Adam Hanauer's Blog

A Vision for Church

2006-07-30T15:42:00.000-04:00

Been preparing to teach the singles class at Okolona tonight and have, yet again, been struck by an alternate vision for "doing church."

I hope this doesn't come across as too rough, but sometimes it seems to me that church in our culture is little more than the 'gatekeeper to God.' What I mean by this is that church has become the entity that defines the rules, or hoops that must be jumped through in order to be saved. I am not just talking about the CoC's, but this problem crosses denominational lines.

So, we need to move from the "Church as a gatekeeper to God," to "Church as the Embracing Love of God." I came to this through reading Matthew 21-23, and the different parables/stories that Jesus tells after his authority has been questioned (Matt. 21:23-27). You have the Parable of the Two Sons, The Parable of the Tenants and then The Parable of the Wedding Banquet. The vision of the Wedding Banquet is likened to the Kingdom of Heaven, but I think it can be a vision for the Church. Don't misunderstand me, I don't equate the Kingdom of God with the church, but if we are to be a church that is living under the Kingdom Rule then I think it fits.

This vision included invitations....NOT TO CHURCH!! But invitations to God's Feast. Invitations to become everything God has dreamed us to become. Invitations to know the one who created us. And the list of invitations goes on and on.

Matt. 22:9-10 "Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find. So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests."

That is the type of church I want to be, and long to be a part of.....not more gatekeeping......

Jackson Walker, some other stuff

2006-07-28T19:19:00.000-04:00

Emily and I finally decided on the name of our baby boy coming in September. Jackson Walker Hanauer, Jackson W. Hanauer, J.W. Hanauer, J.W.H.

Kinda has a ring to it if you ask me. Kinda Presidential....yeah!? Well maybe not, but we like it.

In other news, my life is flying by faster than I can keep up with. Work is busy, Kylie is almost two and Emily and I have been married almost 5 years. Really finding it quite challenging to live for each moment. Finding God in each moment proves to be even more challenging.

What do you think about this quote:

"The most important thing about us, is what we think of, when we think of God."

If our view of God, The Creator, is messed up then does it matter what we think about other things relating to Him? Nope. And let me tell you, our view of God is seriously messed up at times.

Another Favorite

2006-07-14T20:24:00.000-04:00

I don't have a lot of favorites. Don't have a favorite color. Don't have a favorite meal. Don't have a favorite restaurant.

I did however establish a favorite dessert tonight! Emily, Kylie and I went to the Cheesecake Factory, and we had the Godiva Cheesecake. In the words of "Backpack", "Yum-Yum-Yum, Delicioso!"

Kylie spent her first night in her "big girl" bed last night. She did great, although she did wake up at about 2:15am, but Emily was able to get her right back to sleep. She didn't however have a great nap experience in her bed. Actually she didn't take a nap at all today. I just finished putting her to bed tonight, and everything seemed fine, so I don't think this is going to be a HUGE deal for her.

Kylie has also learned the "Lord's Prayer." She almost brought tears to my eyes tonight as she recited it. I have really grown to love that prayer because it contains everything we need to talk to God about. It is such a special prayer and I am excited that my daughter knows it at such a young age.

Just about 2 months until the arrival of our son. Still haven't quite nailed down the name, but Max and Levi seem to be the front runners. I think either one would be a nice name for him! Can't wait for him to get here!!

Testament

2006-07-11T20:29:00.000-04:00

Picked up a new fictional biography about the life of Jesus entitled Testament. It is written from 4 different people's viewpoint (Judas Iscariot, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus and Simon).

I am currently reading Judas perspective on the holy man, and thought the following words were interesting:

"Like the Pharisees he subscribed, or so it seemed, to the idea of resurrection, believing no god would have set us to suffer on this earth, where the wicked prospered and the just were punished, without the chance of a final reckoning. Yet he would not say it was the body that rose into the heavens at death, when clearly it went to the worms, nor would he say the soul, as the Greeks did, but rather that we must not think in such ways as life and death, or body and soul, as if one was distinct from the other; for in that way we would only come to value one at the other's expense, and live as gluttons and libertines, not thinking of death, or live as ascetics, and miss our lives. For my part, I thought it coyness at first that he did not put the thing more clearly, or sign that he himself had not worked it through. But over time I came to see a wisdom in his approach, and the folly of putting into words notions that by their very nature, like God himself, must exceed our undertanding."

Our view of God/Heaven often times finds this world very separate from the "sweet by and by." I have no doubt it will be different, but there is real danger in our current teaching. I thought it was an interesting thought/observation of the teaching of Jesus. I am coming to believe that our lives on this earth will be very much connected to our "continuing" life after we die. In this life we are being transformed into the image of Christ, and when we die we will be fully transformed.

I also enjoyed the last line of the quote, and believe this is why Jesus chose to speak in Parables, especially when teaching about the Kingdom. We simply don't have the words to express certain truths about the mysteries of God and our lives....

My Father-In-Law is CRAZY!

2006-06-24T19:59:00.000-04:00

Thought the title might cause some to read a little more closely. Actually I don't think he is crazy at all, but someone whose love for Christ I admire and respect very much. I wanted to post a comment he made on a one of my posts (Baptism and our kids) as I didn't think many would go back to read it....

"Adam, I love your insights into these topics. What has crossed my mind lately is just how important is our individual response to Jesus? Don't take me wrong, I don't mean that I can live off my mother's and father's faith, but just how important is it that I make each decision independently. I haven't looked into the scriptures deeply, but a few families come to mind. Cornelius, Philippian jailer, and Lydia. All of their families came to faith in Jesus at the same time the head of the house did. Somehow I doubt that they all had simultaneous emotional and intellectual responses to the message being preached to them. Actually, when I think about it I think our focus on independent response may be more of an American cultural thing rather than scriptural. What I think is most important is that it relates more to submission than it does acceptance. Jesus wants us to submit more than He wants us to concur. I wanted our children to make their own choices. But when I think about my 'walk' I realize that it has in NO Way been a point in time event, exactly the opposite."

Thanks for the thoughtful comments!

Heaven on Earth

2006-06-22T20:40:00.000-04:00

Tuesday Emily went to her weekly ladies bible study. The leader of that bible study asked what they think about when they think of Heaven. What are some things you think of when you think of our eternal home with the Father? I have been pondering that question this week.....

Do you believe you can experience Heaven on earth? I do. Jesus prays your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Do we experience the inbreaking of the kingdom? If we do/have, then maybe we have tasted Heaven in some way. If we watch TV or read the news it won't take us long to find Hell on earth, but I want so badly to believe that God is working out his purposes in this world in small and big ways.

Getting to watch my daughter grow up is Heaven on earth to me. Sometimes I will just sit on the floor and watch her. I can get lost in just observing her read a book, play with her toys or sing her songs. It brings me inexpressable joy! And then I look at my pregant wife and I think of all the girls that I could have married and how blessed I am to have Emily, and the love we have already been able to share together.

Heaven has broke, and is breaking into the Hell we have created on earth. I can't wait until it is the "law of the land" for all eternity.

The greatest game

2006-06-12T21:51:00.000-04:00

I think the reasons I like baseball so much might be the same reasons people dislike baseball so much. It is a slow game, but little things are happening all over the place. If you are watching for them they can make the difference in the game. If you are lucky you might watch a game with a lot of action, but of the 162 games played every year about 1/2 will be 'boring.'

So, as the Reds go....so goes my life. Filled with ups and downs, with 8 game winning streaks and 4 game losing streaks. Games where they seem to hit everything thrown at them, and then the very next night make a rookie look like Nolan Ryan(sp). But in the end, after a long grueling season, it is usually the teams that do the "little things" right that end up in the playoffs.

There is no need to focus on "hitting homeruns" in life. They may or may not come, but what will make the difference in the end are how you did in the "little things." How do you respond to your spouse when you are not in the best of moods? What do you talk about with your family? How do you treat your co-workers? What are you doing when no one is watching?

So sometimes running out a ground ball will turn out to be just as important as hitting one out of the ball park.

Holy Father, teach us to be faithful in the small things. For that is where the game will be won!

Baptism and our kids

2006-05-17T20:45:00.000-04:00

Had a interesting discussion this week about baptism, or better stated "coming to Jesus." I have stated this before on this blog, but I think it needs repeating. We do not live in the 1st Century anymore. Most of us that profess Christ were raised with some kind of faith. We were taught about Jesus, God, Church, BAPTISM at a very young age. Coming to Christ, in this context, is certainly going to look a little different than someone in a land that has never heard the name of Christ.

I have been thinking a lot lately about baptism as it relates to Kylie and my future children. I am not a believer in the 'age of accountability.' That is to say that there is this magic age where if not baptized you are destined to hell. This view stems from our need to satisfy our guiltiness before God. The view that says Christ came to earth primarily because we broke God's commands, and God had the need to punish someone, and instead of punishing us he punished Christ. This is not a complete understanding of the life of Christ and his death on the cross (maybe more on this later).

But I have to wonder what baptism looks like in a family that seeks to glorify God, and the kids are taught about obedience to God from birth. They are taught to be obedient to "mommy and daddy" because this pleases God. I am not sure they have a "come to Jesus" moment, but rather are maturing in the saving work/process of Christ. I am not against very young children being baptized into Christ if it is done, not to satisfy their guilt (they have none, they are just a child), but to enter them into the story of Christ and what he is doing on this earth. If the baptism signifies a birth into the life they were intended to live then I can live with that, but my fear is we often baptize young children because we fear their salvation at age 5-9. On the other hand, there is a little discomfort in allowing a child to make a decision to commit their lives to The Way, when I (as the dad) won't allow them to decide how long they should stay up at night.

On one level I think it is an individual decision to claim Christ, and on another hand I see it as a family or communal decision. We all know that children can't live off their parents faith. I have witnessed that scene play out all too often. Eventually the child will have to come to their own faith and understanding of Christ. This probably won't happen in a single moment, but over time.

I just wonder what role baptism will play in the story of my family and my children.........

Mother's day

2006-05-12T21:32:00.000-04:00

Misc 168
Originally uploaded by adamhanauer.

Emily, Kylie and I went to the park last weekend. Kylie loves to swing and slide down the slides. She is really growing up so fast.

Happy Mother's day to the woman who raised me. She is a fantastic mother, and a pretty great grandma too. I don't know what makes some mother's neglect their children and other mother's love them like crazy, but I am glad that I got one that loves me no matter what.

Happy Mother's day to the woman who has made me happier than any women could. She has given me the most beautiful daughter in the world, and I know our new baby boy will be just as sweet. She invest her time and energy into teaching Kylie and being a good example. For that I am grateful. She not only loves Kylie with words, but with actions. That is what makes her so great!!

Funny Stuff

2006-05-09T20:10:00.000-04:00

Kylie is taking after her daddy, and becoming quite the comedian. Some of her latest funny tales: Please note, I don't think she means to be as funny as she is....

