Author: Fred Shope

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Weekend Wanderings

Does it seem to anyone else that the year is flying by. It’s already the end of October and some stores are putting up their Christmas displays. That’s a pet peeve of mine, but that is a subject for another day. The baseball season is almost over, and football is almost at the halfway point. They say time goes quicker the older you get, but I can’t imagine it moving any faster.

On to the good stuff:

I think I might be just a little bit guilty of this.

Sometimes our prayers can get a bit ugly. But that’s okay.

Evidently, there is a thing called “leaning out.” This author says it’s a bad thing.

He may be right, but I think some may beg to differ.

Speaking of art critics, this writer makes some good points but I think he should check out the arts scenes in some of the small cities and towns.

There are a lot of bad stories that include “Florida man.” This is a good one.

Here is a post for those of us who like taking quizzes.

Are you cracked? It’s a good thing.

There are churches out there who get in the news for the wrong reasons. Here is one who made it for the right reason.

Sarah Condon puts down her thoughts on the McArthur/Moore kerfuffle.

I think this might be carrying things a bit too far.

Casey Cep tells us what was really going on with Thomas Edison.

Maybe now would be a good time to follow the lead of the French on this issue.

Here is an interesting story about the impact one person can have on another.

Who knew that the Grinch was active during Halloween?

Hopefully this will work.

Mark Longhurst on silence.

Sometimes you have to reframe things.

Maybe procrastination isn’t so bad after all.

KCBob has a good post on an intimate table.

Have a blessed week!

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Weekend Wanderings

It has been a while. I spent a couple of very good weekends with family. Life has returned to what passes for normal around here, so the weekend links are back.

Losing our religion.

There is hope for all of us.

I have one word for you. Plastics.

I know this happens to me at times.

Here is a new weight loss plan for those who don’t like to exercise.

Do you think Alan Jacobs is correct in his assessment?

I certainly wouldn’t mess with these walruses.

Really? Really?

I think I’ll pass on this.

Good article from Alan Noble.

Good article by Brandon Hanson.

I could get behind this.

I’m not sure I would want to take this voyage.

Aaron Niequist’s journey.

KC Bob talks about his ego.

Good advice for those who teach others.

Wendell Berry is leading the way.

Good post from Nathan Hoff.

Provocative post from Benjamin L. Corey.

Fred Smith is diving deep.

Have a blessed week!

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Weekend Wanderings

It’s been a busy week, but I think I can carve out a little bit of time to link you to some of the best of the web.

Here we go:

I don’t know which side I want to win.

New discovery.

Are you a junkie?

This is promising.

What to do when fear knocks.

This is pretty cool.

Good article about political beliefs.

Just in case you want to live cheaply in Italy for a while.

You just can’t trust anybody anymore!

Funny wildlife pictures.

Ross Douthat on the despair epidemic.

Jayna Maleri hates summer.

You can’t balance grace.

Yes, it will happen.

A little bit of Berry for you.

Have a blessed week!

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Blast From the Past: Still More

When we last left our hero, he was wondering what was going to happen next.

I was without work. I thought I was going to realize the fulfillment of a long held dream of coaching college basketball. So, I sent out resumes and waited. I talked to every coach I knew. And I waited. The summer came and went and still no coaching job. In fact, there were no jobs at all on the horizon. We didn’t feel free to move to another area because my parents and my wife’s parents had moved here to be near us and they were in declining health and needed our help. The search continued. As all this was going on, we had to give our Cocker Spaniel to the pound because he was old and had too much wrong with him for us to afford to have him treated. It was not a fun summer. About a week after we gave our dog away, I was out on yet another job search. As I drove past the animal shelter, I lost it. I began to pray, cry, and yell at God. I even cussed (I know that shocks some of you, but that’s the way it is). I told God that if I had anywhere else to go, I’d chuck this whole Christian thing. I realized that, like the disciples, I had nowhere else to go, that Jesus was the only one worth following.

In September of 2005, I was hired by a tour bus company to drive. I was glad because it would give me a chance to travel. As it turned out, the majority of the job consisted of leaving the house at 4:00 AM, driving to a National Guard camp eighty miles away, and shuttling troops back and forth from the camp to a nearby army base so they could be processed for active duty in Iraq. Most of the day was spent sitting on the bus and waiting for the soldiers to get their paperwork in order. I would usually arrive back home sometime after 10:00 PM. Because of this schedule, I usually only worked three days a week, so the income wasn’t real good. The company also had no health insurance for their employees.

At first, I wondered what I had done wrong, wondered why God had “put me on the sidelines”. I felt like I was in a desert. Sitting on the bus gave me plenty of opportunity to read, think, and pray. God began to teach me about trust and patience. He reminded me that he was the most important one in my life, and that my identity was in Jesus, not in being a teacher or coach. I began to rethink even more of my assumptions about God, church, and life. At the same time, God was teaching me increasingly to trust him. Jan and I saw God provide for us again and again.

