tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23443399086066709222024-02-19T07:02:15.838-08:00Double-O 24Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-83067577353428312492012-08-16T08:07:00.002-07:002013-04-29T13:43:55.776-07:00Can We Compromise on Compromise?This is a little more political than I tend to get, but this is something I need to say. First, I open with a comic from one of my favorites, Dan Piraro at bizarro.com. Dan and I do not always completely agree on everything, but I know if I sat down with him we could have a polite and respectful conversation in spite of our differences. He really nailed it with this comic:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiodfuSpluGNFN0rcsMsiHkAg_zWcpYrLoOLUf_GTKfVYNacJJ9m6Lu18oEo8EUChm4CG3bWlYajl1qv-xUllIKs1nKYOTIKoZZ7cwIz61n9j3QnPHmIrNxz3EDSvQxehPYyKriz5Swgz-c/s400/real-life-vs-politics.jpg_550.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiodfuSpluGNFN0rcsMsiHkAg_zWcpYrLoOLUf_GTKfVYNacJJ9m6Lu18oEo8EUChm4CG3bWlYajl1qv-xUllIKs1nKYOTIKoZZ7cwIz61n9j3QnPHmIrNxz3EDSvQxehPYyKriz5Swgz-c/s400/real-life-vs-politics.jpg_550.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image copyright Dan Piraro at <a href="http://bizarro.com/">bizarro.com</a></td></tr>
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The Merriam-Webster Dictionary provides us this:<br />
com·pro·mise <i> noun</i> <span class="unicode">ˈkäm-prə-mīz</span><br />
1<i>a</i>: settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions<br />
1<i>b</i>: something intermediate between or blending qualities of two different things
<br />
2: a concession to something derogatory or prejudicial<br />
<br />
Lately, in the political arena <i>compromise</i> has become a dirty word. It means caving in. Giving up your principles. Letting the bad guys have their way. Proving you have become a spineless flip-flopper. Yes, this is one definition of compromise. #2 on Merriam-Webster's list. But there is another...<br />
<br />
What we need is more of definition #1. The settlement of differences. In a divided organization, the solution lies somewhere in between the two extremes. Without sitting down and talking, without everybody giving up something for the greater good, nothing will change. This is fine when it is in your best interest politically to maintain the <i>status quo</i>, but virtually no one with any intelligence would look at our country today and say we are on a perfect course and no corrections are necessary.<br />
<br />
There are some hard issues, and I understand they will be extremely difficult to work through to everyone's satisfaction. But, because someone is on the opposite side of you for a hard issue does not mean that talking to them on other issues is a compromise (#2). In fact, politicians owe it to their constituents and to the nation to move the country forward. Unless we all agree 100%, this will require some of compromise #1.<br />
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Do people really want this kind of complete lack of communication between the parties? Does anyone really believe that is the best way to get us out of the mess we are in?<br />
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</div>Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-49811967805383208562012-08-11T12:19:00.000-07:002012-08-11T12:19:10.112-07:00Catching UpWell, a lot has happened since my last post. I've become a little more separated from the mainstream church, although I cannot seem to get away from semi-regular attendance and even participation in the Sunday worship. But it is OK. I still believe in the mission of the church, but I have a hard time focusing on that mission for myself, and achieving by participation via the medium of the church. Some of this can be explained in a comment I posted over on <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.davidhayward.ca">davidhayward.ca</a> this morning, and it included this paraphrase form the Lord Of the Rings, along with the intro:<br />
<blockquote>
This discussion brought to mind a short excerpt from near the end of
the Lord of the Rings. Forgive me if you are unfamiliar with this book.
What you need to know is that these two have literally been through hell
on earth together, but one received a grievous wound, and must leave to
a place of healing where the other cannot follow. Also I changed the
name of their homeland (the Shire) to “the church”<br />
----------------------------<br />
Sam: ‘I thought you were going to enjoy the church, too. for years and years, after all you have done.’ </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Frodo: ‘So I thought too, once. But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam.
