Sports disappoint

I have to give a little credit to my friend Jeff, and his recent post which prompted me to write about this.

I think I've mentioned my wrestling with sports on this blog in the past. It's a love-hate relationship. Except for the Red Wings - all of my favourite sports teams have disappointed me more often than not. It probably began in 1988, when I fell in love with the Boomer Esiason-Ickey Woods Bengals, who lost with only seconds to go in the Super Bowl to Joe Montana's 49ers. Since then, only the Pistons & Red Wings have come through with a championship out of all of my favourite teams. And on a number of occasions, my teams have faltered on the big stage - '08, '07, '06, '05 Pistons, '06 & '08 Tigers, '07 Bears, '07 Wolverines (football), '05 Bengals - just naming the few that were good & blew up for no apparent reason. And then there's the string of ugliness that I've endured with some teams (Bengals except for '05, Tigers except for '06...) And as I reflect on these disappointments and all of the angst and frustration I've felt over these teams, I can honestly see how amazing it is to be so wrapped up and so utterly effected both physically and emotionally by these teams. Which is kinda crazy, 'cause they're the ones making all the money & putting their bodies in the line. I'm just sitting at home watching.

Well, here's what I read this morning:

1) Psalm 146:3ff
"do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, [sports franchises, coaches & athletes] in whom there is no help...Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God.

2) Hosea 2:16-17
"On that day, says the LORD, you will call me, 'My husband,' and no longer will you call me, 'My Baal.' For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more."

The first one is obvious, right? Where is my hope/joy/excitement? If it's in the wrong place, I'll fail. There's only 1 right place and that's the LORD. Interestingly enough, this ties in perfectly with Hosea. Because Baal literally means "Lord" - that is the same language that the Canaanites used to describe their God. So, it's literally saying "You will no longer call me 'my Lord' - you will call me 'My husband' - because I'll remove that kind of talk from your lips." There is indeed no other Lord than THE LORD and yet we all create Lords for ourselves, don't we? I certainly do. I certainly bow my head and my knee and give these things authority over me (over my emotions, over my actions...) But God doesn't want a Lord-subject relationship. God desires an intimate relationship like that of a marriage, where each person is moving towards the same thing, not where one is taking from the other or demanding something of the other. The truth is, it's only in this kind of relationship, with God, that we will be truly fulfilled. And every time I sit in front of the TV and cringe at what's going on on the field (or court or ice) by whatever team I've bowed my knee to at that moment, I'm quite sure that I can only be fulfilled in God...

Final Interview

(imagine interviewing at THIS desk! Bridgette would be thrilled.)

Ok, here's the home stretch, the final 2 questions are really the opportunity for the interviewee to shine:

11) What about our church makes you want this position? Why would we want to hire you?
In one sense, here's the opportunity to butter them up. You say nice things about the church (organization, etc) and you get brownie points. But the truth is, this is more about whether you see them the way they see themselves - do you paint an accurate portrait, or are you naive about who they are? And do you get whether you're a good match or not? Because you could just as easily say - "I want to come here because you don't have X, and X is my passion, and I think you need X - which is why I believe you want to hire me" - as you can say "I love Y, you're great at Y, and so we're such a great fit." This is as much a chance to sell yourself as any other question, if not more. They'll want to hire you more if you actually bring something to the table.

Now, as an interviewee, whether I'm asked this question or not, I'm going to turn the tables and ask them the same question about me. "Why are you interviewing me? What in my resume (PIF for Presby pastors) struck you that said I could be a good fit for this position? Why would you want to hire me?" I will ALWAYS ask this question because it gives me a clear understanding of what they're expecting. Are they expecting a saviour? Are they expecting a team player? Are they expecting someone to rock the boat? Are they simply enamored with a hobby of mine? Do they really know me? And if you're in a late stage interview, a final candidate, you better pray they know you, or you could be in for some trouble when they find out who you really are.

12) What is the single greatest issue/need in our culture today? What is the single greatest issue/need in the Church (overall) today?
Finally, this question gets right to the heart of what you'll be doing. What you believe should directly and deeply impact what you do. If you think the greatest issue in the culture is permissive morals and that the church has lost its fervor for holiness, you'll probably spent time preaching and teaching on this, and you probably won't be drawn to throw vast amounts of energy into ministering to the poor, caring for the sick, etc. On the other hand, if you view justice, or a lack thereof as the single greatest issue/need in our culture and the Church's idol of nationality (driving it into war instead of peace) as #1, then you may not fit in well where you're asked to pray "for the troops" in worship each month, sing patriot songs and shake hands with veterans. Personally, I think the church needs the prophetic witness as much as the compassionate shepherd, but each of us is wired differently, and each situation is unique. If your view of culture & church fits the context of where you're looking, great. If not, it's good to recognize during (or shortly after) an interview, but before you're stuck in a situation that doesn't fit.

