Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Turkey and Chicken

It has been a little while since I've posted.  The tryptophan from my turkey this past Thursday must have gotten to me.  So in honor of thanksgiving I present to you the things for which I am thankful this year.

Mostly, I am thankful for the fantastic opportunities with which God has blessed me.  I have had the chance to learn the basics (and I do mean really basic) of several trades.  I've taught a blind man archery.  I have almost completely worked my way out of my day job and into my dream job (big shout out to Jon Acuff and his book Quitter for that).  God has also blessed me with the wonderful opportunity to lead worship with my dad each week at Ringwood Baptist Church.  

God has blessed me so richly!

But a few days ago someone mentioned to me that they were so amazed at the things that I'm doing in my life.  They went on and on about how wonderful it was that I was becoming a missionary and how they wished they could do the things that I do, see God moving the way I see Him moving, and be a part of God's big plan.

This came from a man who has been a Christian for years.  Many years.  More years than I have even been alive.

It made me sad that this man was so darn chicken.  It struck me that there may be just as many people who are afraid of God's goodness and blessings of success in their life as there are people who are afraid of God's wrath and believe that God is out there to make us miserable.

In reaction, I first wished he would realize that I haven't done anything on my own.  God said "Go".  So I went.  God said, "Speak".  So I spoke.  God said, "Do".  So I did.  I don't have any secret formula for prayer.  I don't have a red phone with God on the other side.  I don't have any sort of special blessing from God.  I'm not anything more than a man.  I just obey.  And even that I don't do half as much as I know I should or half as well as I'd like!

Second, I wished he would realize that he can be seeing God work in his life and in the lives of those around him.  How?  Obey.  Now I'm not saying that everyone out there should go into full time mission work.  And I'm not saying that everyone will or even should have the same experiences along their life-journey with God.  But what I am saying is that the shock and awe of hearing that God is still alive and kickin' Should. Not. Be.

So, to you my readers.  I pose a few questions:

1.  What God-borne experience are you thankful to God for this year?
2.  If you haven't experienced anything in the last year that was definitely from God, are you ready for change?
3.  What is preventing you or hindering you from growing closer to God and being a part of his story?

In an apropos attempt to be witty Post-Thanksgiving, I'll conclude this post with a flock of foul/fowl puns.

- Don't be a turkey - God doesn't call us to be fools, he call us to be as shrewd as serpents and gentle as doves. 
- Don't be a chicken - The most common commandment in the Bible is "Fear not!"
- Remember that un-pheasant circumstances are no excuse to grouse to your spouse.  It isn't worth the squab-le or all the hen-ing and hawk-ing.
- If you feel cooped up, stuck in a rut, seek God, listen, and obey.
- When God gives you a chance to work, pigeon (pitch in) and do your part.
- Trust God - Sometimes if feels like you are flying by the seat of your pants or are living on a wing and a prayer, but God holds firm and knows eggs-actly what he is doing.



Wednesday, November 14, 2012

What the Church Can Learn From IKEA

Amanda and I went to IKEA recently to buy a sofa table for our living room.  As we were shopping, and this might sound weird, I thought that there were definitely some things that churches can learn from IKEA.  This idea struck me so intensely that I told Amanda on the spot that I was going to write a new blog post all about this.  But, much like if you come up with an idea for a new invention, you need to check out if there is anyone who already had the same idea.

Apparently there is a whole slew of people out in the blogosphere who have had the same thought.  IKEA has got it right!

So I began reading some of the posts and they make some great points.  But no one else's blog really touched on the thing that really hit me so directly while we walked past all that strangely named furniture.

People from every nationality, every background, every color, everyone, and I mean everyone is welcome at IKEA.  While shopping we saw men, women, and children of all shapes, sizes and colors.  We passed Caucasians and African Americans looking for new bedroom furniture.  We passed Hasidic Jews and Muslims looking to update their bathroom.  We passed families speaking Spanish and Russian deciding on which couch to buy.  It didn't matter if you were fit & trim or overweight, tall or short, extrovert or introvert.  You knew that you could go in and find a piece of furniture you loved.