I tried to save the church, and it has been saved, but not for me. It
must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give
them up, lose them, so that others may keep them. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
----------------------------</blockquote>
I really like this a lot, but it does sound like I feel I am more persecuted than I am. I tend to think that many Christian sub-groups in this country, especially politically conservative evangelicals, go a little overboard with the whole persecution complex. Still, I do feel that I have done my best to support the greater organization all the while knowing that it was not going to really help me where I needed to be helped. But it does seem to be what God is calling me to to right now, so who am I to argue?Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-57689051136916414512010-12-26T05:38:00.000-08:002010-12-26T06:17:40.519-08:00Reflecting His LightI was watching a TED video‡ last night, and a guy (John Lloyd) was talking about invisibility. Not like Harry Potter's magic cloak, just real things that we cannot see. For example, he said "we can see matter, but we can't see what's the matter." Mostly this was a funny 10 minutes of quips and word plays that just make you think and smile. Another interesting one was that we can't see what we don't know. Hmmm. This was culminated with him rhetorically asking the crowd: "What's the point?" ("of this lecture" was implied, but not spoken).<br /><br />OK, speaking of the point, what's my point? One of Lloyd's interesting notes was about light. Light is invisible until it hits something. In complete darkness, you can shine a flashlight across a room, and you will not see the beam except where it impacts the far wall. (If you can see the beam midair, it is dust, so clean your house and then try it again ;-)<br /><br />Jesus offered some important ideas about Himself, ourselves, and light. In John 8:12 Jesus said <span class="woj" style="">“I am the light of the world.” Bringing this into our flashlight discussion, it is interesting that this light will not be seen unless it reflects off something. What will it reflect off, you ask? People, of course. Followers of Jesus. We are the ones who illuminate the way for others. We don't do it alone, of course, since we are not the Source of the light. Yet as God has constructed this world, we are a necessary part of the cycle. Jesus→Light→Believers→The World, then from the world there are more believers.<br /><br />Jesus had more instructions using light as a metaphor. In Matthew 5:14 he went so far as to say </span><span class="woj" style="">"You are the light of the world .</span><span class="woj" style="">.. let your light shine before others." Wow, so now believers are even the source of the light themselves. I'm not willing to say we are the ultimate source, but let's say a local source for our area of influence in the world.</span> More than just the source though, we are the actual light that illuminates the way for others. Without us, the world will remain in darkness. Maybe you have a really bright family room or kitchen table, but it cannot stop there. There are so many dark places in the world, some of them right under our noses. Not everyone is cut out for third world mission trips:<br /><ul><li>Your workplace might need your light</li><li>Your local supermarket might need your light</li><li>Your church might need your light</li><li>Your kids' sports team, scout troop, or other secular organization might need your light</li></ul>All of these start with "Your" because these are place you already go on a regular basis. Make sure that you bring your light, and shine you light every time you are there.<br /><br />Shalom.<br /><br />‡ TED shows very cool short videos by amazing people on all kinds of topics. You won't be disappointed: www.ted.comDave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-86697726436418406652010-10-26T06:02:00.000-07:002010-10-26T06:04:21.574-07:00Help out RossSo, my Texas friend Ross King has a Christmas album out. Just in time for the holidays. You can have a listen and even buy it during the pre-release sale now. What a bargain!<br /><br />Visit <a href="http://rosskingmusic.com/">his website</a> for all the details.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-58699527412489444512010-03-19T13:05:00.000-07:002010-03-19T13:10:50.267-07:00Wandering of LateSo <a href="http://calmingpsalms.blogspot.com/">Calming the Psalms</a> has proved a remarkable journey, even if it is still in its infancy. It's using up a lot of my usual study and thinking time, so there won't me much posted over here for the time being.<br /><br /><a href="http://togetherinthebible.blogspot.com/">Together in the Bible</a> is also taking up some time. This Bible study is working through the Gospel of Mark. The readings are set up such that we will be reading about the final week of Jesus' life during Holy Week. It is also proving to be a very rewarding study.<br /><br />Last, like I need another web site, the <a href="http://www.bac2u.org">BAC2U</a> pages are starting to fill out.<br /><br />This reads like a "where I've been" page that lots of folks post on occasional Fridays. Except they are all at least partly my work. Oh well.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-42219400548745867952010-03-08T16:40:00.000-08:002010-03-08T16:43:50.729-08:00Calming the PsalmsThis is a head up that I have started a new project called <a href="http://calmingpsalms.blogspot.com/">Calming the Psalms</a>. A description is over there in the <a href="http://calmingpsalms.blogspot.com/2010/03/calming-psalms.html">first post</a>. Basically I plan to put the entire book of Psalms into my own words. My goal is 2 or 3 postings per week. Check it out, and let me know what you think.<br /><br />Shalom.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-91840618249847169342009-11-10T10:20:00.001-08:002010-03-10T17:23:31.705-08:00When is disliking not really disliking?Sometimes we are encouraged by friends in ways that surprise us. In past postings I have shared about my morning coffee days with my two very traditional friends. These two are very much into the traditional music scene in the Methodist church: choirs, robes, organs, the works. One of these friends will attend a contemporary worship service when the chance arises, but the other generally would not. He makes no bones about this: "I just don't like the music!" Given that I have been intimately involved with that music at that church for most of the last decade, I very much appreciated his honesty, if not his taste in music.<br /><br />So, the other day, I heard that he had changed his position. He now liked praise music. He still didn't want to listen to it, but he liked it.<br /><br />Huh?<br /><br />Well, it turns out he had a discussion with a mutual friend at church, a wonderful 60-something grandmother. He found out several things: first, that she really liked the music. Not a surprise there, since she had been attending the contemporary service for years. More importantly, she explained how the music facilitated and encouraged her worship. This is what struck my traditional friend. The last thing he thinks about while experiencing contemporary Christian music is enjoyment, much less worship. So this was quite a revelation.