Banana = Bomina (BO-MEE-NA)
Strawberries = Strawbabies

And just today, Emily claims she was scratching (I say picking) her nose and Kylie looked at her and said "Mommy get it." That is of course what Emily always says to Kylie when she is ferociously digging in Kylie's tiny nostrils. She felt like cheering her mommy on, in her pursuit of "golden nuggets."

Kylie has also learned all the words to "Jesus, Let us, Come to, Know you, Let us, See you, Face to Face, touch us, hold us, use us, mold us, only let us, live in you". I sing that most nights to her and one night she started singing it back. Pretty amazing actually.

2 outs in the bottom of the ninth.....

2006-05-03T15:57:00.000-04:00

Barry Bonds has not played all game. Emily and I are sitting on the left field line. As the inning unfolds before me I am hoping that Bonds will soon pop out of the dugout and head to the on-deck circle to loosen up. And then like a scene out of a movie it happens. Out steps this gigantic man with his little bat resting on his shoulder. The crowd goes NUTS!!! My heart starts to beat just a little faster. Still two outs....he might not get to the plate. Then a slow grounder hit to third (shoot it is over), but to my amazement the third baseman throws the ball away and reaches safely to first. Holy crap! Can this be happening. Giants down 4-7, in the bottom of the ninth with 2 on, and Bonds coming to the plate. I think to myself, surely they will walk him. But to my amazement again, they are going to pitch to him. Holy Holy crap!!! Then it happened......My heart almost came out of my chest, when the ball collides with his bat.

This is how our trip to San Francisco was started. Magic...Amazing...

Emily and I had a wonderful time touring the city and surrounding areas. We saw a lot of different places and people. I was warned about the homelessness that seemed so prevalent in the city and was reminded everytime we stepped outside our hotel. Emily and I felt such a burden for those people. Most of them invisible to the people passing them by. We gave our money, bought some dinner and talked to many, but it never seemed like enough. I was reminded by one guy screaming in the streets, of the demon possessed man that lived in the cemetary. Jesus had compassion on these people...healed them....talked to them....changed their lives. I just want to do the same.

It is good to be home....Just found out we are having a baby boy!! Life is good.

2006-04-13T20:46:00.000-04:00

The responsibility of the church is not to be an attractional body, but to be an infiltrating group. Church is not something we do, but who we are. Church is the community of God's redeemed people, who care enough about the environments in which we find ourselves in, that we seep into every crack and crevice, in the name of Jesus.

We model Good News! Because God has walked among us things will be better! Not because if you do certain things you will get to heaven, but because God has redeemed our world and wants us to participate in his redemptive work. It might mean people will hate you. It might mean friends will disown you. But you are to be salt and light bringing out the God flavors in this world.

Thoughts from the Tulsa workshop....

What does a belly button have to do with it??

2006-04-11T21:32:00.000-04:00

Well, in my case it has everything to do with it. Since graduating from Lipscomb University in 2000 my belly button has continued to get increasingly deeper. Honestly I don't know what to make of it. The past 4-6 months I have been thinking about different ways to make it stop. Me thinking about it hasn't gotten me anywhere, so I have decided to go back to the basics.

I have officially put myself on a "belly button depth reduction workout." It consists of running every other day, and working out on (oh YES) my bowflex the other days. I am three whole days in and feeling pretty good.

In all seriousness, most of us need some more discipline in our lives. Maybe it is not exercise of the body that we need, but exercise of The Spirit. Hopefully in some small way I will become more disciplined physically, and that just might lead to some more discipline spiritually. I have already found my morning runs to be an opportunity for prayer and meditation. At least the first half, when I am not thinking about gasping for my next breath.

Resurrection Power

2006-04-02T21:10:00.000-04:00

2006 Central Family Retreat
"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, to somehow attain the resurrection from the dead."

The theme of this year's retreat at Cumberland Falls was "I want to know Christ." I don't just want to know about Christ, but I want to have an intimate relationship with the Son of God. The only way that is going to happen is through the Spirit that indwells, searches and knows me.

I think the reason we don't experience real resurrecting power, is not because we don't have it, but because we are scared of it. We are scared to allow Christ's Spirit to empower us because of what it might mean. We have become so comfortable with "doing church" why would we want to mess with that. Well, like the speaker said this weekend, I am tired of "church service." There are times I feel like I am going to bust out of my shoes when I think of the calling we have in Christ. Inviting people to church just doesn't do it for me anymore. I want to live Christ.

This morning we were able to share in a communion meal. Like most years I have been there, it spilled over into people confessing, admonishing and giving testimonials. The emotion was almost scary. At one point a very shy lady, that everyone loves and respects, stood up and poured her heart out. It was as if God was speaking directly through her to us. To show us her true heart. I love being reminded that God is personal, and he wants us to be personal. He wants us to get beyond the "shallowness" of most of our relationships into the stuff that matters. Into the good stuff of how we are feeling about things.

This weekend, for those that were there, resurrecting power was experienced. We were first hand witnesses of his glory. Praise be to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!!!

Church of Christ = Cult?

2006-03-29T20:20:00.000-05:00

Rubel Shelly will be representing the CoC's on Nancy Grace's show tonight which is airing right now. It is in response to the wife that killed her husband who was a minister of a CoC. They want to explore the accusation that CoC's are a breeding ground for this kind of violence. It replays tonight at 10pm. I know it is channel 202 on Dish Network. I am taping the one at 10pm. Should be interesting!!

Learning the hard way

2006-03-25T19:56:00.000-05:00

I know many that read this blog will find this entry particularly amusing (mom and dad).

Emily left Friday night to spend an uplifting weekend with the women of Okolona, so that left Kylie and I together (ALL ALONE) for the weekend. Today has been a great day. We got up at the "butt" crack of dawn, had some breakfast together and played like crazy. We went to Dick's Sporting Goods to do some leisurely shopping, and headed over to the Party Store. Kylie talked me into buying a bottle of wine, and I thanked her for the recommendation.

Ok, now for the lessoned learned. We had some dinner, as is our custom, and then immediately followed dinner up with a bath. As I was washing her I decided it was time for me to use the restroom ( #1 of course). With the toilet water nice and yellow Kylie stands up and throws (shoots) her rubber ducky right in the commode. I should tell you we have been watcing some March Madness this weekend. I must say it was reminiscent of my fade away jumpers I used to shoot in my younger days. She thought is was hilarious, and I did too. You know when someone shoots a swish, they sometimes say "splash". Well, the net didn't splash, but the "yellow water" sure did. So after I cleaned up, I rescued the poor duck out of the pee infested waters. I think he is going to make it!!

Lesson Learned
Stop peeing around Kylie. She is an athlete!

2006-03-17T21:49:00.000-05:00

I feel like I have to post something or "they" will revoke my blog license. So here goes nothing.....
Haven't seen Emily and Kylie for going on 9 days now. This week went by fairly quickly due to some long days at work. I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend (watching basketball) and picking them up from the airport on Monday.

We are in the midst of a busy travel time. Emily will be busy next weekend with the ladies retreat at church and then we both will be going to Central Family Retreat the following weekend. The end of April we will be traveling to San Francisco. Don't get me wrong I am looking forward to the travel, but I also won't mind getting back to 'normal'.

So for now it is me and the kitties!!

Searching

2006-02-25T19:59:00.000-05:00

It is a special thing when believers get together to search for new ways to bear witness to the Kingdom in our present world.

This weekend Lee Camp came to Louisville to share with us the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not often we hear the gospel in our churches. I think our situation is not unlike that which Paul addresses in Galatians. We have turned faithful witness to the gospel into nothing more than 'doing church right.'

But this weekend new seeds have been planted, and I pray God does some watering.

28 Years

2006-02-15T20:15:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I am 28 years old. I know that might not sound like much to some, but for me its sounds pretty old. My body at times feels like I am 90 or thereabouts. I can attribute that to my 8-5 job and little exercise.

I have so much in which to be grateful. If I tried to write it all down in this entry I suspect I would be here all night, but here is a few:

1. My wife and daughter. The happiest part of my day is when I come home from work, kiss Emily and pick up Kylie. I love giving Kylie a bath and putting her to bed at night. Most of all I love that I get to sleep next to my best friend. Today we got to hear the heartbeat of our second child. It almost makes me cry to think about it.

2. God's provision in my life. I am thankful for my house, car, clothes, bed and job, but I praise Him not for the things he has given me, but "because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." I praise Him because he is the creator and I am the creation. I praise Him because he is so big, and yet he allows me to know him.

3. Good friends. I can be so unloving at times and yet God has put so many good friends in my life. I have friends in many different cities, that I know would die for me. I don't understand it. I have 2 great brothers that I consider my friends as well as a mom and dad that would do anything for me and my family.

I don't feel like I am any wiser, but I trust I am. I trust that God is shaping me into the very nature of his Son.

My prayers have gotten much simpler over the past years. I pray for more faith, both in my life and the ones I know. I pray for protection from evil. I pray for those that I might reach out to, in the name of Jesus. I pray God's Kingdom come in all it's fullenss in my life and this world.

I can honestly say that I am happier now than I have ever been at any point in my life. I am more content than I have ever been. And yet I know there is so far to go. I still struggle with the same things I have struggled with my entire life.

In my 28 years I have grown to hate many things. I hate prejudice of all kinds. I hate it most of all when it rears it's ugly face in my own life. I hate when people use our Savior's name in vain. I hate that so many kids have to grow up without parents that love them, and then struggle to find what love looks like in their lives. I hate that our country is at war with another country because "it is the only way."

Didn't expect to end this entry like that. Maybe later I can write about all the things I have grown to love.

Updates and stuff

2006-02-10T20:07:00.000-05:00

Gearing up for the weekend with Lee Camp. Looks like we will be gathering in someone's home, which pleases me. I hope those who are planning on attending will be prayerful about this weekend. I am looking forward to spending time with an old college professor that changed my life in many ways.

On the Kylie front, she has found a new fun thing to do between 1am and 3am. She likes to stand up in her crib and scream bloody murder for hours on end. It is really quiet fun for all involved. Last night I finally gave up and let her scream herself right back to sleep. I know, we are not the best parents in the world, but you have to give us credit for trying.

Next weekend is Winterfest! Emily and I have gone together since we have known each other. We enjoy spending time with the kids and hearing the 'latest teen talk.' Should be a good opportunity to build relationships with some of the teens at Okolona.

Acardia is this weekend. Emily, Kylie and Myself will be sharing a meal with the church. I am looking forward to it. These Sundays always prove to be rejuvinating for me. I don't exactly know what it is, but it is refreshing.

Greek is hard!!

