Saturday, March 10, 2007

Race for the Cure


I personally know several women for have survived and are dealing with breast cancer: members of our church, moms in our youth group, friends. This disease must be fought. I think it is part of our imperative as the body of Christ on earth to do all we can to bring the kingdom of God to our world. Eradicating disease is part of that. We want to support God's work in our world. We want to support our friends and moms who have suffered. We want to stand with our brothers and sisters for a cure. Here is what I propose: as a church family, lets get involved with Race for the Cure on Sunday, April 15. We will enter a contemporary worship or general church team. We can enter a youth team and a young adult team. You guys can organize your own teams at school, work, or among friends or neighbors.
Go to the Race website for all the details. I will also have brochures next Sunday (March 18). If you can't be on a team, volunteer! Info for that is also at the website, or you can call 319-0155. We will have one service that day, 11am, after the Race activities are over and as a celebration of our efforts, and the hope that God can give this world!
The Race is April 15. If you would like to be part of helping coordinate Catalina's efforts, let me know! Just email me at richard@catumc.org or phone me 403-2403, or see me at church.

I don't want to talk about it...really.



I came home Thursday afternoon to work at the house and to watch the U of A first round game in the Pac-10 tournament. I shouldn't have bothered. They played terribly and lost by 19. You know, I can take them losing if I don't see it. Well, I saw it. And I may be scarred for life. Lets all hope that the NCAA tournament goes better.

This photo really says it all...

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Me? Rich?

I was reading Luke 16.19-31 today, the story Jesus told of the rich man and Lazarus. Normally, I would indentify with Lazarus. I'm not rich, am I? I don't ignore the needs of people around me, do I? I am a needy person, aren't I? But today, I thought that maybe I am the rich man. I do have so much. I do need to be much more concerned about people in need around me. I need to be much more diligent about the use of my resources and much more aware of justice issues. The cost of being the indifferent rich man is high. Read the story.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Starting Over: Forgiving Others

This is our theme for this Sunday in our Lenten study "Starting Over". We must forgive other people to be free from our past and therefore able to start over. Below are our Scriptures for Sunday. Take a look at them and ask yourself, "What does this teach me about forgiveness?".
The worship bulletin for March 11 with notes is HERE.

Ephesians 4.32

Matthew 6.9-15

Matthew 18.21-35

Colossians 3.13

Luke 6.37

Luke 23.32-34

Wildcat Basketball!!


When I first moved here to Tucson, I didn't understand the fervor of the U of A fans, nor did I understand the great tradition in the Arizona basketball program. But for the last 4 years or so, I have followed the Wildcats religiously. I watch every game unless it is impossible. I know who the players are. I want them to win and I am upset when they lose. They are the ONLY team I care about in the NCAA tournament, and once they are out, I pretty much stop watching. I have no idea who won last year and I didn't watch the championship game.
After a really rocky patch this season, I am very happy that the Wildcats have won their last two games. I hope they can win at least one, and hopefully two, games in the Pac-10 tournament, so they will look strong going into NCAA tournament selection. I don't want them to have to play a top seed at the beginning of the tournament. The next game is Thursday at 12:20pm and I will be in front of my TV to watch it.
Check out Arizona Athletics. Ivan Radenovic's (see photo) 37 points against Stanford was phenomenal, especially his 11-11 free throw shooting which pretty much decided the game.

online prayer chapel

I like going to this online prayer chapel. You can click to add a candle and a prayer request. These requests are then read and prayed for all over the world. You might make it a practice to visit this site and just pray for other people. Since these are people you don't know, and you can in no way receive anything back, this would be a good way to do something really selfless.

Do you know what's on your ipod?

Today as I began my treadmill workout, I couldn't decide what to listen to, so I chose "shuffle songs". I didn't even know this was an option until a couple of months ago I had a conversation with Jim Caldwell. I mentioned that most of the stuff on my ipod I had never listened to. He replied that it was for that reason (having music you never listen to) that he put his ipod on random play. So, inspired this morning, or bored by my usual choices, I chose "shuffle songs". Here is what I heard:
The Voice of the Irish by Jeff Johnson
The Air that I Breathe by The Hollies
You Know How I Do by Taking Back Sunday
Winter Wonderland by Steve Taylor (a mariachi version--that's right)
Countin' on a Miracle by Bruce Springsteen
Hells Bells by AC/DC

Monday, March 05, 2007

I got drilled!

Last Thursday night as I flossed, something hard came out of my mouth. It was two small pieces of what looked to be tooth material. My dentist doesn't work on Friday, but I was in no pain, so that was OK. I went in this morning. My mind was reeling. What if I have to have a root canal and/or a crown? What would be the worst part: the fear? the cost? the pain? What if this is one of my two (I think) remaining wisdom teeth and the dentist recommends getting it pulled? That was fun last time. Or maybe it will be OK. Maybe it is a filling that came out. Maybe the dentist will just plug me up with a filling. You see, I am really afraid of the dentist. (For no good reason, actually.) What happened was that I had broken a tooth, but it could be fixed with a filling. But I had to get drilled. So there was novacaine, etc. I felt no pain at all in the chair, but after I got home, it started up. It has pretty much subsided now, but it was pretty bad there for an hour or two. You could make a horror movie out of stuff like this.
But I'll tell you one thing: there's nothing like a dentist appointment to make me pray. And pray hard, and fervently, and long! So maybe that was the good side of this.

Leaving Regrets Behind

Peter and Judas were both people who felt bitter regrets. Judas betrayed Christ to the authorities, and Peter denied that he even knew Jesus. The Scriptures tell us that both suffered bitter regrets from these actions (Matthew 26.69-27.5). But Peter and Judas had different responses. Judas was so overcome by his guilt and regret that he took his life. Peter stayed with the disciples and kept going. John 21 records the first one-on-one encounter between Jesus and Peter after his denial. The biggest thing that I notice is that Jesus did not berate Peter at all. Jesus didn't start with the "after all I've done for you..." speech. Jesus simply asked him "What's it going to be?". Are you going to follow me or not? Jesus had obviously let go of Peter's past and he invited Peter to do the same. And we know from history that Peter did.
Try this (we did this in worship Sunday): Get a piece of paper and a pen. Take time to think and pray and write down regrets you have--your "if onlys". If only I hadn't said... If only I had said... If only I had spent more time... If only I had made a different decision...
After you've got a list, give them to God. We brought them to a cross in an act of contrition in worship, but you can simply pray, "God, I give these regrets to you. I know you have let them go, help me to let them go." And then tear up your list.
Jesus was more interested in what Peter was going to do than in what he had done. Jesus had work for Peter. Jesus wants us to follow him also. Put down the past and focus on following.