<br /><br />So now we have a convert. Someone who values praise music as highly as traditional music. Values, but not enjoys. I love that! How many of us can claim to accept things in our lives that really get on our nerves, but we know are important to others. How much love for our fellow Christians that shows!<br /><br />Can you name anything in this category? Specific examples?<br /><br />I'd like to think of myself as tolerant and accepting, but there are definitely things that bug me. For me, when there is song playing behind the spoken pastoral prayer, I have a hard time focusing on the prayer. I've been told by others that such songs really help. I'm sure there are aspects of the worship service that don't do anything for me, yet I know are important to others. It's hard to just ignore things but I believe it is important and a very fundamental part of "Do unto others." I hope you agree.<br /><br />Shalom.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-58193473169668079222009-11-05T11:31:00.001-08:002009-11-05T11:32:22.472-08:00BibliolatryLiterally, <span style="font-style: italic;">bibliolatry</span> is the worship of a book. There a short but interesting <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliolatry">Wikipedia article</a> available. It touches on the bits related specifically to Christianity, where one worships the Holy Bible as opposed the the Holy One. I've witnessed the process of Bible study and Bible inerrancy leading to Bibliolatry. (I'll use upper case Bibliolatry to indicate the specific worship of the Christian Bible.) How does this happen? What would Jesus think about it?<br /><br />So, this is a tricky road to walk. Yes, we want to fall back on the Bible as a guide and blueprint for this earthly life. But, strong the temptation is to <span style="font-style: italic;">quote scripture</span> instead of prayer to consult the one who <span style="font-style: italic;">inspired the scripture</span>. After all, much of the Bible requires interpretation. Putting things in historical context is one great service that trained pastors and teachers can do for the rest of us. Without this background and context, the road to Bibliolatry gets more slippery. This is when we risk quoting things, and potentially modifying our behavior in ways that the scripture was simply never intended. Nothing is worse than <span style="font-style: italic;">thinking</span> you are on the path to salvation when Jesus just watches and shakes his head in sadness.<br /><br />Can we spend too much time in the Bible? The obvious answer is no, but then to what level do we exclude other Biblically-mandated activities such as prayer and fellowship? Can we not learn as much about God from these activities as we can by academically studying the scripture?<br /><br />I don't have the answer, but I am frequently frustrated. It is hard to hear very knowledgeable folks - with literal knowledge of Bible contents - quote scripture without even considering the meaning, or the specific application at hand. Even the Truth, when misapplied, does no service to the King.<br /><br />Shalom.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-76005107264679987162009-10-31T04:28:00.000-07:002009-10-31T04:53:41.903-07:00On With the ShowSo at yesterday's coffee ** we got onto the topic of worship and leading worship. All three of us have spent plenty of time on the platform making music for various congregations. Their experience has been primarily in a traditional setting as choir members working for very classically-minded choir directors. You may have figured out I'm mostly into rock and roll church. The discussion was in principle a simple one: should those leading worship necessarily be worshiping?<br /><br />Now, anyone who has ever done anything like this knows that some days you are just distracted, but I'm not talking about your bad days, I want to focus on the best case, when circumstances are ideal.<br /><br />The conclusion from my traditional friends was that they virtually never worship during their musical presentation. They are too concerned with any number of things, such as the complexity of the piece (will they hit that difficult note in the 27th measure?) or their appearance (is their robe on straight?). Believe me, I wish I was making these up. But that sounds like a put-down, which it is not my goal. These are real, honest revelations of what goes on in their heads on Sunday morning.<br /><br />All worship leaders (including those leading via music, speaking, or prayer) balance the need to <span style="font-style: italic;">be</span> connected with God, to <span style="font-style: italic;">appear to be</span> connected with God, and to <span style="font-style: italic;">facilitate</span> the connection of others to God. My choir friends weight these in reverse order: the facilitation is most important, followed by the appearance. Actual personal connection is not on their radar Sunday morning. (To be fair, they will describe times of real worship, but they are not in the corporate setting Sundays.)<br /><br />I guess I just don't see it that way, but maybe there are folks in the pews who need this. Since we can't read others' thoughts and hearts, I can't say what's really going on. Still it is difficult to hear words like "I couldn't worship this morning because they forgot to move that speaker to the side." Again, I wish I was making this up. Are the connections between people and God so tenuous that something so trivial (to me anyway) can interrupt the divine praise that is genuine worship? Or is there ever real corporate worship going on for these folks?<br /><br />I have a lot more thinking to do on this one.<br /><br />Shalom.<br /><br />** you might have read past posts about morning coffee conversations. While most posts have related conversations with my very progressive pastor friend, this coffee was with two good friends who are from a church point of view very traditional.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-14389972375169195392009-09-07T05:15:00.000-07:002009-11-10T10:19:33.241-08:00Worship vs OutreachAlong the lines of the previous post, I do have a bunch of songs written, and up until now most of these have been worship songs. Lately I have been learning the difference, and more importantly, the value of the outreach song. Consider these two snippets of popular Christian songs:<br /><ul><li>"I Love You Lord, and I lift my voice, to worship you, oh my soul rejoice" (<a href="http://unjobs.org/authors/laurie-klein">I Love You Lord</a>)<br /></li><li>"Everyone needs compassion, a love that's never failing" (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXCAhKDZRlo">Mighty to Save</a>)<br /></li></ul>For a non-believer, which is more likely to get you to stick around and hear the whole song? It's not hard if you can put yourself in their shoes. Which is really where outreach has to start and end. If you aren't meeting the people where they are, physically and emotionally, how are you going to get them to pay any attention to you?