Dramastically

We have a funny language. I think our communication would be clearer and more concise if we had clear expectations of what our words mean when we say them. I know that we have had the “word” police in the past but as effective as these police people were, as passionate as they always seemed to be, after all every one of these police were unpaid volunteers, their efforts went for not.

Often times, I think that if we had fewer words or had actually come up with our own language instead of stealing words and phrases from every other language in the world, we would have an easier time of it.

I was having coffee with a friend of mine today, I will call her Lindsey, anyway, Lindsey was telling me about her day, which really does seem to be a vital part of any counseling session, and she said, “The things that we are doing will ‘dramastically’ impact us in a good way.”

I looked at her and said, “Dramastically? Is that a combination of dramatically and fantastically?”

She just looked at me, smiled, and said, “Yes.”

So often, when we talk with one another we use terms and phrases that others may not understand.

There is an old saying that goes like this, “Listen with the intent to listen and not the intent to respond.”

There is another old saying that goes like this, “Speak with the intent of being understood and not merely heard.”

I am not really a fan of the word police. As efficient as our language could be if we cut down on the “new” words, it sure would not be as much fun. I never would have learned the word “dramastically” or had the opportunity to use it in a sentence.

I will remember though, as I go through my day and talk with people, to speak with the intent of being understood and not merely heard. I will listen with the intent to listen and not with the intent to respond.

If my job is to present the Good News to people, I better make sure that I am communicating well.

Blessings,

Musings on Heaven

Good morning, I pray the day is finding you well.

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately.

Actually, I have been doing a lot of thinking about God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, and Heaven.

This is something that I have been thinking about.

In the beginning was God.

God, as Christians we believe in the trinity. This being said, if we believe in the trinity, we believe that God, Christ and the Holy Spirit are one. Therefore, if we believe that, "In the beginning was God," we believe that, in the beginning was God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. I know that this is hard thing to wrap one's head around, the more you contemplate it, the deeper it gets and quite frankly we see through the glass darkly and will never get the complete picture of this until we are there with them. Being there with them would suggest, well actually, it doesn't just suggest, it means that we would be in Heaven with God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Being in Heaven with God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit also is a lot to wrap one's head around. We have heard many preachers and pastors tell us that heaven will be like a big banquet, with never ending food and never ending praise songs. I would hope that Heaven is more than just eating and singing. As much as I like to eat, and I must confess I like to eat, thus the reason for my current weight loss endeavor. Eating for eternity would get old. I hope that we are not just eating for eternity. The more I think about eating for eternity the more I begin to wonder about it. First of all if all I do in Heaven is eat; isn't that gluttony? Isn't gluttony a sin? I am pretty sure gluttony is a sin. Sin does not reside in Heaven. Secondly, there a multiple schools of thought about who will be in Heaven. One school is that there will only be the souls of people from earth in Heaven. Another school of thought has animals up in Heaven too (How many pastors have heard, "Will my cat Buffy be in Heaven? It sure wouldn't be Heaven if my cat Buffy isn't there.") Other schools of thought have souls from other worlds in Heaven too. Heaven could be quite the place when you start wondering who could be there.

Let's stick with the second school of thought for now.

If all we do is eat, where does the food come from?

If animals are in Heaven, and since we are in Heaven there is no reason to think that we could not communicate with animals, and all we do is eat, I can see a conversation like this going on.

Roger, "Hello Cathy." I am talking to Cathy the cow.

Cathy, "Hello Roger." Cathy the cow is talking to me.

I say, "What are you doing today?"

Cathy says, "Eating."

I say, "Me too."

Cathy says, "What are you eating today?"

I say, "I am so glad you asked, because today I am in charge of the barbecue."

I just do not think that Cathy the Cow would think that is Heaven if she is a vital part of the banquet.

