Outreach Magazine

Several years ago, encouraged by a fellow minister, I subscribed to Outreach Magazine.  Basically it seeks to be what the title says: it wants to help churches figure out ways to reach their communities for Christ.  For that it should be commended.

Eventually, though, I let me subscription drop, but they continue to send it to me. I just don't get a lot out of it.  Over time I've figure out that they have two target audiences:  1)the large church which can afford the time, money, and staff to try many different things and 2)the hipster church plant targeted towards 30-somethings that has nothing to lose (sidenote...every person they picture looks like he just stepped out of a Aeropostale ad, even though some run into their 50s).  For churches like the one I work with, older churches that have been in decline for a number of years (that is, most churches in the United States), it has very little to say.  Yes, once in awhile it will have an interesting idea or an example of what another church did, but even most of their ideas run gimmicky.  This month gave snippets about a guy who came back to church because the church next door had a fireworks display, back-to-school giveaways for teachers and kids in poor communities, and a church that formed a running club.  Oh, and of course there were the numerous advertisements for seminary educations for the real world, books that would Change Your Ministry Forever, software programs to get your administration running smoothly, God's word coming alive through the Action Bible, and Inspiring and Powerful Guest Speakers who will entertain your audience. Not exactly the same stuff as members sharing the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ or about the powerful Holy Spirit of God.

This month is also their Small Church annual (?) issue, in which they give words of advice from their expert writers (most of whom work at megachurches) that comfort us poor benighted souls stuck with small churches.  "Do we measure ourselves as healthy?"  "Are our metrics beyond a numbers obsessions?"  "Do we celebrate our creativity and involvement and innovation?"  Blah blah blah.  Heard it before, probably in last years' issue.  Basically they don't have anything to say beyond just "hang in there, God loves you too!"  I guess they need something to contrast with their annual Megachurch issue where they (no, really) list the largest and fastest growing congregations in the country and profile many of the hipster pastors who lead them.  But in this month's issue what was most telling was their section giving small church profiles.  Quickly I noticed a trend: in the nine churches profiled, EIGHT were planted within the last five years.  The ninth has been around since 1943, has grown to five different sites in San Diego, and runs 225 people...far more than the national church average, and probably placing it in the top 20% of churches...not exactly small by most church standards.

If there is a real benefit to this magazine, it's that it makes me realize how much I love little churches like the one I am blessed to work with.  We may not be hip, and we certainly do have our problems, but we do have an existence that is a little bit longer than last week.  I desperately want it to grow, but I'd better look elsewhere for ideas on how to do this.  I'm sure there are a lot of people who get a lot out of Outreach.  But for me, I'd wish they'd change their name to Megachurch Gimmicks and Church Planting Catalogue.  Might not get quite the publication numbers, but at least the title would be a bit more honest.

Political grace

          Today I finished re-reading Philip Yancey’s wonderful 1997 book ‘What’s So Amazing About Grace?’  It had been a number of years since I had read it, but as I was reading it struck me how much his thinking has affected my own over the years, and how we both have lamented much of the ‘un-grace’ that has characterized Christians and the Church in my lifetime. 

          Near the end of the book Yancey takes aim at political Christians, primarily conservatives, who have sought to equate the Kingdom of God with the Kingdom of the United States.  Because we have sought to legislate so much about what people can and cannot do with their lives, even as we have been increasingly screaming about how much we want to get Big Government out of our lives, much of the world looks at our witness as being about small-minded moralistic fervor.  Years before the book came out called UnChristian that spoke of how young people look at Christians as judgmental, hateful, and homophobic, Yancey related story after story of the un-grace of Christians against Bill Clinton and others in government and society; I’m sure if he was to update this book today he could really dig into the Obama haters of the world. 

          One section he wrote really is as relevant today as it was 16 years ago (just replace the names of the ‘important’ issues then with what some are screaming about today):

Stephen Carter offers good counsel about political activism: to be effective, ‘gracious’ Christians must be wise in the issues to support or oppose….