<br /><br />Now don't go thinking I want to sell the message of the outreach songs short here. There's no reason that the lyrics can't have a Christian message and retain the attention of a non-believer. In a recent <a href="http://marshill.org/sundays/">Rob Bell</a> message he described the philosophy of the Jewish story teller, where it was often their goal to embed multiple stories and themes within a single piece. This was done by careful and clever use of language and <a href="http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TNG/episode/68510.html">metaphor</a>.<br /><br />Please remember, I'm talking about outreach events here, like secular coffee shops and other public events not at a church building. There will always be a place for worship songs singing praise and love for God. Furthermore, there are outreach songs that are simply inappropriate for a worship setting, although that is less common than the other way around.<br /><br />Shalom.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-63035948863544512782009-08-11T07:02:00.000-07:002009-08-11T07:18:16.623-07:00Statements from the HeartOver the years, I have been blessed with with a handful of songs. At least a few of which people other than me have said they like. I guess I'd have to say I wrote them, but it is actually a little more surreal than that. Most of the time they just come out of me. Melody, verse, everything. I have been to some song writing seminars (at <a href="http://www.christianmusiciansummit.com/templates/cuscms/details.asp?id=32393&PID=503182">CMS</a> and <a href="http://www.kingdombound.org/">KingdomBound</a>, among others) and the lessons sound like this: don't be disappointed with a good verse without a chorus; don't refuse to edit songs; keep all the fragments around, they might fit together someday; etc.<br /><br />This advice has come from the top of the heap in Christian song writing circles, such as <a href="http://www.leadworship.com/">Paul Baloche</a>. It turns out this is really very hard for me. When I get the whole song at one time as a unified chunk, it doesn't feel right to break it up. On the less frequent occasion that I do sit down and work hard to put lyrics together for a specific thought or message, I can do some erasing. More often, since I see these as gifts from God, I have this irrational need to leave them untouched. If they aren't suitable for recording, or even sharing with others, then so be it. I always learn something from every one of my songs.<br /><br />It sounds strange, but there are several that have been around for years and no one, not even wifey, has heard them but me and God. It's not that I don't want to share, it's more like they are just personal statements that me and God share. Sometimes after months these surface into public view, sometimes they never do.<br /><br />That's all for today. Shalom.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-61828873727336555352009-08-02T07:18:00.000-07:002009-09-07T05:41:57.934-07:00Kingdom Bound 09One mid-summer highlight for the last several years has been <a href="http://www.kingdombound.org/">Kingdom Bound</a>. This is a large festival of Christian music at <a href="http://www.godarienlake.com/">Darien Lake</a>, an amusement park western New York. There are tons of bands of all sorts, workshops, great fellowship, and of course, roller coasters. Now that the kids are old enough to send into the park unattended, wifey and I get some time to choose our own activities for the week. Not a surprise that sometimes our musical interests differ from the 13 year old's.<br /><br />So, we're off there for a few days. Stop by and get say hello.<br /><br />Shalom.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-12485307188905200992009-07-31T07:40:00.000-07:002009-07-31T08:01:41.739-07:00Coffee ConversationsA couple mornings a week I get together for coffee with friends. We rarely plan an agenda of topics, and yet the 60-90 minutes always seems to fly by without pause. Often these conversations wind around to church, since in one way or another this set of friends are connected by faith. Today we ended up discussing some hard questions, and what people's reasonable reactions to those hard questions should be.<br /><br />I have experienced an unfortunate response from folks in church leadership to tough questions: <span style="font-style: italic;">silence</span>. I don't mean they beat around the bush and never get to actually answering the question. I mean no response whatsoever. <span style="font-style: italic;">Silence</span>. Now, there are a few situation for which this is reasonable. "When did you stop beating your wife?" comes to mind. We zeroed in one this: "To what extent should a pastor bow to the wishes of big donors?"<br /><br />OK, admit it: all of you have considered this before. Of course, the initial answer is something along the lines of "it depends." Ouch. Well, at least it is <span style="font-style: italic;">not silence</span>. As is often the case, the first steps towards reconciling this issue is a discussion. I have a simple, and some would say naive, answer: remove the connection between the church budget and the pastor's salary. Or better yet, have pastors that do not draw a salary at all. I could go on all day about this one. When you start with the premise of a fully paid pastoral staff, and the goal being to foster Christian community in and out of the church walls, the pastoral salary assumption can quickly get you to places that will never continue on to Christian community. This is especially true when moving outside the walls, but still true even when we stay home.<br /><br />You see, when we pay money, we have this expectation of getting something in return. I recognize this is not Christian giving, but a very earthly approach. Yet what can you say when folks withhold tithes (sometimes publicly) on the grounds that they disagree with some particular pastoral decision or leadership policy? If there was no connection between the tithing and the pastor, folks would not expect there to to have that particular type of control.<br /><br />I guess it all comes down to this: is there any pastor who has the guts to say "no thanks" to the money that comes with strings attached? Even at the risk of their own livelihood? Not that I blame a pastor for this, yet this is their chosen field (God appointed field, most are quick to remind me) but they will often not have the faith to stick to their beliefs when pressed between Jesus and a car payment.<br /><br />Next week's question for parishioners: what if you had to choose between Jesus and your local church?<br /><br />Shalom.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-54499584789111827872009-07-22T10:19:00.001-07:002009-07-22T10:37:32.411-07:00Revisiting Cussing...OK, I have some more thoughts on cussing in church. Since <a href="http://oo24.blogspot.com/2009/06/cussin-in-church.html">the last post</a> on the topic, I've had a few conversations with Tracy and others on this. The clarification I need to make is about being offensive. That was not the right word. Every preacher knows you can't talk on any subject for 30 minutes and not offend someone. So offending people by cussing is not really the issue.