I was in my aqua aerobics class this morning. As I mentioned earlier I am in the middle of a weight loss endeavor. This morning I was doing my water walking, water walking is where you walk in water, duh, with weights. I was obviously lost in thought, at least when I am lost I have an excuse. Being lost in thought is much better than just being lost, at least I think so. Anyway, I was lost in thought and another "water walker," no it wasn't Jesus, this person was in the water not on the water. asks, "What are you thinking about?" I say, "Heaven." and I go into the whole banquet thing. After I say that I did not think Cathy the Cow would think being eaten was part of Heaven my friend says, "Manna, we will eat Manna for eternity." I thought, "that is just ludicrous." First of all, the Hebrews only had to eat Manna for forty years and they were darned tired of it after only forty years. Eating Manna for an eternity would be just awful. Besides Manna means, "What is it?" Can you imagine eating "What is it?" for eternity?

Can you imagine a conversation around Manna?

Phil, a friend of mine in Heaven, we will have nothing but friends in Heaven so this is really a ridiculous statement. Anyway, Phil comes up and says, "What are you having for dinner?

I say, "This."

Phil says, "What is it?"

I say, "Yep."

Phil says, pointing to the Manna, "What is it?"

I say, "Exactly."

Phil, his face is starting to get red and his voice is rising says, "Are you being a smart-butt? What are you eating for dinner?"

I say, "What is it."

Phil, face in contortions says, "What is what, dinner? are you asking what dinner is?"

I say, "No, I know what dinner is."

Phil, visibly upset, just gives me a big huff turns and leaves saying, "I will never talk to you again."

I say, "Are we still friends?"

Phil shouts over his shoulder, "NO."

Now everyone in Heaven is no longer friends; all because of Manna.

This is why we are not eating Manna for eternity.

The whole Banquet theory falls apart pretty quick when you think about it.

I also must confess, I do like to sing. Simply because I like to sing does not mean that I am any good at it. Nor, does it mean that others like to listen to me sing. I, for one, have heard more than my share of bad singing; usually in the form of special music when someone comes forward in church, a sound track is turned on and all of a sudden it is karaoke morning in church. I hope that Heaven is more than singing. Not just for my sake, but for the sake of those standing in earshot of my voice.

When I talk to people about singing in Heaven and tell them that I can't sing they say, "When you get to Heaven God will give you a wonderful voice." When they say this I cannot help but think, "It will be like those Allstate commercials were the little girl is talking to her dad and then all of a sudden her voice changes into this beautiful baritone voice and she says "Allstate, you have the Allstate protection plan." Her father just looks at her in wonderment. I am sure that he is thinking, "Who is this in my daughter and why does my daughter sound like a forty year old man?"

I really do not know if I will be given a new beautiful voice or not; I really do not think that having a new voice or not is really the point of Heaven in the first place.

As a chaplain, I get to listen to lots of people talk about lots of things. I was sitting with a member the other day that had just gotten out of the hospital. He had tried to commit suicide and had been hospitalized. He had just been released, and came to me for help. He needed someone who could help him work through his stuff. He needs a psychologist or psychiatrist. Of course he has no insurance and little money, thus his dilemma. It took me a couple of hours but I was able to find him the help he needed. He still likes to sit with me and talk.
After he leaves, I have another conversation.

I have a conversation with God.

The role is reversed. I do most of the talking and He does the listening.

One of the things that I tell the member that comes to me is that life is worth living even though you do not know all the ins and outs, all the if, ands, or buts of the future.

As I was talking with God, He said that Heaven is much the same way. Heaven is bigger and better than I can ever imagine; even though I do not know all the ins and outs, and the if ands or buts of Heaven.

Life is worth living.

Heaven is worth looking forward to.

Have a wonderful day.

Blessings,

You Don't Want to Bite off More Than You Can Chew

We; Laurie, Levi, Saundra, Abe, and I had a wonderful day yesterday. We went up the Gorge and had a picnic on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River. The day was Sunny and warm and we all had a great time. We had crackers and cheese, fried chicken, grapes…We sat there watching tugboats go by. We sat there and watched trains travel up and down the Gorge. We watched Abe being Abe, which is to say we were watching a dog be a dog. After a few hours, we decided that we would finish the day with an ice cream. We decided it would be fun to go over the Bridge of the Gods, my favorite bridge, and have an ice cream in Cascade Locks. There is a great ice cream shack in Cascade Locks that everyone must go to at least once in their lives. Notes of caution, the sizes of cones are not your usual size.

