Lutheran Grilled Cheese | Connecting God Moments with Everyday Life

Focus on Great Ideas

January 12, 2012 in Community with 0 Comments

As a society we are always searching for the next great idea. It doesn’t matter if it is the next great vacume cleaner or a new way to change the oil of your car – someone is sitting in a room right now trying to think what the next great idea is going to be.

When I was younger I wanted to be an inventor- I wanted to be the one with the great idea, I wanted to change the world with a new gadget or processor that would make life easier and more enjoyable.

I am finishing up my time with Steve Job’s biography. It has helped me to take a step back and look at my life. I have always had the problem of saying yes to things because I want to be involved and I want to be helpful. However, this has led me to take on too much and stretch myself in too many directions. Now I have the opportunity to take a serious and very difficult look at where I am going to be spending my time and attention and I am going to ask myself if what I am doing really matters or should I be focusing my time and energy on something else.

My hope is that as I focus myself on only a few projects and opportunities in my life that more and more great ideas will be flowing out of me. Instead of spending only a few hours preparing a Bible Study because I have 100 other things to do I want to spend 5-6 hours on the Bible Study and do it really well.

Here are seven ideas that have come from reading Steve Jobs biography and my reflection upon what I read after.

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The body of Christ

January 11, 2012 in Instagram with 0 Comments

via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/gPQfD/

Where Have You Seen God?

January 11, 2012 in Faith, God Moments, Receptivity of God with 0 Comments

It is a question that I ask my congregation every week at the beginning of our worship service. The question becomes a moment when people can share experiences that have happened throughout the week or weeks in which they have seen God active in their lives.

After asking this question for over a year and a half, Bethlehem, a small worshipping community with about 30 in attendance each week, is at the point were just about every week there are multiple stories, experiences, moments, joys and sometimes sorrows that are shared. Some of these are short, just a brief sentence. Some are long drawn out stories that took place over weeks or months. Some are personal experiences. Some are references to things seen or read about online or in the local news. Some are full of emotions, with the teller and many listeners on the verge of tears. Some are full of laughter. And yet each story is a way that a person has experienced God.

I have been asked to share with you, the Lutheran Grilled Cheese community, how this tradition and spiritual practice has developed, how Bethlehem and myself have struggled with this question and how this question “Where have you seen God?” has changed our faith lives. And I hope to challenge you and guide you as you take on this practice of asking yourself to identify where God is working in your lives over the next few months.

But first is all starts with asking the question: Where have you seen God?

My Three Words

January 7, 2012 in Blog Series, Family, Health, Miscellany with 0 Comments

After reading Chris Brogan’s post last year on three words replacing the traditional New Year’s Resolutions I was hooked. I picked Acceleration, Mindfulness, and Learning as my three words. I feel like they served me well throughout the year.

This year I have three words which are going to take my life and my family to the next level. Over the next three days I want to share them with you and more about what they are going to mean for me this year. I totally agree with Chris when he says “Resolutions are often too vague, or too directed towards one goal. It might be “quit smoking” or “lose 20 pounds” or “get hired.” These are all fine aspirations, but I challenge you to dig deeper, to find three words that could be used as lighthouses to guide you through stormy seas, that can be used as flags on the battlefield of your challenges, words that will bolster you and give you a direction that goes beyond the goals you might attach as a result of these words.”

So I have dug deep and I have prayed about and pondered what my three words will be for 2012. I will also take some action steps to properly executing and keeping focus on my words. I hope to have month-long goals but some might be longer and others shorter.

My 3 Words for 2012 are:

Happy Epiphany

January 6, 2012 in Faith, Holy Humor with 0 Comments

Matthew 2:8
He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

Are you Ready for Epiphany?

January 5, 2012 in Faith, Receptivity of God with 0 Comments

Are you ready for Epiphany?

Do you know the story of the wise men’s visit to Jesus?

I gave a quiz to my adult Bible study last month about the Christmas story to “test” their knowledge of the actual Biblical account of Jesus’ birth. One of the questions asked was “how many magi (wise men) visited Jesus?” Almost everyone said “three.” However, there is no indication in scripture of how many wise men actually visited Jesus. Also to the surprise of many of them, the wise men (however many there were) did not come to visit Jesus the night he was born. Their visit could have happened anywhere between one week and two years after Jesus’ birth.

Regardless of how many wise men came or when they actually came, what I have been thinking about this Epiphany is my journey with Jesus. The question I have been asking myself is, how do I see the light and how am I following it?

I love the season of Epiphany because of its focus on light. The star that the wise men follow symbolizes a new light in the world – Jesus Christ. They journey for days, weeks or even months to follow that light until they come upon the Christ Child.

I feel fortunate because since before I can remember my journey of faith has been an “easy” one. There have been times in my life when I have questioned what I believed. But I don’t ever remember questioning the existence of God – but my basic theological beliefs. I have been a “church going” person my whole life. I went to church while I was in college and I was very active in a religious group on campus.
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Advent in 2 Minuets

November 30, 2011 in Faith with 0 Comments

Free Personal Training

November 11, 2011 in Community, Health with 0 Comments

As I mentioned I have begun working out with a personal training at No Mercy Fitness. I have been working with No Mercy for about a month. I am meeting with them two times a week for 25 min a session. It is not necessarily the “full” workout that I have done in the past. They are not doing cardio with me — they are having me hit the weights pretty hard. Currently I am working on my back, which is part of my core so I can strengthen it for posture and support for the rest of my body.