Bono Speaks

2006-02-06T20:30:00.000-05:00

Ran across this link on Wade Hodges blog and listened to it today. It is Bono speaking at the prayer breakfast in Washington D.C. He says many quotable things, but his stuck out to me at the end:

"Stop asking God to bless what you are doing, and get involved in what God is doing. It is already blessed."

He brings up the idea of charity vs. justice, and claims that we are very good at charity, but we are not so good at justice. Hard to believe so much truth was coming from this 'rock stars' lips, but when I listened that is what I heard. He, like me, has some cynicism that he deals with when he thinks about the religious. I think he has put some words to my thoughts......we are so good at charity, but not justice. He goes on to say that if we truly looked at Africans as equals there is no way we would let the injustice continue in that country.

How can anyone think they are better than someone else? I have never understood this idea. We had NO HAND in what country we were born in, what family, or what social status. We could have very easily been born in Afghanistan, Iraq, or God forbid Iran. We had no say in our ethnicisity. Did we? Or am I missing something?!

http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/us/2006/02/02/bono.speaks.cnn&wm=10

Modern Empires

2006-01-29T17:57:00.000-05:00

I am such a copier, but this is thought provoking at the least. Read January 28th post......

http://www.harvestboston.net/

God's Will

2006-01-22T16:44:00.000-05:00

Lately I have been thinking about how we know what God's will is for our lives, especially when we are facing a major decision.

This morning at church I met a visitor who when asked what brought him to Okolona church this particular morning he responded "God!" Wow, I thought! How does he know that? I am always a little skeptical of people who claim to know God's will, but lately that has changed.

If we are trusting God to direct our actions everyday and we are seeking him, then we can be confident that he is using us for his purposes. Even when we make bad choices we can still be confident. This realization has been so freeing to me the past few weeks as I have wrestled with some tough choices. We (I) often times get so caught up in the decisions that face me it can be paralizing. Indecisiveness can render any Christian ineffective in their DAILY walk.

Seeking God's guidance through prayer and other believers is so important, but then we must trust that God is leading.

Jack is Back!

2006-01-20T17:57:00.000-05:00

kiefer
Originally uploaded by adamhanauer.

Jack is back, and he is badder than ever. In just 4 hours of the new episode he has already saved us from a terrorist attack on one of our airports. We have 20 more hours left, and there is just no telling what he will be able to accomplish.

We don't like unbelievers

2006-01-13T20:30:00.000-05:00

Ok, maybe that is a little strong. But think about it. Who do you hang around with the majority of the time outside of work? Who do you want to be in your home, and who do you want to go see a movie with? We don't like unbelievers, and I understand why. We, or at least I, don't feel like I have very much in common with any of 'them.'

Quite frankly, they scare me because they challenge me. Often times I am not challenged by other Christians. We like to 'edify' each other so much that it doesn't seem to leave much room for challenging discussion. We hardly ever have challenging conversations about scripture, because we must maintain 'the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.' Have mercy if we have a disagreement over scripture or call into question a tradition.

If we have taken the time to develop true friendships with unbelievers all they are going to do is challenge us. All they are going to do is make us think seriously about what we believe, and they may even think that all this Jesus stuff is silly. The scary part is sometimes faith does sound silly to me. Like a fairy tale, or not unlike believing in the easter bunny or santa claus.

When I look at Christ I see him perfectly comfortable around unbelievers. In fact if I could think of a word that best describes Christ it would be comfortable. Comfortable in his own skin and comfortable with who He is, and who's He is. That allows him to get out of the 'christian bubble' we create for ourselves and walk dangerously amongst 'them.'

Even now as I am typing this I realize that much of our approach, or again my approach, is so screwed up. I think of evangelism as 'us' (the good guys) against 'them' (the bad guys). Is this Christian? Would it be more Christian to erase the lines and walls that we create and just be in relationship with people, and through relationship bear witness to the reality of Christ's presence in our world?

I don't like unbelievers......do you?

Cinderella Man

2006-01-11T20:52:00.000-05:00

Recomended movie....Emily and I watched this the other night and thoroughly enjoyed it. The movie is set in the time of the great depression so it just makes for a good plot all around, and the director is Ron Howard. He always seems to make movies with some sort of meaning in them.

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Having a crazy busy time at work this week. We just finished open enrollment which is our busiest time. Being in the process organization we get to figure out what went wrong and spend the next year trying to fix it. It pays well.......

Knowing Christ in 2006

2005-12-31T22:39:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading "Searching for God Knows What" by Donald Miller and was renewed in my search to know Christ and be known by Him. For sometime now I have believed that our Christianity should not be wrapped up in certain propositions about Christ, but in a relationship with Christ, the person. This book put words to my thoughts. We have reduced the Bible, which is God revealing Himself to His creation, to five step plan to know Him, and this is bogus. We have stripped the gospel of it's central message of relationship and love of man and Christ, and transformed it into conservative Christianity, conservative politics.

In 2006 I want to know Christ. I want to talk about Christ. I want to fall in love with Christ, and I want my family to fall in love with Christ. I want to experience a relationship and all that goes with it, in a real way.

I know this will not be easy because of the 'religious' environment I am immersed in on a weekly basis. I have been fortunate enough to have developed relationships with people that have the same ideas about Christ and what it means to know them. These relationships I will lean heavily on in the new year.

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."

Concentrated times of discipline

2005-12-30T13:20:00.000-05:00

Kylie's favorite word for the past few weeks has become "doh." She has never seen the Simpsons, so Emily and I are pretty sure she is not imitating Homer. What she is doing however is telling us when she doesn't want something. I am ok with her saying no. Right now she can't string the 3 words together that I would prefer her to say which is "no thank you" so until that happens "no" will do for me.

But last night we went to dinner together and she was not only saying "doh" but she was saying it with some serious attitude, and that I have a problem with. So I have invented a wonderful time together entitled "concentrated times of discipline." These little events began last night. Emily and I had a discussion about what to do with this new found "tude" Kylie seems to be exhibiting, and have come to the conclusion that discipline is necessary.

So, I sat her down in her chair after we returned from the restaurant, and fed her dinner. Again, like I expected, she slipped into her new found independence and told me exactly what she felt about what I was attempting to feed her...a...nd I began. Strong tones don't always seem to work with this little one, and when I clap my hands to scare her, she almost begins to break out in "when your happy and you know it." So yes I had to begin tapping/slapping/gently hitting/forceful patting/etc. to get her to understand that her behavior is inappropriate.

It broke my heart to hurt her feelings like that (and that is all it was doing) but I believe it to be necessary, and after all I am the Dad. In the future, I know we will continue to have these concentrated times of discipline together, but that is how we all seem to learn.

So, if you are in a restaurant and we seem to have lost control of our little spunky daughter, don't worry, we have everything under control (at least that is our illusion we choose to live with).

Happy New Year!!

Kylie

2005-12-18T21:06:00.000-05:00

Kylie
Originally uploaded by adamhanauer.

Are you kidding me? I am in one of those computer moods tonight, and thought I would post yet again. Three in one day, I know!?

Here is Kylie at about 14 months. She is the sweetest thing, and is repeating EVERYTHING Emily and I say now. Thought I would share this picture.

Powerless Church

2005-12-18T20:52:00.000-05:00

Why is it so hard to understand this idea of powerlessness? Since I taught about this idea a couple of weeks ago, and had some conversations it seems we only want to understand this idea in one vein. That vein is we need to give up our power or control of our lives so God can be in control. Ok, that is one side, but what about the other side? What about exploring the side that renounces the pursuit of worldly power?

We can't do that because that is how we have built the church. Haven't we? We need the church to be a power structure in order for us to bring about God's will, right? I don't think so....
I thought I would post some of my points from my class. These points were made in context of what church 'might' look like if we truly gave up our need and desire to be powerful in this world. I don't know, maybe I am way off here.......

The powerless church seeks NOT to fulfill its desire to be comfortable, but seeks experiences that make it increasingly uncomfortable. All too often churches spend their resources, such as time and money on activities that benefit us the most. We become self absorbed in our careers and families and lose sight of the way of Christ. The church doors may always be open but too often we are sending a silent message that we are looking for people that are a good socio-economic and racial fit, people that already have their lives together and won’t embarrass us. Christ’s church sacrifices its reputation. The powerless church seeks relationships that challenge and make us step outside of our comfort zones, so we have no choice but to rely on God’s power and not our own. We befriend people that look nothing like us. We invite them into our homes, into our lives and our churches. We seek out those individuals not because we believe we have some sort of power over them, but because we consider them better than ourselves. We are open to new things that God wants to reveal to us through people that look nothing like us.

The second characteristic of the powerless church is found in its radical service to others. The powerless church serves people in ways that just don’t make sense to world. Like Jesus washing the disciples feet they do not discriminate between believers and those that would deny Christ. They serve others not expecting something in return or to somehow convert them, but only to consider others better than themselves. We give not of just our money, but our very lives to serve and sacrifice for those which Christ died.

The powerless church is shaped like the cross. The cross is not just a religious symbol that signifies our forgiveness of sins, but it is the very thing that shapes who we are. Our ethic is based solely on a God that came to earth and sacrificed it all on a wooden cross and calls those that follow him to pick it up and sacrifice their lives in much the same way. There is no way to domesticate the call of Christ. This is what he demands of his followers. The powerless church renounces their desire to be powerful in this world and force their views and beliefs on an unbelieving world, but instead through cross-bearing we hope to win some for the cause of Christ. That is what is meant by I John 2:6. We are to model his attitude and his willingness to relinquish control. Are you willing to be crucified on a cross, today, for the sake of Christ? As a church are we willing to be crucified for the cause of Christ? Are we willing to be humiliated, beaten, spat upon or do we demand control and power?

The mark of a follower of Christ in a powerless church changes from adherence to a defined set of traditions or doctrine to the display of justice and mercy in the life of the disciple. The powerless church alters it focus from stressing the institutionally defined “conditions for membership” to Christ-likeness in every aspect of life. When the institution takes the lead then discipleship will take a back seat. Jesus teaching begins to apply only in adherence to specific worship forms, and this becomes our measure of faithfulness. We become less concerned with showing justice and mercy to those in need and spend our resources on protecting and defending the institutions traditions. But when discipleship and Christ-likeness are paramount a church is freed to explore a life that does not just obey the commands of God, but completely surrenders to the Lordship of Christ. The laws become a means by which we participate in the gospel story.

Just Click It!

2005-12-18T20:21:00.000-05:00

Okolona Church continued the series entitled "It's not about me" this evening with a class on missional church. If you are in to listening to sermons/lessons online I would encourage you to click the Okolona Church link at the right of this web page and listen. It can be found under "sermons" and the class was today entitled 'The missional church'. If you listen I would be interested in your thoughts.

I thought it was phenomenal! It stinks that we have to use our language to communicate the things of God, but that is what we are stuck with, and I thought it was communicated very well tonight. As we search to be Christ in our world and participate with Him in his ministry of reconciliation, may we learn to use our very lives as our communication of God's mission.

