A Glimpse of Sunday, June 24 & Building Update

Smart People–No Faith?

            Living in New England, in particularly New Hampshire, has given me the dubious distinction of being in the region that has the fewest people attending church in the nation. The greater Boston area, I believe, has the most colleges and universities in a given area in the country, with the highest number of college students. National surveys have indicated that the higher the education level, the less likely a person is of being a follower of Jesus.

            I enjoy the intelligent people in our church. I definitely do not understand some of the things they talk about. It gets into the stratosphere of comprehension pretty quickly with some of the engineers who have PhD’s and talk physics and electronics. Fortunately, they also are some of the ones who love God deeply and have a strong faith. And I admire their intelligence and their faith and glad to call them my friends and brothers in Christ.

            But I have also had discussions with other intelligent people in the community where it seems like their intellect become a hindrance for them to understand the simple good news of Jesus. And there does seem to be a correlation between higher IQ and lower faith. So what do we do?

            Do we simply write off intellectual people from our list of whom we pray for and seek to witness to? Do we give up on anyone that has an IQ of 125 or more? If our child scores in the highly gifted category of one of the IQ tests they use in school, should we feel doomed that our child is less likely to become a follower of Christ? Or do we commit to pray twice as hard for them to overcome a potential to become more skeptical of the faith?

            Jesus did spend more time with people who were not college educated, but that was because of the world in Jesus’ time. Most people were farmers, shepherds, fishermen and common folk. Women rarely got the chance to go to school and develop their mental potential. But Jesus did not hesitate to talk to intelligent people. It is probably true that then, as now, fewer of the educated people believed in Jesus. Some of Jesus’ fiercest critics were the educated religious leaders. But that didn’t stop Jesus from reaching out to them. In fact, in the early church, it says that a large number of priests became followers of Jesus (Acts 6:7). Their education and training didn’t stop them from understanding the truth.

            But it is probably true that the smarter a person is, the more we can become intimidated by their learning. They may ask harder questions about why we believe Jesus is the only true Son of God; why Jesus is supposedly the only way to God; why there is evil in the world, and so forth. They may ask those questions, but not always. And those same questions often come from people who would not be classified as intellectuals.

            Jesus had a discussion one night with a towering intellectual. His name was Nicodemus. Nic was one of the leading teachers of his day. He was a Pharisee, which meant he was a part of an elite group of religious zealots, who lived to figure out how to keep God’s laws and never come close to breaking any of them. Think Green Beret of priests. He was also a member of the Sanhedrin, which was like Parliament in England. It was a group of 70 people who governed the religious show in all of Israel. If anyone would be a skeptic, it would be Nic.

            Jesus had an interesting conversation with him that night. And how Jesus interacted with him will help us know how we can interact with those in our circles who are intelligent. That night conversation is going to be the focus of my sermon this Sunday as we look at Jesus and Nicodemus. You’ll come away with the confidence that God can use you to talk to anyone, even those who might be smarter than you.

Building Update

            Close. City inspectors arrived this week to inspect the plumbing, electrical, and construction parts of the building. They have liked what they have seen, and we are getting close to the final approval. So, we look ahead to next and say, Maybe next week we’ll get the final OK.

Fathers Who Are Not Perfect - A glimpse of Sunday, June 17

The Myth of Perfect Fathers  

            How did children ever turn out to be law-abiding, Christ-following, responsible members of society before we had organizations like Focus on the Family, Family Builders and the plethora of other organizations, books and seminars? And, with all the resources we have today, why do we have such problems with dysfunctional and fractured families?

            There is no simple answer to either question. However, there is an indispensable factor for both. We had fathers who were involved in families in times past, and there is a glaring absence of many biological or functioning fathers in homes today.

            Fathers of past generations didn’t really have an edge over fathers today. They didn’t have seminars to help them be a great dad. They didn’t listen on their iPod to messages on fathers. They pretty much carried an example of their father and did for their children what their father did for them. But I think one big difference was that fathers were there in the family. They didn’t up and leave when they got tired of their responsibility. They didn’t jump from one live-in girlfriend to another. They knew their role and sought to be a father first and did not worry about whether their child considered them a buddy.

            I think there was also, especially to boys, a clearer sense and example of father-hero growing up. Maybe that’s because newspapers didn’t probe deep enough to dig up the dirt on people, or they were more constrained in what they reported. You didn’t have the pervasive paparazzi ready to shoot an embarrassing, unheroic picture at a moment’s notice whenever a hero-type person went out in public.

            In any case, what many children are lacking today is a strong, godly father. And what many men are lacking is a strong, godly example of a father.

            When you look around to see whom to pattern oneself after, you are visually plastered with a long list of men you would not want to emulate. How many Hollywood men and athletes are leaving a trail of kids with different mothers in their wake? Then you have some seemingly good examples, like Brad Pitt, but do we want our children to live with someone for eight years and have three children (plus Angelina’s adopted three)  before they finally decide now is the time to, at least, get engaged?

