No Room
Scotty didn’t get enough credit.
There would be no Captain Kirk or Mister Spock or Bones if not for the man we know as “the miracle worker” – Chief Engineer, Montgomery Scott. One of the few “red shirts” who never died. If you were ever a fan of the original Star Trek, you know Scotty saved the ship over and over again despite the seemingly near impossible tasks he seemed to be given. “I cannot change the laws of physics,” he once said. But then he did. Even though he would protest or say why he couldn’t do it, he always found a way. It remained a mystery how he was able to do the impossible…until he revealed his secret in the movie The Search for Spock. Kirk asks how long it’ll be before repairs are finished on the Enterprise and Scotty tells him, “It’ll take at least eight weeks sir…” and Kirk is about to respond when Scotty finishes, “but you don’t have eight weeks so I’ll do it for you in two.” And Kirk replies, “Mr. Scott, do you always multiply your repair estimates by a factor of four?” And Scotty says, “Of course, sir. How else can I keep my reputation as a miracle worker?” Mystery solved.
Scotty gives himself a “buffer.”
He creates space to allocate for the unknown. And that way, he’s prepared for the unexpected. Because life can throw you curve balls, he found that this strategy worked for him. It gave him a chance to expect the unexpected. I found out that Disney does that in their theme parks. No matter how short the line is on a ride, the sign outside will always say “5-minute wait.” Even if you can walk right on! That way, if you get through the line early, you’ll be happy and if you don’t, you’ll still think you got through the line early and be happy. They give themselves a buffer zone to be prepared for the unexpected.
Do you give yourself a buffer in life?
Not necessarily a time buffer, but space in your life for the unknown. Our lives are often full of rigidity. We become rigid in our schedules, rigid in our viewpoints, rigid in our expectations, and we can’t handle when things come up that upset that balance we’ve created. We get mad or angry or disappointed in the unexpected. BUT! BUT!!! It’s in the unexpected that the most amazing opportunities can occur. It’s in the unexpected that the most amazing opportunities can occur. And if we aren’t ready for it, we’ll miss those opportunities. In our reading, Jesus has been speaking to the crowds after his encounter with the woman who committed adultery. The crowd wanted to stone this woman for breaking the commandments, and instead of telling them “no” or speaking against them, Jesus simply said, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And…they walked away. Not long after this, Jesus is again talking to a group of Jewish people. He is able to convince some of them he truly is the Son of God and he shares with them some wisdom they may not have been ready to hear.
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word.
The truth will set you free.
“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” We often equate freedom with independence, but that’s not what Jesus is saying here. Knowing the truth won’t make you more independent. In fact, in some ways it’ll make you more DEPENDENT as we realize how much we need Christ in our lives. But it will also give you a sense of inner peace and that’s the freedom Jesus is referring to – freedom from worry and anxiety because you have faith and trust in Christ. It is in Jesus that we gain our true freedom and it is in Jesus that we learn the truth. Having that freedom is what allows us to move forward in life – to grow and learn and fulfill our purpose. But like the group Jesus is talking to, many of us don’t even know we need this “freedom.” We walk around with all of this potential but are so rigid in our thinking and our perceptions we can’t see we are not as free as we think we are. We don’t leave room in our hearts and minds for new possibilities or new ways of looking at the world and so we become slaves to our own selves.
It’s interesting how this group of Jewish people talk to Jesus.
Jesus isn’t speaking to Gentiles. He’s speaking to his own people. And even more surprising, John tells us, is this group of people actually thinks he is the Messiah. John tells us in his Gospel, he’s speaking to believers. And yet, they argue with him. They cast doubt on him. They challenge him and this is why Jesus says they don’t have room in their hearts for his message. Instead they say to him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” They don’t focus on Jesus’ main point – which is that in Christ they can have freedom in a way they haven’t experienced before. Instead they nitpick on his words and are offended by his statement. What’s more astounding is that they deny the reality of their own history. Could they really have forgotten so quickly when the Hebrew nation was a slave to Pharoah in Egypt or to the Assyrians or to the Babylonaians or to the Persians? Of all the peoples in the world, it seems as if the Jewish people would remember they have often been slaves of others. Yet in their rigidity, they tell Jesus they have never been slaves of anyone. They didn’t even take a moment to ponder what Jesus was trying to share with them which had nothing to do with physical freedom, but spiritual. Their own pride and rigid view of the world got in the way of seeing the truth. Jesus tries to steer them toward the truth by clarifying his point. He says, “Very truly I tell you, EVERYONE who sins is a slave to sin.” EVERYONE who sins is a slave to sin. He’s telling them, you might be “technically” free. You might not be in shackles or collared like an animal. You might not live in a cage or a cell. But you are NOT free. Because as long as there is sin within you, you are a slave to whatever that sin is. Anger. Hate. Jealousy. Rage. Pride. WHATEVER it is, it has a hold on you. But when you allow for the unexpected, when you give room in your heart for the Holy Spirit, when you give space for the possibility of new ideas and new ways of thinking, you just might find something remarkable. But even these “believers” can’t open their hearts to Christ.