I hope this has been interesting reading. As I've reflected on these questions I've continued to go back and forth about whether the interviewer or interviewee is actually gaining the information. And truth be told, I believe it's both. It's like dating. And both people need to figure out if the dating continues toward a permanent (or semi-permanent) relationship or not. If you're serious about it, I believe you'll recognize that honesty and clarity are way more important than simply "getting the job" - whether you're in ministry or secular employment. And clarity takes time and effort. Speaking of effort...


1) Tell me about what you’re doing now – what do you enjoy & dislike? Why do you want/did you leave? (What have you been doing since you left?) What lead you there in the first place & how has that experience informed your view of ministry?

2) How was the transition from volunteer to staff/minster?

3) What has been your greatest struggle in ministry so far?

4) Tell me about your faith journey? What are the 3 most significant moments in your walk with Christ? Who are the 3 most significant people who have shaped you & your understanding of your call to ministry?

5) Tell me about your family? Growing up?

6) Tell me about your support network? Friends?

7) What are your hobbies & interests? How do you keep balanced? What do you do when not involved in ministry? (What did you do when you worked at __________ - away from the church?)

8) What would others say is your greatest strength in ministry? Weakness?

9) How do you apply your degree to ministry?

10) Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?

Interviewing - practically speaking

Interviews are about so much, yesterday I looked at the groundwork questions about family, friends and hobbies, which get to whether you're a healthy person. Now we turn to some practical questions:

8) What would others say is your greatest strength in ministry? Weakness?
It may be that you don't get asked this question, you just get #3, your greatest struggle. But I think it's important to look at this from both perspectives, yours and other people. Because you could view yourself as highly competent in an area, but others view you as suspect. And they're going to want to know that. Heck, you need to know that. You need to recognize that how other people view you is as much reality as how you view your own strengths and weaknesses. In this way, you can show humility by sharing what others have seen as your strengths - but admit that you find yourself still growing in those areas. They'd LOVE to hear that.

9) How do you apply your degree to ministry?
This is a particularly pertinent question if your education doesn't exactly match your "profession" and ministry lends itself to that. I've seen people with varying BA's (and BS's too) go into ministry - finance, history, philosophy, psychology, biology. And sometimes you could be tempted to say "I was a different person, I didn't realize I was called to ministry" etc, but the truth is, what you learned in College & University has a huge impact on who you are and what you do, whether you recognize it or now. You are now an expert in a certain field, or at least more knowledgeable than most and simply "chucking it" isn't good. So, figure out how you apply what you know (or knew) to what you do, and articulate it.

10) Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
This question comes up 99% of the time and the other 1% were going to ask it but you answered it already in some other way. This question gets at a few things, first: If we hire you, can we expect that you'll be around for awhile, or are we going to have to do this next year? Second, it gives them a glimpse into how you view the big picture: Do you have a plan beyond next week/month? Do you have vision for these people, this context and this ministry? Third, it subtly asks, once again: are you healthy (and realistic)? If your 5 year plan doesn't include anything about yourself (growth, maturity, personal future) it might be a red flag. If your 5 year plan is ONLY about yourself, you can make it sound like this position is simply a stepping stone to something else. And (almost) no one wants to hear that when they're interviewing you for their position...

1) Tell me about what you’re doing now – what do you enjoy & dislike? Why do you want/did you leave? (What have you been doing since you left?) What lead you there in the first place & how has that experience informed your view of ministry?

2) How was the transition from volunteer to staff/minster?

3) What has been your greatest struggle in ministry so far?

4) Tell me about your faith journey? What are the 3 most significant moments in your walk with Christ? Who are the 3 most significant people who have shaped you & your understanding of your call to ministry?
5) Tell me about your family? Growing up?

6) Tell me about your support network? Friends?

7) What are your hobbies & interests? How do you keep balanced? What do you do when not involved in ministry? (What did you do when you worked at __________ - away from the church?)