<br /><br />What is the issue? Glad you asked. It comes down to what image you project, and what image is received. I can't say I never utter four letter words, but it is rare, and always in an appropriate context and setting. When I talk to someone who cannot get through a single sentence without an f-bomb, all I can think of is that this person is either really lazy or just plain ignorant. Too lazy to think of a reasonable English word, so they just toss in the universal noun, adjective, adverb, whatever, thinking they communicated. Or ignorant, because they don't seem to understand the message that our language choices send about ourselves.<br /><br />In either case, is this really the message that we want people to receive? Not me. Now I know, some of you will say that you don't feel this way about folks who cuss all the time, or even for those who cuss some of the time. OK, but I refuse to believe that my opinion here is unique. I'd rather err on the side of civility and let them learn who I am by all the words I say rather than the chosen few of the four-letter variety.<br /><br />Here's <a href="http://thinklings.org/posts/four-letter-words-arent-the-real-problem">another take on the matter</a>.<br /><br />That's it for now. This is probably not dead yet.<br /><br />Shalom.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-78850613553157241442009-07-22T09:58:00.001-07:002009-07-22T10:06:15.580-07:00Another outdoor festivalLast week was the second outdoor music festival, this time in North Syracuse. Given the long drive, and the fact that I was in charge of stage wiring, I spent the whole day there. A very good day indeed. The reports are just trickling in now, but the message was delivered, lives were touched, and hearts were changed.<br /><br />Perhaps the best part of the day was when <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Light-Blue/19204497329?ref=ts">Light Blue</a>, the final band, finished their sound check. First, some background. Light Blue warned us that whenever they play out it rains. At the <a href="http://oo24.blogspot.com/2009/06/heading-out-into-world.html">last outdoor jam</a>, they actually lost some of their equipment to water damage. No last week, weather.com called for rain, but we were spared for the whole day. Big puffy clouds, blue sky, and lots of sun. Until Light Blue started their first song. Even with white clouds and blue sky, the rain came down for just a minute or two. It was just a little joke between God and the band, but it was very funny.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-53567376485772306672009-06-19T12:23:00.000-07:002009-06-19T12:28:59.053-07:00Heading out into the worldSo, tomorrow is my debut in world the outdoor Christian music festivals. At least from the sensitive end of the microphone. BAC2U will be one of eight bands playing at the Village Square Park in Lyons (NY). There is a short <a href="http://rochester.craigslist.org/muc/1226212107.html">Craiglist posting with more details</a>.<br /><br />So, if you are the praying type, here's an opportunity. If you stumble here after June 20, don't worry, we are doing this every month until September, so whenever you are here, the prayer will be great. The further out into the world you get, the more opposition you will face. That's what I need your prayer for.<br /><br />Shalom.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-34624787436395536722009-06-03T17:10:00.000-07:002009-06-03T17:22:28.070-07:00Cussin' in ChurchSo, one of the things we pride ourselves on at <a href="http://www.live168.org/">168 </a>is authenticity. So where do you go when authenticity is also offensive, at least to some? I've been thinking about this for a while, but as usual someone beat me to the punch. The gang over at <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/">Out of Ur</a> posted a blog entry thing morning: <a href="http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2009/06/preach_dirty_to.html">Preach Dirty to Me</a>. I have a similar conundrum, in that Pastor Tracy has a tendency to occasionally use language I would not normally hear in my living room.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qnj938IiXOna0uOBFLP8BSmi3efdGQ7BKcakAIU5KpbY9YrEb84UxzOk5Jn5hmI0eR2dMvhYdfybk3mZikikU-P3DhJWKe3h9wJMB6jYj1a6FOjifG556bm24Fw3T7gHGFG8D1mJpRBx/s1600-h/no_swearing.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 164px; height: 164px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qnj938IiXOna0uOBFLP8BSmi3efdGQ7BKcakAIU5KpbY9YrEb84UxzOk5Jn5hmI0eR2dMvhYdfybk3mZikikU-P3DhJWKe3h9wJMB6jYj1a6FOjifG556bm24Fw3T7gHGFG8D1mJpRBx/s200/no_swearing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343261107964805138" border="0" /></a>I'm trying really hard to not place a double standard here, in that I don't want to say that church has a higher threshold of acceptability than any place else for me. I mean, if cussin' is wrong, then it is wrong, right?<br /><br />So I don't know where to head. I like the idea of Tracy being who he is. And that person, the one who preaches every week in my church, will sometimes use language that I don't. I want him to be authentic, and be who he is, but apparently on my terms.<br /><br />If you have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them. Talking to Tracy is not out of the question, and I will be doing that soon. Yet, I don't want to approach this as a demand, since I truly value the authenticity, in him and in me. Oh well.<br /><br />Shalom.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-15975154478043344902009-05-31T17:33:00.000-07:002009-06-03T18:56:06.379-07:00Godly enough...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIAowi8sbC916zvtOB94Z1Hcv8Onor6E35NgfjIiDoafVWvyYFf9akdcq3jyN86w2IUehssASbd51fluLTzmi_OPZMOD4IHLOypmd4HKZ6Fy6ocRD40gGHQxu7W-TrYkQCC5SmvzdFF4wL/s1600-h/shavuot-724451.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 252px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIAowi8sbC916zvtOB94Z1Hcv8Onor6E35NgfjIiDoafVWvyYFf9akdcq3jyN86w2IUehssASbd51fluLTzmi_OPZMOD4IHLOypmd4HKZ6Fy6ocRD40gGHQxu7W-TrYkQCC5SmvzdFF4wL/s320/shavuot-724451.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342159159878987042" border="0" /></a><br />So, today is Pentecost. At <a href="http://www.live168.org/">168</a> we heard about some history behind the day, in particular the connection between Acts 2 and the Exodus 19 story when the Jews were on Mount Sinai after the escape from Egypt. Much of this came from <a href="http://www.marshill.org/teaching/download.php?filename=MDUxMDA5Lm1wMw%3D%3D">Rob Bell's message of May 10</a>. (If that link is stale, <a href="http://www.marshill.org/teaching/index.php">start here</a>.) The Exodus story has a lot of similarities to Acts 2: fire, wind, and more. There is actually an even stronger connection than the similar events, in that Pentecost is actually celebrated on the same day as the Jewish holiday called <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://urj.org/holidays/shavuot/">Shavuot</a> or the Festival of the Giving of the Torah. When did that holiday start? Yup, on the foot of Mout Sinai the day the winds came. The "Pente" (five) came from the fact that the trip from Egypt to Sinai took 49 days, and Shavuot was therefore the 50th day.