-----------------------------

Today was a good day for Emily, Kylie and I. We were able to serve some people at Acardia Church. When we walked into the church this afternoon, while they were opening gifts, I was encouraged to find my director at Humana was there and has been involved in this ministry. I was reminded when you are involved in Kingdom activity you find that God is working. On the other hand, when you do not involve yourself in Kingdom activity it seems at times God is not working.

Looking forward to spending some time with friends and family in a week. We will be heading up to Cincinnati on Friday.

Here am I, send me!

2005-12-11T20:59:00.000-05:00

Beyond the chaos which threatened the land, Isaiah saw in a vision the God of order and sovereign authority, ruling over the affairs of earth.
Ocassionally does Scripture break through the limitations of our visions of earth and how we think things work, and open us up to the unseen kingdom that surrounds us on every side, permitting us to see the true glory of God.

Isaiah had an opportunity to look beyond the visible to the realms of the invisible and see the majesty of our God. He saw God enthroned, "sitting upon a throne," the symbol of sovereign authority, in charge of everything in heaven and upon earth.

There is a great hymn that expresses this well,

Immortal, Invisible, God only wise.
In light inaccessible, hid from our eyes.
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days!
Almighty, Victorious,
Thy great name we praise!

God alone is worthy! God alone is wise! God alone is soveriegn and due our highest praise!
I am a man of unworthy lips, and I am amongst a people of unclean lips. Only God has the power to forgive and make us worthy to serve in his name. Here I am God, send me!!!

Happy Holidays

2005-12-07T20:58:00.000-05:00

True to the name of my blog here come some random thoughts.

Ran across this quote today on msnbc.com
"I think it's more important to put Christ back into our war planning than into our Christmas cards," It was in response to conservative Christians being ticked that Bush sent out Christmas cards that say happy 'holidays' instead of Merry Christmas. Thought it was interesting.

I am excited about Brian McClaren's new book that is coming out soon entitled "The Secret Message of Jesus."

Lee Camp has confirmed that he is coming February 24-25, 2006. Working on the details of that weekend.

We have a busy couple of weeks coming up with Christmas celebrations at church and with family. Kylie continues to grow in 'wisdom and stature'. She is also beginning to learn to obey as well as defy her parents. I guess that comes with the territory.

Taking a Greek class on Wednesday nights. Not the easiest language, but it is coming slowly. Probably should find some more time to study (Isaac that is for you).

Taught the powerless class 12.4.05 at church and I think it went well. I listened to it online and wish I had communicated a little better. There are some things I can definitely learn about public speaking. I enjoy teaching and speaking although I am not convinced it is a gift I have. Too bad because we are going to continue the series of classes beginning first of the year, but in a discussion format. Should be interesting to get the church talking about some of the ideas presented in the lessons.

Emily and I are doing fantastic. She has become the mom I knew she would be when I married her. Kylie and I are blessed to have her in our lives. She is forever patient with the both of us.

Until later.....

Thanksgiving Break

2005-11-22T22:06:00.000-05:00

Going to St. Louis for Thanksgiving break and to celebrate Thanksmas. Should be a good time and I am looking forward to the time off work.

Grandma is not doing well. Still praying for reconciliation and for my dad. Pray everyone has a good break and is able to spend time with people they love.

Growing in our walk

2005-11-13T19:56:00.000-05:00

Had the opportunity to speak at Arcadia CoC this morning, and was blessed by being there. The spirit of that church is indescribable. These people truly have a heart for God, and are facing things that we can't even imagine. They are facing stuff that we watch on our evening news, and say "I sure am glad I don't live there." But they are a light to their community, and I feel privileged just to have been in their presence again.

Wanted to share some of my points from the sermonete I preached this morning, all in the context of growing in our walk with Christ.

1. Understand we are a part of a greater story. It all hinges on this. As Christians we must believe that we are part of the very story God is writing in our history, and seek to find our place in that story. The Christian walk is not about 1 event that happened, but is more about the process or story of God reconciling the world to himself through the work of Christ.

2. To grow in our walk we must seek mentor relationships. None of us has it all figured out. Just as Emily and I seek those relationships for the benefit of our marriage we have a responsibility to seek those relationships in regard to our discipleship. Jesus didn't expect the disciples to 'get it' in a short time, but invested serious time in developing and living alongside 12 men to equip them for ministry.

3. If we are to realize any growth in our walk we need to be spending time with God. We choose to fill our lives with a lot of stuff, and some important stuff, but we often neglect our times with God.

4. Learning from trials and hardship is a mark of one growing in relationship with Christ. James tells us to 'consider it pure joy when you endure trials and hardships of many kinds.' It is a fact of life that we will endure times of struggle, but as disciples we have the greater story in mind and seek to discern what God is doing in our lives.

5. Trust is at the center of any good relationship. As we grow and mature as disciples it will become VERY CLEAR that Christ ask for our entire lives, and not any one portion. If we are going to commit ourselves to the work of Christ in this world we have to trust him, as an expert in life.

I am going to try and live out these "sermon points" in my life, I hope you will do the same.

On a completely different note, I just dropped off Emily and Kylie at the airport. This was not an easy thing for me to do. They are going to be gone for 3-4 days and I don't like it!!

More thoughts on Powerlessness

2005-11-05T21:36:00.000-05:00

Powerlessness is another word for humility, which doesn’t happen to start with a ‘P’. It is getting beyond belonging to a building or institution; beyond the sense that they are “Paying you to say that, or to be nice to me.” If you are powerless you have nothing left to lose, and people pay attention to that.

It is against our nature to desire to be powerless, to leave our aspirations for our lives and the church we belong to up to God alone. To lose ourselves in selflessness, or to consider others better than ourselves, but this is precisely what we are called to as one embodying the way of the Kingdom. I cringe when I think that Christ said his power is made perfect in my weakness. I hate admitting that I have weakness. We hate admitting we have weaknesses, and if you don’t believe me I don’t think you are not being honest with yourself.
We are called to be a community of people that has nothing to lose. That holds to nothing on this earth tight enough that, if it was taken away, we would still be complete in Christ alone. Does this describe you? The problem is it doesn’t describe me. In my search to be ‘powerful’ in this life I have to hold tight to a number of things. In my search to be in ‘control’ I have to find meaning in things that Christ would call meaningless, and herein lies the problem. Often times our service to Christ, whether as a church or individually, is wrapped up on our selfishness. We do things for Christ out of guilt, to feel good about ourselves, to add yet another check box, to receive our reward in heaven or to be noticed as one who is a TRUE DISCIPLE.
But if we become powerless, if we become like a slave to all then Christ can truly begin to work. If we allow (and I am trying to choose my words carefully) GOD to crucify our selfish nature, and all that goes with it then ‘good works’ would naturally flow from our very being. We would be Christ without having to TRY to be like him.

Prayers Requested

2005-11-04T21:50:00.000-05:00

Just got a call from my mother that my grandma is in the hospital. She suffered a massive heart attact, it is my dad's mother. Dad and mom went to visit, but she is unconscious and on a breathing machine. To the best of my knowledge she wants nothing to do with Christ. It is a very difficult situation to say the least.

Pray that she has some more time on this earth to reconcile relationships with family and with God. Pray for my parents, especially my dad, who will have to deal with some suppressed feelings about his mother. Pray for healing in every way possible.

What busyness doesn't equal

2005-11-04T21:40:00.000-05:00

"Busyness convinces us that there is always something else we need to be doing. Busyness embitters, exhausts, divides and demoralizes the people of God. If we have not exposed this imposter virtue for what it is, then the reason is because so many of our congregational practices depend upon it."

I was reminded of this today. We work hard to jam pack our lives full of activities, in my humble opinion, to feel important or needed at some level. Where is the quiet time with God? Jesus, more than once, was recorded going to a solitary place to pray. He sought opportunities to get away from the 'madness' of life to spend time in quiet reflections with his father (I bet the TV was even off, but I can't be sure.)

Insights from an atheist

2005-10-27T12:33:00.000-04:00

Friend of mine sent me this link. Interesting that this was a CoCer.

Something I took from this website is the arrogance we have that we can logically box God up for everyone and present him as a neat little guy who acts predictably. We so easily make God one of us, and then expect people to believe in Him. Can't happen!

http://www.ministerturnsatheist.org/

Power Play

2005-10-26T16:58:00.000-04:00

So much of religion is a power play. To get people to believe certain things in order to get their butts into heaven. Millions of people are searching for meaning in this world. There are searching for something that would give them reason to get up in the morning, and when they find it they invest all they have. Some find it in work, things, sex, addictions, pleasure, status, and so on......

The body of Christ (church) should find herself right in the middle of these lives. If she doesn't then she doesn't have her eyes open. It is not the job of the church to pull the power play and threaten eternal damnation and separation from God. "Come to me all you are are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Jesus saves the power play tactic not for the sinner, but for the so-called righteous. He takes their use of hell and scare tactics that they used on the 'sinners' and turns it around on them. Why do we continually need to be reminded of this fact?

The gospel is not power play. The gospel is never to be used to make someone feel less, or to make us feel better about where we stand in relation to someone else. Not everyone will listen to the message, Jesus tell us this, but that doesn't gives us the right to manipulate them. We are instructed to 'shake the dust off our sandals' and move on. Maybe the world would be more inclined to listen to a message that was drastically different than everything else they are fed. The gospel is just that message, but we have stripped it of its effectiveness in the name of effectiveness.

The ONLY thing that counts

2005-10-15T15:26:00.000-04:00

I was inspired this week with a conversation I had at work. In this conversation I found conviction which led to action from a very unlikely person, or so I thought. It got me to thinking about what I believe and am truly convicted of in my walk with Christ. There are many things I profess to believe, but what was Paul referring to when he wrote to the Galatians in chapter 5:6 "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The ONLY thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

Paul was writing to the Galatian church that had become hoodwinked into believing that in order to live in Christ you still had to keep the law. They had been tricked into thinking that Christ + "works" was the way of God. Although this kind of thinking is flawed I feel a kind of "calling" in 5:6. If Christ-followers are convicted of something then it will call them to action. We can't help it. Because of the life Christ lived and the calling of the disciple we can't help but express our faith through love. Over my 27 years of have been convicted/convinced of many things, but I am not sure if it was a true conviction, because of the lack of action it has produced in my life. I still seek the security of 'good works' as oppossed to convicted living. Some of the works that may get lumped into convicted living may not be on my 'good work' check list.

Making a small difference for the kingdom will require more of convicted living and less check list living. My conversation opened my eyes to a person who was trying to make a small difference in this world because she was convicted of something a few years ago that drove her to action.

Salvation

2005-10-07T21:38:00.000-04:00

"Living like Jesus is not something we do to get salvation--it is our salvation."