Interviewing - the groundwork

Continuing on we'll turn to the questions that really are the groundwork for who you are and how you function, not only as someone in a position of leadership in the church, but as a person in the world:

5) Tell me about your family? Growing up?
This is one of those can't lose questions. If you grew up in a healthy intact family (the 5 or so left in N. America), you talk about how you were nurtured and and supported and how that provided you with a safety net so you could take the kind of chances and risks that has made you a cut above. If you grew up in a dysfunctional and broken home where you had to fight tooth and nail to survive, you talk about how God lead you through that and how that has enabled you to relate to troubled kids/youth/adults and empathize with them in their struggles. But what this question is really getting at is this: Have you come to terms with your family and your childhood or are you still there? Better yet, is it lurking in the recesses of your mind waiting to pop out when you hit your first hurdle?

6) Tell me about your support network? Friends?
This question combines with the next one to ask: "Are you healthy?" What they want to know is this: are you going to bring all of your personal & professional struggles to "work" or do you have a sounding board? Do you know how to have healthy relationships, find support when you need it and support others when they're struggling? If you're going to work in the church, you're supposed to know something about being the church and being in relationship with others. In this day and age with PDA's, e-mail, cell phones, IM and everything else, there's no excuse to be alone - not even when you move somewhere completely new. So, if you have no friends & no support network, that screams that you're not ready.

7) What are your hobbies & interests? How do you keep balanced? What do you do when not involved in ministry? (What did you do when you worked at __________ - away from the church?)
Are you healthy #2 is about a well-rounded life more than relationships. If you're always putting energy into your "work," even if that work is "kingdom" work, and finding no way to relax, no time to kick back and enjoy something other than constantly e-mailing about room reservations, meetings and budget crises, how will you ever relate to the world you're supposed to be serving? If you're, for lack of a better expression, a "church rat," how will you talk to the gamer or the armchair quarterback or the quilter? Not to say that you need to relate to them all equally, but if you have no outside interests, you'll seem boring and no one wants to hang out with a boring person, plain and simple. Now, the flip side of this (and I love doing the flip side) is this also gives a chance for the interviewer to assess the health of your outside hobbies & interests. If bar-hopping, internet chat rooms, off-track betting, pyramid schemes and pornography round out your top 5 interests and hobbies... well, do I need to say anything? This doesn't mean you need to have boring hobbies or exciting hobbies, just healthy hobbies...


1) Tell me about what you’re doing now – what do you enjoy & dislike? Why do you want/did you leave? (What have you been doing since you left?) What lead you there in the first place & how has that experience informed your view of ministry?

2) How was the transition from volunteer to staff/minster?

3) What has been your greatest struggle in ministry so far?

4) Tell me about your faith journey? What are the 3 most significant moments in your walk with Christ? Who are the 3 most significant people who have shaped you & your understanding of your call to ministry?

Interviewing - round 2

Picking up where I left off, I'm going through 12 questions that are important in a job interview, geared toward those in ministry, and why you should look at them. So this series doesn't take a whole year, I'll tackle the next 3 questions quickly:

2) How was the transition from volunteer to staff/minster?
Transition is huge. And even bigger is how a transition affects the way you view yourself and your relationship to others. You may or may not have ever transitioned from being a volunteer to being a staff person or minister, but chances are you got your feet wet as a volunteer. What's important to recognize in this transition is that you now have more responsibility - you can't just not show up, you can't flake out, you can't make spelling mistakes or typos in published materials, because now, the buck stops with you. You're no longer "just" a volunteer, you are now THE (wo)/man. If you don't show that you get that, you'll be hard pressed to impress. On the flip side, if you take on an attitude that says you're now better than volunteers, you're equally in trouble. Leadership in the Church is about serving, not about position and authority. Make sure you reflect that.

3) What has been your greatest struggle in ministry so far?
This is tricky. Inevitably, you'll be asked this, or some form of this whenever you interview. And it's important to note this is an INTERVIEW. That doesn't mean you are not honest, you NEED to be honest. But it's a reminder, this is not a confession session. We all have sin in our lives that we need to own up to. If you don't have a healthy place for that (we'll get to that later), don't bother going through with the interview. But your potential boss is probably not the one you should be going to with this. But you can't give some throwaway line. Let them know what to expect because it will come as a greater shock if they thought your biggest struggle was spelling and it turns out you are afraid to talk to people. Answer this question as a way to prepare them to help you succeed. Essentially, pretend they ask "How can we assist you, in your areas of weakness, to be the biggest success at this position?"