<br /><br />So, back to 168. At the end of the message/discussion, Tracy set out some bread, partly for communion elements, and partly because the celebration of Shavuot is tied to the beginning of the Jewish summer wheat season. There was also some juice to complete the elements. We put on a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL0nDrEYDnk">video of Revelation Song</a>, by Kari Jobe. The idea was that we would get up and take communion when we felt so moved. What kind of spontaneously happened was folks started serving communion to each other. Very powerful stuff. We were pretty much all done as the song came to its dénouement. We've all had more and less meaningful communions in our times. This was most definitely a Good One.<br /><br />Once that was completed, Steve lead us in <span style="font-style: italic;">In the Secret</span>. And then I spontaneously played <a href="http://www.rosskingmusic.com/home_buy.htm"><span style="font-style: italic;">Meet With Me</span></a>. I don't know why it didn't hit me Friday when I was putting the music together, but <span style="font-style: italic;">Meet With Me</span> is about perfect for Pentecost. New and Old Testament connections, it's all there.<br /><br />So, what about Godly enough...<br /><br />That came about because this was another week when I ask Steve to play a song and it was already on his list of things to play. His email response started out "Oddly enough I already pulled that one." My response was "No, it was Godly enough." It is alway great to have confirmation that the song is the correct one for Him to hear.<br /><br />That's all. I hope you have a Blessed Week. Shalom.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-79959597907397249112009-05-30T05:43:00.000-07:002009-05-30T06:25:31.656-07:00Coincident PathsLast night wifey and I went out with another couple for a few hours without children. A rare opportunity for both families to find good alternatives simultaneously. We went to a nearby pub, mostly populated by much younger folks, and had some beer and bar food. We know these folks quite well, which means we can often have meaningful conversations without the risk of offense. Good thing, since I am not always known for social graces in lieu of honesty.<br /><br />The conversation wandered through recent kids' sports activities, and ended up, as it often does, discussing theology and church. Specifically the acceptance of practicing homosexuals into the church body. It was interesting because one of those at the table took a very traditional approach, along the lines of "love the sinner hate the sin" although without actually using that tired - and nearly meaningless - cliche. Underneath though, there was the implication that this person was less than comfortable with the local church openly welcoming practicing homosexuals.** The idea, I think, was that by accepting these folks, <span style="font-style: italic;">loving</span> these folks, we put an explicit stamp of approval on their behavior.<br /><br />I'll admit, I'm not debating the correctness (or sinfulness) of homosexuality here. What I am hoping to point out is that until we can openly <span style="font-style: italic;">love everyone</span>, openly <span style="font-style: italic;">accept everyone</span>, we don't need to worry about what to do with them. What we are commanded to do is love our neighbors. If you really believe homosexuality is a sin, then what better way to convince a homosexual of this than to bring them to Christ, and let the Holy Spirit do the work? Leaving them outside until they change themselves is simply not an option.<br /><br />In a recent <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/">Leadership Journal</a>, John Ortberg wrote a great piece titled "The Sin Tamer." Here's a snippet:<br /><blockquote>The problem with what might be called the "victorious Christian living" mindset is not that it takes sin too seriously. The problem is it inevitably becomes selective about which sins God hates the most, and they always end up being somebody else's sin.<br /></blockquote>That quote kind of says it all. Unless you are going to preach against gluttony or sloth and reject the participation of overweight or lazy people, they why the major focus on homosexuality? I can imagine some reasons, for one, it's easy. (The same reason why we in New York continue to increase taxes on tobacco and alcohol. Who's going to argue?) We all know that we are not to judge, but this in practice is extremely difficult. Ditto for loving others, especially those unlike ourselves.<br /><br />So, what's up with the title? My point on <span style="font-style: italic;">Coincident Paths</span> is that regardless of what you or your church believes regarding homosexuality, we have many, many, struggles to overcome together before we need to nitpick about how bad a sin it is, or if it is a choice, or how fast they'll catch fire in hell. Wait until you can turn to the gay person in the pew next to you, look them in the eye and say "I love you." When together we get there, I think we will all find that the options and possibilities open to us will be quite different. Quite different indeed.<br /><br />That's all for today. I could probably go on for hours, but the sun is shining.<br /><br />Shalom.<br /><br />** I keep saying "practicing homosexuals" because even most conservative sects have generally accepted the membership, and in some cases the leadership, of openly gay people committed to celibacy.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-54775077163453572942009-05-27T12:29:00.000-07:002009-05-27T17:13:53.030-07:00Hit the Road, Jack?Everyone faces changes in life, including moving to a new church. So, how do you know when it is time to say goodbye? I can imagine a few indicators that may or may not work for you:<br /><ol><li>You feel that your skills are not needed anymore. Maybe there are adequate replacements, or maybe you are just not being asked to help out in ways that you were before. In either case, perhaps there are other places where you can apply yourself productively.</li><li>You feel your help is not as needed as in the past. Times change, and so does the utility of any given person within any given organization. Maybe the organization has evolved in ways that no longer suit what you successfully did before.</li><li>Maybe your skills are no longer up to standards. Have you let yourself drift away, perhaps focusing on other things, and now what used to be easy is not so easy?</li><li>What if you just know that God is calling you elsewhere? You can argue all you want, and all that does is cause real stress. And in the end He will win anyway.