Any yet with the incredible diversity that exists at IKEA, they never stop being the crazy-awesome Swedish furniture makers that they are.

When you read the label on the couch that you are looking to buy, the tag will probably have more umlauts than you can count.  Swedish?  Survey says, yes!  When you walk into the food court (which if you haven't been there, go now...  I'll wait till you get back......) you can have some of the best Swedish meatballs this side of the Atlantic, pickled salmon Lox, and lingonberry juice.  Swedish?  You bet!

Churches need to be welcoming to everyone, because we have something to offer to everyone.  However just because we invite people from every background into our churches and into our lives, that doesn't mean that we should compromise who we are as Christians or what we believe.

In America (and much of Europe) many people have a negative (or very negative) view of churches.  But when you ask those same people about Jesus Christ, most have very favorable reactions.  The Swedish-ness of IKEA is a huge part of the appeal.  The same principle applies in our churches.  Christ and our Christlike-ness should be enticing people into our churches.  If we are not seeing healthy growth in our Churches and in our own lives maybe we aren't living our lives like Christ lived.

So, Christians, live like IKEA.  Be who God has made you to be and call others to join you on your journey!

Friday, November 9, 2012

Just a quick note.

Today and tomorrow I'll be heading out to Shiloh to get some more construction done. If anyone would like to come tomorrow Saturday 11/10 please let me know and we will find some projects for you!

Also, I'd like to let everyone know that they can subscribe to this blog and receive all updates directly.  Simply click the at the top right of the blog that says "Join this site".

Lastly, don't forget to check out my last post entitled "What is your 'Sandy' story?".

What is your "Sandy" story?

It's been a while since I've posted, but so much has gone on since then.  In the last two weeks we had Hurricane Sandy, lost power for about a week (my thoughts are with those who still have no power or worse),  gas rationing was put into effect in NJ, we had an earthquake right here in Ringwood (only a 2.2, but come on... really?!?), and then we got hit by a nor'easter named Athena.

Things have been crazy.  But things are finally starting to return to a state of normalcy.

One of the most important lessons that I learned over this week comes from our 26 year old refrigerator which has been on its last legs for a while now.

Amanda and I have always kept our fridge very well stocked.  When the power went out we kept the door shut and hoped that we would get power back quickly so nothing would rot.

Over the next few days Amanda and I spent very little time at home.  However the food continued to stay in the fridge.  Without the power it started to stink.  The meat, frozen strawberries, and frozen blueberries all began to thaw and the juices proceeded to drip down and out the back of the freezer.  The smell when Amanda and I returned from my parent's house was nauseating.

We called our landlord in and explained the situation.  "The fridge is still working, but not terribly well and quite frankly, we're not sure if that smell will ever go away."  Our landlord understood and told us that they would be buying a new refrigerator for us very shortly.  Since then we've cleaned up the fridge as best as we could and just last night, we restocked our fridge.

What really amazed me is that even after spending quite a bit of money restocking, our fridge is quite a bit leaner than it was prior to the power outage.

You are probably wondering, "Ok Tim, but what does this have to do with anything at all."  Here goes!

Our lives are like the refrigerator.  We fill our lives with so much stuff.  Some of the stuff is physical: TV's books, clothing, big houses, sometimes even food.  Other stuff is time related: football practices, choir rehearsals, overtime at work, prayer meetings, bible studies, nights out at the bar.

Whatever you fill your life with, I'd put money on it that you are overfilled.  Eventually whatever your energy source is, there will be a cut in power.  I hate to say it but even if you are seeking God as your energy source, we have the capacity to cut ourselves off from his power by sinning.  When we sin it is like building up a wall between us and God.  So again, I say, eventually whatever your energy source is, there will be a cut in power.  And when that power is out you need to be careful that you only have what you need in your fridge.  Because the rest will start to rot.

Like I said, after power was finally restored we needed to restock with all new food, but we have WAY less than we did before.  We only have what we need now.  Recently Amanda and I removed some activities from our life that we simply did not have time for any longer.  Why?  Because we have more room for our relationship.  We made more room for one of the essentials.

