[RadCast] Psalm 1:1 – Two Roads, But Only One

Posted on September 18, 2018 by radamdavidson

Choose a road — the wrong one or the right one. I choose the right one often but not always. The only one who got it right every time in every way is Jesus. Psalm 1 tells us how to live but Jesus shows us how and gives us strength to do it.

 

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[RadCast] Psalm 1 – The Boring Life of Trees

Posted on September 17, 2018 by radamdavidson

Trees just kinda stand there, but don’t let that fool you. Healthy tree roots grow deeper and deeper, finding nourishment by working for it. Their leaves bask in the sun without scorching and a strong wind just makes them wiggle. Slowly but surely the grow up and out and, when the season is right, they produce a harvest.
Following Jesus is like being the tree. We get nourished by the Lord as we meditate on the Word. We remain faithful in just “standing there” while we grow and mature. Eventually, the fruit grows and is ready to be harvested. Be spiritually healthy. Be the tree.

 

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Air Traffic Control

Posted on September 6, 2018 by radamdavidson

Some of what I do as a pastor feels more like Air Traffic Control than it does ministry.  That’s not a complaint, mind you, just an illustration.  The ATC’s run the airport runways — every plane that leaves the gate, lines up, takes off, and lands again (usually somewhere else) is at the beck and call of someone in a tower wearing a headset and drinking coffee.  It’s a stressful job.  Pilots fly metal tubes 300 miles an hour in whatever direction and altitude you tell them, and all you’ve got are a pair of binoculars and a DOS green screen with asterisks (*) that represent hundreds of human lives — people like you and me who are just waiting to land, plotting the escape down the aisle before we smell each other’s armpits as we get our carry on from the overhead bins.  I’ll tell you who’s really sweating: the guy in the tower looking at 30 planes in a 3 mile radius on a 24″ screen.

That’s what it felt like today as we were laying out the service for this Sunday.  Besides the important stuff — you know, worshipping Father, Son, Spirit — there’s a bunch of little but important blips on the radar that need to land in the right order.  The small groups ministry needs to be highlighted, but not at the expense of the Kids Ministry leader thing, plus we’re changing our name but not yet so don’t make the checks out to a church that the bank doesn’t believe exists.  Plus, there’s the thing about baptism and also how Student Ministry is kicking off with a new schedule AND I think there’s a message I’m supposed to do in there someplace.

I anticipate that every plane will land.  Why?  Because 1) I’m taking it seriously enough to try and work it out in advance.  2) I have a great staff who can think through these things with me, and are much smarter than I.  3) We’re trusting in Jesus, who says the church is His and He’s building it, not me.  So what?  So: no pressure.  Just do the job.  Let the Spirit be the wind beneath the wings.  And please, please, please let there be enough pretzels and seltzer water for everyone.

Amen.

 

 

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Thank a Teacher

Posted on September 4, 2018 by radamdavidson

Mrs. Edwards taught me how to read an analog clock, which, like cursive writing or Latin, is now considered quaint but essentially pointless.  Mr. Fernimos advised me to get my hands out of my pockets when I auditioned for the 4th grade play.  I didn’t get the part, so he made me the assistant props director.  It was my job to put the pumpkin on stage, and I did so without my hands in my pockets.  Miss Hakala taught us how to balance a checkbook… not that we 6th graders were anywhere near having our own checking account.  Back then, online banking was an Apple II pipe dream on a 5 1/4″ floppy and a grumbly modem that sounded like Harvey Fierstein.

Epistemology is the study of knowledge: how we know what we know, rationality of belief, and how we distinguish fact from opinion (another quaint but essentially pointless skill in some circles).  As elementary school kids, you and I didn’t realize we were embedded in an epistemological sanctuary surrounded by information, opinion, method, and wisdom.  Our teachers were the moderators, the curators, the administrators of this environment, and we’re the result.  Our teachers humanized knowledge and, through relationship, transformed it into wisdom, which is knowledge rightly applied.  Who would we be without our teachers?  Not the same.  Not the same at all.

Have you thanked a teacher today?  If any kind of appreciation surfaces as you read this, why not take a moment to let them know?  If you’ve shipped your kids off to school to begin the next leg of the journey, why not drop a line to let their teachers know you’re with them, you support them, you appreciate them?  4th Grade me didn’t know what was happening, but my 4th grader just walked into school for the first day, threw himself into his little 4th grade chair and started coloring a lily pad.  I saw it happen, and it brought me back to Mr. Fernimos, who taught us a little bit of knowledge and a lot of life wisdom.  I didn’t know it then, but I know it now.  And I’m thankful.