<br /></li></ol>There are different options for approaching each of the above. For #1 and #2, you can either stay in the organization and do something else, of find somewhere else to do your thing. For #3, you have some soul searching to do. Why did you let your skills deteriorate? Is something else more important now? Assuming you have developed other ways to have an impact, does your organization need this new you?<br /><br />#4 is the tough one. What are you going to do?<br /><br />Last, I guess you can just suck it up and hang around anyways. Assuming you're not fighting God on this one. We all go through phases of life, friends come and go, as do interests and abilities. To face these inevitable life changes is hard enough, to throw your life into an uproar every time can make things very difficult.<br /><br />So after typing this, I'm back where I started. THanks for visiting.<br /><br />Shalom.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-27197253214216242242009-05-26T11:57:00.000-07:002009-05-30T18:31:17.801-07:00168, Church, and The ChapelWell, again I've been away for a while. Things have been going well on Sundays at the <a href="http://www.live168.org/">168</a> celebration times. Steve and I have been playing a tag-team with music since we are having such a hard time getting together for practice times. So far though it has been working. We have somewhat different styles, nothing better or worse here, just different. So, the practice thing will be really required before we can play together to any great degree of cohesiveness.<br /><br />The rest of life is busy and sometimes confusing. I still have a foot in two churches, which is fine by me, but some folks still have a problem with it. I mean, if I or my family have to do certain activities elsewhere because they are simply not offered at a church, it wouldn't seem to be an issue, right? Apparently, wrong. Hence, I straddle organizations.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaIiQpVPR-AzeviuqrMLPkF8wEtnyMHt9_3ohwwOg_FvJnVG4C2m29GSKPqRTUXmduFaJ9rPE3jbJU0ZD4vhC6f49mBuZqsK2FnFgZml_juQr7qpJ_v8UnuT2f59CPIw6XWeb3BDmd_oBj/s1600-h/info.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 218px; height: 157px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaIiQpVPR-AzeviuqrMLPkF8wEtnyMHt9_3ohwwOg_FvJnVG4C2m29GSKPqRTUXmduFaJ9rPE3jbJU0ZD4vhC6f49mBuZqsK2FnFgZml_juQr7qpJ_v8UnuT2f59CPIw6XWeb3BDmd_oBj/s200/info.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340212842221878338" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">On a more positive note, the 168 music team went to the <a href="http://www.christianmusiciansummit.com/templates/cuscms/details.asp?id=32393&PID=503182">Christian Musician's Summit</a> May 14 & 15 at <a href="http://www.thechapelatcrosspoint.com/">The Chapel at Crosspoint</a>. What an amazing experience, with amazing people, in an amazing facility. If you are involved in a modern worship team at any level (team leader, instrumentalist, vocalist, audio engineer, song writer) you will benefit from this conference. Lots of small breakout sessions where you get to pick the brains of experts in each respective field. Did I mention it was amazing? I sat in a room for about 90 minutes with 25 other folks asking <a href="http://www.leadworship.com/">Paul Baloche</a> questions about song writing. Where are you going from there? And there are plenty of opportunities for plain old worship (with 1000 of your closest friends, lead by Paul Baloche & band every morning for an hour) or others worship leaders in the afternoon. And Friday closed with about two hours of <a href="http://www.lincolnbrewster.com/">Lincoln Brewster</a>.<br /><br />I'm still trying to process all the information.</div><br />That's all for now. Back to work.<br /><br />Shalom.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-76481636048303122192009-02-03T17:15:00.000-08:002009-02-03T17:24:48.320-08:00Live 168 week 2So, <a href="http://live168.org/">Live168</a> met at the new facility for the second time last Sunday. Patty and I had some time to rehearse during the week. Steve opened the service with "Glorified" and "Breathe" and I played along. After that Patty and I lead "Great is Your Love" and "Prepare the Way." These were very well received. It was more amazing than I ever imagined.<br /><br />Tracy's message was continuing through Malachi, this week on 2:17-3:5. "That's not fair!" seemed to be the words of the day. Tracy lead us through an impromptu skit based on the parable of the workers in the field, when they all got paid the same amount even though some worked less than a full day. (That's not fair!) In the middle of the message Patty and I lead "Refiner's Fire." Also very well received.<br /><br />After the message Steve lead "Built for Glory Made to Last" which is a very cool song, and right on message for the day.<br /><br />I am so looking forward to growing into this position, and giving all I have for the group, and His glory! It is so humbling and frightening and fascinating and challenging and all kinds of other thoughts and emotions I cannot begin to type.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-44582164862266097112008-08-25T12:32:00.000-07:002008-08-25T12:59:39.491-07:00Bridges or BarriersI was camping for the last several days with some old friends from my previous employer. I go to the Adirondacks every August with this gang and we hike mountains together. This was our 24<sup>th</sup> year, and in this time we have grown to know each other quite well, in spite of the fact that to a large part we only see each other once a year.<br /><br />So one conversation I wanted to talk about was with a friend who is a Buddhist. He married a Japanese woman, but I don't know if his conversion was before or after meeting her. I guess for today it doesn't matter.<br /><br />I was prompted by a radio story about the meeting Rick Warren had with Barack Obama and John McCain. This well-publicized meeting took place at Saddleback Church on August 16<sup>th</sup>. I heard Rick Warren and his wife Kay talking about their faith, and their approach to social change. The part I liked was regarding the spread of AIDS. They talked about three approaches to limit the spread of this terrible disease: save sex for marriage, remain faithful once married, and the use of condoms. They were not going to budge on their personal morality that requires them to preach that premarital sex and adultery are wrong. But, they also recognize that many many people are suffering from AIDS, and the distribution of condoms would seriously effect the spread. Reducing suffering is, to them, much more important that sitting in their Ivory Tower and preaching morality. I was very impressed and happy that these very influential evangelical Christians were placing the teachings of Jesus above their personal political agendas.<br /><br />So, back to the conversation with my Buddhist friend. After discussing the Warrens story and its implications, we were able to conclude that the overall goals of these very distinct religions overlap significantly. Just like Rick and Kay Warren, why can't Christians work with Buddhists or Muslims, or anyone really, who wants the same goals? Why do we have to always beat them over the head with the Bible, and refuse cooperation until they accept Jesus as Lord and Savior?