fred Shope

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Things in Fours

I’ve been tagged by re:patrick. Here goes.

Four jobs I’ve had:
1. Built air conditioners to be used in military installations. (three summers and Christmas breaks)
2. Taught and coached in Christians schools (three of them)
3. Teacher’s assistant in special ed. class (current)
4. Quality control tech. (tested diapers – not like it seems 🙂 )

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (hilarious)
2. Chariots of Fire (very inspiring)
3. Lord of the Rings (all three of them – almost as good as the books)
4. Anything by the Marx brothers (classic comedy)

Four places I have lived:
1. Rockville, Maryland (from 1955 – 1983)
2. Clarks Summit, PA (college, 1973 – 1978)
3. Cincinnati, Ohio (1983 – 1995)
4. Rock Hill, SC (1995 – now)

Four shows I love:
I can’t say there’s any shows that I love, but some that I try to watch are
1. NCIS
2. House
3. Criminal Minds
4. Numbers

Four places I’ve vacationed:
1. Mountains of Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee (just beautiful, definitely makes me feel closer to God)
2. The Outer Banks (not as touristy as other places)
3. The Bahamas (went there for 25th anniversary)
4. Niagra Falls (awesome power)

Four of my favorite dishes:
1. Cincinnati Chili (nothing like it)
2. Pizza (no commentary needed)
3. BBQ (doesn’t matter what region, I like it all)
4. Italian food

Four sites I visit daily:
1. TheOoze
2. imonk
3. Josh’s blog
4. Any of the other site at the bottom of this page (I really need to get Google Reader on this)

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. In the mountains on a front porch overlooking a stream
2. On a beach
3. On a ship in the middle of the ocean
4. On a golf course
All of these with my pipe, of course

If you read this, consider yourself tagged.

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TGIF

This has been a good week. I only had to help break up one fight at school. The weather is getting warmer and it’s almost time for summer break!

Here is what piqued my interest this week:

A Former Leader is enjoying the season.

Molly tries to explain things.

Jake has a good word for teachers.

Dan has some great thoughts.

Anne-droid enjoys God’s creation.

Grace weighs in on the Trinity.

Kamp Krusty is an interesting place to visit.

Jeff is processing the pain.

Andrew Jones links to the future of CCM.

Jared wonders if size matters.

Tim Hill is missing something.

John Armstrong has some good thoughts about the Church and race.

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Wondering as I wander

I think God has taken me down one of the trails that I explore from time to time. The plans for planting a church here in Rock Hill seem to be on hold for awhile. Some of us are trying to figure out just what it is that God wants us to do. We’re more than a little tired of all the institutional stuff that seems to go along with church. We want community and fellowship, and all that. What we don’t want is worrying about buildings, salaries, staff and programs. I’m thinking that we should just get together and hang out and see what happens after that. Maybe house church, maybe small church in a rented facility. Heck, maybe we’ll become the largest mega-church in North America. 🙂

I’m also wondering what’s going to happen job/ministry wise in the near future. There’s a couple of possible opportunities that have presented themselves, and I’m comfortable with any one of them. I’m not in a hurry to leave where I’m at now, but there are some other things I could see myself doing.

I figure this trail will come back out to the road eventually, so I’ll just follow it and see where it goes.

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We had an interesting day yesterday. While getting ready to go Sunday services, we noticed that our dog Charlie had gotten out of the yard. The three of us went out and tried to get him back. That is a whole lot easier said than done. When Charlie gets out, it’s time to play, and no matter what he’s not interested in coming when we call.

My son Josh followed Charlie down the street and through neighbors’ yards. I drove around in my truck and tried to find the dog. After a while I lost both of them. After two trips around the neighborhood (thankfully it’s small), I returned home to find that Charlie had wandered off into the woods and Josh had come home. I thought, “Well. Having a dog was nice while it lasted.”

We went on to church. When we returned, we saw Josh and Charlie coming up the street. It took a little while longer, but we finally had the dog back in the yard, none the worse for the experience. That night, I ordered a set of DVDs on dog training so we can hopefully spend the summer getting our relationship with Charlie at a level that will make our lives together enjoyable rather than a burden. He’s a lovable dog, but still a puppy who is very headstrong and in need of some education. Kind of like me.

