The Call

I put that picture there because that is the stereotypical view of a pastor...older, clean-cut, suit, tie, squeaky clean.  I have nothing against those type of pastors...but that's not who I am.

My hair is a mess most of the time, I wear t-shirts and p.j. pants when I'm home, I don't give sermons the way that pastor in the picture would...but for some reason, God still called me.  I'm uncomfortable at parties where one has to be social, I don't like a lot of formality, I hate ties.  Despite my outward appearance, despite the fact that I have my faults, despite the fact that I don't "look the part," and despite the fact that I don't always "sound the part," God called me into the ministry.  Of this, I have NO doubts!

God's call couldn't have been any clearer!  I taught elementary and middle school for 10 years in mostly high poverty areas, and loved it.  But what I loved was not the teaching, it was the mentoring, the relationships with students and their families, and giving kids the tools to make their lives better.  I then got greedy.  I thought I should be a principal.  That's not to say all principals are bad - but for me it was a "power thing" or a "status thing," not a calling.  I got my M.Ed. I probably would have made a good principal, or I would have been fired.  I don't quickly take on the "company line" unless I believe it is for the benefit of all.  And that is what made me disenfranchised with teaching.  The "No Child Left Behind Act" was dumb!  Only an idiot could have come up with it, but yet it's the law of the land.  How can a school that passes in 19 out of 20 areas be a "failing school?"  Last time I checked, 95% was an "A."  Why should a school loose points because one student was in a coma and couldn't take the test???  DUH!!!!  I could go on, but I won't. 

Then God stepped in, maybe rescued me.  It was time to go into a different form of teaching.  To teach God's people and to teach people to know God.  It was a leap of faith.  I was uncomfortable with it.  I'm such a random person that at first I thought it was a passing whim.  I ignored it.  Prayed over it.  But, finally, it was obvious that I needed to do this.

So, here I am...pastoring a church...going to Divinity School.  And loving every minute of it!  I still don't "fit in" with traditional pastor groups.  I don't always fit in at school. I have opinions and often voice them.  But, I must somehow fit into God's plan.  If God can take a person like me to teach the Word, God can do anything!  I love God, believe Jesus is savior, and want others to have the same assurance!

I have my issues.  I'll say the occasional curse word.  I have a broad sense of time (I'm not known for being on time to much of anything).  I march to the beat of my own drummer, but that drummer must be God!  My fashion is questionable at best.  I'm not an eloquent speaker, but neither was Moses.  Trust me...I'm NO Moses!  I sometimes have the same doubts my parishioners have.  I sin.  I don't have all the answers.  I have trouble being serious most the time.  I have to maintain my sense of humor as a coping mechanism.  I get stressed.  I get depressed.  But, at the end of the day, I know God got me through it.  And I know God called me into the ministry.

Bible Funnies

I've always wondered what Mary and Joseph's neighbors said to them (or about them).  Also, when Jesus was a child, if he ran out of the house and left the door open, and Mary shouted "Were you born in a barn?"  Did he answer "Yes????"

It's always amazed me that Moses smashed the ONLY thing written by the finger of God.  True, the people were doing some pretty bad stuff...but the Finger of God????  

Yeah, that one speaks for itself.

Well, when you think about it, that night had to be somewhat hectic!

Not quite sure that God uses "the Great Laundry Sorter" as one of his titles.

Ok, a little midrashing going on here

Letter to the Governor and Senator Berger

April 21, 2011

Dear Governor Perdue and Senator Berger:

I find it completely appalling that unemployment benefits to 37,000 individuals have been denied through the recent veto.

I find it more appalling that both Republicans and Democrats have turned this into a political issue rather than an issue facing real people.  I read and listen to news stories that are nothing more than finger pointing similar to small children on the playground.  Both parties have taken these 37,000 people and made them pawns in your disgusting political battle.

As a person of faith I can, with certainty, tell you that the Bible is clear against oppression of the poor.  The books of Isaiah, Amos, Luke, James, and others speak to these issues.  God will not be mocked, and the people of North Carolina are sick and tired of your political games where the people are the ones being hurt while you sit in your mansions of perceived glory. 

Both of you (and your respective parties) will blame the other, but that is not the point, and I hope and pray you know that too.  These 37,000 people are struggling to find a job…jobs that both parties have promised but have not delivered.  These 37,000 people represent 37,000 families who now have to struggle and live in anxiety over how to pay the bills, how to afford food, and how to continue maintaining some sort of normalcy. 

