Seasons

Last Sunday, in addition to being Father’s Day, the celestial event known as the Summer Solstice occurred. Early Sunday morning (1:45am) the sun was as far north as it goes, its rays crossing the earth directly overhead along the Tropic of Cancer (the latitude line at 23.5° north, passing through Mexico, Saharan Africa, and India). That made Sunday the longest day of the year for us in the northern hemisphere (first day of summer), and the shortest day in the southern hemisphere (first day of winter for them).

Realizing that this has occurred for as long as the earth has existed makes it easy to see why so many of the world’s religions are based on cycles – the ebb and flow of time. The cycles of birth, life, death, and rebirth are key tenets of most world religions. The goal of many eastern religions is to somehow escape the wheel of these endless cycles. As Christians we certainly cannot deny that we have seasons in our lives. Summertime seems to especially remind us with so many important moments occurring this time of year. Graduations, weddings, births, annual vacations – there are so many momentous occasions that occur during summer that remind us we are on a kind of “wheel” of our own that cycles back around – and which seems to spin faster and faster the older we get.

Salvation in many of the world’s religions consists of escaping this cycle. The Buddhist tunes out the material world (which he believes is an illusion anyway) and finds his bliss – his nirvana in nothingness. The Hindu is finally reincarnated on a higher plane as one of the gods and escapes the cycles of birth and death, living and dying.

Christianity is different. In Christianity we believe God entered time in the person of Jesus Christ bringing salvation to earth. We don’t escape ourselves and our world and the supposed sordid, painful cycles of life. Instead Jesus came to give all that we experience here new meaning and value. We don’t “earn” salvation in Christianity by the way we live “this life.” Instead salvation is freely given in Christ – not to those who deserve it, but to all who will accept Him as their Savior and Lord.

Without the tilt of the earth's axis, we would have no seasons and every day would be the same. Without the pain of grief and loss, our joy would not be nearly as wonderful. Life is not about dulling yourself to the pain of living; it is about embracing the goodness of God in every season of your life. What season are you in today? Enjoy it to the fullest, embrace God and all he has for you, and for you to do, in it. That is how life is meant to be lived.

Is Everybody Happy?

The Church Relevance Blog (see sidebar) has a conversation going called “Boring Typical Church” where they point out that according to the Barna Group, “Half of Americans say they know a growing number of people who are tired of the usual type of church experience.” That is an oddly-stated statistic “half of Americans say they know a growing number….” but it appears to mean that at least half of the American population believes a growing number of people are dissatisfied with what is going on in church. And that number is growing.

Of course as we all know, one person’s “trash” is someone else’s “treasure.” One person’s boring or unsatisfactory church experience could be someone else’s dream church experience. What’s worse – these two people with their disparate experiences can be (and often are) sitting in the same church service just a few feet apart.

The responses to the Church Relevance blog post run the usual gamut from rants against the contemporary church with their loud music and mind-numbing media, to assaults on the traditional church with their high-brow services, huge buildings and big budgets while single moms are struggling to pay for diapers.

So what is the answer? How do we proceed? Is there a middle ground? If you were starting a church today, what should you aim to be? I am certainly no expert, but I believe there are a few principles to consider that might prove helpful.

First – whatever you do must be authentic. It must be “you.” We are all guilty of jumping on the latest, greatest bandwagon, regardless of whether what we are mimicking is really “us,” or not. While every church shares the Great Commission to “go and make disciples” each church must discover the distinct ways God is calling that particular congregation to do so.

Second – it must be biblical. Read the Book of Acts. The early church was on fire and everything the church did stemmed from the love of God and issued from dead center of God's will. The Spirit was palpable; there was life, excitement, joy and ministry all done in a spirit of "want to" and not "have to" or "ought to."

Third - the church must concentrate on building relationships. Study after study has shown that people today are searching for community, not another obligation to fulfill or another place to be. The basic principle of church life - the glue that holds churches together whether they are big churches or small ones - is relationships. That's also where smaller churches (like NewSong) have an advantage - if that's what people are searching for, we can do relationships better than the "big guys." What's more, relationships are also essential to effective evangelism.

