Cannon Ball!

“Cannon Ball!!!”, I yelled in mid-air hugging my knees with eyes fixed on the bobbing heads beneath me. Splash!

“Good one Tim!”, said one of the boys treading water as I came up to the surface. We gleefully swam to the side of the pool to re-take our positions in line at the diving board.

Going back a few years to 1978 in Ellendale, ND, I was 11 years-old, with a summer pass to our small local outdoor public pool. With 6-8 friends we spent nearly everyday in the pool with the exception of thunderstorms and passing tornados. I was so tan that when I changed it looked like I had spray-on “Fruit of the Looms”. At a hulking 83lbs, I was a lean, mean, belly-flopping machine. One of our favorite games in the pool was “Bomber”. We would take turns off the diving board and tread water as our friends would try to splash us with water explosive dives like the Cannon Ball, Can Opener, Watermelon, Twister, Dead Man, and Torpedo. Surprisingly when I try to play this game with my kids today, Lifeguards blow their whistle from the top of their guard tower, give me a disapproving look and point to get out of the pool. As I swim to the ladder, I dejectedly mumble something under the water like “splll…teenage…bllerpp… whistle blowing...ggrlggle…Nazi.”

This past week as we enjoyed spending time with family in Spokane, we went to an outdoor pool that reminded me of that awesome summer of 1978. What made that carefree summer so special was the friendships we developed as we morphed into prunes bobbing in the water. I think of the special memories and friendships I’ve treasured over the years: Sitting next to a fellow trumpeter snickering at the squeaking clarinet in H.S. band, getting grass stains and shin burns with my softball teammates, sharing a cup of coffee or Buffalo Hot Wings with friends, hiking, fishing and lately Horseshoes (Thanks for the Mt. Dew Andy). The Apostle Paul affirms the joy and thankfulness of brothers in Christ as he witnesses their spiritual maturity and friendships grow.

Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. – 2 Thessalonians 1:3 (NLT)

As wonderful as my treasured memories are, I am looking forward to discovering more with you…bring it on and give it your best Cannon Ball.

Embracing the Small Church - Opportunity

For you football fans you know the story of Rudy Ruettiger. An undersized football player 5’5”, 165lbs.(That’s me at my college weight), not strong enough nor fast enough to play for the elite University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Yet, with grit, determination and a love for the game, Rudy kept the hope that one day he would be able to play. All four years he tirelessly worked on the practice squad attending all workouts, training camps, and games with never a glimmer of hope he would dress for a game, much less play a down. In the last game of his senior season, the Head Coach told him to dress for the game and with only a few plays left against Georgia Tech, he gave Rudy the nod to go in. Taking his position on the defensive line up against 6’ plus 300lb. linemen, Rudy was nothing more than a pesky fly on the first play. With the clock running out, the ball was snapped and Rudy cut around the hulking blocker and sacked their quarterback. The crowd erupted with a standing ovation and the entire team carried him off the field on their shoulders. His career stats, 2 plays, 1 sack and yet he is one of the most loved and remembered Fighting Irish of all time which includes Hall of Famer’s Joe Montana and Tim Brown. He is also one of only two players to ever be carried off Notre Dame’s field.

One of the advantages of being a strategic small church is the opportunity to give an initial step into service and help develop a budding calling and future ministry. Sometimes even in ministry we reserve certain roles for the professional, trained or experienced, however smaller congregations often struggle trying to fill music, youth, and children’s leadership roles with experienced, trained individuals. If roles go unfilled for long it can reduce the effectiveness and momentum of the overall ministry and vision of the local church. As in football, free-agency isn’t the only way to develop a team. Sometimes giving an initial opportunity to players off of the practice squad is the best way to develop a future Hall of Famer.

When we embrace this opportunity as a small church, we can not only witness the growth and development of a ministry leader, but also be the recipient of their dedicated service.  Most watch the games from the stands, or some nervously from the sidelines hoping for the opportunity, but there are those times when the Head Coach gives the nod and says, “Get out there and make a play!”  If you are the one running onto the field for the first time, put on your helmet and do your best.  As you watch someone make their first hesistant play of ministry you might be watching a future Hall of Famer right in your small church.

Do not let anyone treat you as if you are unimportant because you are young. Instead, be an example to the believers with your words, your actions, your love, your faith, and your pure life… Continue to do those things; give your life to doing them so your progress may be seen by everyone. – 1 Timothy 4:12 & 15, NCV

In God We Trust

Staring through the darkness, Francis Scott Key strained to see if the banner of our nation was still being flown above Fort McHenry. Being held as a temporary prisoner on one of the British ships involved in the attack, he was encouraged to see the flag still there as the bombs burst in air. He prayed fervently that the mighty Hand of God would grant victory to the fighting men who were putting their lives on the line to protect freedom for themselves, their families, and for generations of Americans to come.

Key’s heart sank when the cannons from Fort McHenry stopped firing almost an hour before the British guns ceased bombarding the shore. Through the night Key wondered if the flag, the symbol of all for which the nation stood, had fallen. Then as the dawn’s early light appeared he saw it. Tattered and scarred, Old Glory, still flew boldly over the land of the free. In the inspiration of that moment, Francis Scott Key wrote the four verses of the poem, originally known as “The Defense of Fort McHenry”, which is now our national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner”.

In the fourth verse, the phrase, “In God is our trust”, provided the inspiration to “In God We Trust” on our currency in 1865, and our official national motto in 1956.

Oh! Thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just.
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner forever shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Our nation has enjoyed prosperity, democracy, and unprecedented freedom due to our national unity in the acknowledgement of the true source of freedom and provision, the one, true, living God. We may feel our fellow citizens have abandoned this basic principle, but during this weekend as you and your family celebrate our nation’s birth, remember our motto “In God We Trust”.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” - Galatians 5:1