Are you like that at times?
Are there times you feel yourself resistant to new ideas and new ways of thinking, even if your old ways are not producing the results you were hoping for? Christ is asking us to be open to the possibilities, to give room in our hearts to where God might be leading you, to allow for the movement of the Spirit in your life. God wants you to leave a buffer for the Spirit to work within you and around you. Because it’s in those gaps that amazing things can happen. It’s a lesson it’s taken me a while to learn, but that has become easier over time. It wasn’t always easy for me to listen to where God was leading me. I often thought that my plans were his plans and that made me unwilling to open up to where else God might want me to go. That was the case when I found out I wasn’t going to be coming back to Roswell UMC. My District Superintendent, my boss in the Methodist system, told me it was likely I was going to a small rural town outside of Atlanta. It was a town that was racially divided. It was a town that didn’t have a good school system. It was a town where Cassie would have to commute three hours everyday for work on a good day and it was rarely a good day for traffic in Atlanta. And it was a place that didn’t fit any of my gifts and graces. How in the world could this be where God was sending me? We tried everything to forge our own path, to go the route WE wanted to go, but every time we tried, we kept hitting roadblocks. Finally, I gave up. Normally, I’d say that was horrible, but in this case it was the best thing I could have done. I literally went into my closet, laid down on the floor in the pitch blackness of the room, and prayed. And I just said to God, “I can’t believe this is the path you want me to follow, but if it is, I’ll do it. But if it isn’t, if this is not where I’m supposed to be, would you please open a door for me? No matter what door is opened, I’ll walk through it.” That honest prayer, where I finally created room in my life for God to work, helped me to let go and trust in God like I should have all along. It only took an hour to get a response. After that prayer, I went back to my desk and started going through my emails and found one from a friend of mine out in California who just became a DS herself. She asked how things were going and I opened up to her about our situation. About an hour later, I got a phone call that changed the course of my life. I ended up coming back home to California to serve in our conference. And it has just been one God-led moment after another. It hasn’t always been smooth and rarely the way I expected it to turn out, but I have felt so blessed how things have turned out. All because I was finally willing to open myself up to where God was leading me.
Are you open to where God is leading you?
Do you pray regularly? Not for what you want or what you need, but do you ever pray for what God needs from you? Are you open to new ideas and new ways of doing things? Or have you become so rigid in your life that there isn’t room for where God might be leading you next? In any situation where you find difficulty, do what Scotty did and give yourself a buffer. Allow room for the unexpected and the unknown. Give different ideas a chance and you might be wildly surprised at where God is taking you. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Spectre of Lost Potential
God doesn’t have a plan for your life.
Give that a moment to sink in because I’m guessing more than one of you wants to push back on that notion right away. It probably runs counter to some of the very ideas you hold to be true. But God doesn’t have a plan for your life. At least not in the way we traditionally think of it. When bad things happen to us, in a very well-meaning way, Christians try to offer support by telling each other, “God has a plan.” But when you take that thread and follow it to its end, you come out with a very mean God. Because that means all the bad, horrible, nauseating things that happen to you are CAUSED by God. That somehow his PLAN includes treating you in an abusive and harsh way. With that kind of thinking we limit God and imagine our great God almighty wasn’t smart enough to think of a better way to teach you or equip you for life. But that’s not our God. Whenever I think about this idea that God has a plan that somehow includes pain and suffering, I think back to my high school chemistry teacher, Mr. McNally. Mr. McNally was one of the nicest teachers we had. Everyone loved him. He was well respected by both staff and students alike. So it came as a shock to find out he was killed by a drunk driver late one night while he was in the car with his son. They were coming home from a game or something when a guy broadsided his car, killing Mr. McNally. The drunk driver? He lived and walked away from the accident. But Mr. McNally was dead. Was that really God’s plan, to take him away from his family, his loved ones, and his students? Or did Mr. McNally have to die tragically just so this drunk driver could learn some kind of life-changing lesson? Or maybe this guy was just irresponsible, had too much to drink, and killed my high school chemistry teacher because he didn’t have enough sense not to drive. I think the last one is the most likely.
Our lives do not follow some script like a Hollywood movie.
There isn’t some plot twist that justifies the harmful things that happen to us. Our lives are not meant to go down a specific path that’s been charted out for us. God DOES have a plan for your life, but it’s the one that he shares with the prophet Jeremiah and through Jeremiah to all of us. God said in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” So God does have a plan, but just not in the way we often think about it. God’s plan for us isn’t a map to follow but a hope for a brighter future. Your life is not pre-determined. You have free will. You have choices to make. And those choices can lead you down a path that brings you closer to God and makes this world more like the Kingdom that he imagines it could be, or we can choose to drift away from God and get swallowed up by what the world thinks is important.
Life is a journey.
