Out of the Loop

I’ll be officially “out of the loop” for about a week, so I won’t have any updates to the blog until the first of July.  Oh well, I guess everybody will lose about 8 seconds of sleep from worrying about it.  Sorry for contributing to the insomnia of a few.  Keep on keeping on.

No Suit, No Tie, No Problem

Pastors are supposed to wear a suit and a tie, right?  Or at least a tie and a sportcoat, right?  Not this one; not anymore at least. 

Sometime in late winter or early spring, I quit wearing the normal preacher garb.  Most of the time, at least.  Now on Sundays and Wednesdays I can be found wearing casual dress pants and either a polo shirt or a button up.

I’m not real sure when suits became the norm for pastors.  It probably either started or continued because some people consider wearing nice close as “giving our best” to God.  I personally think that God is more concerned with us giving Him our best praise and best love than He is in what I wear.

I may go back to the suit and tie one day.  Until then, I’ll keep wearing what I wear and loving the God of grace.

Karate Kids

My kids (ages 5,4,3, and 3) have recently begun taking karate classes in hopes of instilling a greater sense of discipline and learning how to better control their bodies.  So far all that they have learned is to hit each other with more gusto.  Oh well, as my dad used to say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” 

 By the way, the reason that we have children so close in age is that they are all adopted.  It’s not something we are hiding from them because as my 5 year old already knows: Adopted=Special.  Now if I can only get them to start breaking cinder blocks, we could make us some cash.  Hi-ya!

Seriously, we won’t know whether or not karate is helpful until a little later on.  I find this true in other aspects of life.  Time often reveals the truth about whether a course of action is correct or incorrect.  If we could look into the future and make decisions accordingly, we would probably be wiser about our choices.  However, the journey is what makes us who we are.  My failures have taught me far more than my successes and I expect that will be the case until I draw my last breath.

The Stubbornness of Beliefs

I have not known very many grown adults who have changed a strongly held belief.  Even if they are shown proof that their belief is incorrect and that there are compelling reasons to change, they will still hold onto it like their life depends on it.  The main reason that I can think of as to why this happens is pride.

If someone has defended their belief for several years, even arguing with family that their view is the correct one, then they are highly unlikely to easily change.  Doing so would be admitting that they were wrong.  Also, their lifestyle may have to change if part of it was predicated on a belief that they now know was in error. 

I’ve had to change some of my beliefs before and it wasn’t easy.  I was so sure of some things that I would have bet my life on them and it was partly because that what I believed was what I had always been taught.  It required an adjustment period that was quite awkward and it required me actually seeking the truth instead of aggressively defending my opinion.  (By the way, one of the major changes for me was eschatological in nature and it took me a while to become comfortable with it.)

 My prayer, then, is that more of us would spend more time contemplating why we believe the way that we do and desperately seek the truth until it is found.  I’m not saying that we need to be wishy-washy in what we believe.  What I am saying is that we need to know why we believe the way that we do and not be too stubborn to change if the need is there.

Simple Things

I watched my children as they played at my parents’ house tonight.  My daughter was chasing after lightning bugs and naming them.  My boys were jumping from one thingto the next, not spending much time at any particular activity, but enjoying themselves terribly.  They didn’t need much to entertain themselves.  They were enjoying the simple things.

 Father’s Day is this Sunday and all of us with the awesome privilege of being Dads should try to be like little children; sucking as much joy out of life as we can.  Every day can be a great day; it all depends on how we approach it.

An Unexpected Response

I write a monthly column in the Knoxville News-Sentinel as part of their Community Columnists line-up in the Sunday “Perspectives” section.  This weeks column was basicially a Christian apology to non-Christians for the unchristlike behavior that we often exhibit.  The article can be found here: http://knoxnews.com/kns/perspectives/article/0,1406,KNS_2797_5575498,00.html. 

 I was not expecting the enormous (and overwhelming) response that I received.  So far the e-mail tally is somewhere between 30-35.  There were Christians who agreed with me, which was encouraging.  There were also many who have been hurt by Christians or by the Church in general.

I have enjoyed corresponding with them and hope to continue to do so.  There are so many with honest and heart-felt questions who just need someone who can discuss things with them without condemning them. 

 I pray that more will seek and that more Believers will be willing to have open diagalogue with those who may disagree with them..

Fred Thompson’s Important Quote

First:  I am not endorsing Fred Thompson for President with this entry.  He may or may not be a good candidate; it is still up in the air.  But he did have an interesting quote this week. 

An AP story that I read in the Knoxville News-Sentinel (www.knoxnews.com)  had this quote from Thompson about running for President.  “If a person craves power for the sake of power, if he craves the office for the sake of holding office, he’s got his priorities mixed up. It’s a desire to do something, not be something.”

I like this quote and I hope that all of those who are considering a run for the White House believe this. 

I also hope that this is how we who follow Christ view our lives.  I hope that we have a desire to do something with what we believe, not just be something.  

Faith without works is really no faith at all.  See  James  2:14-26.

Paris Hilton or the Iraq War?

Which is more important: a war in which so many are dying and so many lives are touched either directly or indirectly, or the ongoing jail saga of Paris Hilton? 

It’s hard to tell from the news on t.v., the internet, and the papers.  What is wrong with us?  Spending our time and energy thinking about, reading about, and focusing on celebrities that we have never met, probably never will meet, many of whom have not accomplished anything of significant value for society.

God help us focus on the truly significant.

Contentment and the Lady Vols

I don’t usually watch women’s college softball.  However, the success of the Lady Vols this year with Monica Abbott on the pitcher’s mound compelled me to tune in.  I was excited by the prospect of the team winning the Women’s College World Series.  They won the 1st of the best of 3 series on Monday and I just knew that they would win the whole thing.  All they needed to do was win one of the remaining 2 games.  I was positive and pumped up.

 Then Tuesday came and they lost in the 10th inning.  Then came Wednesday and another defeat meant losing the national championship series.

What should the players and coaches do?  Should they think of all the lost opportunities and spend their time wallowing in sadness?

 The truth is that in our lives there will be disappointments.  These sometimes occur because of our own mistakes and errors, but they sometimes happen because of the negligence of others.  When trials hit us out of nowhere and our dreams go down the tube, what will we do?

 The best way to keep going is with contentment in our souls.  Content with doing the best we can with what we have.  Content with realizing that we are not perfect and mistakes are part of the human experience.  Content with the what God has given us.

Joy is not found in how much we can achieve, but in being content regardless of the circumstance.  Good or bad, we all are doing better than we deserve.  

Hello world!

Let me introduce myself.  My name is Matt Cannon and I am a seeking pastor.  I am seeking after God, after His truth, after His place for me in this world.  While you may know much about your Creator, this much is true:  If you are done seeking Him, you are done being transformed into the likeness of Christ.

I’m not quite sure if this blog will be of help to anyone, but I believe it will help me.  I don’t plan on this only being a “religious” forum, because I believe that as I am seeking, I will be surprised by what I find.  The fingerprints of God are in unexpected places.  Hopefully we will find them together.