Live Simply - A Christmas Carol

On Thanksgiving weekend we enjoyed A Christmas Carol @ the Playhouse in the Park here in Cincinnati. I've seen it several times over the years, an inconsistent family tradition. This year I heard the story anew, with fresh ears, the words filtering through Live Simply. Live Simply is simple:

live more simply so others might simply live

The words of Dickens' story rang at a new depth to my heart. I had never seen the extent to which Scrooge's obsession with gaining wealth ruined his relationships and ultimately his life, until that Christmas Eve was interrupted by those other worldly visitors.

"what good does it do for a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul"

I was drawn away in my thoughts as I listened and watched Scrooge throw away the love of his life for the pursuit of riches. The play perfectly contrasted the elder Scrooge watching the younger one make such a blunder that would lead to misery. How wonderful - and gut-wrenching - is the gift of hindsight!

Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into

many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people

into ruin and destruction.

- 1 Timothy 6:9

With our move this summer to the a new town, new house, new church, new surroundings we have had the opportunity to make decisions about some of our worldly possessions. Perhaps it's because the process of cleaning out my parent's house (albeit 5 years ago yet fresh in my mind) was a shock to how much stuff we keep that we don't need. Now my father-in-law is moving and the process begins again. And this church doesn't have an office so all those things have to come into the house and there simply isn't room. How quickly we become attached to our things!

Live Simply is about a lifestyle shift. It goes against our consumer mindset. What I am calling for is a radical shift, not a seasonal placation for our hearts. When living more simply is caged in the Advent season, I don't think it goes far enough. Living Simply is year round thinking. It is behavior that transcends a season and embraces a life.

Here are some things you might consider:

• sponsor a child in Haiti (or somewhere else) through Starfish Kids. It can become a year round project for the family - praying for your child and making plans to visit him or her.

• Cut in half what you would normally spend on Christmas gifts. Or go all the way and give no gifts.

• Send a note to relatives and friends and tell them you've made a donation to Live Simply in their honor. Make that your gift to them.

Living simply for us means buying used cars, using coupons at restaurants, combining trips, eating in and so many other daily decisions. It's our daily decisions that lead to simplicity, giving us the margin to be generous. Living simply year round keeps Scrooge from encroaching on our hearts.

If you'd like to participate in The Park Church's Live Simply Project, consider a financial gift which will go to help build a house in Haiti and support a local shelter called Bernie's Place. Our address is: 5788 Zoar Rd, Morrow, Ohio 45152. Clearly mark your envelope and check "live simply." Together we're going to change our world and our own lives along with it.

The Live Simply Project

Christmas is the season for: indulging? serving? giving? shopping? debt? family? Which would you say reflects your life?

For the past 10 years my family has been installing braces around our hearts, inner braces that are able to resist the onslaught of our culture that screams: "buy, buy, buy." We're not the only ones. The Live Simply Project is about this choice: "live more simply so others might simply live." For us it's been a call back to the basics, back to the heart of Christmas and the heart of God, whose heart is near to the poor.

Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt

for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the

needy honors God. (Proverbs 14:31)

I'm not about to proclaim that we do it right or even very well. We have a very long way to go. We're on a journey. We started as young parents who were cash flow poor as the average are. We limited our Christmas gifts to 3 per child: "Jesus got 3, we get 3." It was a simple way to keep costs down. More importantly it helped keep Jesus in the open rather than buried beneath a tree full of presents.

We realized we couldn't stuff our tree with presents and say we honor God with our lives.

10 years ago we launched The Live Simply Project in the church we served. The premise was and remains simple: spend less on Christmas, less on ourselves, and give that portion away to the poorest of the poor. It was life-changing for us and those we served. The goal was for lifestyle change not just an isolated seasonal act of generosity.

Choosing to live more simply so others might simply live goes way beyond scattered acts of sacrifice, seasonal decisions of serving and helpful acts of kindness. Those are all good things to do, values to teach our children. But too often our acts of generosity are self-centered. We give what we no longer want. When a food pantry needs donations, I go through my own pantry and find those things that have been there a while and I'm probably not going to eat. When I give that which has no value to me it's not generosity.

Self-centered generosity is looking for the feeling that comes from doing a good deed, but with no lifestyle change in our behavior. Self-centered generosity is scattered individual acts. 