This idea of life and faith being a journey is one that is stuck in my mind, because I believe God is working in us and through us to help us grow closer to God. None of us are born fully complete. None of us wake up one day with all the answers we need to live a perfect life or to have perfect faith. It’s like John Wesley said, we are moving toward perfection. But we aren’t there yet. At least not the vast majority of us. If you have a Bible or a Bible app on your phone, would you please find 1 Corinthians 12 beginning with verse 1. God tells us he has a plan to prosper us and not to harm us, to give us hope and a future. But we still have to choose to go down that path. We still have to choose to take that journey. Some of us willingly take that path, but others of us are more like Jonah, resisting the entire way. If you remember his story, when God asked him to go to Tarshish, he ran in the opposite direction until he got eaten by a fish. And even then he only went reluctantly. And when his mission to the people of Tarshish ended up a glorious success, Jonah got mad and moped about it. Sometimes that’s what we are like, resistant to God’s will. But if we ARE open to it, if we ARE willing, this journey is not one we have to make alone. I believe with all my heart that God places people in our lives to help us along this path. That if we are open to it, God will guide us and draw us closer to him. God will not only place people in our path but will equip us for the journey. He gives to each of us gifts for us to use and the beauty of it is that each of us are given different gifts so that we can contribute uniquely to the journey. As it says in Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth this is what he writes.
Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
Have you ever really thought about what your gifts are?
Sometimes they are obvious, but sometimes we need people in our lives to help point them out to us. You may think you know what your gifts are, but maybe you have even more gifts than you realize or you have talents that you never thought you could use in service to God. It’s as Paul writes to us, “I do not want you to be uniformed” but YOU have a gift. Some of us have many gifts. Some have more obvious gifts and some more subtle gifts, but whatever gift or gifts you have they all come from the same place, from God. And he has given you these gifts to make a difference in the lives of others. And if God has that much faith in you and God has that much faith in me, then I know we can do great things if we have even a mustard seed size amount of faith in God and in the gifts he has given us.
Everyone thinks of Rev. Mike Friedrich as “Deacon Mike.”
And even though he has been with us for many years before he became a deacon, how many of you really know who he is? I thought I knew who he was until I began preparing for this message. Turns out there is even more to Deacon Mike than he humbly lets on. My first encounter with Mike was at Annual Conference at the NJAUMC luncheon. He came representing our church and I was at the time serving in Dinuba. We got to talking and he told me that prior to serving the church he had worked in the comic book field. That interested me as I am a lifelong comic book nerd. He only hinted at the number of works he did, never mentioned the people he worked with, or what kind of contributions he made to the field. Only later did I find out that many of the stories I grew up with, many of the films I’ve seen in the theater, have been influenced either directly or indirectly by his work. You may have heard of a few of them. He worked on such titles as Iron Man, Batman, Justice League of America, and one of my personal favorites, The Flash. He created or influenced the character history significantly of characters like Thanos (the big bad guy from Avengers: Endgame), Drax (of Guardians of the Galaxy fame), Ant-Man and Adam Warlock who I’m sure we’ll see more of in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3. But as impressive as that is, Mike is known for more than that. You may have heard of a little gathering of comic book fans called San Diego Comic Con. Over the years, they grew further and further away from being a comic book convention and became a multi-media convention. So Mike and some of his companions decided to create a convention that went back to its roots called WonderCon. Based up in the Bay Area, that convention grew and grew and grew until it caught the notice of an organization – Comic-Con International. ComicCon bought out WonderCon and now runs it as its second biggest gathering of the year. What I didn’t know was that Mike was also responsible for one of the first successful forays into independent publishing. Before there was a thing such as Image Comics, there was Star*Reach. Star*Reach was the flagship title as well as the company name and they published a number of different titles featuring such noted authors and artists as Jim Starlin, Howard Chaykin, Walt Simonson, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Lee Marrs. For his work, he is being recognized this year at Comic-Con with the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. I love the way Mike conceptualized his career. He said, he started out writing stories about men who put on costumes to bring justice into the world, now he puts on his own (religious) costume to bring justice into the world.[1] But what I think is one of Mike’s great gifts is not that he was a comic book writer, not that he was a publisher, not that he was a union rep for research scientists and technicians at Cal, and not that he founded his own successful comic con. All of those are pretty amazing, but at least two of the gifts Mike brings to God’s table is a spirit of innovation and perseverance. He is willing to try new things and comes up with unique ideas. He’s the first to admit they don’t always work, but he doesn’t let that deter him from trying different ideas to achieve his goal. For most of us, that kind of commitment to change and challenge is troublesome, but for Deacon Mike he embraces it. And now that he is working directly for the church he is using those talents in new ways for Christ.
You don’t have to become a deacon or a minister to serve God.
You can serve God in so many different capacities. The best way you can serve God is naturally. Finding a way to use your own unique gifts and talents in a way that helps to show the love of Christ to a world that needs it. To be bold for God in proclaiming his love through the ways you feel God is calling upon you. I know for Deacon Mike social justice is high on his list and he is gifted in that. I imagine he will do some wonderful things for God’s kingdom by being an advocate for those who don’t have a voice and I believe he will use his gifts of innovation and perseverance to serve God in a way that will make a difference in a field he is passionate about. What are you passionate about? How does your passion fit into God’s kingdom? How can you use your gifts, your talents, and your passion to challenge yourself to grow in faith, to move closer to Christ, and to serve his kingdom?
