Orange Cafe

MOVING!!

2006-07-22T13:56:00.000-10:00

This blog is closed down, and will be deleted once I find out how to move my posts over. Check out my new blog @

www.blogiccino.wordpress.com

See ya there!

~Michael

"Confirmation Button"

2005-11-19T14:04:00.000-10:00

For us Christian's, knowing this will of God, specifically, knowing His will for yourself, is or paramount importance. Not nearly enough do we stress over God's will for others, certain issues, or communities. So, in this pursuit, several mechanisms have been employed. A famous one in the Bible is found in the book of Judges in the OT, where the once timid Gideon is now coming to terms with God's explicit direction to attack another nation. Outnumbered, he ask God for a sign. He asks that a sheepskin would have dew on it the next morning, and the ground to have no dew. The following day, He reverses it, so the sheepskin would be dry, but the ground wet. Both days, it happens as He asks. Later, in the new testament, God's will was determined by "casting of lots", which is a way of saying "drawing straws". After Judas betrayed Jesus, his role as the twelfth apostle was determined this way.

But for the last 500 years, Christians have had access, more and more, to the Bible, the most published book on earth. Now, we use it, in terms of it's message and content, to know His will. But, sometimes that doesn't quite speak to the situation. So, among some camps, in times of crisis, our cry has been something like "Lord, if you want me to do this, I'll open my bible to a page, plop my finger down, and please have it confirm what I think I should do". As silly as this is, like the fleece and casting of lots, He honors us where we are at, and I have seen this work for others with uncanny and highly improbable ways.

Now enter the digital age. More and more, our bibles are on our laptops, or online. How is one to have random finger placement confirmation? How will we know what to do? Enter the confirmation button. That's right, the confirmation button will, with one click, automatically select a random passage, by which you can digitally "cast your lots", or "put out your fleece".
~M

Biblical World View

2005-11-09T00:23:00.000-10:00

I think Biblical worldview is such an attractive topic, when it's stumbled up by today's evangelical culture, precisely because of it's lack of understanding and implementation. We look around, see our desparate need, and, like a bad chef over a tasteless soup, we smack our lips and say, "No, I really think it needs something". Then, when we remember to add salt, we at once both crave it, and unconsciously understand how it will make everything work together.

And what is a biblical worldview but the most profoundly basic truths from the mind of God ~ the foundations of wisdom in which He's sees things? It's a razor which cuts through the most heart wrenching dilemma on the front page of the NY Times, and simply and clearly points out the way. Without it, we do the work of God's kingdom, but with the presuppositions and understanding of the world, wondering all the while why we don't succeed.

~M

Leadership - is it what we want?

2005-10-13T22:23:00.000-10:00

There is a popular word floating are in some of my circles: leadership. I've heard it a lot. In fact, I started to notice and take count of how often I heard it. I counted: a lot. But not just in ordinary sentinces, such as "Hey, do you know who the leader of Bolivia is?", or "Excuse me, can you tell me who the line leader is?", but specifically in terms that would suggest that it's something to be highly desired, such as "You know, you really are a leader in this area", or the enticing "If you want to give good leadership, you need to do such and such". So, I asked myself: why do we talk about it so much? What's the draw of leadership?

Now, this word is found , in particular, in my Christian circles. So, I looked in the Bible to see from whence this leadership talk came. In the King James, it doesn't appear, though the word "leader" appears 3 times in the Old Testament. But so what - maybe leadership is corporate speak for a concept which is found in the Bible. And true enough, there, we can certainly find a wet basket load of good (and bad examples) of what we call leaders (get it? Nile? oh, I'm just awful). And we also find many people who would laugh at the idea of leading something, but were called to do so regardless. But take David as a good leader example. David was humble, focused, empowering of the outcasts, militarily great, personally talented and strong, creative, etc.,. No wonder we talk about him so much. And we can think of many examples to the contrary, Ahab, Jonah, Nebuccanezzer, etc.,.

OK, so leadership is a fact, it's how we organize, function and thrive. When Israel was forming, the people choose captains of their tribes, over 10's and 50's etc., .

