Friday Funnies (Merry Christmas!)

Merry Christmas!  I hope today is a happy day for your family.  Here are some holiday funnies to start your weekend off right:

10 Random Things to Know About Pastors

Great blog post from my cousin, Ron Edmondson. Check him out at ronedmondson.com. Pretty much every one of these apply to me as well. 

I’ve learned pastors are often misunderstood. Especially by people who haven’t known a pastor personally, but we can really be misunderstood by many people. It’s surely a unique vocation. I can’t speak for all pastors. And, certainly – maybe since I was in secular work longer than I’ve been a pastor – I’m not typical.

But, I suspect I’m not completely abnormal either.

Here are 10 random things to know about pastors.

These are true for me, but I suspect they may be for your pastor too.

The temptations you face – I face. I’m not immune from temptation. I’m human. You shouldn’t be surprised when I make mistakes. I need lots of grace. I should be held accountable, but ultimately I’m accountable to God – just as you are.

The larger the church gets – the less I know about anything. But, this can be true of any church size where other people are empowered to lead. Ask me anything. I may or may not have an answer. Sometimes, however, you save both of us time if you email the staff or volunteer leader more likely to know – but I can always forward an email.

The better the message – the longer it takes me to prepare it. There are rare exceptions to this for me. If I am going to have a descent message I will have to take time away from other responsibilities to prepare. This could mean I’m not everywhere you hoped I would be.

Even though I’m teaching it – I may not yet have mastered it. Hopefully I’m working on it, but I teach the whole counsel of God – the Bible – and I’m still a work in progress in many areas of it.

I get nervous every time I start to preach – sometimes sick to my stomach nervous. If you didn’t notice – well, glad I’m getting better at covering. But, you do me a tremendous blessing if you whisper a prayer as I step up to preach.

Sunday is not the only day I work. Honestly! And, preaching is not all I do. I actually work 6 long days a week and even when I’m off or out of town, I’m often working. But, Sunday does come around quickly.

Your story probably won’t surprise me. I am never callous towards it, but I’ve probably heard similar or worse. And, I’m still going to love you.

To my family I’m usually not a pastor – just a husband and dad. And, I like that. I even like to be “just a friend” sometimes.

If you tell me something on Sunday morning – you probably should back it up with an email to remind me. My mind is distracted and I will forget. And, if it can wait until Monday – even better.

I can relate to you better than you think. I like to have a good time. Some would say I’m funny. I even know how to laugh. I don’t even have to be quoting Scripture to do so. We have struggles in our life too. Lots of them. And, the more you see me as a regular person, the more I can relate to the struggles you face and your friends who are afraid to come to church – partly because they think I’m not.

7 Facts You Didn't Know About Pearl Harbor

Sure, we all know the date and the famous quote (Dec. 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy") and, of course, the implications and significance (more than 2,000 Americans were killed in the attack, which launched the U.S. into World War II). But below are seven facts that may not be so obvious about Pearl Harbor.

1. Most of the battleships sunk that day were resurrected.

Of the eight battleships targeted during the attacks, all but two were eventually repaired and returned to the U.S. Navy's fleet. The USS West Virginia and the USS California had both sunk completely, but the Navy raised them, repaired them and reused them.

Furthermore, bullet holes and damage from the attacks can be seen to this day at many of the active military installations on Oahu, including Schofield Barracks, Wheeler Army Airfield and Hickam Army Air Field. Rather than being repaired or covered up, the bullet holes serve as a reminder of the lives lost that day and as motivation for our military to stand strong still.

2. Veterans of the attack can be laid to rest at Pearl Harbor.

Survivors of the attack have the option to join their lost comrades and make Pearl Harbor their final resting place. Crew members who served on board the USS Arizona during the attack -- the ship that experienced the most devastating damage -- may choose to have their ashes deposited by divers beneath one of the sunken Arizona's gun turrets. Roughly 30 Arizona survivors have chosen this option and less than a dozen of the 355 survivors are still living. Other military survivors can choose to have their ashes scattered wherever their ship was located during the attacks.

3. The USS Arizona still leaks fuel.

The day before the attacks, the USS Arizona took on a full load of fuel, nearly 1.5 million gallons. Much of that fuel helped ignite the explosion and subsequent fires that destroyed the ship, but -- amazingly -- some fuel continues to seep out of the wreckage. According to the History Channel, the Arizona "continues to spill up to 9 quarts of oil into the harbor each day" and visitors often say it is as if the ship were still bleeding.

4. Service members stationed in Hawaii took care of the memorial during the 2013 government shutdown. 

Service members stationed in Hawaii treat Pearl Harbor as a living memorial and have been known to rally around it when times are tough. In October 2013, for instance, when the U.S. government shut down for more than two weeks, no one was around to take care of the memorial site. A group of service members and their families spontaneously gathered to tend to the abandoned site, raking, weeding and mowing the overgrown grass. Their message to all veterans, they said, was: "We haven't forgotten about you. We will not forget about you."

5. Many tourists from Japan come to visit the memorial:

While most people can tell you that the Japanese were responsible for the attacks on Pearl Harbor, not everyone realizes that the Japanese now visit the memorial in droves. Japan, now one of America's strongest allies, is the largest source of international tourists to the state of Hawaii. Japanese visitors pay their respects at Pearl Harbor just as Americans do; ironically, the state's economic vitality today depends largely on tourism from Japan.