Confused about Church? Me too!

2005-10-06T20:44:00.000-04:00

No doubt, if you have been keeping up with all this talk about the 'emerging' church you are just as confused as I am. Why are we talking about the church anyway? Hasn't it been around since just after Christ ascended? Surely we have it all right by now!

I continue to have a tugging on my heart telling me something is just not right. We have to expand our thinking about church outside the box of Sunday morning and outside the box of the church building. Those things have little to do with church I am learning. I am not sure how we got to the place we are today, although I have read several books on the subject. Below are some thoughts on ways we can begin to change our thinking, and dare to test our current forms.

I find that here on the East Coast, where most evangelical churches are oriented to the religious right and many of the unchurched folk are liberal Democrats, the anxiety level about visiting a church is so high that people just won't do it - unless they are really searching for God. What matters to them when they visit, I believe, is to find authentic, honest seekers (people seeking God's kingdom and justice, my preferred word for believers), along with a service that is rich, meaningful and mysterious, yet comprehensible and approachable. In other words, the road of faith needs on-ramps and clear signage. If the service is odd, strange, fake, forced, or inaccessable, those characteristics undermine the credibility of the message. One of our challenges is to make our symbols (and rituals and other religious stuff) understandable for new people so they can bond to the meaning of the symbols. In other words, we need to explore an alternative to (1) using symbols that make sense to people and (2) getting rid of symbols: (3) using symbols and finding ways to make them enticing, attractive and penetrable for people unfamiliar with them.

In today's world, emerging generations have no anchor of truth to hold onto. So as they hear and experience Jesus as truth and the anchor for the very first time, the hope for the furure is incledibly optimistic. As the emerging church returns to the rawer and more vintage form of Christianity, we may see the explosive growth much like the early church did.

Our Advocate

2005-09-28T17:53:00.000-04:00

Long time no blog.

Have been spending a lot of my meditation time in John 14-16 and specifically Jesus' story about the vine and branches. This is a familiar story no doubt, but one that warrants our study from time to time. I find it interesting that in John 14 and John 16 he has many references to the Holy Spirit, Counselor or Advocate, and smashed right between those two chapters we find this story.

The very life blood that SHOULD be running through our veins should be that of Christ's, if we allow God's Spirit, our Advocate, to dwell in us and surrender to him our hopes, dreams and very wills. Christ has not orphaned us. He has not given us a "new law" without giving us a "new power" to live in obedience to that law.

John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING." Wow! When can we get to the point where we realize that apart from Christ we can do nothing? What will it take in my life to get to such a point?

We can read the bible and talk about becoming like Christ until we are blue in the face (mine is light blue as I type). This won't amount to a hill of beans until we confess and believe with our hearts that apart from Christ we can do nothing, and simply rely on his very own Spirit and our Advocate to command every inch of our lives.

The definition I like best for Advocate is: a person (as a lawyer) who works and argues in support of another's cause. I don't like the "as a lawyer" part, but the rest fits. He is working and arguing on our behalf. Praise God we are not orphans!

Mere Discipleship

2005-09-17T18:33:00.000-04:00

Let me first say that we just walked in the door from a very long and tiring journey from Destin Florida. We left about 3:15AM, and stopped off in Nashville to visit some friends. My back is killing me, and I am starving, but other than that I am doing well. Hope to post some pictures from our adventure soon.

Now for the reason I am writing. I was exciting to find an email from an old professor of mine at Lipscomb, Dr. Camp. I had invited him to Louisville a few months ago to hold a 'seminar/weekend/class/whatever you want to call it' on his book and other related ideas to Kingdom living. I have spoke with a few others from various parts of the U.S.A and they seemed interested. He is looking at February. So if you read this blog and are interested in coming to Louisville or, if you live in Louisville, coming to where it will be held please let me know by commenting on this post. I have yet to get back with him on a date, but I would like to in the next few weeks. I am excited about this opportunity to learn!

God bless.

Vacation Update

2005-09-12T22:13:00.000-04:00

Well, things are going very well in Destin. Hurricane Ophelia decided to spare us and the weather has been absolutely beautiful so far. I have been playing pretty good golf thus far. We have the best courses yet to come on Wednesday and Friday. I am looking forward to it! Emily is out shopping with her sister and mom; Kylie is fast asleep. Speaking of Kylie, she has been an allstar. She did great on the ride down here. It was a little shaky at the beginning. It seems she didn't want to go to sleep right away, but once we got past Bowling Green she was out until about 7am. It tooks us about 12 hours to get here, and she was good about 9 of those hours. We plan on doing the same thing for the ride home. It is rough on mom and dad, but the sacrifices we make.....

Ran into an old friend from college on the beaches yesterday. We were getting ready to have our pictures taken and I look up and lo' and behold it was none other than Barrett Reed and Emily. They were about to do the same. It was good to see them!

Tomorrow is shaping up to be more of the same. I hope to sleep in a little since we don't have a tee time in the morning and then lay by the pool and read. I know, I know, it sounds rough, but I don't feel bad about it. I am thankful God has given us this time of rest.

Check back soon!

Vacation

2005-09-08T20:21:00.000-04:00

Well we are headed for vacation tomorrow. We will make our way to Nashville Friday night, and leave for Destin around 2am Saturday morning. We are hoping to avoid the wrath of Kylie with this strategic move. I think a lot is riding on the transfer from the bed to the car. I am still developing the game plan for this transfer.

Just to keep things interesting Hurricane Ophelia is about 70 miles off the northeast coast of Florida as we speak, and most experts have not a clue of to which way she might move. She has stalled, and has been in her current location for the past couple of days. My prayer is it turns and heads back out to the Atlantic sparing Florida, Georgia and our vacation.

I plan on reading the Bible and playing golf. There should be plenty of time for both. We have three tee times set up at some very nice courses. I am excited to say the least. I don't plan on blogging or doing much of anything except the two things mentioned above. Oh yeah, I do plan on sleeping a lot and laying on the beach.

Talk to everyone when we return!

Holiday Weekend

2005-09-05T21:29:00.000-04:00

Emily, Kylie and I are back from Cincinnati, where we got to celebrate dad's birthday. I am not sure if he would appreciate me posting his age, so I thought it wise to leave it off. We had a great time eating and sharing together. Got to play 18 holes with my brother Jason, and needless to say that was a great time as well, but I am exhausted.

Not long ago we got the call that Emily's grandfather had passed away. The past few days have been rough on him and the rest of the family, and God finally called him home. What an exciting time for him right now. As we think about his life on this earth he is in the presence of the Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth. He has no cares, and his once weak body has been made whole again. Praise God!

Katrina

2005-08-31T22:01:00.000-04:00

Just finished watching Dateline NBC and their report on the catastrophic damage that hurricane Katrina caused in New Orleans and surrounding areas. I am left almost speechless. There are no words to describe the total devastation of that area. They ended their report with snapshots of the destruction while 'Amazing Grace' was sung in the background. It was moving. Most of those people didn't have much to begin with. If they had they probably would have had the means to get out of the area. I am left to wonder, do they have family or friends they can go to? Do they have people in their lives that would take them in and help them get through this? The fact is, most of them must not or they wouldn't be there. So the government is doing what the government can in situations like this. They are sending help. God's people should be doing the same. Because of the hugeness of this I have no clue what to do, but pray. Pray for God's mercy to be shown to these people. Pray for God's grace and power to work in the lives of the survivors. Pray for angels to be sent. Pray........

No Soup for YOU!!

2005-08-30T21:50:00.000-04:00

Great link to a great post I read today on Brother Patrick Meade's blog. I admire this man's faithfulness, and sense of humor about things, although I don't see eye to eye on every issue. Check it out and you will be blessed.

http://www.tentpegs.blogspot.com/

Four Year Anniversary

2005-08-27T10:03:00.000-04:00

Last night Emily and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary. I will spare you the details, but to say it was a perfect night would be an understatement. As husbands we really should celebrate our love for our wives more often. It shouldn't just be on our anniversaries. 'Preparing' for this celebration I spent a lot of time reflecting on the impact Emily has had on my life. I recalled 'simple prayers' that I prayed late at night in my dorm room at Lipscomb. I was never much for the 'date scene' in high school or college. I prayed God spare me that and send me a Godly women. I prayed for a marriage that glorified him. I pleaded for someone who when I looked at her reminded me of the love he has for his children. Someone that, because of our love for each other, I would be excited to bring children into this world. God gave me that and so much more. He gave me a best friend. He gave me a 'radiant church.' She truly is my "simple prayer answered."

Mere Discipleship Blog, Really?

2005-08-21T16:22:00.000-04:00

Ran accross this blog today and wanted to post. I have not had the opportunity to read much of it, but it seems to have come about through an attempt to discuss topics raised in Lee Camp's book Mere Discipleship.

http://discipleshipdiscussion.blogspot.com/

Check this Out!

2005-08-20T23:05:00.000-04:00

I have to preface this by saying I do not agree with everything posted on the below referenced link, and do not care to post my comments on the issues, although most who know me would know where I fall out. There is an AWESOME discussion that went on a couple of days ago on Greg Kendall-Ball's blog, and if you have some time you need to read the comments surrounding the post.

To give you some background, Ann Coulter was invited to speak at Harding and that caused quite a fiasco with the students and alumni. But the conversation that follows turns from the decision to bring in Ann Coulter to where does our ultimate allegiance lie. They discuss the war, pacifsim, and the like. Interesting stuff to say the least. I KNOW you will be challenged by it.

http://www.kendallball.net/archives/20050818/alma-mater-hail/#comments

Well Oiled Machine

2005-08-20T22:15:00.000-04:00

I was looking over some notes from previous classes I have taught and thought this was particularly interesting. Lately we have been having many A discussion around the church, so when I read through these notes I thought they were right on the money:

"But what do we like about the well oiled machine idea of church?

It is nice to know that what happened last week will happen this week and if we go to a church with a particular name than we pretty much know what to expect.

It is nice to know that in our well oiled machine the Lord’s Supper takes exactly 8 minutes. What happens if we begin to mess with the well oiled machine?

People getting up and doing different things, people speaking in different parts of the service (that is chaos right?) and having it served in different ways.

It is particularly comforting to know we might not know exactly where everyone else is but one thing we do know is we are in the inside.

How disturbing to have a random experience of God at church. But like I said earlier what if random is relational. (I would add here, what if the church doesn't even happen at the church?)

Because lets get real. What is always happening in our lives? We are always bumping into other church people, other believers, and the question is not will we bump in to them, but how we will react when we do bump into them? Will we bump them towards the cross or away from it?

As long as we live in that mechanistic view and we are focussed on our individual opinions and interpretations/understandings of scripture, and make all our choices about church and church people based on my view of worship and what that should look like, my church group, my understanding of ‘women’s role’ What is the result?