We all know the nation is in an economic crisis, but when you make the powerless the pawns in your political agendas, your actions speak of your true motives. 

I hope and pray that the spirits of conflict and greed will leave you and your respective political parties and that you will soon come to a compromise that will not only provide unemployment funds for these people, but also create jobs to bring these people back to work.

Many Prayers,

Rev. Tom Hallberg

They Just Don't Get It!

I admit...I love living in my own little "happy world."  I don't like to watch the news.  It stresses me out, especially when I can't do anything about it.  But, I'm an NPR Junkie.  I listen to it whenever I'm in the car, and lately that's quite a bit of time.  Actually, I listen to NPR when I'm not listening to my IPod, but that's neither here nor there.

Recently, most of the news stories have been about the Federal Budget.  I know I have no direct impact on what Congress and the White House do, so I try not to get stressed, but hearing about the budget battles have managed to get my blood pressure to a high level!

At one point in my life, I was a hard line Democrat.  I don't know what I am now because quite honestly, both parties are making me sick!  Both have turned the budget into a political fight rather than what is best for the country.

So, as we write to our representatives (as if they read what we write), I think we need to keep the following points in mind:

1. Budgets are Moral Documents.  Yes, I'm stealing this from Jim Wallis (Editor of Sojourner's Magazine), but he's right.  Where your money goes is where your priorities go.

2. While I understand that the rich are the ones who have the ability to provide jobs (in the words of a Republican who I can't remember- "When was the last time a poor person hired someone?"), as Americans, they should not be immune from taxes.

3. Teachers, Public Radio/TV, Unions, etc. are not the enemy.  They did not bankrupt our country, they did not cause the economic crisis we are in now.

4. Soldiers are not our enemy, but there are military projects which do not need funded.  We have out dated technology that is still funded through our taxes.

5. 1 Full scale war (Afghanistan), 1 war where we are "advisors" (Iraq), and 1 where we are participants (Libya) are bankrupting us.  Maybe it's time to think about ending these wars where we have no clear mission other than to eliminate "terrorists."  Does the government realize that by killing one "terrorist" (and I use quotation marks because defining a terrorist is not as simple as we'd like to think) you create at least one more (someone in that person's family or circle of friends).  Maybe it's time to take Ghandi's words to heart: "An eye for an eye will make the world blind," or Jesus' words: "Blessed are the peacemakers..."

6.  Unemployment may be bankrupting us, but why do we need it?  Because people in the low tax bracket (i.e. the very wealthy) destroyed our economy, and not 1 person has been held accountable!  Why would we even consider taking away unemployment when there are no jobs to be had?

7. Cuts to education, health care, state hospitals, social services will only hurt us in the long run.  Public schools, subsidized health care, welfare, medicare, etc. may not be the answer to the problem, but they are not the cause of the problem.  I can agree they (maybe) shouldn't be immune to cuts, but they should not bear the brunt.  And, if the people have to suffer the cuts, then wouldn't it be great if our law makers, corporate executives, etc. would take a "token pay cut" themselves?  If we refuse to educate our children in a way that is 1st class, then don't expect to have 1st class citizens.

9.  Cutting money from prisons is not the answer either.  Of course people did something bad to be there.  They sinned.  It was wrong.  But, if they are going to come back to society, I want them rehabilitated as much as possible, not institutionalized.

10. Cutting Higher Education (college) only creates less educated people who could possible help in the future.
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I admit a lot of this is idealistic.  Cuts have to be made, but it is not moral to make the middle and lower class bear the brunt of the cuts.  Why are those who say this called "Bad Americans" when businesses who are "taxed too much" who take their businesses overseas where they can get slave like work for little wages "just doing business?"

So, what about this?:
1. EVERYONE pay equitable percentage of taxes.  We are the UNITED States, not a group of individuals.

2. Cut the "fat" from the "meat."  Education and health care are not "fat."  We ARE our brother's keeper (Read Genesis 4 - Cain and Abel).

3. If Lawmakers think public employees should take a pay cut (or benefits, or lose bargaining rights), then they should lose their perks as well.  They ARE public employees too!

4. Compromise!  This is not the time for ideological fights over trivial matters.  OK, there's really never a time for that, but now less than ever!

5. Law makers need to follow the Golden Rule, or Rabbi Hillel's "reverse" Golden Rule ("What is hateful to you, don't do to others).

The Blues...But Worse

I was listening to NPR today, and there was a story about a man who suffers from mental illness.  To sum it up, he was involuntarily committed because of a mental breakdown.  He had to spend about 2 days in the Emergency Room until a bed opened in the Psych. Ward.