Ministry is such a funny animal. Every day I come into the YMCA with my list of, “Things to do.” and every day I find that there are things that are not on my list that come to my attention. Some of these things are opportunities that are very good in nature. I try to look at all the opportunities and evaluate them.

Hmm… evaluate, what do I evaluate?

Great question.

My mission is to serve the staff and volunteers of the YMCA, the members that call us home, and the community we live in.

My bulls-eye is the staff and volunteers.

My next ring is the members.

My third ring is the community.

As I evaluate I always keep our mission in the forefront of what we are doing.

We also do not want to try to do something that we will not be successful in doing.

As I said earlier we were in the Gorge yesterday afternoon. We decided to get some ice cream.

Levi and I decided to get a “large swirl cone.”

I should have done a better job of evaluating.



In ministry I do not want to bite off more than I can chew.

Blessings,

My Friend Matthew

Good morning,
I pray the day is finding you well.

I want to tell you a story about a friend of mine.

When Laurie and I bought our home, we came into relationship with the sellers. We had the Rader girls over to our house for an afternoon. I first heard about Caryn’s son Matthew that afternoon.

Matthew is an amazing person. When he was younger, he was a vivacious, outgoing young man that everybody loved. He had an infectious smile and a great personality. He was the type of guy that you just wanted to be around. When Matthew was 19 years old, he had a massive heart attack. Before the doctors could revive him he had oxygen deprivation and he could no long speak or move. In fact, the doctors did not think he would survive, but he did.

Even though Matthew could no long move or speak, that did not stop him. In fact he was just getting started. He had one thing that was not taken from him, his smile. Matthew smiles all the time. His smile is not just a smile, when you sit with him, you could actually feel the love of Christ radiate from him. It is in his being, it was in his smile.

Caryn, Matthew’s mother shared newspaper articles with me about her son. People would come and sit with Matthew when they were depressed. After spending time with Matthew, this person who could not move, could not speak, and all he did was smile; these people would leave the room not depressed anymore. Matthew is an amazing guy.

Matthew reminds me of the Apostle Paul. As impactful as Paul’s ministry was before he was imprisoned; it was after his imprisonment that Paul had his greatest impact. The bars of his cell could not keep him from writing his letters; these are the same letters we read in the New Testament. Paul’s greatest impact was when those who sought to stop him thought they had.

As much as Matthew positively impacted people’s lives will he was still able to move and speak; his greatest impact came when he too was imprisoned, only Matthew was imprisoned in his own mortal body.

Matthew passed away.

I still speak of him in the present tense because I believe in eternal life. All that has happened is that Matthew is no longer imprisoned in a body that is broken. He is now free. I know that Matthew is happy in Heaven. I will miss Matthew, just as everyone who has been touched by this amazing young man will miss him.

I just wanted to tell you a little bit about my friend.

I will be talking with Matthew’s family later today. I have been asked to say a few words at his graveside. I am humbled by the request.

Every so often, we meet people that truly move us and make us want to be better. I am so grateful that I met Matthew, I will try to be better.

Blessings,

The Chaplain is all wet!

Good morning, I pray the day is finding you well.

The members have been giving me a hard time.

I entered the weight loss challenge (which gives you and indication that maybe I need to lose weight).

I will talk about the weight loss challenge later.

It is true that I need to lose weight. Ever since I was diagnosed with SMS I have needed to lose weight.

I was diagnosed with SMS a number of years ago and I am now on medication that keeps it in check but I am still “over” in the weight department; saying that I am “over” in the weight department somehow sounds better than just saying overweight.

I just realized that not everyone knows what “SMS” is.

SMS is short for “Stupid Man’s Syndrome.”