In January 2006, I walked out of the desert. I was hired as a teacher’s assistant in a self-contained special education class at a public middle school. The kids I work with all have learning disabilities, some more severe than others. Many of them are from low income families. Quite a change from the Christian schools previously worked in, although not as much as I would have thought. Kids are kids wherever you go.

Also in January, both my mom and my mother-in-law went into a nursing home. Jan’s mom suffered a stroke, and my mom was suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s. Our ministry to our parents changed somewhat, as we were visiting our moms and essentially being there for our dads. It was hard to go into a place full of people who were essentially waiting to die and visit Mom, knowing that she would never leave in this life.

I’ll give your eyes a rest and write more later.

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Weekend Wanderings: Three Day Edition

For many folks, this is a three day weekend, as we celebrate the efforts of the American worker by having cookouts and buying lots of stuff. Pretty much the same thing we do every holiday. Anyway, you’re not here to hear me blab about holidays, so on to the good stuff:

Here is the official, sanctioned history of the origins of the Labor Day holiday.

Rebelling against the rebel.

I bet you didn’t know these facts about Labor Day.

This seems to be changing. That’s a good thing.

Pray for these folks.

Good article on a problem most of us have to deal with.

I know I have problems with this. Anyone else?

Labor Day has not always been a pleasant day.

Turns out this is okay.

The Giving Tree opens up.

So, evidently the controversy has been going on for quite some time.

This is interesting.

Most and least stressful jobs in the U.S.

Good post from Mike Glenn.

Being yourself.

Combining contemplative and active lives.

True words.

Good question.

Up in smoke?

Have a blessed week!

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Blast From the Past: More

It’s another day, so I’ll continue my story.

About three years ago (now about fifteen years), God started doing some things in me that would change the way I saw life and ministry. Through a “chance” look at a magazine, I discovered TheOoze.com and immediately began to read the articles and enter into the discussions. I became aware that there were a lot of others out there that just didn’t quite fit in the cubbyholes that “church” tried to put us in. I began to read authors outside of what I knew as mainstream Christianity, people like Brian McLaren, Leonard Sweet, Phillip Yancey, Mike Yaconelli, John Fischer, Rob Bell, N.T. Wright, and others.

God began to show me that at least part of what I had been taught and believed was not Biblical, but was simply a part of the culture of mid to late twentieth century America. So, now my rebellious spirit had a legitimate focus. Now, I saw myself as sort of a “missionary to the fundamentalists”. I began to teach some of these things to my middle school Bible classes. I tried to convey to them that Christianity is more than just mentally assenting to certain propositions and following certain rules. Hopefully some of them got it and will spread the subversiveness.

Unfortunately, this chapter in my life was to come to a rather abrupt end. The school decided to basically eliminate all the middle school teaching positions and give those classes to the high school teachers. They also decided to eliminate the athletic director position, and since I was both a middle school teacher and the athletic director, my contract was not removed.

More to come…

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Blast From the Past

I thought I’d go back in the archives and give those of you who don’t know a whole lot about me a glimpse of where I am coming from and what has led me to where I am now. This is the first of some posts I wrote a while ago that will give you a bit of a glimpse inside. Enjoy.

I started my journey as a follower of Jesus when I was four years old. I know that may seem young, but I distinctly remember asking God to forgive my sins and save me, and I believe that’s when I became his child. Obviously, at that age, I didn’t have a clue about how this was going to work out in my life. I grew up as a pretty good kid, started a period of rebellion as a teenager, went to a conservative Bible college where the rebellion continued, actually graduated and began a few years of ministry in Christian schools.

My rebellion continued, but changed from a general fighting against “authority” to a realization that a lot of the things I was taught in fundamentalism were not only not sensible, but were not even Biblical. For awhile I tried to still minister in fundamental schools, while growing increasingly frustrated with the legalism and lack of grace and love that I saw around me and sometimes experienced. I know that I was seen as a “black sheep” by many.

About three years ago, God began to take me on a part of the journey that would change my life.

But, that’s a story for another day.

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Weekend Wanderings

This is a good time of year for sports fans. Football is beginning, baseball is moving toward the playoffs, and basketball is just around the corner. It’s a bit cooler here in the sunny South and a new school year has started. That means more traffic on the roads and adjusting to a slightly longer drive to work.

On to the good stuff:

The freedom of forgetting.

A little Capon for the weekend.

This is not a good thing.

Just in case you need motivation to exercise.

That’s a lot of bees!

Good post from Fred Smith.

I’m not sure what to think of this.

Funny article.

Benjamin Sledge has a good post.

The spiral of grace.

Scot McKnight on stories of leaving the faith.

Be careful what you tweet.

Funny baseball card story.

Dog days and grace.

Good post from KCBob.

Yes. Wholeheartedly yes.

Chaplain Mike on the priority of the Gospels.

Photos of the week.

Have a blessed week!