Finally - and this is the tough one given what I have just said in #3, the church must be outward focused. The buzz word for this today is missional. A missional church is a community (relationships) of disciples (the product) in mission to their community and the world. The bane of every church seems to be that it starts with a passion to change the world by serving others and soon succumbs to an attitude of “serve me” or "it's all about us." The people in the early church did not need to be cajoled or coddled or catered to. There was no “club mentality,” no “what’s-in-it-for-me” mentality back then. Instead the church was a catalyst for change to the world around it. This disease of being excessively inward focused, dubbed koinonitis by C. Peter Wagner, has reached epidemic proportions today. When in doubt about the importance of being missional or outward focused, remember these famous words from Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Letters and Papers from Prison) who wrote, “The church is the church only when it exists for others."

I am sure you can think of other important principles. I suppose what I am trying to say is that the answer to the growing dissatisfaction with the church today is not to ask the question, "Is everybody happy?" Instead we should be asking questions like, "Is what we are doing 'us'?" (authentic). "Is what we are doing biblical?" And, "Are we growing closer to one another as we draw closer to God?" (relationships). And finally, "Would our church be missed if it did not exist?" (outward focused).

What do you think?

Eco-Kayak Tour

On Thursday morning Donna, Amy and I took a 2.5-hour kayak tour in the canals and waters around Anna Maria Island, Florida. We met our guide and 6 other adventurers at the store that organizes the tours, Beach Bums in Anna Maria. We drove over to our launch point where our “sit-on-top” style ocean kayaks were waiting for us. The first thing we did was to get acquainted with how to handle a kayak. Our guide, Captain Scott MacGregor gave us a quick lesson. During our lesson Captain Scott pointed out a relatively rare bird sitting in a nearby mangrove, a beautiful Roseate Spoonbill. It was an exciting start to our adventure! Captain Scott is a U.S Coast Guard certified sea captain and a retired high school marine biology teacher. He has a wonderful sense of humor and kept us laughing as well as taught us about some of the wildlife, flora and fauna we ran across in the island’s rich eco-system. We learned some interesting facts. For instance, did you know that a one-acre island of mangroves can produce three tons of fish food annually as the mangrove leaves fall into the water and decay?

For those who know the area, we kayaked around the Robinson Preserve in Bimini Bay. There we saw nesting birds, including herons, pelicans, and many types of gulls. We also saw mullet jumping out of the water and, of course, lots of beautiful houses and boats lining the bay. We went up one of the many canals around the bay. Oddly enough, the canal we went up is the one Don (my Father-in-law) has his boat on. We kayaked right past his dock and it was interesting seeing things from that angle. While in the canal Captain Scott pointed out a couple of trees that are not native to the area which are causing controversy, a large shady Australian Pine and a towering Norfolk Island Pine. Originally imported to fight erosion, these trees are now outlawed in many parts of Florida due to their invasive nature, rapid growth rate, and non-native status. After Captain Scott showered Amy with pine nuts from the Australian Pine we kayaked back out of the canal and down the length of the bay. We made a brief stop halfway down the bay to get out of our kayaks and stand up in a very shallow spot (the whole bay is actually pretty shallow). After our brief rest, stretch, and a sip of much-needed water we continued on down the bay and went under the Key Royale Bridge and out into Anna Maria Sound. Once we got out in the sound Captain Scott told us that it is supposedly good luck to be able to see three bridges at once. From our vantage point in Anna Maria Sound we could see the Manatee Avenue Bridge, the Key Royale Bridge and the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Also while we were in the sound we saw three or four dolphins. We had hoped to see a manatee somewhere along our tour, but we did not see one.

On the long paddle back to where we started out we saw more birds including a flock of parakeets that flew over the bay right in front of us making quite a racket. Everyone made it back safely, albeit with tired arms from the paddling. Especially me because I used a tandem kayak and paddled it by myself the entire way. There were not enough single kayaks for everyone and Donna and I were not willing to share a tandem – we each had to have our own kayak (some of you will understand).