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TGIF

It seems like time is passing faster than ever these days. Two weeks ago Jan and were relaxing in the Smoky Mountains. It doesn’t seem that long ago. Here are some things that caught my interest this week:

imonk has a complex.

Grace writes about handbaskets.

Steve Knight gives his thoughts on being post-congregational.

Scot McKnight links to the best blog post he has ever read.

Dan Kimball speaks on social justice and hell.

Jared Wilson gets to hear N.T. Wright speak and I’m jealous.

Rachel has a good memory.

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Man-made or God-made?

This morning on the radio, the announcer was talking about the display that we see in spring, the beauty of the trees and flowers as they bloom and leaf out. He compared it to what we see at Christmas, with the lights and decorations. The Christmas displays have to be put up so, without human effort, there would be nothing to see. On the other hand, what we see in the spring is from God, and doesn’t depend on human effort. The beauty of spring far surpasses that of Christmas.

I think the same thing is true in our lives. We try to please God by our own efforts, by trying harder to not sin, by doing more spiritual things, and by teaching others to do those things. So many times the result is something far less than beautiful. Sometimes it looks like a tacky artificial tree with the most fake looking ornaments, sometimes it looks simply ugly.

By contrast, we can recognize that it is only by the grace of a merciful Father that we have anything. Because God is merciful and loving, and because Jesus has died for us on the cross, we can rest in the fact that we are loved by the Creator of all things and are heirs along with Jesus. If we fall into that endless, amazing grace and let the Holy Spirit work in us and form us into the image of Christ, the result will be something beautiful and wondrous to behold. Like spring.

There is another thing to remember when other people don’t seem to “get it” like we do. In spring, the plants don’t all come out at the same time. Sometimes even plants of the same species are on a different schedule. So it is with God’s children. We are all growing, just at different rates. Back when I was a teenager (way back in the dark ages), there was a popular saying among Christians: “Please be patient, God is not finished with me yet”. We need to remember that.

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TGIF

Why does it seem like the week after a vacation takes forever to go by? At least it ‘s finally getting warm here in the sunny South.

Here are some of the interesting things I’ve seen this week:

Molly gives us a good reminder on how to treat those with whom we disagree.

AnneDroid convicted me of a need to check for residual bitterness.

Brant Hansen has a Bucket List for Christians.

imonk asks about “A Divine Protection Racket”

John tries to be still.

A Former Leader writes about worship songs come to life.

Grace throws her hat into the political ring.

Jeff McQuilkin is In-Between.

jonathanbrink reminds us that we are first human, and then breaks our hearts.

Brother Maynard made me laugh.

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Hands

This is something I wrote a little over a year ago. I thought of starting a “Best of” series like some other bloggers have, but I realized that “best of” would be a bit if an oxymoron for what I write. And anyway, imonk doesn’t read my blog so… 🙂

Nickel Creek has a song titled “The Hand Song”. The words are challenging.

The boy only wanted to give Mother something
And all of her roses had bloomed
Looking at her as he came rushing in with them
Knowing her roses were doomed
All she could see were some thorns buried deep
And the tears that he cried as she tended his wounds

And she knew it was love
It was one she could understand
He as showing his love
And that’s how he hurt his hands

He still remembers that night as a child
On his mother’s knee
She held him close and she opened her Bible
And quietly started to read
And seeing a picture of Jesus he cried out
“Momma, he’s got some scars just like me.”

And he knew it was love
It was one he could understand
He was showing his love
And that’s how he hurt his hands

Now the boy’s grown and moved out on his own
When Uncle Sam comes along
A foreign affair, but our young men were there
And luck had his number drawn
It wasn’t that long till our hero was gone
He gave to a friend what he learned at the cross

But they knew it was love
It was one they could understand
He was showing his love
And that’s how he hurt his hands

How willing are we to do whatever it takes to show our love? We who have learned at the cross – do we give to others what we have learned?

Are we even willing to get our hands dirty, let alone hurt them to show the same love that Jesus showed us on the cross?

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Tax Rebate

If you’re wondering what to do with your share of the “economic stimulus package”, check this out.