Growing up one of my favorite comic books was called “What if?”
And they explored alternate timelines where our heroes made different choices that would lead to different outcomes and I was always fascinated by what I would find inside. Sometimes those choices would lead to a vision for a bright future and sometimes it would lead toward the spectre of lost potential. But it was always up to the author to decide what road to follow. You have a choice as you always have. Will you use the gifts God has given you to lead you to the life he has planned for you? Or will your life be one of lost potential? Pray this week for the Holy Spirit to open you up to his movement in your life. Pray about being open to where God is leading. And be ready to step through the doors God opens up for you, because if you’re willing God is waiting to give you the life he has promised.
Craig’s Kitchen – Simple Fried Rice
No revelations here.
What you’re about to read will not shock you. It will not change your life. But maybe it will offer a new or different way of making fried rice! It’s a favorite of my family and I thought I would share it so others could enjoy it, too. I would also love to hear of your own variations to this simple yet tasty dish.
I became fascinated with fried rice when my dad made wienies and fried rice for me as a kid. It was a hearty, satisfying, tasty meal that pretty much involved seemingly two ingredients – hot dogs sliced up into diagonal pieces and rice all cooked up in a skillet. The wiener goodness would mix with the rice and would taste so good. I think my dad added a little oil to the pan to make it fry better but that oil would penetrate the rice and give it a slightly buttery taste.
But fried rice was elevated to another level when we ate at Sakura Chaya in Fresno. Watching these hibachi artisans cook up a bowl of tasty fried rice was fascinating and I’d eat every last bite – and then some. Everyone in our family loved it, especially Cassie, so I started watching and taking mental notes about how they did it. The key seemed to be seasoning salt and butter. Yummy butter. The other ingredients complimented it and varied the flavor, but the key to good fried rice was seasoning and butter. And really good soy sauce. But you can classify that under seasoning.
The list of ingredients is simple. It’s really how you mix them that makes a difference.
Ingredients
- 3 uncooked cups of rice (by “cups” I mean the little cup that comes with your rice cooker. They are about one full cup each)
- Kikkoman Gluten-Free Soy Sauce – I love this particular brand because it’s not as dense as Tamari but has an even more impacted umami flavor than regular soy sauce.
- Thick-cut bacon – We use Wellshire which I love. Personally, I think this is the best brand because it has a nice thickness and the meat is flavorful without artificial additives. Good bacon is just good.
- Ghee or Salted Butter – I like ghee since it’s just clarified butter, but regular salted butter is just terrific. I like using 4th and Heart Ghee, especially the Himalayan Salt version or if going with butter, I like Kerrygold since it’s made from grass-fed cows
- Lawry’s Seasoning Salt – Use whatever seasoning salt you like best, but Lawry’s looks and tastes the most like the stuff they use at Sakura Chaya (I could never get them to actually tell me the ingredients)
- Two Large Eggs – Depending on how “eggy” you like it. Two is plenty and in fact you might want to cut back a bit if you don’t like a lot of egg in your fried rice. But some egg gives it texture and flavor so don’t omit unless you just don’t like egg or can’t eat it.
Beyond that, you can add whatever you like! This is the base for my “Breakfast Fried Rice” but at times I like to add green onions for more added flavor or kamaboko (fish cake) for texture and depth or you could add different meats in addition to the bacon (but you gotta use bacon). Really it’s whatever floats your boat.
- Cook the rice – However you cook rice just have it cooked by the time you put it in the pan. Jasmine rice works great. Seems to absorb the flavors well. My favorite is plain old Japanese sticky rice (not the sweet rice, but the plain sticky rice). Our family like Botan but that’s a preference thing.
- Cook the bacon – Cut the bacon (literally) into little squares. Ideally, they should be as uniform as you can get it, but don’t worry too much. Bacon is bacon. I cut them with a pair of kitchen scissors – first into strips and then the strips into squares or rectangles. I fry them up in a large pan with a non-stick bottom until they are just barely all nice and crispy. Stir them around occasionally to make sure the pieces separate and cook relatively evenly. The scoop them out onto a plate, BUT LEAVE THE BACON DRIPPINGS IN THE PAN! Key.
- Put the cooked rice in the bacon pan. Mix it up so that the bacon drippings coat the rice grains. This should cause some separation in the rice grains, but that’s good! It makes it even easier to mix everything. This is where I add ghee. I don’t have a specific amount I add because it depends on how well coated the rice is. Some bacon is more “drippy” than others. I always put some ghee because that butter flavor is awesome.