BUT . . is it something we should want? Should we go after it, strive for it, work towards it? Speak of it with veneration? Dare I say to someone "If you want to be a leader some day. . ."?

Looking at Jesus' interaction with the disciples, we can see that, surprisingly, He's speaks often of eternal reward, and speaks of it in terms of ruling. In more than one parable, a good king rewards good stewards with leadership of cities. The principle is certainly there. So, from this, we could say, "There it is, put me in charge". But oh, how we have missed it. We have been so like the disciples, as they argued as to who the greatest was going to be. How is it that we strive for what God says He wants to give us, and lose our souls in the process? No, let's not tempt each other with titles, roles, charges, and offices. Let's not set out leadership as a goal, or term of affirmation. Let's not brag on one anothers great ability to lead, speak, or minister. Let's humbly do what's put in front of us, knowing full well of what we're made of, and knowing full well that God in His mercy delights to give us good things. Let's honor one another, but always make sure to honor those members whose tasks bring them no honor. Let's let promotion come from the Lord, and never seek to be a teacher, leader, or someone who influences others lives, unless that roles is entrusted to us from Him. Then, we can gratefully and humbly work in our occupation, remain loyal to Him, and not worry about the value it gives us to be recognized for our great contributions.

~M

Church around the Coffee Table?

2005-08-23T21:50:00.000-10:00

How religious is our idea of the church? In reading about the governmental restrictions on the formation of the Turkish church, who is dealing with a government who will, in some cases, not allow for the building, the rental, or otherwise appropriation of a place to meet without the rarely given official permission, I asked the question which people have been asking since the Jesus movement "Who needs a building, man?!"

What if. . .
What if believers gathered around a meal, shared together, maybe sang a song or two, talked to one another, had some bring the word, someone offered an encouragement, some maybe would offer various practical helps to others in the body. Maybe some would give a prophetic, insightful, and challenging word to everyone else. Maybe one would confess problems and ask for prayer. Is it overly romantic to think that this would work really well? Would it be going too far to suggest that this would work better than the leader(s) up front, lay people in the pews model that is the norm? Can what we see and love about God in His up close and personal-ness, frankness, non-religiousness, and real-ness be more found in a normal gathering of friends, family, and acquaintances, than in a scheduled, orchestrated, and rehearsed format (as most church gatherings need be, because who wants to come together for a poorly run meeting?). What if the church in Turkey continued to seek to meet together in a building, but in the meantime, continued to meet in one's homes? Would they be worse for the wear? Please tell me if I am missing a big piece of what coming together is supposed to be. Because I sense that perhaps in some ways, the state run Dept. of Religious Affairs in Turkey is doing the fledgling Turkish church a favor. . .

My musing of the day

2005-08-04T14:07:00.000-10:00

If you really think like Jesus does, you would honor, respect, and reward, not those who have accomplished much, but those who have accomplished much from what they've been given - not always the genius, but the dyslexic who taught himself to read; not the millionaire, but the single mom who avoided bankruptcy and put food on the table; not the teacher or pastor, but the meek soul who dared enough to apply the teaching to their life.

Quote of the Day

2005-06-15T08:53:00.000-10:00

"Drudgery is the touchstone of character. The great hindrance in spiritual life is that we will look for big things to do."
~ Oswald Chambers

Live by principle, or live by faith?

2005-06-09T22:29:00.000-10:00

So I've been thinking about how to . . well, you know, how to live. And tonight I was considering principles. You know, those impressive, live by die by, carved in stone mantras which define heroes and set leaders apart. What occurred to me is that they are . . . inadequate. Now, to distinguish principles from laws I should just say that principles are not as strict as laws (by my working definition). So, while one law, or hard and fast rule, can't answer every unique situation, you would think a principle would always serve you: "Safety first" "The first thing you need to do is take a deep breath, and be rational" "Before I make any big decisions, I always stop and pray" "Always consider your family first". These (and whatever other ones you want to add) are the things which the wise people we know tell us, right? The things that the people who impress always say they do, right? "The principles of good communication are as follows 1)always blah 2) if first you don't blah, blah blah again 3) if you find yourself knee deep in blah, call for blah"

Then I thought about the story of Abraham and Isaac. God told Abraham kill Isaac as a human sacrifice. Now, while this story turned out good (God stopped Abraham at the last minute, and provide a sacrifice of a ram), what principle, common sense, or general guideline of living did that follow? How about none? It didn't really make any sense. Hey, the more I think of it, none of the great acts of faith made any sense either. Nor have a lot of brilliant decisions which generals, CEO's, and other leaders have made. They defy principles. So, are principles bad?