4) Tell me about your faith journey? What are the 3 most significant moments in your walk with Christ? Who are the 3 most significant people who have shaped you & your understanding of your call to ministry?
The language of "faith journey" is translatable to "life story" or "testimony" (provided you include details beyond that 30 second prayer you prayed in 3rd grade @ VBS). How you understand your relationship with Christ, how Christ is weaved through your life to this point, how you've recognized God's hand is huge. If you can't recognize it in your own life, you'll be hard pressed to recognize it in others, or even care to ask. Even if they don't ask you about moments & mentors, this is an excellent way to relay the story. Significant moments act like place-markers on a map, for us and for others. People are significant to recognize because there are people who affect us positively and negatively and hearing this signals to someone how you could perceive their interaction with you. Does this person receive criticism well? Can they be corrected? Do they make friends? Is your call to ministry (desire to be here) all in your head, or do you take counsel from others? Do they play well with people? - These are the kinds of questions that you answer when you talk about your faith journey and the moments and mentors that shaped it...

1) Tell me about what you’re doing now – what do you enjoy & dislike? Why do you want/did you leave? (What have you been doing since you left?) What lead you there in the first place & how has that experience informed your view of ministry?

My new crack pipe...

I've been slightly AWOL for various reasons lately, not the least of which is that I've been out, running around the last couple weeks. While that won't change, my "connectedness" may, now that I've found a new friend. Of course, it may not be that long before I discover my new friend isn't quite as helpful as I had hoped. But, with GPS, e-mail & the ability to play movies for my son while we drive... I think this could be a relationship I definitely benefit from. Tomorrow, I'm going to go back to the series I begun on interview questions. In the meantime, I'm trying to catch up on stuff in preparation for one crazy weekend. And trying to figure out how this awesome piece of technology sucks battery life like my 2 month old after waking up in the morning...

Interviewing - first questions

A few weeks ago, a friend and former colleague contacted me, asking me to look over his resume and come up with some questions that he might get asked when interviewed. After looking it over, I came up with 16 questions that I would want to ask, had he been interviewing with me. A few weeks later, he contacted me to thank me and said every question I mentioned was asked in some form or another and no question was asked that wasn't on the list. While I'm sure it was a bit of hyperbole, I thought maybe those questions might be a good thing to reflect on. So, I did a bit of editing and paired those down to 12 questions and I'm going to take them one at a time over the next little while. Here's the first question:

1) Tell me about what you’re doing now – what do you enjoy & dislike? Why do you want/did you leave? (What have you been doing since you left?) What lead you there in the first place & how has that experience informed your view of ministry?

Your past, particularly your recent past is a huge issue when looking at something new. What this question is asking, partly, is whether you're a good fit. Are you going to stick around for awhile? Are you just looking for the next best offer? Are you the type of person who can fit into our structure? Are you a team player? And do your talents and passions mesh with what we're going to ask you to do - and are you smart enough to recognize that?

Those are the questions that are being answered when the above questions about your recent history are asked. Whether you're talking corporate America or the church, if you have a history of "fitting in" and recognizing that, than that bodes well for your next situation. No matter what, there is an established system/hierarchy, or shall we say - organic soil, that you need to plant yourself in. And if you can't fit in with it, can't mesh with it, then there's really no need to continue any further...

Here are the rest of the questions I'll tackle in turn:

2) How was the transition from volunteer to staff/minster?
3) What has been your greatest struggle in ministry so far?
4) Tell me about your faith journey? What are the 3 most significant moments in your walk with Christ? Who are the 3 most significant people who have shaped you & your understanding of your call to ministry?
5) Tell me about your family? Growing up?
6) Tell me about your support network? Friends?
7) What are your hobbies & interests? How do you keep balanced? What do you do when not involved in ministry? (What did you do when you worked at __________ - away from the church?)
8) What would others say is your greatest strength in ministry? Weakness?
9) How do you apply your degree to ministry?
10) Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
11) What about our church makes you want this position? Why would we want to hire you?
12) What is the single greatest issue/need in our culture today? What is the single greatest issue/need in the Church (overall) today?

I'm walking!