Two good friends run Sherpa Executive Coaching. Their formula is simple: business skills + business behavior = impact on business. They deal with the behavior part of the formula, recognizing that when our behaviors change, our impact changes. If a leader only works on their skills, which is a good thing, but there is no change in behavior, the behaviors will put a lid on their impact. Long term change means a change in behavior, in what a leader does.

Choosing to live more simply is more than working out our "serve others" muscles for a few hours during the Season. The lifestyle decision is more than giving away something additional to what we already buy rather than dialing back the purchases (in both amount and quantity). Lifestyle change is year round change. It's a change in our basic behaviors.

Live Simply is a journey we are on, not a destination to which we will probably ever arrive. The evidence is all around us with our move of 5 months ago. We gave away and sold so much while packing. Then we sold and gave away so much more as we unpacked. We have way too much stuff!

We gathered a lot of it because we were trying to fill a void in our lives but found the accumulation of things left us empty. The void is filled only through changing our behavior, our lifestyle. Live Simply. When our hearts are motivated in June to live in such a way that we can respond generously in December, we've taken some steps down the pathway to living more simply.

This year @ The Park Church, we are moving down the pathway of the Live Simply Project. It starts with giving away the offerings on Christmas Eve Eve (contemporary @ 7 p.m.) and Christmas Eve (traditional @ 7 p.m.). It doesn't matter what our church financial state might be, we will not keep any of it for ourselves. 50% will go to build a house in Haiti for a family still in a refugee camp from the 2010 earthquake. The Park is sending a team of 17 in June. The other 50% will go to a local ministry yet to be determined as of today. We want to partner with a ministry year round not just during the season. Another option also exists - to sponsor a child in Haiti through Starfish Kids.

Stores are opening on Thanksgiving morning this year. The push to accumulate is encrouching, pushing against us to shape us. What behaviors in your life will brace you against the onslaught?

I enjoy the Phillips translation (notice the British spelling) of the New Testament, especially these verses from Romans 12:1-2...

With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.

Something must provide in us braces against the encrouching culture. Live Simply helps us do that and more. Through the decision to live more simply we press back and change our world. I can't change the whole world, but I can change one life and through that life the world will change.

If you'd like to give toward Live Simply this year through The Park, our address is: 5788 Zoar Rd, Morrow, Ohio 45152. Clearly mark your envelope and check "live simply." Together we're going to change our world and our own lives along with it.

FISU, World University Games & national anthems

After fielding multiple questions about why there are no national anthems at the medal ceremonies and instead only the FISU Anthem, I asked. Here's what I know.

FISU is committed to putting on a cultural and educational event and to stay away from as much politics as possible. Therefore, it will only be the FISU Anthem that is played. It's actually a fairly depressing song - from what I can tell it's based off an old drinking song. But that could be wrong - remember, you can't trust everything you find on the Internet!

What I saw on the final day of competition, I think, was the epitome of what FISU wants. Sure, the Russians far outstripped the rest of their competitors in medals. It's their home turf and they should bring out their best, as long as they are within the boundaries of being eligible to compete. Did every swimmer want to win? Absolutely. Were there national rivalries - you bet! But it was the last day that summed it up for me. No pictures to show that I know of. Perhaps that's the way it should be.

It was after the final medal ceremony for the Men's 400 Medley Relay. 1st was Russia - 2nd was Japan - 3rd was the United States. The athletes received their medals, came down off the podium, stood under the large screen for pictures, then marched down the far side of the pool. There, lined up, were the U.S. coaches and the Japanese coaches and many of their swimmers. There could have been others but I was sitting in the opposite corner.

The teams were marching in 2nd, 1st and 3rd order, per their position on the medal stand. The U.S. coaches began high-fives with the Japanese, then the Russians, before getting to their swimmers. Then the Japanese formed one of those tunnels. It appeared to me that the Russian swimmers weren't going to follow the Japanese through, but with some encouragement, they did. So did the Americans. That was it. The language of sport transcending politics and things that might divide us.

I read this afternoon a silly news article about one politician suggesting a boycott be considered for the Sochi Olympics. Hogwash! Never should anything like that be considered or done again. Sport can go above and beyond the things that divide us. I experienced it as a swimmer - I've seen it as a coach - I've observed it as a parent and now as an official.

I was proud of the way the U.S. swimmers and coaches conducted themselves but never more so than in that final gesture. Many probably did not see the U.S. men congratulate the Russian relay behind the blocks. Few outside of the Aquatic Palace saw the congratulatory tunnel and hand slapping. Swimmers were glad, coaches were smiling.