The Church remains satan’s playground."

How interesting....my view of the body of Christ (church) is continuing to change. It may sound silly, but the old saying "you can't go to church, because the church is you" can't be more right. I know, I know.....if we don't "go" to church then what in the world would we do on Sunday morning?

The Cross

2005-08-12T21:21:00.000-04:00

What does the cross symbolize? You may get different answers depending on who you ask. Cross to me symbolizes not only forgiveness, but a way of life. Jesus is plain, if you are going to be his disciple there is going to be a cross to bear. Some reflections on that cross:

It is intentional. Jesus telling us to "take" up our cross tells me that we have a choice to not take it up. He will not force us to take it up, that is not his way. He will not strap it to your back. The cross is to be taken up intentionally by the one who chooses painful self denial.

It is for EVERY follower of Christ. If you claim to live in Christ you must walk as he did (I John 2:6). This is not an option for the disciple. There are no Christians that choose to deny the cross in their lives. It is not for the spiritual elite, who claim to walk closer to Jesus. If we are seeking to bring others to Christ and don't mention taking up a cross then I have to wonder what we are teaching. It is not possible for one to be self indulgent and yet be bearing their cross.

It is painful. When Jesus told his hearers to take up their cross they understood exactly what the cross signified. "The picture is of a man, already condemned, required to carry the beam of his own cross to the place of execution. Disciples from Galilee knew what this meant, for hundreds of men had been executed by this means in their region."

It is daily. Even in the good days their is a cross to bear. There is the decision to die to your self in order for Christ to be glorified. Shamefully there are many times I forget this fact, and choose not to take up my cross. I choose my own selfish desires both at work, and at home.

When we take up our cross all our desires and passions for this world die.

The cross is the "power of God" and "foolishness to those who are perishing, but life to those who put their trust in it" (Adam's version).

Why I love St. Louis

2005-08-07T20:22:00.000-04:00

Just got back from a weekend in St. Louis. We had tickets to Saturday afternoon's titantic struggle between the Cards and the Braves. We sat 19 rows up on the third base side, and it was FANTASTIC!

The reason I love St. Louis it because it is a great baseball city. The fans know baseball, and know how to support their team. Busch stadium was a sea of red. It was a beautiful thing to see. More importantly than that though they are respectful. I wore my Cincinnati Reds hat proudly, and didn't have one nasty comment made, and believe me, I was expecting one. I mean they have clobbered us the past 10 seasons it seems like, but not one comment. We sat by fans that really seemed to be interested in actually watching the game and they made it an enjoyable experience. So although I will be a Reds fan until I die, when the Reds are out of the race then I am rooting for the Cards!!

Encouraged!

2005-08-04T20:42:00.000-04:00

This was written as a response to one of my earlier thoughts about my struggle with communicating to others the gospel when we don't do a very good job of living it. I was both inspired and encouraged by this response. There was much more written, but wanted to at least post the following words:

Adam, I appreciate your struggle more than you know. I too have sought to bring people I know into a “relationship” with God through Jesus the Christ. It is difficult to talk to them about the perfect Savior and then lead them into a church filled with the same kinds of flawed people Jesus hung with when he was walking here among us. Yet, I never get the sense that Jesus was ashamed of his friends. Troubled by their denseness when it came to the spiritual, yes, annoyed by their stupid faithlessness, you better believe it, disappointed in their self-centered grab for power, you bet, and saddened by their lack of spiritual growth, but he was never ashamed of his friends. And he is still not ashamed of his friends today, as dense, faithless, selfish, and immature as we are.

Thanks for the encouragement, friend.

The Christian Paradox

2005-07-29T23:15:00.000-04:00

Thought this was interesting reading, and wanted to post it for your contemplation.

How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong
Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005. What it means to be Christian in America. An excerpt. Originally from August 2005. By Bill McKibben.

Only 40 percent of Americans can name more than four of the Ten Commandments, and a scant half can cite any of the four authors of the Gospels. Twelve percent believe Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife. This failure to recall the specifics of our Christian heritage may be further evidence of our nation’s educational decline, but it probably doesn’t matter all that much in spiritual or political terms. Here is a statistic that does matter: Three quarters of Americans believe the Bible teaches that “God helps those who help themselves.” That is, three out of four Americans believe that this uber-American idea, a notion at the core of our current individualist politics and culture, which was in fact uttered by Ben Franklin, actually appears in Holy Scripture. The thing is, not only is Franklin’s wisdom not biblical; it’s counter-biblical. Few ideas could be further from the gospel message, with its radical summons to love of neighbor. On this essential matter, most Americans—most American Christians—are simply wrong, as if 75 percent of American scientists believed that Newton proved gravity causes apples to fly up.
Asking Christians what Christ taught isn’t a trick. When we say we are a Christian nation—and, overwhelmingly, we do—it means something. People who go to church absorb lessons there and make real decisions based on those lessons; increasingly, these lessons inform their politics. (One poll found that 11 percent of U.S. churchgoers were urged by their clergy to vote in a particular way in the 2004 election, up from 6 percent in 2000.) When George Bush says that Jesus Christ is his favorite philosopher, he may or may not be sincere, but he is reflecting the sincere beliefs of the vast majority of Americans.
And therein is the paradox. America is simultaneously the most professedly Christian of the developed nations and the least Christian in its behavior. That paradox—more important, perhaps, than the much touted ability of French women to stay thin on a diet of chocolate and cheese—illuminates the hollow at the core of our boastful, careening culture.
* * *
Ours is among the most spiritually homogenous rich nations on earth. Depending on which poll you look at and how the question is asked, somewhere around 85 percent of us call ourselves Christian. Israel, by way of comparison, is 77 percent Jewish. It is true that a smaller number of Americans—about 75 percent—claim they actually pray to God on a daily basis, and only 33 percent say they manage to get to church every week. Still, even if that 85 percent overstates actual practice, it clearly represents aspiration. In fact, there is nothing else that unites more than four fifths of America. Every other statistic one can cite about American behavior is essentially also a measure of the behavior of professed Christians. That’s what America is: a place saturated in Christian identity.
But is it Christian? This is not a matter of angels dancing on the heads of pins. Christ was pretty specific about what he had in mind for his followers. What if we chose some simple criterion—say, giving aid to the poorest people—as a reasonable proxy for Christian behavior? After all, in the days before his crucifixion, when Jesus summed up his message for his disciples, he said the way you could tell the righteous from the damned was by whether they’d fed the hungry, slaked the thirsty, clothed the naked, welcomed the stranger, and visited the prisoner. What would we find then?
In 2004, as a share of our economy, we ranked second to last, after Italy, among developed countries in government foreign aid. Per capita we each provide fifteen cents a day in official development assistance to poor countries. And it’s not because we were giving to private charities for relief work instead. Such funding increases our average daily donation by just six pennies, to twenty-one cents. It’s also not because Americans were too busy taking care of their own; nearly 18 percent of American children lived in poverty (compared with, say, 8 percent in Sweden). In fact, by pretty much any measure of caring for the least among us you want to propose—childhood nutrition, infant mortality, access to preschool—we come in nearly last among the rich nations, and often by a wide margin. The point is not just that (as everyone already knows) the American nation trails badly in all these categories; it’s that the overwhelmingly Christian American nation trails badly in all these categories, categories to which Jesus paid particular attention. And it’s not as if the numbers are getting better: the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported last year that the number of households that were “food insecure with hunger” had climbed more than 26 percent between 1999 and 2003.
This Christian nation also tends to make personal, as opposed to political, choices that the Bible would seem to frown upon. Despite the Sixth Commandment, we are, of course, the most violent rich nation on earth, with a murder rate four or five times that of our European peers. We have prison populations greater by a factor of six or seven than other rich nations (which at least should give us plenty of opportunity for visiting the prisoners). Having been told to turn the other cheek, we’re the only Western democracy left that executes its citizens, mostly in those states where Christianity is theoretically strongest. Despite Jesus’ strong declarations against divorce, our marriages break up at a rate—just over half—that compares poorly with the European Union’s average of about four in ten. That average may be held down by the fact that Europeans marry less frequently, and by countries, like Italy, where divorce is difficult; still, compare our success with, say, that of the godless Dutch, whose divorce rate is just over 37 percent. Teenage pregnancy? We’re at the top of the charts. Personal self-discipline—like, say, keeping your weight under control? Buying on credit? Running government deficits? Do you need to ask?

Late night

2005-07-29T22:53:00.000-04:00

I have been super busy lately with VBS this past week. Don't feel like I have had much of an opportunity to sit still and be quiet long enough to have any good thoughts. I have been thinking a lot about Wednesday night class, and the upcoming Kingdom discussion I hope to have with the class.

I have also been having some God discussions at work, but they have left me so unsatisfied. I am trying to be good about just planting seeds, but everything in me wants to scream "DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!" I am really struggling with how much to share. I have prayed for God to give me the words, but lately I don't feel like I have had them. It is so hard to talk to someone about Christ, because they already know about Christ. They know all they want to know about organized religion and the church. All they see is people that go to church in order to make themselves feel righteous and look down on everyone else. I know the truth, but it is becoming more and more difficult to communicate that truth with words. I pray that they see in my life the reality of Christ in this world, but I am not sure that is even enough.

These may just be crazy thoughts as it is after 11pm, and usually I am long gone in deep sleep, but they have been troubling me lately. How do we effectively communicate Christ to a world that desperately needs him, but sees no answers in the current church? I don't want to win anyone to church, but the reality is if they come to Christ they are going to have to accept His church no matter how flawed it may be.

Cecil Hook

2005-07-19T19:27:00.000-04:00

Check out this website I came across. I read "Freedom in Christ" while I was in college. It was a book that God gave me at the exact time I needed it. I don't know much about this fellow except that he appears to be buddies with Karl Ketcherside, who is another gentlemen who was talking about grace in the CoC before I was born. I think you will find this website enjoyable, although some parts seemed cheesy to me.

http://www.freedomsring.org/heritage/

Baptism cont'd

2005-07-19T17:25:00.000-04:00

Came across this today:

My opinion is that immersion is the only baptism. But shall I therefore make my opinion a term of Christian fellowship? If in this case I thus act, where shall I cease from making my opinions terms of fellowship? I confess I see no end. Barton W. Stone, Christian Messenger, 1831, p. 19.

You may agree that opinions should not be made tests of fellowship and yet insist that immersion is not an opinion but a matter of fact. Barton Stone anticipated you when he made the above statement, for he added: "You may say that immersion is so plainly the meaning of Christian baptism, you know not how any honest man can be ignorant of it. This is the very language of all opinionists."

More thoughts on this subject to come.....

What must you do to be SAVED?????