            It is easy to point the finger at bad examples and fathers with faults. I do that every morning when I look in the mirror. But we do have one perfect Father to use as an example. And that is God. It is interesting that God chose to use the term, “father”, to express one of his key roles to those who believe in him. And that term is more than just a name. It is a role that God fulfills with us.

            It is too bad that today, for so many boys and girls, their perception of God as Father is taken from their earthly father. It’s no wonder why teens who have grown up in the church walk away and never return, and others never venture to church in the first place. Who would want to have a relationship with God if he is like one’s earthly father?

            But because God is perfect as Father, and because he has chosen to express his relationship with us as our Heavenly Father, there is tremendous hope and encouragement to every person. First, for us who are fathers, there is his example that we can follow to understand what it means to be a father and how a father acts with his children. He can show us how to do it.

Then there is the relationship itself that God has with us as our Heavenly Father. That is not just a polite term we use to refer to him. It is God himself who is a Father to us and acts as a Father to us. The father wound that so many men and women carry because of imperfect earthly fathers, can be healed by our Heavenly Father as he carries out his role as Father to us.

            So with this Sunday being Fathers’ Day, we can look to our perfect, Heavenly Father, to be what we need for us: an example of a perfect Father to pattern our father role after, or a giver to help fill what we didn’t receive from our earthly Father.

            The message this Sunday will feature our perfect, Heavenly Father. Come to learn; come to receive.

Building Update

Workers continue to finish additional details on the building. The large kitchen exhaust fan unit is ready to be installed. The paving construction crew has cut out sections of the asphalt and prepared the area around the front entrance for paving. The plumbers have installed all the sinks and toilets and turned on the water in the bathrooms. Some lights are in, but more are still coming before that is done. We are almost ready to have the city come and give us the final approval. A few pictures that show the progress are below.

The giant exhaust-fan kitchen unit on its side and looking at its underside.

Ready to pave.

The Women's Bathroom

A Glimpse of Sunday, June 10 & Building Update

Where are we going?

            I hate being lost when I am driving. I hate it even more when I am a passenger and the driver was supposed to know where we were going and how to get there. Directions are helpful for getting us to a destination. But the bigger question is why I wanted to go to that particular location in the first place. Both are needed, of course. You may know where you want to go and why you want to get there. But if you don’t have directions, you’ll never make it. Or, you may know the directions to get to a place, but once you are there, you may wonder why you bothered to go there.

            It’s no different for a church. Where are we headed as a church? Why are we going to do certain things? Even with those questions answered, directions, in the form of a plan, are needed to get there.

            This Sunday is the Sunday in which I give my State of the Church address in the morning, and then in the evening, we have our annual business meeting. I think this day is important every year. If gives me a chance to reflect on the past year, and then ask God to guide my thoughts as I look ahead to the next year and seek what he wants us to emphasize and focus on in the coming year. It gives me a sense of where we are going and why we are going there. And I like to pass that on to our church.

            In the morning sermon, I’ll build off our mission statement to help people see a clear pathway that will help them become more a part of Trinity and will help them to know how to develop their spiritual life in a deeper way. It’ll combine the where and the why with the directions.

            This year’s business meeting brings the anticipation of approving the new church name that we have selected. For people who haven’t voted yet, we are keeping the voting opportunity open until after the morning service. That will add to the suspense, because no one will know what the name to be presented will be until we actually vote in the evening. You’ll have to be there to find it out since I won’t give it out ahead of time!

            The other important issue that we will present at the annual meeting is a recap and explanation of the building costs. We want everyone to hear how things have gone with the costs, and there will be time for questions.

Almost Done!

            Some of the final parts are now in and making our building look just about finished. The bathrooms have their tile in and the stalls up. The kitchen floor is almost done. All the doors are now in. But the biggest transformation has been that the carpet is now in in the lobby and auditorium. We still have lights to receive that are on order and the plumbing needs to get done, along with the final electrical connections in some spots. Maybe by the end of next week, we could get our certificate of occupancy from the city, which means we are good to go. Here are a few pictures to show you what awaits you this Sunday.

A Glimpse of Sunday, June 3 & Building Update

Decisions, Decisions

     I don’t know how many decisions a person makes over their lifetime, but I can imagine it is in the tens of thousands. And that is if you just make 2 or 3 decisions a day. Most of the time we are probably making at least 2 or 3 an hour or even 2 or 3 a minute. The vast majority of our decisions are pretty insignificant. Should I have orange juice for breakfast or just coffee? Should I watch this TV show or that one? What should I wear today?