This story got my mind thinking of how we treat the mentally ill in this country and even worse in some other nations around the world.

The man in this story owns a small business, is productive in society, has healthy relationships, is religious, but has a disease.  Yes, Mental Illness is a disease and we need to treat it as such.  It should also be an issue we talk about as openly as we would tell someone how our allergies are bothering us or that we have a broken arm or the arthritis in your elbow is hurting badly on a certain day.  It should not be something we treat with suspicion seeing the person as lazy, crazy, useless, etc.

The problem is that we can't see the disease.  There are no germs that cause it.  There are no broken bones or swelling.  We only see the manifestation of these diseases.  It would be like only hearing a person scream in pain but not being able to see that they just fell and broke a bone.

Mental illness is not like other diseases.  A cold has a "lifespan."  Mental illness is different for each person.  For some people it lasts a season and for others a lifetime.  But in each case, we do no help by ignoring the problem or passing the person off as crazy or beyond help.

Everyone of us has had "the blues."  Imagine having that every day...that's what a person who suffers from depression feels like.  Some days are worse than others.  Some days a depressed person can't even tell why they're sad.

Everyone of us gets nervous going to the dentist and having a drilling (ok, not all of us, but just follow me here).  That feeling of nervousness is what a person with anxiety disorder has all day long.

Some days we feel like we are "on top of the world" and other times we feel like we have the "weight of the world on our shoulders."  Some days we just don't feel like being nice.  Some days we feel like just staying in bed and hiding.  Bipolar people feel these feelings all the time.

The good news is that there is treatment.  Medication works.  The bad news is that there is no "1 size fits all" treatment.  One medicine may work for one person and not for another, though the 2 may have identical symptoms.

As a society, we need to look at this issue, talk about this issue, and treat this issue as we would any other medical problem.

Can these Bones Live Again? Part II

Ezekiel's Vision of the Dry Bones

These are the notes I used in a sermon on April 10, 2011 Based on Ezekiel 37: 1-10  

“Can these Bones Live Again?”

This scripture was first a prophecy to Ezekiel about the restoration of Israel after Babylonian Exile. But, when we see "impossible situations" was ask "can these bones live again?

Here are some examples form history:

1933 – Nazis came to power, Hitler Chancelor

1934 – Hitler becomes Fuhrer

1935 – Jews in Germany stripped of Citizenship

1938- Kristelnacht – “spontaneous” uprising against Jews

30,000 Jews Arrested

1938 – Jews forced to wear stars of David

1940 – Jews put into ghettos and first mass killing of Jews (Concentration Camps led to at least 6 million Jews who were killed over the next few years).

People asked, Can these Bones Live Again?

1947 – Arms Race began between USA/USSR

1948 – Berlin Blockade by USSR denying Western aid to Berlin

1960 – US U2 Spy plane shot down over USSR

1961 – Beginning of Berlin Wall

1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis

1987 – President Reagan gave a speech saying "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

Behind the Iron Curtain, people wondered can these Bones Live Again?

1651 – Dutch arrive in South Africa bringing and taking slaves

This led to Segregation (Apartheid) that continued through 1990’s

There were many killings, arrests, and persecutions of the black majority by the white minority.

Nelson Mandela, a freedom fighter, was jailed for 27 years.

People in South African and the world wondered can these Bones Live again?

Here in the United States:

1861 – Southern US states secede.  Slavery and States' Rights were the reason.

1863 – Lincoln gives Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves

1865 – Civil War Ends

1954 – Brown vs. Board of Ed. Outlaws school segregation

1955 – Rosa Parks arrested for not giving up her seat on the bus to a white man.

1957 – Gov. Fabus uses Nat’l Guard to block 9 Black students from entering Little Rock High School – President Eisenhower uses Federal Troops to allow them in.

1960 – Greensboro (NC) 4 Lunch Counter Sit-in demanding to be served in a "White's Only" area.

1963 – MLK “I Have a Dream” Speech.  Rather than speaking of revenge, he spoke of coexistence and peace.

1968 – MLK assassinated

Many in American wondered: Can these Bones Live Again?

April 6, 1994 – A few days after Easter, the Rwandan Genocide Begins (lasted 100 days)

Approximately 1 million killed – followed by 6 million more as a result of the war that followed.  Some were killed directly by fighting and others were killed as a result of the harsh conditions enabling them to access adequate food, water, and medical care.

People wondered: Can these Bones Live Again?