 

 

 

 

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Bay Shoooore 2018

Posted on July 30, 2018 by radamdavidson
I get to speak at a Family Camp this week, which, if you’re unfamiliar, is like a giant family reunion amped up on potato salad with koinonia miracle whip and towering urns of coffee. The mornings are polkadotted with bible studies and the big evening service packs everyone into a giant wooden tabernacle that’s older than me and probably you, maybe even older than the both of us combined. A speaker speaks (this time it’s my turn) and a worship leader sings and the camp of families engage at all different levels, unified by a rather unique experience. It’s simple yet mystical and quite peculiar, but that’s usually how things go when followers of Christ get together. It’s challenging, encouraging, healing, sometimes bland (especially the speaker), yet no community organization or virtual reality is quite the same as this.
 
Mac and his friend and I are here with me this week, the three of us just finishing up a round of putt-putt. Before we know it, it’ll be suppertime and then “big church”. We’ll worship together, harmonize on the hymns and choruses and keep looking for the place where God is working and join him there. I like to think of this as a guided spiritual vacation en masse. There’s truly nothing like it.
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The Subway Test

Posted on July 17, 2018 by radamdavidson
Mac and I went to lunch today at Subway, which he pronounces “Sooubway” for some internet meme reason, and now I do, too. I observed something during our lunch together, which was very enjoyable and filled with conversations about Jim Gaffigan and Fortnite (what a mashup that would be, yes?) Anyway, I noticed something.
 
Have you noticed that getting a sandwich made at Subway is like a high-pressure job interview? Question after question is peppered at you, and your answer will determine your success and enjoyment in the future. The tension is high. They’ve got prefabricated food to assemble. All the while the line keeps getting longer. Mac and I have done this a few times, but the whole process is still kinda new and, from his point of view, wildly unfamiliar.
WHAT KIND OF BREAD? is an intense question to toss at a young kid. You and I know that there are different kinds of bread, but Peanut Butter ‘n’ Jelly comes on one kind: the normal kind. “The normal kind of bread” is a completely unacceptable answer at Subway. Italian? Wheat? Osiago Mogiago Cheese Blend with Sulfur Garnish and Organic Oats? WHICH ONE!? SIX INCH OR FOOTLONG? CHEESE? And then there’s the whole toasting thing. Do I want toast? Um, no? Oh, yes, toast it. Wait, what? And “veggies”, which is what they have to call them now, not vegetables, for reasons I can’t think up right now, are no simple pleasure. Do I say what I want as they’re putting other things on, or am I obligated as a customer to wait for them to finish with the lettuce before I say cucumber? Or should I have said cucumber*S* because I want more than one slice? And what kind of bread did I get again? ANYTHING ELSE? What’s “Sriracha” and how do I avoid contracting it? CHIPS MEAL DRINK COOKIES SIZE?
 
Listen, this is no criticism of the way things are. I’m just saying that it sure looks different from the side of novelty. Such a curious ritual we endure, often without second thought. We know what we want, we anticipate the questions, we eat our sandwich and spend the drive back to work getting lettuce out of our teeth.
 
So. Have you tried something unfamiliar today?
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[RadCast] Mark 4:35-41 – The Time Jesus Slept Through the Storm

Posted on June 18, 2018 by radamdavidson

The water is making its way into the boat, the wind is howling, the waves are overwhelming, and Jesus is zzzzzzzzz. Notice that He didn’t stop the storm, He only gets involved when invited, and He’s amazed that we get so worked up. Jesus shows us how to be at total peace when — not if — the storm rises up.

 

 

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[RadCast] The never ending “fad” of the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Posted on June 15, 2018 by radamdavidson

Remember Pogs? Beanie Babies? It’s a movement, a craze, a fad that people hear about, get into, and usually cast aside. The Kingdom of God is similar… sorta. The best part? We’re all a work in progress, a renovation in the works.

 

 

 

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[RadCast] Jesus meets us in mystery but shapes us relationally (Mark 4:33-35)

Posted on June 14, 2018 by radamdavidson
It seems that Jesus loves a good parable. Parables make us think spiritually by relating the Kingdom of God to something familiar. Yet He does not leave us in the mystery. He speaks to our souls and “explains everything.” We read/hear the Word as we listen to Jesus (the Word made flesh).

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[RadCast] What is Jesus teaching you today? (Mark 4:30-32)

Posted on June 13, 2018 by radamdavidson
Jesus isn’t an informant — He’s a teacher and a transformer. We have no shortage of information (google it) but we are short on transformation. Jesus speaks in parables so that we’ll think differently, see differently, and become more aware of how the Holy Spirit is at work. He’s building a Kingdom — let’s join Him in this!

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