If I had gone to the doctor right away when I started feeling bad, I would not have gained 50 pounds before I found out that my Thyroid was not working properly. It has been a battle ever since.

As I was saying, the members have been giving me a hard time.

I have been going upstairs and working out but they wanted me to get into the pool too.

They wanted me to take some water aerobics classes.

So, I did.

The first day I came to class, I ended up praying with members on a variety of subjects; everything from sick with the flu to dying on cancer. I prayed with many members that morning.

The next day I talked with another person who was “over” in the weight department. He knows he should be doing more, he told me that for a number of years a therapist would work with him and one day two years ago the therapist saw the YCMA. He said, “You need to go to the YMCA.

This man has been coming to the “Y” and while he is not in perfect shape, he is no longer in a wheel chair.

So often, we look for the great big things to celebrate. We are intent on looking for the big miracle. All we need to do is keep our eyes open and we can see the little miracles, and celebrate them.

Isn’t that what makes up most of our lives. Our lives are not defined by the huge things we do, but many small things that combined become “big” things.

The longer that I work in the “Y” the more convinced I am that God is not impressed with the “Big Deal.” He is impressed by the many small things.

I know I will be more intentional, more attentive to the small things, and celebrate them.

Blessings,

Being open to interruptions

Good Morning,
I pray the day is finding you well.

I came home after a great day of ministry.

It was around 6:30pm, there was a note on the counter that said, “I am at the store getting groceries, Love Laurie.” I was just settling in when the phone rang, I walk across the kitchen and answer it.

I say, Hello.”

The voice on the other end says, “Hello, Mr. Butler.” (Right then and there I knew it was a telemarketer. He did even get my name right.)

You ask, “Why did you answer the phone?” I answered the phone because I thought it was someone I wanted to talk to; why else would I answer the phone?

Without taking a breath Mike says, “My name is Mike from AT&T, is this a good time?”

I say, “No.” (Even though it was not a particularly bad time.)

Mike doesn’t skip a beat and asks, “Do you have a moment?”

I respond, “No, no I do not have a moment.” (Even though I had nothing else going on.)

Mike starts in again. I cut him off.

I told him that I did not want his services and that I was upset that he bothered me and I hung up on him.

Now I am fuming, my great day was ruined by Mike the telemarketer.

I fumed for a few minutes when a still small voice said, “You know Mike was just doing his job. A job that he most likely does not enjoy very much, but he was doing it just the same. It was you who was not doing your job.”

Now I am really mad.

Here I had a great day in ministry, I came home to a phone call that I did not want, and I am the one that God is correcting.

The funny thing about a relationship with God is that you have to listen to His words just as you expect Him to listen to your words.

After a bit, I said, “Ok, the next time a telemarketer calls I will be nice. In fact, I will say the following, “I am so glad you called. I promise that I will listen intently to whatever it is you have to say. I may even buy whatever it is you have to sell, if you first allow me to pray with you and share the Good News of Jesus Christ.”

The little small voice said, “Perfect.” (I am thinking to myself, “Great idea Roger, you accomplished two things; first, this is sure to get the telemarketers to hang up and since I have their names, because they always introduce themselves immediately, I can still pray for them. Two, I got God off my back on this topic.)

A few days later, I come home and the phone is ringing. I answer the phone.
It is Betty from AT&T.

Betty says, “Hello mister Butler, (I wish whoever sold my information had not misspelled my name.) I am Betty from AT&T.”

I interrupt her and say, “I am so glad you called. I promise that I will listen intently to whatever it is you have to say. I may even buy whatever it is you have to sell, if you first allow me to pray with you and share the Good News of Jesus Christ.”

Betty is silent for a moment and then says, “Ok.”

I did not expect this!

I start praying for Betty.

I share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

After twenty minutes, we go through the prayer of forgiveness and she accepts Jesus into her heart.

We are now laughing and having a really good time. She asks if she can call me back in a few days. I said, “Yes. Oh, you still need to tell me your services. I need to hold up my end of the bargain.”