No, I don't think they are. In fact, they are from God, because they are characteristic of His ways. For example, taking Abraham's story: Life is always good. Sacrificing things to God is good. Loving your son is good. Faith is good. These are all evident in the character of God, and they are good. But to sacrifice the life of the son you love by faith? Well, now these principles seem to collide into a huge mess of conflict and contradiction?

But how can we make right choices then? Without principles by which to live, we would have whimsy. People doing whatever they felt like was the most important at the time, whatever scratched their itch, or gave rise to whatever feeling they were craving at the moment. We'd have anarchy. We wouldn't recognize what looked good between what looked bad - no sense of right or wrong.

So, what we see Abraham do, and rightly so, is to obey. Blindly, no. He knew the cost, and certainly felt the pull of all that he knew what right, screaming at him to listen to reason. However, he chose to obey, and, at the last moment, proved to God that not only was he obedient, but knew that living by faith was needed as much as living by principle.

So, it is a matter of picking one camp or the other? Is it the "Hi, we have no clue what's going on, we just simply ask God about every single decision we make." camp vs. the "I believe God gave us a mind to use, and we would insult Him if we didn't use it." camp? You know, I don't think it's that simple. I believe that we need a guide, someone to help us to navigate life's difficult, and easy choices. We need someone with a high vantage point, which will help us to know answer the question, do I what I am supposed to do with this one, or do I go with my gut on this one?

My take on this is that we just don't know what we ought to do sometimes. So, we should live by the principles which we know are right, but never hold on to those principles too tightly, or idealize them too much, because we need to know that they are not enough. In addition, we should humbly walk by faith, knowing that God sent us a Helper, a Guide, to help us navigate down a windy road where we can't see around the bend. We should be constantly relying on Him to speak to us, help us, and dwell with us. And not just when we need Him, because the thing is, we rarely know when we do need Him, and because it's not about just getting us out of a jam - the whole point of living by principle and by faith is to live in relationship with a God who loves us, wants the best for us, and wants to be close to us. He IS someone which we can hold on to, when all else fails. If we walk in the continual presence of God, we won't have to worry about the living by principles, over the pitfalls, or through the trials. We can just live.

Actual comments from my DIversity training at the Hilton

2005-06-06T22:06:00.000-10:00

OK, I really had to suffer through today's manditory new hire training (I was hired 3 months ago, but am finally getting around to doing it). I just couldn't get past some of the things I was hearing, and despite fighting to keep a good attitude and be respectful, I lost it a few times. Like during the sexual harassment training, when our trainer was telling us that the policy clearly states that there is to be no touching of any kind. I let it slide - surely she means just inappropriate touching. I agree of course. But, then, she just kept saying "Touching someone in any way violates the policy", I finally blurted "Of any kind? I'm sorry, where does it say that? I see where it says "contact such as pinching, patting, hugging. . ." " But she corrected me "No, no contact of any kind, that type of behavior belongs at home. .. or you can get sued". My goodness, I couldn't let it go. I had already endured too much. "So, like I couldn't touch someone's shoulder to get their attention, like you just trained us to do for those with a hearing impairment." "No, not of any kind" I don't think she heard me. So, back and forth we went for a few more seconds, talking over one another, when she countered, to something someoe else was blurting out in all the ruckus "Well, of course I'm not saying that you can't touch anyone". No ma'am, that is what you've been saying for the last 5 minutes. I slowly slid down my chair, and ducked down under my desk and curled up in a ball.

Now, here are some actual quotes from the class:
While speaking about cultural diversity, racial slurs, and characterizing different backgrounds in inappropriate ways, we started to talk about the Japanese, because many visit the hotel. When our trainer was talking about their customs, she mentioned that they always by gifts for their friends, and name brand gifts too, not the "crap that comes from [and here she paused -"Good", I th0ught, "she almost walked right into that one"] . . .Taiwan. you know, they buy good name brand stuff." I really wished I where Asian, so I could have broke down and cried "But I'M Taiwainese!"