          What about today?  Are we choosing our battles wisely?  Obviously, abortion, sexual issues, and the definitions of life and death are issues worthy of our attention.  Yet when I read the literature produced by evangelicals in politics I also read about gun rights, abolishing the Department of Education, the NAFTA trade agreements, the Panama Canal treaty, and term limits for Congress.  A few years back I heard the president of the National Association of Evangelicals include in his list of top ten concerns, ‘Repeal of the capital gains tax.’  Too often the agenda of conservative religious groups matches line for line the agenda of conservative politics and does not base its priorities on a transcendent source.  Like everyone else, evangelicals have a right to present arguments on all the issues, by the moment we present them as part of some ‘Christian’ platform we abandon our high moral ground….

          All too often in their forays into politics Christians have proved ‘wise as doves’ and ‘harmless as serpents’—exactly the opposite of Jesus’ precept.  If we expect society to take seriously our contribution, then we must show more wisdom in our choices.

Freedom to annoy

One of the more memorable scenes from Team America: World Police was a montage of 'Merica...F___ Yeah! in which the song goes with stuff (in other countries) getting blown up.  Sure, it's a movie filled with a lot of terrible language but one of the messages of the movie, a mockery of thinking that we can blow up whatever it is we want to blow up whenever we want to, speaks to the feeling we have as America.  Our freedom means that others just need to shut up when they don't like what we do.  

I got to thinking about that tonight because we are in that time of the year when inevitably my daughter will come running into our room at night a few hours after we put her to bed.  Why?  Because some fool is out in the street shooting off fireworks, and it's all about FREEDOM (I can hear Mel Gibson screaming out as his nuts are chopped off as I write that).  We celebrate our freedom from the tea-tax bullies from Britain by blowing stuff up, sometimes our own hands.  

I used to be one of those people who had the 'Merica, F___ Yeah!' attitude about life.  We're free, we're Americans, and nobody is gonna tell us what we can and can't do, whether within our own borders or outside as well.  I used to be all about freedom: free markets, freedom for guns, freedom to live however we want to.  

But as I've gotten a bit older, and hopefully more mature, I've realized that in a country of 300 million people that my freedom has limitations.  I don't have the right to always do what I want to do.  The 299,999,999 other people who call this place home have an interest in my life, and I have an interest in theirs.  Thus maybe it's not such a great idea that we blow up fireworks outside of houses when people in those houses have to get up at 4:15am to go to work.  Sure, YOU may get your jollies by doing that, but it's not so pleasant being woken up by either the fireworks or by an already sleep-deprived daughter.  

So we recognize this.  The fireworks only last for a week.  We limit smoking inside buildings.  We stop selling high-capacity gun clips to people who are likely to go onto murderous rampages.  We don't allow people to scream 'FIRE!' in a crowded theater.  Somewhere along the way, we have a bit of common sense, limiting some of our freedom for the common good.  

Freedom ain't free, but it ain't unlimited, either.  

Minor League parks I've been to

As I was mowing in 95 degree heat I also got to thinking about some of the minor league parks I've been to over the years.  It's not as long and varied as the major league list, but there are still some good memories here, even if they are incomplete.  I don't remember any of the names of the ballparks but the teams I do.