- Sprinkle the Lawry’s Seasoning Salt all over the rice so there is a good single layer of it and begin mixing it all up. Once you’ve mixed it some, add the soy sauce liberally over the rice. Most of the grains of rice should turn a brown-ish color from the soy sauce. It’s okay if some are still white. What you want is a good flavor without too much saltiness. You’ll be surprised how much soy sauce the rice can take. I probably use about 2-3 TBSP. Mix well.
- Flatten the rice as much as you can in the pan and let it sit for about 3 or 4 minutes. What you hope is to develop a little bit of crust on the bottom. Not so it’s hard but with just a tad of crunch. While the rice is sitting, beat the eggs together in a small bowl. I like to add just a tad of milk (like 1 tsp) and salt and pepper with it. Once beaten and mixed set aside briefly.
- Lift up the rice and fold it over so that the bottom comes to the top and you mix it up again. Once mixed, move the whole pile to one side of the pan to make room for the eggs. Pour as much of the egg mixture as you want. We use about 1 1/2 eggs (but since eggs don’t come in halves, I just mix together two and use about 1 1/2). I scramble the eggs until they are just this side of fluffy (not overcooked) and start breaking them up. Once broken up, I mix it together into the rice, add back the bacon, and stir well until it is all mixed together. This is where I would add things like kamaboko or green onions or chicken (cooked) depending on what you want.
- Serve and enjoy!
Top 10 Reasons People Didn’t Come Back to Church
Thom Rainer, author of many books and an expert on church growth and decline, did an informal Twitter poll about why people didn’t return to a particular church. Mind you this is NOT scientific, but the results were worth pondering. Here are his findings (and his words condensed – you can read his full blog post here). I used Disney theme park pictures for this post because Disney does it right!
- Having a stand up and greet one another time in the worship service. First, I was surprised how much guests are really uncomfortable during this time. Second, I was really surprised that it was the most frequent response.
- Unfriendly church members. The surprise was the number of respondents who included non-genuine friendliness in their answers.
- Unsafe and unclean children’s area. If your church does not give a high priority to children, don’t expect young families to attend.
City Hall at any Disney theme park is the place to go for information. It’s clear, consistent, and always in the same location whether in Hong Kong or Anaheim - No place to get information. If your church does not have a clear and obvious place to get information, you probably have lowered the chances of a return visit by half. There should also be someone to greet and assist guests at that information center as well.
- Bad church website. Most of the church guests went to the church website before they attended a worship service. If they attended the service after visiting a bad website, they attended with a prejudicial perspective.
Trying to find a restroom? At Disneyland the signs are always clear - Poor signage.
- Insider church language. “The WMU will meet in the CLC in the room where the GAs usually meet.”
- Boring or bad service. My surprise was that it was not ranked higher.
- Members telling guests that they were in their seat or pew.
- Dirty facilities. Some of the comments: “Didn’t look like it had been cleaned in a week.” “No trash cans anywhere.” Restrooms were worse than a bad truck stop.” “Pews had more stains than a Tide commercial.”
Does your church have any or all of these things? If we hope to attract people for Christ, we should take into consideration that detail is important and perception is communication. I would love to hear your ideas about how you are tackling these issues in your own context.
Craig’s Library – Is Your Church Truly Welcoming?
Everyone says they are a welcoming church.
But (to modify a When Harry Met Sally Quote) not everyone could possibly BE a welcoming church. If everyone were truly welcoming, church attendance would be much higher than it is today. People wouldn’t just say they belong to a church, but would actually be part of the life of the church. Would you like that? Then read Thom S. Rainer’s book Becoming A Welcoming Church. This should be on your list of “must reads.”
Title: Becoming A Welcoming Church
Author: Thom S. Rainer
Cost: $12.99
Age: Adult
Publisher: BH Publishing Group
Nutshell: Challenging churches to look at themselves objectively
Thom addresses the disconnect between how churches perceive themselves and how others perceive them. Often the local church has a distorted view of how great they are, mostly because they’ve stopped looking at themselves objectively. But Thom challenges those perceptions and spells out the real life consequences of ignoring issues of safety, cleanliness, insider language, and other topics we often do unintentionally.
Visitors make judgments about a church long before they ever hear a sermon. Sometimes they make judgments based solely on your website (or lack of one). Today’s consumers (and that’s what church seekers are) start online. The web is the new front door. Greeters, signage, and visual appeal all matter to a first time visitor. It doesn’t matter if we think those matter – they do. And Thom does a great job of illustrating that point with stories from real people and their real experiences with churches.
Becoming A Welcoming Church is a quick and easy read, but one that could change the path of your church from declining to growing. Thom even includes surveys and questionnaires in the back of the book to help you get started. This is a must-read for any ministry in your church!
Craig’s Kitchen – Best Peanut Butter Cookies Ever!
Maybe “one” of the best peanut butter cookies ever.
I think it depends on your taste. But I like mine heavy on the peanut butter and the right peanut butter is essential to great peanut butter cookies. If you don’t start with the right peanut butter, you’re doomed to failure. Okay maybe that’s exaggerating, but it does make a big difference. The problem with many peanut butter cookies (IMHO) is that they taste more like peanut butter flavored sugar cookies instead of actual peanut butter cookies. When you taste these, there will be no doubt. You are putting an authentic peanut butter cookie in your mouth!