Then of course, the Special Olympics athletes who swam a 50 free at the very end. It's great to get gold. It's wonderful to be recognized. Who doesn't enjoy that? It's sport that bridges a gap, communicates across cultures, helps us mend some fences and move forward.

I'm by no means a proponent of "everyone think happy thoughts at the same time and the world will be a better place." I am a believer that our commonalities are far more than our differences.

Here in Russia I've seen the same things I've seen around the world - couples holding hands, people waiting for a bus, shopping malls with the same things we have in the U.S., restaurants, parks and grandparents enjoying grandchildren as they play around a fountain. The people want the same things. The politics and approach to life are different. 

We bridged gaps as officials. We couldn't speak the same language with our tongues but we did speak the same language around the pool deck. There are significant implications in that for the follower of Jesus. That's for another post.

It's been an awesome journey - so far. Off to St. Petersburg for a couple of days, then onto Tallinn, Estonia for 2 days where I'll get to share in a church service, touch base with a Seminary, spend time with my friend Taavet (a student at Asbury Seminary) and then finally home, which I miss. 

Food

Every trip it seems I compose at least one blog about the food I've eaten. I'm pretty adventuresome, will try most anything once - once being the important term when considering things like haggis!

So here are some photos of some of the foods with as much explanation as I can remember

This is a salmon medallion with round fries. That is not asparagus but some kind of garnish for presentation.

Here is a top notch and simple dish of rice with seafood, topped with sesame seeds. Very delicious

We've visited a particular restaurant twice, and probably will return tomorrow for one last good meal. This is 5 kinds of sushi, including: salmon, eel & squid. Very delicious.

A salmon strip on a bed of vegetable salsa. Nicely spiced.

Steak tournedo with mashed potatoes and a few "fat chips." Literally called "fat chips" in the menus - probably why I pulled them out and didn't eat them!

This is the "national soup" of Tartarstan. Simply vegetables and some lamb. Nice spices.

We stumbled upon a really nice Italian place. We were the only two people there for a late lunch and I got this "sea gift pizza." The crust was delicious as was the meat: shrimp, squid, octopus tenacles, a fish (forget the name) and olives. It was good. I ate all but one piece. But I wouldn't get it again. Too "fishy" for pizza for me.

A nice cheese plate with some walnuts and grapes. The dish in the middle is honey, which was very good on the brie, which my companion wasn't as fond of. :)

A marvelous brownie with a liquid chocolate filling with ice cream. The grape-like fruit is apparently good for mental acuity as well as your heart. It was powerfully tart but I still don't know its name.

A chocolate covered mousse with some banana cake inside. Very good.

So that's some of the good food so far. Another week's worth to come and you can bet it'll be something different each day.

Men & Women - the same all around the world

I've noticed something in my travels - so many things are different in different cultures. I've been reminded here in Russia, relationships between men and women are far more similar than different. Let me give you some simple examples:

Last night before Finals, as the officials were lining up to march out, some of the ladies took it as their responsibility to make sure I looked my best. They straightened my collar and my tie and insisted that for the marching out, I had to button all 3 buttons on my suit jacket. I didn't want to but I did after they insisted, all the while talking about me and laughing a little. When I looked down the line at the other men, the ladies promptly got after them......and the men complied!

Is that not what happens around the world? Maybe men generally have less awareness of fashion or perhaps presentation. Women see it as their duty to make sure everyone is in line.

Then afterwards, when most people had changed out of their uniforms and into street clothes, I noticed something else. Shoes. Women around the world are all about their shoes. Tons of different styles and each checking out the others shoes.

God has created us with some internal wiring. Imagine what we men would look like if the women around us didn't see it as their personal duty to make sure we look presentable?

But seriously, we see it in creation, back in Genesis. There is an order to our world. He created them "male and female." Even in the curses of the Fall in Genesis 3 there is an order and we see it at work every day.

God's world has built-in ways and consequences. We violate His created boundaries at our own peril. When we choose God's ways, then He is able to bless us. Able to....He always wants to but when we make a choice to live outside what He has set up, we live in trouble and peril. For instance, when someone chooses to smoke there is a likelihood they will contract lung cancer. God didn't cause it but there is a "built-in" (is judgment too harsh a word). We "reap what we sow." I don't mean to imply that bad things only happen when we do something bad. Bad things can happen when others around us choose to injure or even destroy us through no fault of our own.