9/11/01 – Terrorists fly planes into WTC/Pentagon and a 4th had the terrorists overpowered and the plane crashed into a field in PA – We wondered if these bones can live again.

What seemed like Impossible Conditions were redeemed (or in the process of being redeemed) through the power of God by people answering God's Call:

*Hitler was defeated, and Germany is a mainstream nation (of course, life isn't perfect, but it's better).

*1989- Fall of Berlin Wall ended the Cold War

*1991- Apartheid ended, 1994 Nelson Mandela Elected President

*Now, Blacks and Whites have = rights in USA-There are still problems, but hope is alive.

*Genocide in Rwanda ended, violence/corruption remain, but there is hope

*Still in 2 wars over 9/11 – but there is hope!  We can have peace if we just give up our need to always be right.

Hand of God is only explanation of these events.

Watching about 15 minutes of News I saw the following reports: Robberies, fire, murder, economy, Libya, Govt. shut down, Situation in Japan (earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear reactor), even bad weather

We wonder about our world: Can these Bones Live again?

We Pass people everyday (maybe those people are some of us)

*They are Caring for sick relative, suffer addiction, job loss, have relationship problems, suffer poverty causing them to choose between medicine and food, hunger, mental illness, stress, chronic pain, chronic illness, and other issues.

They wonder: Can these bones live again?

In Ezekiel God caused the Bones to Live, but Ezekiel had to prophesy it

4 Questions to ask yourself

1. Where is God calling you to give healing or comfort? (phone calls, visiting, talking, physical care, etc.).

2. Where is God calling you to prophesy? (Prophecy is not just telling the future.  It is speaking the word and truth of God).

Where is God calling you to make the impossible possible? (Is there a dream you have to make the world a better place? Is that God's calling to you?)

Where is God calling you to make dead bones live again?

Can These Bones Live Again?

Tsunamis, Earthquakes, Riots, Wars, Diseases, Ozone Depletion, Taxes, the Economy, Genocide, Crime, Poverty....And that's just what I heard on the news today (and I only listened for a few minutes).

It's enough to make you depressed even if you're not dealing directly with these issues.  In fact, it put me in a pretty cranky mood.  It makes me wonder, sometimes, why we even try to fix things.  We vote in politicians who don't keep their promises, we send aid for one natural disaster only to have a worse one come along.  We enter wars to say that we're doing it for "humanitarian" reasons (yeah, think of that irony).  Is there ever an end?  Is there even hope?

Then I was reminded about Ezekiel.  He was looking at the center of his life, Jerusalem, and more so, the Temple that had been destroyed.  He had to be hopeless.  He had to be depressed.  He had to wonder, "why even try?"

Then, God brought him to a pile of bones....not exactly the cheeriest place to be...who wants to be surrounded by dead bodies? or dead bones?

And God asked Ezekiel if these bones could live.  How could Ezekiel know?  He saw so much destruction, how could he say "yes" when all signs pointed to "no."  But, how could he say "no" when he was talking to God?  So, Ezekiel gave probably the safest answer possible..."Only you know, God."

But it wasn't God who was going to do all the work.  Ezekiel had to prophesy life into these bones.  Ezekiel had to keep trying to make things better.

In the words of Ezekiel 7:7-10:  "So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude."


So, can our dry bones live?  Can we change the world?  Can we make the world a better place?  I'm no Ezekiel, but I am a Child of God.  And not just any God, but the Living God.  


Even after Ezekiel prophesied the bones to life, trouble didn't stop.  But, one problem was fixed.  Just like Ezekiel, we can't save the world, but we can save some things.  We need to remember to follow God's leading.  We need to remember that hope is NEVER dead.  We need to remember that we are part of a creation that is loved by its Creator!

The Circle of Life

There are few days where one gets to see the circle of life.  No, I'm not quoting Elton John's song from The Lion King.  I mean the REAL circle.

I had the opportunity to attend a funeral today to support some of my parishioners in the passing of a beloved relative.  Though I didn't know the lady personally, her legacy was great and stretched far beyond those whom she directly touched.  It was a sad service, but it was also a joyful service.  The crying and mourning was for those left behind, but the joy was in the suffering she endured ceasing and her going on to Heaven.

I also got a phone call that another baby was born to my congregation today.  One was also born last week.  Both mothers were so proud and gave birth to healthy little boys.  Even though it's happened billions of times, I never cease to be amazed by the birth of a baby.  I think it's a sign that God is telling us that life is good and worth living.

There are very few days where someone can experience both new life and the passing of one already lived in one day, but today I had the privilege of that, and I am so grateful!