2005-07-17T20:07:00.000-04:00

It is times like these I am glad I started this blog thing. I can vent on here, for the most part, guilt free, and not have to look anyone in the face while I am typing. In our Sunday night class we have been talking about foundations of the faith. Things that we hold to tightly, so tightly in fact we would be willing to split over. Things like, there is a God, and Jesus was his son, and he raised from the dead. You know things worth fighting for, but as you can imagine if you are die hard CoC we had to talk about the 'B' word. Yes, that is a capital 'B', because if we don't get this right then I don't care who you profess faith in....you lose. And not only do you have to do it, but it must be done right, and you must understand everything that I understand about it as well. Oh and did I mention that I will proof text you to death, until you are convinced.

One of the points I tried to make to people who struck up conversations afterwards with me was, that it is not that I don't believe scripture to be true. It is not that I don't take God at his word, it is that I don't persume that others have not. I don't begin teaching someone about salvation, and lead off with baptism. I don't teach baptism as the final act at which you can be certain now that you have escaped the fires of hell. The reason I don't is because of what it leads to. I have a perfect example of what I am talking about. I have changed the person name to protect them...ha....but let's say there is a person Billy who knows everything I know about baptism. Who knows why you do it and what happens in baptism, but because that is the exact moment at which you receive forgiveness of sins, he wants to wait until he is SURE he has lived life up, so he can get the biggest bang for the buck. This is a direct result of our method of teaching baptism, or better point our method of not teaching CHRIST. I would also like to add that we don't live in the first century ANYMORE!! It is not a matter of convincing someone that Jesus is who he said he was, but more of convincing that the Baptist view of baptism is not correct. Are you with me here? Do you feel what I am sayin'? Our fight is with the family member who has surrendered their life to Christ, but said the sinners prayer. Don't anyone freak out, I would not pass out tracks that have that prayer in the back, I am just trying to make a point.

I could keep going, but it wouldn't be good for my blood pressure.

1 Game Away

2005-07-14T20:53:00.000-04:00

After tonight's second round tourney win Okolona CoC is one win away from winning the Southeast Christian league. Who would have thought at the beginning of the season our team would have lost only 1 game all year. It was a low scoring affair at 7-4 but Okolona did it with the glove tonight. I guess it is time for truth to triumph over the compromising Christian church even on the ball diamond. Championship game is next Thursday.......

Jesus has his place

2005-07-12T19:14:00.000-04:00

This morning I had the opportunity to share a cup of coffee with fellow believers before heading off to work. It was a wonderful way to start the day. When I got to work it came up that I had already stopped off for coffee and the questions began. Where? Why? With whom? It wasn't long before the people I have been working very closely with over the past month discovered that I shared my cup of coffee with fellow believers. One of the guys asked me what we talked about and then before I could answer said "Were you talking about Jesus?" He was shocked to hear my response which was yes. After that we had the attention of the entire room and he preceded to tell me he didn't need to hear about it. He informed me that Jesus had his place. I inquired which place was that? Although, I knew exactly what he was talking about.

We did have another conversation later that day when it was the two of us, and I was able to share more of my faith in Christ. My struggle with this experience is....most people know about Jesus and know what place he will have in their lives, and that is he will have no "real" place at all. In fact, the only time his name will be brought up is in vain. How do we reach these people? The people that see Christians acting anything like Christ, and want nothing to do with it. The people that see Christians going to church so they can feel justified to condemn others. And if you don't believe that is the case you need to be talking to some of these people. I hurt for people that think Christ deserves anything less than to sit on the very throne of their lives. That is his only rightful place. Do my co-workers see Christ sitting on that throne?

Part of the discipleship class I am teaching on Wednesday night will include "making disciples" of others. If that is not a challenge I don't know what is, but that is our commission. If we are not willing to take on the hostility of this world for the sake that some may believe, we are not picking up our crosses. We are not following Christ.

Psalm 146

2005-07-09T10:08:00.000-04:00

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them-the Lord who remains faithful forever.

Trusting the maker of heaven and earth over mortal man seems like an easy thing to do. Seems like an easy thing to do........?

I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb

2005-07-04T10:04:00.000-04:00

I Pledge Allegiance To The Lamb:
"Dad, has it always been this way?" " Well, even from the beginning men hated Jesus even though He did nothing but love them and teach them and heal them. They nailed Him to a cross. They thought theyhad killed Him, but they only set Him free to live in the hearts of people like you and me who believe in Him. Then came the apostles and most of them were killed for telling other people about Jesus. So they tortured them and killed them and even left their bodies to rot as an example to other people, but the church kept right on growing, watered by the blood of these precious saints."
"But Dad, did they want to die?" " No. They didn't want to die. I mean, many of them had children just like you they had to leave behind. But they were forced to make a choice. They could choose to live this one life here on earth and reject Jesus and be damned or they could choose to believe in the words of Jesus and live forever." " I think I understand." " Here, maybe this will help you understand."

I have heard how Christians long ago Were brought before a tyrant's throne And they were told that he would spare their lives If they would renounce the name of Christ But one by one they chose to die The Son of God they would not deny Like a great angelic choir sings I can almost hear their voices ring
I pledge allegiance to the Lamb With all my strength With all I am I will seek to honor His commands I pledge allegiance to the Lamb
Now the years have come and the years have gone But the cause of Jesus still goes on And now our time has come to count the cost To reject this world, to embrace the cross And one by one let us live our lives For the One who died to give us life Till the trumpet sounds on the final day Let us proudly stand and boldly say
I pledge allegiance to the Lamb With all my strength With all I am I will seek to honor His commands I pledge allegiance to the Lamb
To the Lamb of God who bore my pain Who took my place, who wore my shame I will seek to honor His commands I pledge allegiance to the Lamb
"You've got to remember that it wasn't always this way. I mean, my dad could even pray in school, of course, they took that away from him. Then it became incorrect for us to believe in the bible and after that they just stripped our right to worship away from us and we quietly stood by. But son, I hope that you're never put in the position that you have to choose between your faith and your life. But if you are - I know which choice you're going to make because I know that Jesus lives inside of you. In the meantime, just pray like I taught you how to and take care of your mom and remember that God is the Father of the fatherless."
I pledge allegiance to the Lamb With all my strength With all I am I will seek to honor His commands I pledge allegiance to the Lamb

"The Kingdom is at Hand"

2005-06-28T21:00:00.000-04:00

A terrible storm is rolling through, and it hasn't woke Kylie up...yet....so why not blog. In my recent studying getting ready for Wednesday night class I have been (once again) looking at the meaning behind Jesus words "repent for the Kingdom is at hand." To whom were these words directed? As he spoke them they were directed to the people of the first century. Many of them waiting for the return of the Messiah to established his reign once and for all upon this earth. I am sure they were eagerly awaiting the end to the exile, and the overthrow of the Romans. What a surprise when God in the flesh shows up and has a different agenda. His agenda included a 'new way' to live and see the world, and it meant becoming less. In my estimation Jesus sealed his fate with those very words.

Repent has also taken on a new meaning for me. I believe he was calling them to repent from their very selves, and what they desired most in this world. Repenting in our time takes on a very individualistic meaning, but for the Church it should mean something more. Paul records in Romans 12 what I think Jesus was speaking to in his call to repent when he writes: "So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everday, ordinary life-your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life-and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recongnize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best our of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." (the message)

I have much repenting to do. There are ways I have adjusted to this culture I don't even know. How often I fit right in with what culture is doing without even giving it a second thought. God teach us how to truly repent!

Kylie's Lessons

2005-06-25T17:20:00.000-04:00

Kylie 074
Originally uploaded by adamhanauer.

Watching my little girl learn how to stand has been a painful yet rewarding experience. She has fallen more times that I can count, and believe me when I say it hurts me more than it hurts her....most times! Emily and I stand over her ready to catch her the second she appears to have lost control. She is now almost 9 months old and has the skill of pulling up almost mastered.

I think God is standing over us in much the same way when we try to stand. The question I have is are we even trying to stand? Are we taking the chances in our walk with Christ with faith that he is right there, not to strike us down, but to catch us when we fall? I love Kylie more than words can express, and it makes me wonder just how much more my Heavenly Father loves me, and wants to see me 'stand' in Him.

The one thing about Kylie is she seems to be fearless at this point. There is nothing she won't give a try. I hope she knows, on some level, that her mommy and daddy will always be there...maybe not to catch her everytime, but to help her grow!

Home Alone

2005-06-22T22:12:00.000-04:00

I have been all alone these past couple of days, and it has taught me one thing.....I miss my wife and daughter when they are gone. I haven't had the blessing of walking in the door after work to a smiling, beautiful wife and daughter to greet me with hugs and kisses, and quite frankly it stinks. It has been kind of quiet at home and I took the opportunity Tuesday night to begin working on my Wednesday night Bible class I will begin teaching in a couple of weeks. I think I have made some headway, but I never know exactly where the class might go, and I guess that can be a good thing.

Tonight we had a good discussion about the churches approach to telling others about Christ. Our approach in the past is if we can just convince them that our church has better programs, or believes the right things, or has a more comfortable building then people will want to come and then we can tell them about Christ. As we discovered tonight this is backwards. We are COMMANDED to go. Jesus was always going, and sometimes at the risk of his own reputation. He hung around people we wouldn't be caught dead talking to....these people he called friends. These people he warned were going to enter the kingdom ahead of us religious folks. Why? I think because they actually heeded his call to repent. Not just repent from personal sin, although many of them needed to do that, but repent from the mindset that this world is the end all be all.

Last Sunday I had the privelage of teaching at Arcadia Church in Louisville. These people didn't look like me, talk like me, dress like me, and they certainly didn't do church like me, but they did change me. Many of them live in projects and are from broken families and lives, and yet God has redeemed them for his purposes. I saw people who face sins that I can't even imagine, and in the midst of that they are hanging on to the reality that this world is not the end all be all. That there is another 'kingdom' at work even today, even in their lives. I want to be around people like that. I want to grow with people like that. Maybe I am talking crazy because I have had time alone with my thoughts, but maybe I'm not. We are told to go......

Are the Reds Really this Bad?

2005-06-20T22:06:00.000-04:00

I am having a hard time with the reality of my favorite sports team circling the toilet bowl this year. I keep telling myself they can't be this bad, but I am beginning to wonder. Baseball has forever been my favorite sport, and the Cincinnati Reds my favorite team. Is it too much to ask for my team to play at .500? Is that asking too much? I still believe they have one of the more powerful lineups in the National League. Think through this with me: Griffey Jr., Dunn, Wily Mo, Casey, and Randa. Freel and Lopez have even been playing above expectations. So why all the trouble? I know our pitching has not been performing to expectations, but come on!! I am afraid that by July we will be watching the Louisville Riverbats in Great American Ballpark, and that is a crying shame. I really needed to get this off my chest. THE REDS STINK!