Better yet, they are completely gluten-free! That was a happy byproduct of my search for a truly good peanut butter cookie. Thanks to the Internet, I found a recipe I liked and then added my own touches to it (like brown sugar – yum). I do have to add a small warning – these peanut butter cookies are SO peanut-buttery that they need their own container. Last Christmas I gave some away and we packaged them in a tin with snickerdoodles and chocolate chip pan cookies. We came away with peanut butter flavored snickerdoodles and peanut butter and chocolate pan cookies.
The Ingredients:
- Laura Scudder’s All Natural Smooth Peanut Butter – the number one key ingredient. The 16oz jar is the perfect amount for this recipe.
- Brown Sugar – 1 cup – Light brown is the best (never used dark brown for this recipe but my thought it it would be a little too rich)
- Granulated White Sugar – 1 cup – If you’ve got some handy, I like to use baking sugar which is even more refined than regular white sugar, but either one is fine
- Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp – I like McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract but just make sure it’s real vanilla and not imitation
- Eggs – 2 large – I like to use cage free eggs, but any large eggs will do. Extra large will be too big
- Baking soda – 2 tsp
- Salt – pinch
- Chocolate Chips (optional) – 6 oz (half a bag) – I just started experimenting with this but everyone loved it. If you want a pure peanut butter cookie, just leave this out
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- Mix together the peanut butter until it is super smooth. THIS IS THE MOST CRITICAL PART OF THE RECIPE! If the peanut butter isn’t super smooth you won’t get the even peanut butter taste you’ll be craving. Instead it will be unbalanced. Laura Scudder’s (like any good real peanut butter) comes separated into the oil and peanuts. This is the most work, but the rewards are so great!
- While you are stirring, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Get a cookie sheet and line with parchment paper to prevent sticking
- Once your peanut butter is super smooth, pour your two cups of peanut butter into a bowl and mix with both white and brown sugar. Stir until it comes out well mixed
- Add eggs one at a time until mixed in then add the rest of the ingredients. After stirring until well mixed, it will look like peanut butter! If you want the chocolate chips, this is the time to stir them in – after everything else is combined
- Form about 1 inch balls in the palms of your hands. It’s okay if it’s a little big or a little small – don’t worry about it! Just place them on the prepared cookie sheet with enough space to grow. I put about twenty on a sheet – five rows of four balls each
- Make the cute criss-cross with the back of a small fork, pressing down gently on the ball until you get that criss cross pattern. I don’t know why this is done except that it’s the universal symbol of peanut butter cookies
- Place in the oven and watch them. Cooking times will definitely vary by oven but for me about 9 or 10 minutes works best. You want to make sure the cookie is cooked (eggs and all) without overcooking them. When they are overcooked they start turning darker and darker. Obviously if they are black, it was way too long! If you’re unsure, lift one of them up off the parchment and look at the bottom (it will be flimsy so be careful). If it is a nice, rich, dark color on the bottom it’s probably done. It will start turning black on the bottom before anywhere else so you can usually tell this way
- Remove from the oven when done and let them sit for a few minutes just to firm up enough to move them to a wire rack. They should be ready to eat in about 10 minutes (but yummy enough if you can’t wait to pull them early)
I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe and let me know if you love it! Seriously great peanut butter cookies.
Craig’s Library – When Work and Family Collide
Everybody cheats.
That’s how Andy Stanley, author and lead pastor at North Point Community Church in Atlanta, GA starts the introduction to his book When Work and Family Collide. “Everybody cheats.” It’s probably not what you think, but Andy is right. In the push and pull of life we make choices. We choose work over family, family over faith, fun over everything. Not always and not all the time, but when we fail to find a balance between these different aspects of our lives, we get in serious trouble. And that’s what Andy explores in this book – that line between “enough” and “too much.”
Title: When Work and Family Collide
Author: Andy Stanley
Cost: $12.99 ($9.99 on Amazon)
Age: Adult
Publisher: Multinomah Books
Nutshell: Practical advice on work / life balance
In typical Andy Stanley fashion (which is to say clear, concise, and with great storytelling ability), he examines the roles of work and family life, how easily we can ignore family in favor of work, and some of the tell-tale signs when we are in trouble. My favorite example of his is the “rock” analogy (which you’ll have to read for yourself). I’ve heard him tell this story in person and it is just as captivating then as it is in print. It’s the power of the story itself to graphically illustrate the predicament we face when we prioritize work over family.