This was a great adventure that allowed us to see a side of this beautiful island we would not otherwise have seen. I highly recommend the tour to anyone but must warn you that it does require some upper arm strength and the ability to stand the sun and heat. Even though our tour was in the morning, you still get pretty hot and it is a long haul. One of the people on our tour had to rely on Captain Scott for a tow for part of the way (none of us Jacksons I am happy to report!). Beach Bums does offer tandem kayaks, so if you are worried about making it you may want to share a kayak with someone else (preferably a strong paddler). The cost of the tour was $55 per person. The website for Beach Bums is here, tell them you heard about them on my blog and I am sure Captain Scott and the Beach Bums gang will throw in a free paddle and life vest with your kayak!

Steve and Amy's Turtle Adventure

We had another fun adventure early Wednesday morning at the beach. Amy and I were walking on the beach and we noticed a crowd of people standing around watching a woman dig a hole in the sand. We went over to see what was going on and found ourselves right in the middle of a loggerhead sea turtle nest relocation. During the night on Tuesday a mother loggerhead had crawled up on the beach and laid 104 eggs that look something like ping pong balls in a hole she dug in the sand about 28 inches deep.



Every morning around dawn from May to October volunteers from the Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch Association (http://www.islandturtles.com/) walk along the beach looking for signs of these nests. Unfortunately some of the mother turtles lay their eggs too close to the water's edge and the nests wash out. When a nest is too close it is relocated further back on the beach by these volunteers. That is what the crowd had gathered to watch today.

Amy and I learned tons of interesting facts. The incubation period for loggerhead turtle eggs is approximately 55 days. The eggs we saw being moved should hatch around August 4th. The sex of the juvenile turtles is determined by whether they are stacked on the top of the group of eggs buried in the nest or whether they are on the bottom. The difference in temperature (hotter nearer the surface) determines the sex. The photo above shows the nest on the left (it is shaped like an upside down light bulb) and the bucket with some of the eggs before they were taken approximately forty feet further up on the beach to be reburied.

The ladies doing the relocating from the Anna Maria Turtle Watch group were really into their work and were very helpful explaining things as they did the hot work of relocating the nest. There were several children and adults watching them and they made quite a few “converts” by taking the time to explain what they were doing. Amy and I were glad for the good fortune of happening upon this interesting event. Now that the nest is relocated hopefully in about two months there will be 104 little baby turtles that will hatch and make a mad dash into the sea.

We do our Eco-Kayak tour on Thursday morning – we can hardly wait!

Beach Life

I am at the beach this week, enjoying the laid back lifestyle. It was quite a run for us right up to Leigh’s wedding. We pretty much went non-stop from Easter on, so it was nice to get in the car before dawn on Sunday morning and head to Holmes Beach, Florida. Holmes Beach is on Anna Maria Island, just off Bradenton, Florida in the Tampa bay area. Anna Maria is less touristy and has more of an “island feel” like St. Simons Island in Georgia, but Anna Maria has the beautiful turquoise water and white sand beaches like Destin or Panama City. It is really the best of both beach worlds.

So far we have enjoyed walking on the beach, reading, playing scrabble and cards, sunning, bicycle-riding, fishing, and, of course, eating some great seafood out. We have all gotten a little too much sun (that’s why I am inside blogging at the hottest part of the day today). This morning we went over to the city pier at Anna Maria and I caught four mackerel in about fifteen minutes. The photo above is one of the fish I caught. The last fish I had on the line got off when my line got tangled with a bird. I ended up having to cut the line to keep the bird from injuring itself. It was pretty crazy for a moment with me having a fish and a bird on my line at the same time. Donna, Amy and I also spent some time on the pier watching dolphins swim around and pelicans and other sea birds feasting on the schools of minnows around the pier.

This morning Amy and I watched a sea turtle nest being moved. I will write more about that later as it was very interesting.

