Newspaper

Pastor Maddox writes for a column in the Marana Weekly News. 
Here are some of his articles:

Is the heater broken? (2/11/09)

I was out of town for a couple of weeks last month taking some continuing education classes in Kansas City, Missouri. I know, I know, what kind of person signs up to go from Arizona to Missouri in January? Well, besides the fact that it was -6 degrees, I enjoyed my time in Missouri, as I was able to learn a lot and even go to a couple of worship services where I wasn’t the pastor.

I really enjoy having the opportunity to attend worship services at other churches. I can pick up a few ideas, meet new people and worship God in a new environment. This year I went to two different worship services. One was at a non-denominational church and the other was a United Methodist Church.

Now I know t his wouldn’t happen at any of our churches in Northwest Tucson, but when I walked into both of these churches I felt a chill in the air. Now you might be saying that I was in Kansas City in January, of course I felt a chill in the air.

But it was something more than that. I really felt that the people in those churches really didn’t care if I was there or not. Can you believe it, two churches, two different denominations, and it seemed that neither really cared if I was there or not.

During one of the services we stood up and greeted those around us. Do you know that I stood there by myself and nobody said, “Hi”. Not a word. I felt invisible.

Like I said earlier, I am sure none of our churches in Northwest Tucson would ever be like that, well, at least I hope they aren’t. From stories I have heard, this, unfortunately, isn’t a rare occurrence at some churches. I have even heard of people attending a church for the first time and being asked to move because they were sitting in someone else’s spot. Can you imagine that?

Today’s column is really addressed to those of us who attend church regularly. We need to open our eyes and be welcoming to everyone that comes through our doors – even if they don’t “look like us”. If God has lead them to our church, why would we treat them poorly? Maybe we get so wrapped up in talking to our friends that we miss an opportunity to make a newcomer feel welcome. But we all need to remember that attending a church shouldn’t be just about “What’s in it for me?”, but it should also about “How can I serve others?” I have been blessed to be the pastor of a congregation that is extremely welcoming to new visitors, but since nobody is perfect, I am sure we fail from time to time as well.

So let’s all remember, the next time we see someone we don’t know walking in those doors, let’s take a moment and say “Hi”. If we don’t, they might feel a chill in the air, even here in Arizona.

I’m Not Cool (8/6/08)

I have never been accused of being “cool”. In high school, I didn’t play sports and I wasn’t really funny. As a matter of act, I was a member of the Science Club and worked in the cafeteria.

In college I guess I became a little bit more cooler. I began playing some intramural football, got involved in student government, and actually had a girlfriend. I was never accused of being “cool.”

Now that I am 40 years old, and a pastor, I doubt I will ever be called “cool”, and I am okay with that. Some of the people that know me the best actually call me a “geek” as I tend to buy the latest in technology. But I feel that I am in good company. When I look at Jesus’ disciples, I don’t think they were too cool either. Many of them were fishermen and one of them collected taxes. Wow, smelly fishermen and a tax collector? You know they weren’t considered cool!

But in our society today many of us feel that we need to fit in, and so for some of us that means we don’t show the world who we truly are deep down inside. We may end up listening to music we don’t care about, or doing things with others that we don’t agree with. I have known people that have joined groups and can’t stand them, but they feel they can’t quit because “everyone who is someone” is in that group.

I think sometimes we have to bust out of our shells and just be ourselves. If that means we won’t be considered “cool” then so be it. Jesus didn’t let others influence who he was, and I don’t think we should either. We should ask ourselves, are we living our lives or doing certain things simply so other will notice us or to fit in? If so, maybe it is time for us to do a little soul-searching and see who we really are. And when we meet, feel free to call me the non-cool pastor.

Traveling in today’s world (pulling my hair out) (7/23/08)

Today I am writing my column from 22,000 feet in he air as I take my first vacation in a year and a half. This past Sunday many of the parishioners from my church asked me what exotic destination I was heading to. When I told them my destination, the look of their faces was one more of pity than anything else. See, for my only vacation of the year I am headed off to the exotic location of Wichita, Kansas – during tornado season – for the National Square Dance convention. Yes, men under the age of 50 square dance (if their wives make them).

As we were getting ready to board our plane, the agent made the typical announcement for pre-boarding, “Only those with small children and those people needing special assistance may board at this time”.

Being people watchers, we noticed all of the families with small children boarding the plane, a blind man, a child t raveling alone, an elderly couple in wheelchairs, and a business man with a briefcase.

I have always been perplexed as to why a relatively young person, who doesn’t have any noticeable ailments, needs to pre-board. Is it because he is just too special to wait with the rest of us? Is it because the briefcase he is carrying is genuine leather and therefore it needs extra care? Jay Leno recently admitted that he used to fake a limp so he could pre-board. He said he stopped doing it when an elderly lady in a wheelchair and on oxygen told him, “Go in front of me sweetie, you look like you need more time than I do to get on the plane”.

Now the man who pre-boarded could have some hidden ailment that we didn’t know about, but seeing the way he jumped up and trotted to the line, it surely wasn’t a foot or knee issue.