Now even if work / family balance isn’t a problem for you (are you sure?), this is a great read for balance issues in general. Like with faith. We often put faith on the back burner for other stuff like kids sports, watching football with friends, or just plain sleep. Do we really have our priorities in order or are we simply choosing what we like the most or what is most convenient for us? Andy challenges us to look at these things as heart issues and not to ignore it. Overall, this is a well-written book that flows smoothly. It offers practical advice as well as ways to identify the balance issues in our lives. And it is extremely relevant whether you are Christian or not. Andy does use Biblical references and stories from the Bible to illustrate some of his points, but it is extremely friendly to those who have no background in Christianity at all. So feel free to share it with your non-Christian friends. They won’t get “preached” to, but they’ll see how faith can be integrated into life in practical ways.
Craig’s Kitchen – Simple Ahi Poke
Poke is such a funny word for food. If you’re not used to its pronunciation it looks like something you’d do to someone’s tummy. But it’s actually pronounced like “okay” with a “p” in front of it. Poke or “pokay.” As for what it is, poke is a simple raw tuna dish with some added flair and oomph. It’s sort of like sashimi but with lots more flavor. If you were to try and draw a comparison, it’s like the difference between a baked potato and potato salad. One is plain and you add stuff to it, the other is a medley of flavors and tastes.
I first tried poke in Hawaii with my friend Allison who showed me around the big island. It was my first time in Hawaii and Allison took me to Matsumoto’s Shave Ice (not shaved ice – shave ice. There’s a big difference). But she also took me to this awesome little poke place and I thought it was delicious. I already liked sashimi, but this was on a whole other level. Now, first of all there are many, many ways of making poke. And I guess none of them are wrong, just different. Mine is a very simple recipe based on something I found while perusing AllRecipes.com. Their recipe was good, but I made some tweaks and adjustments to maximize the flavor and bring back for me that taste I had in Hawaii.
The Six Ingredients
- Ahi Tuna – for this you want the good kind – sashimi grade tuna. If you’re not sure what it is, ask your local fishmonger and they should know. A good piece to use is one that doesn’t have stripes of fat in it. It should look like a solid block of raw fish. Now there are fatty tuna that are solid without stripes of fat and that’s fine. In fact those cost way more but are even more luscious. But for this dish you don’t need to spend that kind of money. The taste of the fish will really meld with all the other flavors so save your dollars.
- Soy Sauce – any soy sauce will do, but my favorite is Kikkoman’s Gluten-Free Naturally Flavored Soy Sauce. Even if you aren’t going gluten-free, I love it because it has a more rich flavor (loaded with umami).
- Sesame Oil
- Green Onions – chopped into small pieces
- Sunflower Seeds – you can use most any nut and the recipe I first used said macadamia nuts, but those aren’t always readily available or as economic. I love sunflower seeds and the purpose of having them is to add crunch, texture, and another layer of flavor. With macadamia nuts you have to chop them up anyway but sunflower seeds are small enough you don’t have to. Pine nuts also work well but again much more expensive.
- Togarashi – Japanese dried hot peppers – this comes in a little glass tube that you shake sort of like salt or pepper. It packs a punch but is not excessively hot. I think it adds some oomph and flavor to the dish.
Putting this dish together is super easy. Make sure you have a non-reactive bowl to mix and store your poke. It’s one of the few times I avoid stainless steel.
- Cut the raw tuna into small blocks maybe about 1/3rd to a 1/2 inch squares. It should be small enough that you can fit a few pieces at a time into your mouth but not so small that it looks like little pebbles. A good block looking cut will work great
- Place tuna into a bowl (non-reactive) and mix in about a 1/4 cup of soy sauce for each half pound of tuna. Play it by ear. If you’ll eat the whole dish right away, that amount is fine but if its going to be sitting around for more than a couple of hours, you might want to dial back on it because the flavor will intensify with time as the tuna absorbs the soy sauce.
- Also add about a 1/4 cup of green onions, 1/2 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp sunflower seeds, a few shakes of sesame seeds, and togarashi to taste. I would probably start out with about 1 tsp and just add more as you like. The tuna is your star ingredient. If you have more of anything other than tuna, it won’t taste the way it should so add the seeds, onions, and togarashi as you see fit, but just keeping in mind balance is an important part of the dish. Keep tasting if need be and just remember the longer you keep it in the fridge, the more the soy sauce will penetrate the tuna.
That’s pretty much it. A very easy dish to make it will just take one or two tries to get the balance right in flavor. Goes great with rice, can be a main dish by itself, or be a hearty and flavorful appetizer or side. Enjoy!
Help! – The Theology of The Beatles
When I’m writing a sermon, I get lots of ideas that end up in the trashcan. Maybe one day I’ll be ambitious and do a “director’s cut” of a sermon. But one of the ideas I didn’t get a chance to flesh out was about the song “Help!” by The Beatles. In fact, the title of the sermon was originally inspired by that song. The song itself made me think of our need to cry out for God. I know that wasn’t The Beatles intent, but I was thinking how much the words of this song reflect our Christian theology. And why can’t modern Psalms be reflections of modern music? Perhaps it will be included in a future church hymnal. I would certainly want to go to THAT church! Here’s how I broke the song down in my head:
Help, I need somebody
Help, not just anybody
Help, you know I need someone, help
I’ll be honest and tell you I’m not lyrically fluent so I believe this would be a called a pre-verse since it bridges the opening music and the 1st verse. For me, these words echo our cry to God when we realize we are in over our head or when we finally realize we need God in our lives. I like how the writer says he needs help from “not just anybody” implying someone far more capable (like God) than the writer. And the line “you know I need someone” could refer to God knowing us so deeply that God already knows we need the help before we cry out (what Methodist’s call prevenient grace).