Cleaning the refrigerator also took a while.  Amanda scrubbed the inside clean and I worked on cleaning up the tray of foul smelling juice that leaked from the meat and fruit in the freezer.  Eventually the smell dissipated, but making the foulest clean is a time consuming job.  When Christ comes into our lives and we need to clean house (or fridge in this case) it takes time to clean up the mess.  Our fridge however is now clean.

Lastly, and this might be stretching the analogy to its maximum, we will be getting a new refrigerator.  Eventually, in the resurrection, God says that we will receive new bodies.  The promise of a perfect new refrigerator is pretty awesome, but the promise of a perfect new body free from blemish in the future sounds even better.

It might be sin, it might just be stuff to do, or it might just be stuff, but is there anything you need to clean out of your life right now?

Also, I'd love to hear some of your stories about the last two weeks with hurricanes, earthquakes, power outages, nor'easters, and whatever else has been going on.  What has God been teaching you through these trying times?  If you write up something good I might even use it as a guest post!  You can leave your thoughts in the comments or you can e-mail us at thedumontsatshiloh@gmail.com.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Hurricane Sandy

If you haven't been directly impacted by the trouble caused by Hurricane Sandy, you have likely seen the devastation on TV.  From pictures of the Seaside Heights roller coaster in the Atlantic Ocean to images of parts of LBI that simply no longer exist (the island is now multiple smaller islands!) the damage really is incredible.

Here in north Jersey we had it a bit better.  We have lots of trees down and loss of power, but all things considered we are very well off in comparison to the shore points.

After the storm, however, the temperature dropped quite a bit.  And without power, many people were without heat.  Amanda and I lost power at 6:35 on Monday night.  We stayed home, played board games, and went to bed a little early.  Tuesday we got a hold of my parents and found out that they had power! So we packed up some necessities and headed on over.  Thank God for warmth and showers!

While we were there my mother and I were discussing how we might be able to help the people who were affected by the storm.  I mentioned that there are probably people in the Pequanock area that are flooded, but how could we help them? We even looked around on the Red Cross website.  After some consideration we said, "What about the people in our town?  There are people with no power.  There are mothers who can't cook a hot meal for their children.  There are senior citizens with no heat and are cold and lonely."

We called our Pastor at Ringwood Baptist Church and asked him if we could cook some food for the local residents with no power.  He was on board and contacted the Police Chief who helped get the word out through the town's emergency phone call system.  Pastor Peters also posted some signs around town.  I got to work on Facebook letting anyone know that we had a free hot meal, phone charging, warmth and good conversation.  Amanda set out to send text messages to anyone that she could get a hold of as well.

When Wednesday rolled around we got to work early, prepping food, setting up tables, putting out board games, laying out coloring books for the children, and working hard to continue to get the word out.  At 11 when our doors opened no one showed up and it was a little disappointing.  Around noon we started to get a few folks here and there.  Encouraging, but not what I had hoped for, though one man who came in was a very talented musician and stayed nearly the entire night playing piano and guitar (with me for a while) for the people who came.  Throughout the day groups of 2 to 4 people would come in once in a while, but around 5pm people started pouring into the church.  We had families with as many as 5 children.  We had teens with Halloween costumes.  We had elderly couples looking for a warm place to stay for a few hours.  We had single people who were lonely and just wanted to connect with someone after being home alone in the dark all day.  We also had some young men who were out all day cleaning up downed trees and really just wanted a hot meal.

All in all we estimate that more than 100 folks came in for some food and warmth.

God really helped us connect with our neighbors and serve them.  I pray that God will continue to allow us to bless our community and show us new ways to reach out and show the love of Jesus.

I would also like to write a special thanks to my father, John DuMont who spent the ENTIRE day in the kitchen from 9 am to 8 pm.  He was cooking and cleaning and on his feet all day (all this knowing that he had to leave for work at 4am the next morning!).  So, Dad, thank you for your hard work, and thank you for your loving service to our community.