<br /><br />OK, before you get too upset, I understand that ultimately we need to do our best to share the Gospel. But does this have to preclude working with unsaved individuals, especially those of different faiths? And can we please separate our political agendas from the work to help those in need? I just can't see Jesus saying to a little child with AIDS "I can't help you since your mother engaged in sex outside of marriage."<br /><br />Thanks for listening. Probably there will more on this later.<br /><br />Shalom.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-79403506176162551922008-08-18T04:35:00.000-07:002009-02-03T17:30:37.025-08:00Offsite againYesterday our annual offsite service. We trek about 25 minutes to some property owned by some longtime church members, who graciously invite us in for the service. It makes for a very busy weekend for yours truly, since I mostly coordinate the audio setup. This year went particularly smooth, especially with respect to the great sound we maintained between Saturday rehearsal and Sunday worship. But I am skipping ahead.<br /><br />The event starts about 9AM at church, when we load up the equipment. Fortunately, we do not have to dip into the Sunday equipment for this project. (Excepting personal stuff, like drums, guitars, etc, and easy stuff like microphones). This takes the pressure off for getting everything back to church and setup.<br /><br />Next comes the fun part, and I mean that. The setup. There is no electrical power on site, so we start with generators, and lots of industrial-strength extension cords. The mixing board, and all the wiring comes next. Lots of signal paths, wireless devices, and monitors to straighten out. After all the channels are working, we bring in the musicians for a sound check and rehearsal. This is a little frustrating as it always takes a while to nail down the monitor mix. Singers react differently to hearing too much or too little of themselves or others. It is actually an interesting personality test, but that's another essay.<br /><br />We spent a fair bit of time hanging the signal lines and the main snake around the edges of the tents, above the poles, just inside the rain flap. This kept the wiring off the ground, and completely avoided the dew that is always an issue. Dew creeps into everything, no matter how hard you try. I attribute the lack of Sunday morning crackling to this new wiring procedure. (Thanks for the brainstorm Dickie.)<br /><br />As for the actual service, it went fairly smoothly. There are the usual issues, such as outside musicians who do not arrive for a sound check or rehearsal, and then stand up to sing. The soloist did a great job, but she would have been even better if we could have talked a few minutes about microphones, monitors, etc.<br /><br />Off course there was often last minute pastor debugging the computer audio output during out opening music. For some reason this did not happen Saturday, so that setup was completed at about 10:25, after we started our first few welcome songs. And someone forgot to tell the praise team that they were responsible for the doxology after the offering. All in all the worship itself went very well in spite of the leadership shortfalls. I should be used to it by now, but I guess I am not.Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2344339908606670922.post-32338559505396078592008-08-11T04:23:00.001-07:002008-08-11T09:25:04.689-07:00Encouragement and GratitudeSo we all probably read a lot about encouragement. We are told to say a kind word, or jut give a smile, to anyone when they seem to need it. Or even if they don't. This is a philosophy I adopted many years ago, after my first coaching experience when my son was in first grade. (He recently celebrated the big 21.) After the final game of the season, parents and kids came up with really sincere thanks. I felt awash in gratitude in a way I had never experienced. Now I would call it the Holy Spirit. Then I was just very happy. From that point on, I have tried to express gratitude whenever possible, especially at larger type events (eg: church dinner) when I always seek out whoever was in charge and leave them with a kindness. This has often shown amazing results.<br /><br />There are other ways to give encouragement besides gratitude. Mostly people just want to be noticed. An easy way to encourage is to simply not criticize, especially when you know the person is aware of their issues. Stopping to help someone, even for a moment, can be huge; it means that you noticed them, and also that their efforts are important enough to join. These are <span style="font-style: italic;">very important</span> messages.<br /><br />So, we can all agree that giving encouragement is a Good Thing. What about when we need it ourselves? Is that a weakness? I don't think so. Given my approach to gratitude, I sometimes have a difficult time when others do not reciprocate. Does that make me selfish? I don't know, I think it just makes me human. In the volunteer world of Christ-centered giving, it would seem to be a fundamental part of everyone's approach.<br /><br />But it isn't.<br /><br />Why is that? I don't think that people are taking me for granted, but that is an easy assumption to make when you get little other feedback. I don't think people are unkind, when I see all the other wonderful things they do. So what is it?<br /><br />Encouragement involves two sides: one person gives, and the other person gets. Without both functioning properly, the encouragement cannot happen. Are there people who are simply difficult to encourage? Absolutely! How well we accept encouragement will greatly affect how much we get. I have found that the best response to "Thank You" is simply "You're welcome." Wow, it turns out my mother was right all along! But those we try to encourage often make it more difficult. Have you ever heard (or said) any of these:<br /><ul><li>"It was nothing."</li><li>"I had to be here anyway."</li><li>"I had nothing else to do tonight."</li></ul>These send the message that my thanks was unnecessary because the help they gave me was unimportant, or in some other way not worthy of gratitude.<span style="font-style: italic;"></span> How about these:<br /><ul><li>"I was glad to help."</li><li>"Thank you for noticing."<br /></li><li>"You're welcome." <span style="font-style: italic;">(As I said, my personal favorite.)</span></li><li>"You would do the same for me." <span style="font-style: italic;">(A great way to accept it, and turn some right back too!)</span></li></ul>I think you get the idea. Don't let giving encouragement become a chore for the giver. Be glad for them, since they took the time to say something nice.<br /><br />I will close with something I learned from an old Boy Scout mentor. He said this: "The best thing you can do when someone offers you a kindness is to accept it."<br /><br />Shalom.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Dave Wyblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09623357167770566661noreply@blogger.com0