ms. pac-man and a breakthrough

i have finally arrived... in 1982. this weekend, i played ms. pac-man on the ancient atari for the very first time in my life. i had forgotten about the joystick phenomenon. we didn't have video games at my house as a child, and i never really got the hang of it. i will say, however, that the technology has come a very, very long way. (nice photo gallery, btw, hibbies.) so, me + video games never really worked out. but i can play barbies like nobody's business.
in other (slightly more important) news, i think my church had a breakthrough today. i've talked to some of you about this before, and so i decided to post about it. for the past few weeks i've been pretty frustrated with some pretty important stuff at my church. there are two main things that have been weighing on my heart: a) biblical illiteracy and b) lack of Kingdom focus. first, the bible. i'm coming from the crc tradition, which is comparitively much more academic and theological than some other denominations, including (it seems) the presbyterian church. however, i'm not expecting that everyone be biblical scholars, able to expound and comment on the works of josephus or the jewish festival schedule. even so, i am very frustrated by the lack of biblical knowledge here. a lot of people, including some of the elders, don't know things that i had considered to be basics: the order of books in the bible, the general storyline, main characters, etc. most of the studies we do in sunday school, small groups, and to some extent, even the sermons, are topical in nature, rather than exegetical. i've been feeling quite convicted lately that we need to actually open the bible and read what it says, rather than pulling a few verses from here and a few from there to make a point about forgiveness or grace or whathaveyou. i think we cripple it when we fail to read it as it is written: in letters and stories. we as a church need to grow in this area.
second, i have been very frustrated with the amount of self-focus, both at the individual and church levels. we are just finishing a major building project, and because of that, the church has been turned inward for this past year. i have only been here for a year, and i can't say what it was like before the building project started. however, it is finished now, and i think we need to start looking out at the community and its needs.
on the individual level, the church is endorsing a message of personal fulfillment and prosperity. "get jesus in your life. he will bless you and make you a blessing. your life will be so much better with jesus." now, before i go off on a tangent, i believe that these statements are true. however, i do not think that they are necessarily true in the way that we would like to think they are. yes, your life will be better once you surrender it to God. BUT, there is no guarantee that "better" equals more money, a bigger house, freedom from illness or death of loved ones, or that the consequences from previous mistakes will be waived. God may or may not choose to bless us with material wealth. God may or may not choose to heal us from sickness or protect us from pain. God only promises to be with us during our times of suffering, not to excuse us from it. the bible is full of examples of people who were being faithful who were tempted and tried, who suffered and sometimes even died BECAUSE they were faithful. a life with jesus is better than a life without him because we were meant to be in a relationship with God. and God has things for us to do. God is in the process of making all things new, and we have been invited to help. but we need to stop focusing on our lives and our own problems, and instead focus on the kingdom of God and our role in it.
i decided to talk to my pastor last week about these things. i was very nervous, because i was afraid that he would think i was telling him how to do his job. however, it actually went very well. and then this morning, his sermon was on precisely these two things. throughout the entire sermon, i sat in the pew with a smile on my face. this is only the beginning, but i think we're getting somewhere, and i'm glad.