Imagine a world where there was fidelity in marriage, where honesty, transparency and integrity were high values. These are some of God's boundaries. Violating them creates bad things in and around our lives.

We may not understand or even always like God's created order but try living within its boundaries - that's where He can bless us. 

Clearing it up

I had a great time yesterday officiating in Lane 2 for these World University Games. It was at the beginning of finals that something became clear. The official in lane 2 who was sort of "in charge of me" was trying to tell me something about the clipboards we each had. When I didn't get the hand motions, the lady behind her chimed in with the same words. They each said the words slower and with more defined hand motions. I still didn't get it. We laughed and then I called Evgeny over for some interpretation. They simply wanted to communicate that the clipboard should stay at the seat since we'd be walking back and forth between each heat, whether a semi-final or a final.

No matter how clearly the words were said. No matter how slowly or how emphatic the hand motions. Whether it was said with a smile or not didn't make a difference. I simply couldn't understand the words. An interpreter became the medium through which I was able to understand.

I began to wonder about how I communicate the Good News of Jesus. Do I sometimes just try to say it slower, more deliberately and with greater hand motions? But what's needed is an interpreter. That interpreter has to be me - it is the call of every Christ-follower. The main goal is that the Gospel is understood not that we use certain words or means to communicate. If Jesus is not understood then we have not communicated.

In 1 Corinthians 9:22b-23, Paul lays out the goal and challenge of communicating the Gospel:

"I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do this for the sake of the Gospel, that I may share in its blessings."

I have often found myself committed to a certain method or approach rather than the need to communicate. It can't be about where I'm most comfortable. It always has to be about the one who needs to hear. I certainly know my strengths and where I am best but I should never become so rigid that I'm not willing to be flexible. I am called to be the one who shifts words and methods in order for Jesus to be known.

At The Park Church, (www.theparkchurch.com), we have above the main doors: "Come as you are." It's a commitment to meet people where they are. So many churches say the same words, each week trying to be more clear and precise with them (or not) but communication doesn't happen. We are called to adapt for the sake of the Gospel. We are God's interpreters to the world in which we live.

At work, at home, in the gym or at school - the location doesn't matter. As Christ-followers we are all interpreters for the Gospel. It's not the exclusive realm of the Church or of Pastors. I could be in a totally different career and be just as passionate and effective for Jesus. 

What will you do today to communicate more clearly?

My Canadian friend, Paul, and I are off deck today, planning to see some of Kazan. I'm sure I'll have stories to tell.

Day 1 - WUG - Kazan 2013

Took a good long walk today between sessions, enjoying some of the city on a breezy, nice afternoon. Walking past lots of shops and a few restaurants, I decided to walk into a store. First surprise was not being allowed to carry anything in, including my water bottle, which was kindly locked up in the lockers at the entrance. Second surprise was it was all women's clothing! I didn't stay long. I'm not too smart about some things but one thing I know, it's dangerous for a man to buy clothes for a woman.

There seems to be the usual excitement side and normal day side of life as in any city hosting a large sporting event. Many workers going about their normal day and many stopping in the official Universiade kiosks at a couple of street corners.

Being in a city with a radically different alphabet gives me the feeling of being alone. I recognize very little, although am learning a few words, such as those that indicate a restaurant. At least I know where to eat - and apparently buy women's clothes!

Life goes on. I could feel like "we" at the Universiade are at the center of city life in Kazan. The busses and cars for transportation are all around. The shields that surround construction sites are themed with the Games. The big new venues stand in contrast to the older apartment buildings which used to be the last things from the road to the river. Now the Universiade is.

"In all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads only to poverty." (Proverbs 14:23)

Idle hands did not build these venues, and they are the ones keeping this city buzzing. Hard work beings great reward, God reminds us over and over in His Word. I saw it today. How is it in your life? I was told, as you were, growing up that "idle hands are the devil's workshop." I've seen it in my life. Hands can be busy on technology, but really idle and get us into trouble. One of the values we wanted to instill in our children was a good work ethic. It's a central part to a Godly life. As is paying attention to a Sabbath rest.

Back to "work" I go for finals. The U.S. did well today, qualifying every swimmer back for finals. Team USA cheered loudly each time. They were good proud moments for me, as was the Russian cheering when they're relay teams both set Universiade records for them.

Here are some photos from yesterday. Thanks, Tim, for the tip.