Tomorrow morning (Thurs) we are taking a kayak eco-tour through some of the canals and creeks surrounding Anna Maria. We’re looking forward to that!

We have heard from Leigh and John in St. Lucia and it sounds like they are having fun too.

I will hate to leave this place when we have to come home. Perhaps someday we’ll come to a beautiful spot like this and just never go back home…there are times when that sounds very tempting.

I’ll blog some more later on. For now I think I’ll lather up with sun screen, slip on some flip-flops and head to the beach. Ahhhhh….

The Wedding

For those of you who do not know, my youngest daughter is getting married this Saturday, June 6th. I am officiating at the service (her grandfathers are walking her down the aisle). This is a huge benchmark in the life of our family as it would be in any family. I typically officiate at 3-4 weddings a year but this one will definitely be different for me as you might imagine.

This week there has been a ton of nostalgia and bittersweet moments happening in the Jackson household as we fondly recall the last 22 plus years with Leigh. Thankfully all four of us have been together under one roof for this whole week – this “last” week (sniff). Those of you who are parents will understand; while you want the absolute best for your kids, you still hate to see them grow up and leave the nest for good.

Personally I have had a flood of feelings the past few weeks. Since I am about to think through and jot down my wedding homily for Leigh and John, I feel as though I need to process my own feelings first; otherwise my comments might lean more toward what I am feeling rather than having something to offer the happy couple from the Lord. So, here go some (somewhat) random comments.

First of all – let me say how happy I am for both Leigh and John to have found what appears to be the love of their lives. They have been dating seven years and it is abundantly clear that they make one another happy. They are both extremely industrious level-headed, intelligent people. They share a similar world-view and both have a deep abiding faith in the Lord. But at the same time they are different enough to make the next 75 years or so together interesting and not boring. Our family has embraced John as one of our own and will strive to help him feel like a true part of our family, just as I know John's family will (and already have) done with Leigh. By the way, I had the “circle of trust” conversation with John just the other night and I think we are on the same wavelength (watch ‘Meet the Parents’ and you’ll understand).

Second – as for the wedding itself, Leigh and John have been amazing in their planning and execution. It seems like only yesterday we toured a few potential sites for the wedding and now everything is ready to go with the location, food, cake(s), dresses, flowers, DJ, photographer, videographer, hair, attendants, make-up, etc…. . Leigh had her “Bride’s Notebook” in which she kept a running log of everything that needed to be done and she did a great job checking them off and keeping things moving. One thing Leigh and John both do well is make decisions. They both have definite opinions about practically everything and they are not afraid to share them or act on them, which I view as a very good thing.

Third - as many times as I have said to Leigh and John, “This is YOUR day” that is not really true. It is not just their day. In tying the knot they are altering the course of several peoples’ lives. They are officially joining together each other’s families on that day. Lord knows that is a scary thought – for the Smiths and for the Jacksons (I say this 'tongue-in-cheek' Smiths, but I think you understand what I mean). Truth is Leigh and John’s union also affects their extended families, friends, employers, and more. So, yes it is “their day,” and we will treat is as such, but there’s a whole lot more to it than that. Thankfully, I am confident Leigh and John understand that as well.

Fourth – I have had lots of compliments lately about “how well you raised your daughters” and every time I hear one I deflect the credit first of all to God (because it is all about Him) and second to the girls’ mother, because Donna is the greatest mother who has ever lived, and finally, to the girls themselves. No parent could be prouder of his children than I am. They are both amazing. I shudder to think what they could have turned out like with the absence of God in our home, or without such a fantastic mom.

Finally – I guess I never said what I think I will be feeling on Saturday. I am sure it will be a mixture of pride, happiness, grief, fear, joy, excitement, relief, and more. In fact, I think it is going to be very difficult to keep a lid on my emotions the whole weekend. If you think about it, say a little prayer for my little girl and her beau, and say a prayer for the rest of us, that we will joyfully let God and nature take its course and gratefully release these two to their new life together. God bless you Leigh and John!