Continuing to talk about diversity, she mentioned a number of times that they understand diversity better in Hawaii, because they're raised with it here. "Fine", I thought. But, then she would always continue "You know, in other states on the mainland, they don't understand diversity as well" "Hmm" I thought. After the third time she mentioned that the other states didn't understand diversity, I had to interject "But ma'am, I've lived in 6 states, and I've had a lot of diversity everywhere I lived" She quickly started to explain herself. And this was part of her explanation "You know, a lot of places where they do this diversity training, the staff at the hotel are all black, you know, or hispanic, and it's a lot harder for them to understand diversity" I understand what she meant -the staff wasn't all mixed racially like like our staff. But, come on, that's just hilarious. I actually heard a HR trainer, training people in diversity, a had her tell people that black people don't understand diversity. It was classic.

OK, I'm feeling a lot better now, if not a little bad for our poor trainer. She did well, overall, you know for a girl. . .

Secular vs. Sacred

2005-05-22T12:30:00.000-10:00

There is an interesting dynamic working on the grounds department, doing landscaping and gardening on a large Christian missionary university campus. As a new part of this campus, I'm often asked by someone whom I've just met "So, what do you on campus?" It's interesting to considered the thoughts behind my response - "Well, you see, I'm working on grounds, you know - just for now, but really I'm headed to the Middle East to bring transformation and the kingdom of God." My discomfort in answering this question brings up a good question: is there more value in going to the middle east, teaching in a school, or leading a team on outreach than there is pulling weeds, washing dishes, or working in accounting? Can importance of these things be compared, or do comparisons even apply?

The need or habit of assigning value or worth to an occupation should be looked at. After all did Jesus spend about 20 years hammering nails and sawing boards and sweeping up sawdust? Was this time wasted - was He just biding His time, waiting to do something more important? Or was it strictly used for preparation for the real work that He came to do? Or, was there any distinction at all, in terms of the way Jesus looked introspectively at His life and ministry? Did He have a sense, during those 3 years of ministry, like "At last, now I really get to do what I came do to - now I'm making a difference.

My son, Judah, has big dreams. He he wants to fly rocket ships, be a doctor, and be in a rock band. These dreams are important. But, what is in front of him to do now is clean his room, keep his toys picked up, and brush his teeth. It would be rather silly of me to say to my five year old - "Judah, don't worry about the room, just make sure you get to outer space." No, what is important is what is in front of him, and what is in front of us to do - the little things -the menial, thankless tasks, the minutiae. Here is where character is formed. Jesus said be faithful in the little things, and I will give you much. Faithfulness, character, and perserverance are key- not just our occupation or position. Our occupation adds nothing to our value. David the shepherd boy was given the kingdom of Israel, and Frodo the hobbit was chosen to bear the Ring of Power -not by their qualifications, but by the quality of their character. So, if we can't add to or subtract any value by what we do, and if our relationship with God is not about how grandiose our accomplishments and positions are, but about obedience and devotion to Him, then should our response ever be to desire to do something more important? Or, should we simply want to serve Him in whatever way pleases Him, in whatever occupation He's given us to do. And how to we reconcile the idea of contentment with doing the little things with the overwhelming desire we often have to do the very big things?
What are your thoughts?

2005-05-19T00:13:00.000-10:00

michael

Welcome to the Orange Cafe!

2005-05-18T18:20:00.000-10:00

Welcome! This web log( blog) is an open forum for discussion, a place to seek and discuss wisdom and truth, and a place where I, Michael Kelly, can stay connected with you, my friends. I always have a lot on my mind, and given it's limited size, I feel the need to get some of it out. I will update this blog often. Please comment on any of my postings, and by all means, if you have a new topic you wish to post, email it to me at cycletabash@hotmail.com. This will be a dynamic site which will hopefully be a good place for interaction for all of us. If you don't know who I am, welcome to my blog. If you do, please check us out and see if this is a place for you.

~michael kelly