     We do, though, make some pretty weighty decisions with long-term consequences: Where shall I attend college and what should I major in? Should I marry this person and take that job? How many kids should we have? Of course, the most important question is, Do I want to become a follower of Jesus? We will ride that decision into eternity.

     Decisions shape us—even the small ones. Little decisions add up to become a habit, and habits shape not only our character, but also our future decisions.

     How do you make good decisions? How many times have you looked back at a decision you made and wish you knew then what you know now? I look back at one significant decision that led to at least three other significant ones. I was fortunate enough to go to almost any college I wanted to play football. I chose Stanford. While going to Stanford, I met Jim, a guy who worked with Campus Crusade for Christ and whose ministry interest was to focus on athletes. I got into a Bible study with Jim, was discipled by him, and that eventually led to going into the ministry, where I’ve been for the last 38 years.

     At Stanford, I met my wife, Nancy, a young co-ed from Chicago. I found someone I loved and married her, and four daughters later, we enjoying 36 years of marriage.

     And it just happened that the time I was at Stanford our football team rode the crest of a couple of great teams and ended up winning back-to-back games in the Rose Bowl. If I had gone to my second school choice, UCLA, I would never have played in any bowl games.

     Truly, we make our decisions and then our decisions make us. That one decision of which college to go to led to significant other decisions that would have resulted in a very different life if I had choose differently. Little did I know at that time how important that decision would be.

     The Bible is full of excellent guidelines for making decisions, and that is what we are going to be looking at in my sermon on Sunday. We will be wrapping up our series on “Living for the Highest Honor” from 1 Corinthians with this message from 10:23 – 11:1. If you have missed any of these messages, you can always listen to them at our website. Just go to http://trinitynh.org/418709.ihtml and you can choose any of them.

 The Building starts to get its “shoes”

As completion nears, the final pieces start to be added, which is the flooring. The kitchen is being tiled and the bathroom is being prepped for tile. Lights are still coming in—next week we should have most, if not all of them. Here are just a couple of pictures to enjoy.

The kitchen gets it's shoes.

Prepping the ladies bathroom for larger tiles.

A Glimpse of Sunday, May 27 & Building Update

Strange religious customs

     I attended a Buddhist funeral a number of years ago. It was the relative of a Vietnamese family that was part of my church in San Jose. It was the first one of that religion I had experienced. At one point, family members and friends started a small fire in a pan and began to put in money and pictures of money into the fire. I think the idea was to send money ahead into the afterlife for the deceased to have to use, or to placate whatever gods there might be to have mercy on the person. Besides not really understanding what was going on, things got really exciting when the funeral director found out about the fire and rushed in to try to put it out! There were some differences in cultures (and fire codes, no doubt) between the family's religion and a "normal" Catholic or Protestant funeral service.
     There are definite differences between the religions of the world and how people practice them. Behind the practices, though, are truths, lies, and spiritual realities that do not make certain religious practices as innocent as they might seem. In our series in 1 Corinthians 8-10, Paul has been dealing with some practices that we do not find going on around America. When was the last time you went to Market Basket or Hannaford and they had a special on beef recently offered to Lord Krishna or Buddha or Zeus? When was the last time you had a birthday party invitation for your niece's first birthday that was going to be held in the Temple of Isis?
     Living back in Paul's day, you would have had both types of occasions confront you. This Sunday, we are going to look at the final argument Paul has as to why Christians are not to head down to the local temple for a BBQ and his reason may surprise you. We will also look at some ways in which this ancient dilemma pops its head up in our day.

Building Progress

     We are slowing moving to completion of the main work. The fire sprinklers are all in. The lights are still coming, so they are not in, which has slowed the electrical work, although most of the switches and outlets are in. Two new electrical panels were installed. One to replace the old one in the auditorium and the other one is in the kitchen. Emergency lights and exits lights are in, as well as outside lights. Next week, the flooring starts. Enjoy the pictures:

Electrical subpanel in the auditorium. I don't think we will run out of space  for the future now.

Kitchen shutter looking from inside the kitchen.

Outside light.

Fire sprinkler connected and in place.

A Glimpse of Sunday, May 20 & Building Update

It Takes More than Just Good Intentions 

     I'm sure that every one of the 22,426 runners who lined up for last month's Boston Marathon on April 16 had good intentions to finish the race. But with the temperature a hot 88 degrees, quite a number had to drop out. Another 4000 people decided to postpone their running until next year's event and were give a special entrance opportunity to do that.
     As with any race, starting is only part of the race. You can only have a chance at winning if you finish the race. No matter how great you might start, you have to finish.
     I've seen many people become followers of Jesus and start the Christian race well. There is the initial excitement and joy when they experience the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in their life. All things are new for them as God gives them a new heart that responds to his love. They have a new love for reading the Bible and the Spirit gives then a new spiritual insight into God's Word. Coming to church is exciting. There is joy in singing the songs.
     But somewhere along the way, they start to slow down to a walk. Then, for some, they just stop and drop out of the race. It's one thing if they do that in a race. No big deal. Maybe they just try again next year, or find a new sport. But to drop out of the Christian race is dangerous. I have never found in the Bible any place where a true Christian can elect to become a spectator and sit on the sidelines while they watch other Christians run by. While a Christian isn't going to finish first all the time, the Bible says to run the race to try to finish first. It never says to drop out or quit.
     This Sunday, we will see what Paul says about Christians who drop out of running the race. It's a message that some desperately need to hear because they need to get back into the race. The alternative is much worse off for them than just not finishing a race. So, make sure you are in the race by being in church Sunday!