In exactly 1 month, I'm going to be taking a walk. I'll be one of hundreds in Delaware, one of thousands in Ohio and one of hundreds of thousands if not millions walking to raise awareness and money for local and global poverty. It's really simple - and something I actually hated to do as a kid. It involves asking people for money - they make pledges to you to walk. That money goes to the Organization - Church World Service and 75% goes overseas and 25% goes to a local program, in our case, it's called "People In Need" out of Delaware, Ohio.

I invite you to do one of two things. First, check out the organization, especially if you're not familiar. I first heard about it while I was in seminary back in NJ, but they've been around for decades, I just missed them.

Second, I invite you to support me - not me, but those who I'm walking for both locally and abroad. It can be done easily, online actually. Click on the picture or the link on the right and in a couple minutes, you could be helping the hungry. Feel free to give as little ($1) or as much ($???) as you want. But I hope you will seriously and prayerfully consider it. Even if it's just a dollar or two...

I've been tagged... again

Right after I returned from Honduras and before I left for vacation & study leave, I got tagged into this little game called Presbymeme II, begun by the illustrious moderator of our great denomination. Since I'm way behind the times on it, I figure I should probably answer the questions. If you'd like to play along, go ahead.

The Questions // Presbymeme II //

1. What is your favorite faith-based hymn, song or chorus.
That's a toughy right now. But I'm probably going to have to go with what my 2 and a half year old son can't get enough of - I Saw the Light, originally by Hank Williams Sr, but redone by the David Crowder Band. It's so hilarious and awesome to hear Brennan say "praise the Lord - I saw the light!"
2. What was the context, content and/or topic of the last sermon that truly touched, convicted, inspired, challenged, comforted and/or otherwise moved you?
I'll say this: a few months back, when we were talking about raising money to build classrooms for our kids, John said this "All of our dreams for Liberty will always be too small, given the goodness and faithfulness of God." I liked that quote so much, I used it in my sermon the following week.
3. If you could have all Presbyterians read just one of your previous posts, what would it be and why?
Well, I was moved so much by the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight that I wrote a 4 part post on it, that began here. Based on the inspiration behind it, that's probably the best posting I've done in a long time. And I really think that God is out there - if we can just have eyes to see...
4. What are three PC(USA) flavored blogs you read on a regular basis?
Here are 3 "flavored" PC(USA) blogs I read "regularly"
Wes Barry - Assoc Pastor @ First Pres Charlotte
Jeff Lee - Assoc Pastor @ Maple Valley Pres, WA (if he'd only start blogging again...)
Lars Rood - Youth Department Director Highland Park Pres, TX
5. If the PC(USA) were a movie, what would it be and why?
I'm torn here - but I'm going with Momento. Brilliant...we're on a mission, and we think we know what that mission is - but it seems like every day, we wake up having to relearn how to do almost everything. And when we get right down to it, we end up shooting our friends in the foot, even though they were trying to help us. And all along, the train rolls on - if only we could get past our anger, maybe we could be of use to Someone

I'm supposed to tag a few people, but at this point, I have the sense that everyone who thought this was a fun idea has already been tagged. So, I'll just tag the boys above - Lars, Jeff & Wes. You're it...

Hard work in Honduras

It seems like forever ago, but it was merely 18 days ago that I returned from my second trip down to Honduras with our church. This one was a little different - instead of doling out medicine and vitamins, we sanded and painted and did electrical work. "Finishing work" is what I liked to call it. Mainly because when you say "construction" people always think of building something. We did work to structures that were already there, and it was pretty cool.

One of the things that you quite quickly experience when in Honduras, or in any 2/3 world nation, is the disparity between what you have and what others have. Heck, I took more stuff down with me than many people I met there had at all. There seem to be 2 natural reactions. The first is to give everything away - when we went to one particular community (I'll share about later) that was definitely the response of many of us. The other reaction, of course, is to say something to the effect of "that's just the way it is" - and do nothing. I've seen that neither reaction is particularly healthy. In the first, the needs are so great that it would suck you dry. In the second... well, do I even need to say how cold and unlike Christ that response sounds?

The appropriate response, I think is to recognize what you are doing with what you have. What purpose is your wealth serving? Is it only serving your ease and pleasure? If so, it's probably polluting your soul. However, if you can use what you have as a tool to bless others - now you're on to something. While not in anywhere the same way I experienced this in Honduras, part of the vacation I'm just returning from is a testament of those with something, sharing with those without that something - and I can tell you, as one who was on the receiving end - it was a GREAT blessing...