Invisible People

2005-06-20T21:57:00.000-04:00

Who are the invisible people in our culture, and what are we doing to be Christ to them? Jesus said, "Whatever you did for the least of these you did for me." There are people in our society that are not being treated unfairly, they are just not even being acknowledged. We don't want to go to their neighborhoods, churches, or where they work. Do we not consider them worthy of the Good News? As I go about my day I am trying to see the people that Jesus would see. This has not been easy for me. I am so wrapped up in what is going on in my life I have found I have little time to recognize the 'least of these.' If we could discipline ourselves to begin seeing these people then maybe, just maybe we would see Christ more.

Kylie Hanauer

2005-06-18T17:10:00.000-04:00

Kylie 017
Originally uploaded by adamhanauer.

Just wanted to give everyone the opportunity to see my beautiful daughter at 8 1/2 months old. Believe me, she is not always this happy, but she is a joy to be around. God has been teaching Emily and I a great deal through this little one.

Christlikeness

2005-06-16T20:23:00.000-04:00

What does a Christlike life look like (or Christ look like)? Philippians 2:2-11, Mind you I am doing this from memory and not picking up my bible so if I am a little off, please forgive me.....

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interest but to the interest of others. Your attitude should be the SAME as that of Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant and being made in human likeness he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross."

I am selfish, and I do care what people think of me. I consider people better than me only after I have compared them to me, and they had made the cut. I no longer desire the Jesus that ONLY makes me a good person on the inside. I desire to know the Christ that promised us his spirit that rose him from the dead. The Christ that Paul says we identify most with in our suffering for righteousness. The Christ that has the power to transform my selfishness and my cares in this world into something that truly honors Him. I don't know.....that is at least a glimpse, but there is even so much more than that!!!

The Problem with Jesus

2005-06-15T20:42:00.000-04:00

I am about to begin teaching a Wednesday night adult class at church, and I have been going back and forth on what the goals for this class should be. I think titles tell the story of what the class should be about, so I have also been struggling in this area, but I think I have found one. I am enamored with Christ. I am obsessed with his calling in my life, but I have a problem with Jesus. The more I gaze at him, the more I realize I looking nothing like him. He fits in NONE of the nice, neat boxes I want him to fit in. I am praying that through prayer and the grace of God that he will draw me and others just a little closer to himself, and maybe change us in this experience. I don't know maybe no one has any problem with Jesus, but I have a great big one! I hope to use this blog to think through some of the lessons I will be preparing in the near future. Just not sure if I want the people reading this blog to be in the class. That scares me.

Discipleship - The Cost?

2005-06-13T17:29:00.000-04:00

The older I get the more questions I have about what being a disciple looks like. At times this can be very discouraging, but on the other hand I am beginning to realize what it means to seek Christ with all your heart. We have just returned from a weekend of visiting close friends in North West Arkansas, and inevitably we engaged in some deep conversation about faith, Christ, and discipleship. For the sake of time I am not going to try and summarize our discussion and my questions in this blog, but it is my plan to continue the conversation I am having in my own head in this venue.

It seems to me (and please correct me if I am wrong) that we as Christians spend most of our time discussing the benefits of following Christ. You know....peace, salvation, blessings, etc. Over the past couple of months I have been drawn to the 'costs'. The word itself implies that it is going to require something of me. Please do not misunderstand me on this point; I am not attempting to set up a new list of rules you must follow in order to be considered one of the faithful. I have given that bag up a long time ago. What I want to do is explore the idea that being a disciple of Jesus will mean a radical change, and not just one that takes place in the heart/mind, but in the physical world as well.

I don't know about you, but when I was baptized I wasn't asked to count the costs. As I look at my life, that is evident. What has my discipleship cost me? What has your discipleship cost you? Yes we go to church and we don't cuss, smoke, or drink....well....you get my point on that. But what has it cost you? Really? More later.....

Luke 9:57-62 "As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.' Jesus replied, 'Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.' He said to another man, 'Follow me.' But the man replied, 'Lord, first let me go and bury my father.' Jesus said to him, 'Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' Still another said, 'I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.' Jesus replied, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

Luke 14:25-35 (Read it) v.27 "And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." v.28-32 Examples of building a tower and going to war, but counting the costs before you begin.

Thank you Lord

2005-06-10T01:01:00.000-04:00

Thank you Lord for revealing yourself to me through a person named Jesus. Thank you Lord for my wife Emily. Thank you for my daughter Kylie. Thank you for giving me a place to live. Thank you for providing clothes for my back. Thank you for providing food. Thank you for my all my parents. Thank you for my brothers, and thank you for my friends. Thank you that you are bigger than I can ever understand. Thank you for being God. Thank you for creating the world. Thank you for your Spirit. Thank you for never stopping your pursuit of me. Thank you for what you have shown me so far, and all that you will show me. Thank you!

When It Hits the Fan!

2005-06-08T20:32:00.000-04:00

I am not going to lie to you, tonight I am feeling a little overwhelmed. Most of you know I accepted a new position at Humana about 2 months ago, and up until today it was a 'vacation' of sorts. Reality has once again found it's way into my life, and I am actually going to have to start earning the money they have been paying me. I am not going to get into the details, but lets just say it is a 'special project' and there is a lot riding on it. If that weren't enough this thing called church keeps getting in the way as well. I am set to teach a Wednesday night class beginning in July, and I am helping plan our upcoming Men's Retreat. I don't want this to sound like these are bad things, but I do want to convey that sometime busyness can add stress to our lives. I was reminded today of what really matters with a conversation I had with one of my co-workers about faith and God. If we believe the God is the God of the Bible, and Jesus was who he said he was, then that can't help but change the way I react to 'stuff hitting the fan'. God tells us in the Psalms to 'seek peace, and pursue it'. Wow! You mean peace doesn't just fall in my lap, but I actually should be seeking it? I don't believe that is much different than Christ telling us to 'seek first the kingdom and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, and all these things will be added to you'. If I am in control of my life then it is going to get real messy when I have days like today, but if I Christ is driving he will give me the perspective I desparately need. "In this life we will have trials," but take heart because we have a relationship with him who has overcome this world. My prayer today is that the trials of this life begin to be less about work, church, and the like and become suffering for the cause of Christ. God bless!!

Would You Recognize Christ?

2005-06-07T09:36:00.000-04:00

I am becoming increasingly convinced that if Jesus were among us today there would be little difference in how he was treated by the religious of his day and how the religious of our day would treat him. (CoC, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Christian, Catholic, etc). Would we even recognize him? If he attended our assemblies, sat in our Bible classes, or showed up at our seminars what would he say? How would we treat him? John 5:39 reminds us that we can 'search the scriptures' and still not know Christ. Israel's history is proof enough that humanity has the capability to repeat mistakes, and my fear is the contemperary church is on the same fast track. I believe if Jesus were to come back for a short time to live amongst us he would challenge the very foundations of our faith in him, because most of the foundations we have built are traditions of men. He would challenge the institution of church that we have worked so hard to build, our plan of salvation, our five acts of worship, etc. He would challenge our view of the world. He would challenge our allegiance to Nations over our allegiance to him. He would challenge everything we think we may have figured out, and believe me, I think I have some things figured out. This is a call to stop the mad search for the list of do's and dont's and begin the search for Christ. Would we kill Christ again if he came back for a visit? If we are honest the answer would scare us......

Life in a Cube

2005-06-06T12:19:00.000-04:00

I spend the majority of my waking hours M-F in a 4X4 cube. From the outside that can seem very depressing, but I would like to suggest something different. We spend the majority of our lives in the mundaneness of life. Our lives are slammed full of driving, working, waiting, shopping, mowing the lawn, sleeping, showering (for most of us), cleaning the house, eating, and sitting in cubes. This is precisely where God wants us to be. It is a falshood to think that God is only working when we are engage in life changing activities. He is right in the midst of our ho-hum boring lives, and he is transforming them when we allow him to. I have two brothers that are firefighters. I am sure from time to time they get to save someone's life (literally) or at least try and make it a little better. Although, I suspect if you asked them what the majority of their time is spent doing they would acknowledge the above list. We must keep in mind that people are always watching us, no matter what we are doing (Ok maybe not in the shower), and everything counts when you are living in the Kingdom. So whether you are rescuing people from a burning building, or reviewing spreadsheets in a cube God's wants those times to be His.

Our Arrogance is Amazing

2005-06-05T12:28:00.000-04:00

I am amazed at my/our arrogance when it comes to our view of God, and what we have to offer Him. This morning's service to God at Okolona was a glimpse into His majesty and mystery. The contribution, which should be separate and apart from communion, was anything but that. It was transformed into a humbling reflection of the fact that God is God and we are not. We bring our gifts/monies to God once a week as if he needs us to, as if he couldn't create the very thing we think He needs from us. What are we thinking? This is really our money, our house, our cars, our clothes, our.....? Are we that foolish? It is all God's, and he is just waiting for us to use it in such a way that glorifies Himself. Psalm 50 was shared and I want to share it with you, beginning in vs 7:

"Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God. I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have NO NEED of bull from your stall or goats from you pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the moutains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it."

God is 'I Am', and we are 'I am not'. Bring sacrifices to God because He is worthy, not because we have so much to give. Bring sacrifices to God because what He has done for us, and not because what we can do for Him. Embrace the mystery of an infinite God that is beyond our comprehension, beyond our figuring Him out, and getting it right.

Thoughts from a Pharisee

2005-06-04T22:12:00.000-04:00

I never thought I could find something about myself that would lump me in with the Pharisees of Jesus' time, but that has changed after tonight. A group of us are journeying through a Beth Moore Study called 'To Live is Christ'. In the first week's lessons we have been examining what it must have been like for Paul growing up Jewish. The title of tonights lesson was 'Strangeled by the law', and it was a glimpse into the life of someone desperately trying to be found faultless with regard to the law. As I read through Matthew 23, and was asked to write down the list of things that Jesus was condemning the Pharisees for, and then asked to examine my own life, I realized something about myself. I want more than I care to admit to be accepted by 'my people'. Cleaning the outside of the bowl has become very important to me. Even when it comes to the one who is closest to me in this life, my wife. I don't want her to know some of the thoughts I am having or even some of the things I have done, for fear she might change her opinion of me. I know she will always love me no matter what, but what about other Christians who don't know me as well? I admire so much when someone is transparent. I am changed when people reveal their true selves, so why is this so difficult for me? Maybe I should start with my wife....

New At This...

2005-06-04T10:27:00.000-04:00

Well I have decided to take the plunge. The past few months I have been a faithful reader of many different blogs. I have found myself beginning to comment on them as well so I thought it might be time to begin posting my own 'Random Thoughts'. I think this could be a good thing as there is some distance between myself and some people I love. This will give them the opportunity to at least see what is going on in my life as well what I am thinking about. I have high hopes for this new found communication. I pray that my life is enriched as well as the readers of this blog.