Betty says, “That’s ok, I don’t want to talk to you about that.”

Now I am jumping through the roof, Laurie is wondering what happened to me.
A few days go by and another call.

Todd from AT&T calls and says, “Hello mister Butler, I am Todd from AT&T.”
I interrupt him and say, “I am so glad you called. I promise that I will listen intently to whatever it is you have to say. I may even buy whatever it is you have to sell, if you first allow me to pray with you and share the Good News of Jesus Christ.”

Todd says, “Ok.”

The same result.

Now I cannot wait to get home and talk to the telemarketers.

This goes on for a few weeks.

Then it happens.

The phone rings.

I run to the phone.

I answer and say, “Hello.”

It goes like this.

“Hello Mr. Button My name is Marsha from AT&T.” (Now I know that I have some sort of trainer on the line. The voice on the other end is stern and has a leadership quality to it. It also sounds like she is talking on speakerphone. I instantly get a mental picture of Marsha at a conference table with all these telemarketers sitting there and she is going to show them how to handle people like me.)

I start my shpeal.

Marsha interrupts me and says, “Mr. Button do you realize that my people only have 2-minutes per phone call?”

I respond, “I did not know that Marsha, but now that I do, I can work with that.”

Marsha says, “I don’t think you understand. My people have a job to do.”

I respond, “I understand that your people have a job to do. You see Marsha, I am a pastor, and I have a job to do as well. In the end, you did call my house. Now do we have a deal?”

Marsha says, “No” and hangs up.

I prayed for Marsha after she hung up.

A funny thing happened.

I did not have to get angry.

I did not have to put me name on the “No-Call” list.

They took me off their list.

The only problem was that I no longer wanted to be off their list. I started filling out those cards in the magazines that end up with a call from a telemarketer.

The phone would start ringing again.

After a few weeks they would figure out they were calling me again and the phone would go silent.

God knew what He was doing.

A funny thing happens when you stop seeing things as interruptions and start seeing them as opportunities to share Jesus with people.

Being a Christ follower is not a 9-5 job, nor is it a Sunday only thing. Sharing the Good News isn’t reserved for missionaries and pastors.

We all have stories to tell.

Tell your story. Someone needs to hear it.

Post log; These events happened many years ago before everyone had cell phones and many did not have answering machines. Names have been changed. I was at lunch the other day with friends, I told them this story and they asked me to share it. This is for you Jett and Lorretta.

Blessings,

Roger

Merry Christmas everyone

Good morning,
I pray the day is finding you well.

We had a wonderful communion service last night.

We transformed the YMCA Gym into a sacred space. The theme was to be relaxed and casual. We music, thank you Kaleb and Jessi. We had the elements set up and prayer stations which we manned. People would come in, listen to the music, when they were ready they would come sit with us at a station. We would administer the elements and then pray with and over them. The service was supposed to last until 6pm. It lasted until 7:30pm.

People just kept coming.

Chirstmas is a funny season.

It heightens our senses.

When life is going well, Christmas is a very joyous season.

When life has turmoil, Christmas can be rather tough.

I am amazed at the number of people that are having a tough time.

I am also amazed how the simple act of prayer can lift peoples hearts.

I am humbled to be part of Christs redemptive work, giving me the opportunity to show people His love and His desire for their lives.

As beautiful as last nights service was, I cannot get over the feeling of, "What if we had not had a service at our YMCA?" I know that some of these people would have gone to a church. I also know that many of these people would not have gone to a church, for whatever reason.

This is the time when we focus on the birth of Christ. A time when, "The word became flesh and made His dwelling among us." (John 1:14)

It is a time to remember that God loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son so that we may have eternal life.

That is a great big Love. A love that we cannot even wrap our minds around.

During this season whether life, at the moment, is going great or you are having a tough time; remember these things.

God loves you.

Christ is with you.

Christ is the reason for the season.

Merry Christmas everyone & amy the blessing of God dwell in you richly.

Roger