When I was younger so much younger than today
I never needed anybody’s help in any way
But now these days are gone, I’m not so self assured
Now I find I’ve changed my mind and opened up the doors
So this first verse talks about how many of us feel when we are young – strong, invulnerable, without a need for God as far as we know. But as we grow older, we realize that there is so much more going on in us, through us, and around us. And at this point in the lyricists life, he realizes he can’t do it alone and opens up his life to the possibility of something more.
Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being ’round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won’t you please, please help me
The chorus then is the writer’s plea to God to give him aid “if he can.” This reflects for me Mark 9 and the story about Jesus and the father who asks Jesus to help his child “if he can.” Jesus replies in v. 23, “‘”If you can”?’ said Jesus. ‘Everything is possible for one who believes.’” The writer is making a plea to Christ for assistance.
And now my life has changed in oh so many ways
My independence seems to vanish in the haze
But every now and then I feel so insecure
I know that I just need you like I’ve never done before
This verse seems to say that there are times when we realize how interdependent the world is and how much we need to rely on God. So much so that our “independence seems to vanish in the haze.” But the lyricist doesn’t see this as a bad thing and in fact still has doubt in his life from time to time which again echoes the story in Mark 9 where the father says to Jesus in v.24, “‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!'” And in the end, the lyricist realizes that he needs God more than ever before.
The rest of the song repeats the chorus and the 1st verse so no need to repeat it. But it just goes to show you the power of The Beatles work! I would seriously love a Beatles hymnal.
Craig’s Kitchen – Spam Musubi
Spam musubi is one of those dishes that once in a while I simply crave. If you’ve been to our home for our holiday open house or to one of our Bible studies, I’ve probably made it for you. If you haven’t, its all the more reason to come! Spam musubi is a great, easy-to-make appetizer for any church potluck, family get-together, holiday gathering, or for friends coming over. It is definitely a savory treat with a little mix of sweet in the sauce that coats the Spam. And it has plenty of umami! It only has six ingredients and other than cooking the rice probably takes about 30 minutes to make – tops!
The Six Ingredients
- Nori – toasted seaweed which you can often find in your Asian food section of the supermarket
- Rice – I use Botan Calrose Rice but any sticky rice will do (not Thai sticky rice which is a whole other thing)
- Spam – well, it’s in the name. Usually one 7 oz can is enough but if you’re making it for a party use the 12 oz
- Furikake – again with the toasted seaweed! This time it is combined with added ingredients to make the rice even more flavorful such as roasted sesame seeds, salt, and sugar. There are many different flavors if you go to a Japanese or Asian market, but I go for the simplest kind
- Soy Sauce – any soy sauce will do, but my favorite is Kikkoman’s Gluten-Free Naturally Flavored Soy Sauce. Even if you aren’t going gluten-free, I love it because it has a more rich flavor (loaded with umami)
- Sugar – gotta mix the soy sauce with sugar to make the coating
The recipe is super easy and you only need one piece of equipment – a Spam musubi press which you can order online through Amazon or find at your local Japanese store. Make sure it’s non-stick!
- Cook the rice – pretty simple. For the 7oz can I use about 3 cups of rice as indicated on our rice cooker (I believe it’s about 1 1/2 cups if you’re not using a Japanese rice cooker).
- About 3o minutes before the rice is done, open up your spam and cut slices about 1/4 wide along the length of the Spam
- Mix together equal parts sugar and soy sauce until the sugar is dissolved (about 1/4 cup each – depending on your taste)
- Dip the Spam in the soy sauce mix right before cooking it – making sure to coat both sides
- Heat an appropriate sized frying pan and place the pieces inside when it gets hot
- Pour any additional sauce over the pieces and dredge them through it as you turn them over
- When the pieces are coated nicely and have turned a slightly brownish color remove from heat
- Place a half sheet of sea weed under the Spam musubi press (it should be the exact size by width)
- In your Spam musubi press, place a layer of rice filled slightly less than halfway
- Put your Spam in and dust lightly with furikake
- Fill the rest of the press with rice and press down to compress
- Remove the press and wrap the seaweed around the rest of the pressed rice and Spam
- Let sit until not quite so hot and slice – each wrap yields 5 pieces of nice width
Now some people like to simply drop a mound of rice and slap the Spam on top. But to me there’s something magical about the way the rice sandwiches the Spam and with the furikake in the middle, it makes the flavors more subtle which only enhances the overall flavor of the bite. Hopefully your friends and family will enjoy this dish as much as mine do! I would love your feedback and how you might make it differently.
Craig's Corner 