And if the “fake” pre-boarders weren’t bad enough, there are those who insist that their carry-on bags will fit in the overhead compartments. I can’t believe the size of some of those bags. My first car was smaller than some of them! Have you ever been on a flight where almost half of the passengers brought on those huge bags? Good luck finding room for your small carry-on that has your toothbrush and toothpaste (under 3 ounces, of course).

I know, I know, I shouldn’t let these things bother me. I am supposed to be above all of that – I am a pastor; but they do bother me – after all, I am human. Seriously, how come those people are more special than I am? Why do I have to wait to board the plane? Why do I have to check my bag instead of bringing it as a carry-on? Why do I have to follow the rules when other people don’t?

I think my Dad would have said something like, “Well Mark, life just isn’t fair.” But what kind of answer is that? Of course life isn’t fair, but shouldn’t it be? So I thought I would turn to another source to look for an answer on how I should handle this problem, the Bible.

The first scripture I turned to said, “Do not judge or else you will be judged”. Gee, not quite the scripture I was looking for. I wanted to find one that I could cling to so I could show everyone that I was right and all those other people were wrong. So I searched again. I ran across Mathews 20:1-16 which is about a farmer who picks up some day laborers to help him on his farm.

At first, this passage doesn’t look like it applies to my issue of life being unfair. But as we read the entire parable, we see that the farmer goes back a couple more times throughout the day and hires more people. The “unfair” part of this story is that the farmer pays all of the workers the same wage. It didn’t matter if they worked eight hours or one; they all were paid the same, a fair wage for an entire day of work.

The workers who were there all day complained that they worked all day and asked why the guys that worked only an hour got paid the same? To which t he farmer replied, “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money?”

The farmer was saying that the first laborers got paid a fair wage, got exactly what they agreed to and should be happy; why should they honestly care if the farmer decided to pay the other workers the same amount?

I guess this is true with my airplane ride as well. I still got the seat I reserved. I still got on the airplane and arrive at my destination. Why should I let it bother me if someone else got to board before I did?

Maybe we all should step back now and then and relax. Should we get ourselves worked up over something that really doesn’t affect us? For that matte, how worked up should we get if something barely affects us? Spending our time thinking life isn’t fair is simply more time we aren’t enjoying the life that God has given us.

Looking for the perfect church? (5/21/08)

Are you out there looking for the perfect church? If you find it let me know and I’ll join you.

I know, it probably seems strange reading a column written by a pastor that doesn’t claim his own church as being perfect for everyone, but t he truth is that no church is perfect for everyone.

Looking at my own church as an example, I know for a fact that the music we play doesn’t appeal to everyone. Sure, we are going to add a second service this year that has more contemporary music, but that still won’t make us perfect.

From church to church, a visitor will hear different theologies, different underlying beliefs, and even witness different rituals. Some people are attracted to hearing creeds recited every week and other people could care less if a creed was ever recited. I know of people who want us to have Holy Communion every Sunday and others that don’t care if they miss the once a month opportunity we have at our church. This is just the worship services, not even mentioning the programs like youth groups, senior groups, singles activities, etc.

Almost everybody I meet with has a different opinion of what church should look like. With so many different opinions sometimes I sit back and wonder how our church has grown as fast as it has. Why would over 100 people that have different opinions of church come together in the same place on Sundays?

The only answer I can give is that although there is no perfect church, and although I am far from perfect, God is perfect. When we put our faith in a church or a pastor, we will always be let down. When we truly put our faith in God and try to follow him, great things can happen in our lives. When it is God we trust, we won’t get so upset when the music doesn’t sound right or if the pastor trips and falls. We will just shake our heads and thank God that He is perfect and that He still loves us with all of our imperfections.

Are you a goat or a sheep? (5/7/08)

I know, a strange title for my column, but I thought it was fitting for today. Have you ever read something in the Bible and said, “Right, how am I supposed to live up to that?” I don’t know about you, but I sure have!

There is a passage in the Bible where it says tat in the final days the people would be divided up like goats and sheep. The sheep would be on the right side and the goats on the left. Then Jesus would say that those on the right would receive glory because “(When) I was hungry you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothing. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.” (Matthew 25:35-40 NRSV) He went on to say that if you did these things for other people it was the same as doing it for him.

From the passage we get that if you didn’t do these things for others, you were a goat – but if you did, you were a sheep.

Well, I don’t know about you, but I think I might be a goat form time to time. I know I have driven by a homeless person without giving them something to eat or something to drink. I know I haven’t always been friendly to strangers or given clothes to the needy. I can remember times when people were sick and I avoided them, or they were in prison and I didn’t visit.

So what are we supposed to do? Can we always do these things? How are we supposed to live up to that? I want to be a sheep, not a goat!

I don’t think most people can be a sheep overnight. Sure, we might fool ourselves into thinking we are.

We might even pat ourselves on the back when we give a dollar to a homeless person. But the question we have to ask ourselves is, are we sheep for a day or for a lifetime?

I still have a long way to go to be a good sheep, but I haven’t given up. I need to keep trying to do better, and to help others. Won’t you join me?

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