Let me tell you, in the 25 min that I am there I am getting a work out! I did not think that I would have enough time to sweat but I do!!

They are also encouraging me to do cardio throughout the week and to work on my diet. With them I am building my muscle mass to help my metabolism in general I am trying to burn more calories than I am taking in.

Dieting is not rocket science — as someone who has been doing it for most of my life, I know what to do — I know what I should and should not eat. However, I am also someone who has not made good decisions when it comes to eating and working out. I don’t know why that has been true for me but I am working on it.

I have had three different people train me during my time at No Mercy, including Nikolai the owner of No Mercy. Currently (and hopefully forever) my trainer is Adam. He is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to working out, and eating right. He is also getting to know me and my body and what exercises work best. He is not afraid to change things up to keep my muscles guessing at what is coming next.

In an attempt to support me and the greater community, No Mercy is offering all of my readers free personal training! If you schedule an appointment with Nikolai to go in and check out No Mercy as well as talk with him about his philosophy in personal training he will give you two hours of personal training for free!! Then you will get first hand experience in what they can to do change your life — like they are changing mine. If you have any questions go to my Free Personal Training Page for more information.

Hope to see you there!

An Unexpected Communion

October 24, 2011 in Community, Faith, Receptivity of God with 0 Comments

This is a guest post by Johanna Johnson. She is a newly ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She currently serves St. Martin Lutheran Church and Bethlehem Lutheran Church in the Upstate New York Synod. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.

Having just taken on the pastorate for two congregations, I have been busy trying to acquaint myself with two very different congregations. One of the important tasks, of course, is to visit the shut-ins, who would like to meet their new pastor but are unable to come to church to do it. I diligently began this last week, visiting a handful of people in assisted living homes in the greater Rochester area.

One of my first was to a man about whom I knew nothing but his name, Larry. As I walked into the large building, confidently sporting my clerical collar, a man was walking out. He was wearing old jeans and ragged green sweatshirt, and the man, who looked to be about in his 60s, looked as if he had walked some tough roads. “Are you preachin’?” he asked, his speech slightly slurred. I said no, not today, I was bringing communion to someone. He asked if I was from the church down the street, and I explained that I was from a Lutheran church in another suburb. “Lutheran!” he said. “I grew up Lutheran! Baptized, confirmed, and went to church every Sunday and Wednesday!” We chatted about that for a while, before he grew tired of the conversation and went on his way. But as I went in and met Larry, the man came back. “I have to tell you something!” he said, with urgency. “When you lock your car, when it’s in your garage and you lock your doors, you’re locking Jesus out of your life.” No sure how to respond to this, I muttered, “Oh…” and thanked him for offering me this advice. We parted ways once again.

As Larry and I found seats in a common area, and I began to get to know him, I also began to wonder what this place was. I had expected senior living, but everyone I saw looked middle-aged or younger, and each one seemed to carry a burden of some sort. Larry was pleasant enough, but slurred his speech, and couldn’t seem to finish the same sentence he started. I wondered if this was a rehab center, or perhaps a home for mentally ill adults. (I later learned it was the latter.) Whatever the case, these were adults who were not readily accepted by the general population. They were the outcasts, the people you avoid on the street, the folks with whom you avoid making eye contact. Being there in the midst of them, my heart felt a deep need to love them.

Angry Birds and Faith

October 21, 2011 in Faith, Receptivity of God with 0 Comments

I love Angry Birds. This past summer I took my iphone to the Apple Store because of a faulty volume switch. Even though I was eleven days out of warranty they gave me a new phone, which was great! However, all of the work I have done on my games the previous year were gone, including getting three stars on every level in Angry Birds. I spent hours upon hours flinging different color birds at wood, ice, stone, and green pigs to reach the ultimate .

Trying to regain my Angry Birds Crown I have played Angry Birds starting from level one. I have learned important faith lessons. Here are three important faith lessons on how Angry Birds has helped me become a better follower of Jesus.

1. The Levels are always the same

Like the books of the Bible the levels on Angry Birds are always the same. However, every time I play a level I learn something news about it — just like when I read the Bible. I can read 1 Timothy 4: 12 ”Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” and I can interpret that passage many ways, it all depends on where I am at in my life, what I am thinking about, what I am reading and what my view on the world is currently. On Angry Birds, I see different levels a different way every time I play. There is a different angle I can use with my yellow bird – or I can use the black bird another way. But John 3: 16 is always going to be John 3:16 no matter how I look at it and Angry Birds 3-16 is always going to be

2. I need to seek help when I get stuck

I have gotten stuck many times playing Angry Birds. Sometimes I feel lucky to get even one star on a level!! When I get stuck I have tried to look up hints online or through another app. Continue Reading…