Portland, Oregon (2002)
Eugene, Oregon (several times, 2000-2002)   This remains the only time in my life where I could not get a ticket for a game.  It was the 4th of July (fireworks!), it was completely sold out, and nobody had even a single ticket to sell.
Medford, Oregon (c.2000)  This team was, according to Wikipedia, the Southern Oregon Timberjacks.  Only thing I remember about this game was that it was the very worst baseball field I've ever seen.  It was worse than most high school ballparks.  No wonder they no longer have a team.
Arkansas Travelers, Little Rock (several times, 1990-1992)
Memphis Chicks (several times, 1993-1995).  They were AA at the time and in 1994 Michael Jordan and the Birmingham Barons came to town.  We sat out in the left field bleachers for $2 if I remember right.  Even from there I could see he would never make it...his bat was way too slow.  He did get a seeing-eye single that night, however.
Nashville Sounds (c.2009)
Oklahoma City 89ers (several times when I was a kid) and Redhawks (several times, current day).  The old 89ers used to play at a dump called All-Sports Stadium over by the fairgrounds.  When I was probably about 9 the Phillies, the parent team of the 89ers, came to town.  I remember Pete Rose playing a few innings.  I also remember another time when little leaguers were invited onto the field to field with the players.  I was shocked to notice that their uniforms had holes in them.  These were really pros?  

There have been others that I have forgotten about, but these are the ones that stand out at least vaguely in my mind.

Major League parks I've been to (updated)

Jonah Keri recently made a list of his favorite stadiums and I got to thinking about how I've been blessed to go to a lot of baseball games over the years on my journeys...mostly major league, but a few minor league games as well.  Part of the allure of baseball is the parks in which they play; every one is different.  Not all are created equal.  It's not just that the outfield dimensions are different, but that the feel is different.  Can you really say that about a basketball arena or a football stadium?

So here, with as little comment as possible, and in no particular order, are the major league baseball parks I've been to in order to see a game.  Many of them no longer exist.  Many of them have changed names many times thanks to corporate branding, so I don't always remember the names.  Many of them I visited when I was kid when my dad would have veterinary conferences in these cities.  Many others I visited in 1992 when on my two-month road trip to nowhere after college.  Mostly the years are approximate.

Note: after thinking about it for about an hour, I had to annotate the list just a bit...

Kauffman (nee Royals) Stadium, Kansas City (many times, c.1976-2012); it was a better stadium when it was just baseball and fountains.  Now it's too busy with all the videoboards and the stuff beyond the outfield walls.  
Petco Park, San Diego (2013); went to this just a few weeks ago.   From the outer upper concourse you can see the bridge where they filmed the scene in Anchorman where Jack Black throws off Ron Burgundy's dog.
Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles (1980); memorable for me because I saw the great J.R. Richard pitch against the Dodgers a few weeks before he had his massive stroke.  I still remember his greatness, even though I was only 9 at the time.
Anaheim Stadium (c.1983)
Oakland Alameda Colosseum (c.1986)
Safeco Field, Seattle (c.2001)
Arlington Stadium, Rangers (several times)
The newer stadium the Rangers play in (several times)
old Busch Stadium, St. Louis (1997); I saw Mark McGuire hit one of his 70 steroid-induced homers that night.  Even better, the Royals won the game.  :)
Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium (c.1977)
Shea Stadium, New York (2001); two weeks before 9/11, my friend Rob and I were watching the game against the Giants (I think this was the year Bonds hit 73, maybe not), and flying over the stadium at regular intervals were planes coming in or going out from LaGuardia airport.  I remember distinctly thinking how close these jets were and how easy it would be to crash a plane into the stadium.  It still gives me chills.  
Yankee Stadium, New York (c.1982)
Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia (1992)
Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati (1992); I remember parking two spots away from where Marge Schott, the owner of the Reds, had her parking spot.  Her car seemed way too exposed.  
Tigers Stadium (1992); I remember a young Ken Griffey junior turning around to the people sitting in the center field bleachers and flipping them off.  
The old cavernous stadium the Indians played in, Cleveland (1992)
Comiskey Park, Chicago (c.1985)
Olympic Stadium, Montreal (1992); most massive and ugly concrete slab ever constructed.  
Camden Park, Baltimore (several times); probably the best stadium I've been to.  

It's not the greatest list in the world. A few stadiums that supposedly make the top of the must-see lists (Wrigley, Fenway) are not on it.  A few of them were dumps (old Tiger stadium comes particularly to mind).  But it's still not a bad list...19 different parks in all, and still half a life to go.