Building Progress

     We are nearing completion on the building project. The past week and this week, we have seen a number of "colorful" things happening. With a excellent crew of Trinity painters, we painted nearly all the new building parts. What a difference! It's looking good.
     The city of Nashua had required us to extend the sidewalk along Main Dunstable Road. That was completed, as you can see below. The ceiling tile grid was put up and some of the tiles were installed. The fire sprinkler pipes were extended  and are making their appearance in the ceiling. The electricians are back and starting to connect the wires for the outlets and switches. Meanwhile on the roof, the final HVAC unit is being positioned and ducting work connected in the ceiling. Some grading was done in the old playground area.
     We are heading toward the final parts! Enjoy the pictures below.

All the ceiling "stuff" will soon be hidden.

Who knew what a talented youth pastor we have!

Doug painted so fast that his roller was a blur! 

Lots of teamwork in the painting. Here's Jeff and Kim. 

This is the "curb" that an HVAC unit sits on. The workers are  making sure the rubber seals the curb to the  roof so no leaks will happen.

We now have four HVAC units on the roof.

Finished Sidewalk.

One of the sprinklers making its appearance in a ceiling tile.

   

A Glimpse of Sunday, May 6 & Building Update

Olympic Training

     We are in another Olympic year with the summer Olympics being held in London this summer. If you have seen the move, Chariots of Fire, you will probably laugh when you compare the training back then to the training that goes on today. One scene of a English hurdler had him and his buddies drinking champagne and smoking a cigarette one minute, and then running in practice the next. Nowadays, serious athletes are not going to drink and smoke if they have any hope of winning their event. Their regimen today is total dedication for years, just to get to the point of qualifying for their particular country to compete, and then they have to go against the top athletes in the world to win.
     We have been looking at how the Apostle Paul handled the balance between the freedoms and rights of a Christian with concern for a fellow Christian. The Christian life is a wonderful life, full of freedom to enjoy all that God has created in the world. But our freedoms need to take into consideration our brothers and sisters in Christ who may not have the knowledge and mature conscience to enjoy these freedoms to the same degree as we do. What to do, says Paul? Be more concerned about your fellow Christian than your freedom. That's what Jesus did when he came to the earth and ministered here among us.
     This Sunday, we are going to see how Paul builds on this approach toward others, and especially see what drove him to train like an Olympic runner in his ministry. His example is a fantastic example for all of us to pattern ourselves after.
     This Sunday is communion Sunday, so we get to gather around as a church family to remember together, what Jesus did for us on the cross.

Health Training

     Last week, I mentioned about some chest pains I had. This past Sunday, I had a half dozen people come up to ask me how I was doing. That is one of the reasons I love this church so much. People care. You may say, "Well, you're the pastor. I would think they would care about you!" Well, I would hope so, otherwise I would probably think they might be eager to see someone new come. :-)   But in reality, I know this concern extends to  everyone else, too. Our people really do care for everyone! That's one of the marks of a healthy church. People love one another enough to care. And I especially experienced that this past week.
     So, for a few of you whom I told I would call my doctor, I want you to know I did. And as soon as the hospital calls me, I will be going in for whatever cardiac tests they determine I should have. I am trying hard not to be too "manly" and just tough it out. A mature Christian should be willing and eager to take advice. So, I certainly want to listen to my brothers and sisters here, especially when some of them are nurses! Thanks for caring! I love you!

The Building Is Progressing

     This past week has seen progress toward the completion. Sheet rock is all up, and the first coats of sheet rock "mud" has been applied. We hoisted the HVAC units onto the roof and they are connected up with the duct work.
     The papers for our line of credit loan were signed, and we drew upon it for the first time this week to pay some bills. I have come to realize that a church building program is very similar to a home remodel job--only bigger headaches and bigger costs. But God is faithful as we look ahead to the future and see ministry happening. We are already planning for a new ministry emphasis on Wednesday nights next year. I can't wait to get going with it. More details about that at another time.
     Enjoy a few pics of the building.

One of the three units that went onto the roof.

See if you can guess which room this is?

The roof drain pipes were boxed in.