6. A baby girl's remains still lie entombed within a sunken battleship.

A crew member of the USS Utah had been storing an urn containing his daughter's ashes in his locker onboard, planning to scatter them at sea, but the Dec. 7 attack prevented him from ever doing so. Sixty-four men died aboard the USS Utah that day, and many of their bodies remain entombed within its sunken hull. The baby girl, who had died at birth, was finally honored with a funeral at the USS Utah Memorial at Pearl Harbor in 2003.

7. There's a huge oil plume beneath the harbor.

An estimated 5 million gallons of spilled fuel -- or nearly half the volume of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska -- has been collecting in a large underground plume beneath Pearl Harbor for decades. Though the plume, which lies beneath the main gate of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, is approximately 20 acres, or 15 football fields, in size, the Navy maintains that it is currently stable and not a threat to drinking water. 

Remember Pearl Harbor

I’ve had a lot of pastors and church staff members ask me, “How can we do a better job of developing volunteer leadership?”

Well, let me answer that question with a question.

Do you remember Pearl Harbor? The surprise attack on the U.S. Navy base in Hawaii that took the lives of over 2,400 Americans and incited the United States to join World War II.

It happened on December 7, 1941 at 7:55am. Exactly 74 years ago today.

As soon as word spread that Pearl Harbor was struck, there was an immediate flood of navy yard workers who volunteered to relocate to Pearl Harbor. See the pic below...

In addition, tons of men felt inspired to volunteer for military service when they got word of the attack.

Even today, the volunteerism continues.

There’s a Pacific Aviation Museum in Pearl Harbor that pays honor to those who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor.

It’s ran by volunteers.

The USS Arizona Memorial gives historical information about the attack. It, too, honors those who lost their lives. Over two million people visit it annually.

It’s maintained primarily by volunteers.

So what's the secret? The event of the attack on Pearl Harbor turned pacifists into card carrying, gun-toting GI's. It was that "Day which will live in infamy", as FDR called it, that motivated everyone to get behind a war effort which the United States desired to remain neutral. But when you're attacked? Neutrality goes out the window. When your back is against the wall? You've got to volunteer.

At oneChurch.tv, we have to remind everyone that we are in a war. Not a war of flesh and blood, as Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12. We are in a war in which the casualties are the folks who choose NOT to go to church. Of a people who think, "Go to Church? I am not a churched person? Why would I go to church?" 

We all work in communities or cities where, for the most part, people think that Church is for ChurchedPeople. They do. It’s true. In this community, people think that church is for churched people. The reason why unchurched people don’t go to church is because they believe church is for churched people. “Why would I go to church? Church is for churched people!’

But I don’t believe that. In fact, I believe you don’t believe that. But we live in a world that believes church is for churched people. That just drives me crazy. I know that church isn’t for churched people because that would mean Christianity is for churched people, which means that Jesus came for churched people and there wasn’t even a church when He came! We know that’s not what this is all about.

Unfortunately, (and you know who’s fault it is—its our fault) Unfortunately we live in a culture that believes that church is for churched people. And yet, we live in a country that people really do believe about God. People really do want to have a connection with God. The problem is not God, the problem has been the church. Yet I believe that church is the connection between people and God. The Body of Christ should be the equation of connecting people with God.

It drives me crazy that people want to connect with God, but because they have had such a bad experience in church, they just don’t want to go to church.

Every day, 125,274 people in Clarksville don't go to church anywhere. 88% of our community would rather stay home on Sunday because they don't believe that church has anything to offer. 

In our community and thousands of other communities all across America, there is a hunger for God, but the church gets in the way. And I would give the rest of my life to change that, because I love God and I love the church. Jesus said, “The way I’m going to get the world’s attention is that I am going to establish My church, and nothing is going to stop it.” But for some crazy reason, church history shows us over and over again how the church has gotten I the way of people connecting with God.

I believe that church should be the magnet that draws people to God—not an impediment. We ought to be irresistible.

I don’t want to play church. I don’t want to lead people around in a circle and keep people happy. Keep the pictures straight on the wall and argue over paint. I want to look back over this next year and se people’s lives changed. I am on a mission to get the church out of the margins of society, and to change the reputation of the local church. To make it irresistible, because Jesus was irresistible. If we’re His body, we should have the same magnetism. People should be able to walk in here on Sunday morning and say, “I don’t believe it. I don’t like it, but I’m coming back. I don’t agree with it. I didn’t even understand all of it, but I like those people. They are so weird, but they are the finest people I have ever been with. I felt more accepted by that group of people that I disagree with than I do feel accepted by the people I do agree with. There’s just something about them.” That is how Jesus was. That is why sinners liked to be around Him. They liked Him and yet they were nothing like Him.

That is our charge. Our mission. That is the bar. And where that doesn’t happen, we have to change it. And when we cast that vision? That people who are far from God can have a changed life? People can and will come out of the woodwork and do some amazing things... because they are willing to volunteer for a cause in which they believe.

Friday Funnies

Today is the first Friday of December!  Yay!!  Hope you've had a good week. Here are 3 funny pictures that will help you start your weekend with a laugh.