I don’t like it when people resort to either/or thinking. There are few things in this world that can be boiled down to this or that. I got a good look at that last week as I listened to two people talk about the hot community issue of land use.

They each looked at the issue from a different point of view. You could see the validity of each. Though you might agree or disagree with certain points, it was easy to see that this was not a case of good versus bad, but of how each person was affected by the issue being discussed.

I’m not advocating neutrality. We’d never get anything done if we were all “neutral.” On the other hand, being closed-minded or too opinionated also has some evils as well. What a better world it would be if we granted each other some respect, even when we disagreed.

If you live in any county in the San Joaquin Valley you are seeing a big migration of people from expensive coastal cities into the more affordable Valley. Purists would like to preserve all the farm land and ecologically sensitive areas. Pragmatists are saying, “We have to do something with all these people.”

Good sense dictates that planners be open to the opinions of both sides so that the decisions made truly solve the problems rather than lock us in either/or debates. That’s good advice for any organization.

My new office chair came today. Since I’ve moved my office to my home, I’ve had to become more compact. My office is really small.

Before my new chair came I had to sit upright in my desk chair. Bolt upright. No slouching in the desk chair. No putting my feet up to read a book.

Now my office is nearly complete and it is a comfortable place to be. Books are on the shelves. Pictures are about to be put up.

I do better work when I have a place of order and symmetry. Now to get my desk cleaned off.

I’m ready to go to worship services right now.  I wonder what I will receive today that will help me in the coming week.  Will the singing encourage me?  Will the congregation resemble the people of God or an “insider” group?

I take full responsibility for my state of mind as I prepare to leave for worship; however, I also know I can be knocked off my course by unnecessary distractions.  Recently that happened to me.

Singing had been good.  The congregation was friendly and inviting.  Then we played a silly game that lasted about 10 minutes.  It took me far away from what I had been thinking about because the game demanded my attention.

I hope that today I can give my full attention to worship and reflection. I hope that I come away from the service thinking, “I’d like to be more like Jesus and less like me.”

The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth, John 4:23,24.

I’ve decided that blogging requires a discipline I admire because it requires giving thought, precision and time to something you want to communicate. So this is the maiden voyage of my church planter’s blog. I hope it will be a valuable daily or bi-daily comment on what is being learned in this new venture in Merced, California.