The McKinney Diner

2011-08-27T18:06:00.006-05:00

Bye Bye Blogger

It all started in 2003.

But, alas, you folks haven't held up your end of the bargain, kids. Boring old skins. No real support. Comments and stats are not up to par.

You know those PC vs. Apple commercials?

Blogger is the guy in the suit.

WordPress is the cool guy in casual clothes.

It's nothing personal Blogger, it's not you. It's me.

But if you need me, I'll be moved in soon at my new digs at www.mckinneydiner.wordpress.com.

Please update your links accordingly, patrons!

2011-08-20T22:11:00.002-05:00

Mind Vitamins from Alan Hirsch

So, yeah. Um, I read the book The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch and well, let's just say that little Kindle purchase and the highlight feature has caused me plenty of time away from the blog. Anyway, here's a few quotes from the book for your consideration:

"To say this more explicitly, there is no such thing as sacred and secular in biblical worldview. It can conceive of no part of the world that does not come under the claim of Yahweh's lordship. All of life belongs to God, and true holiness means bringing all the spheres of life under God."

"...I have come to believe that the viability of our faith is that of consumerism. This is far more heinous and insidious challenge to the gospel, because in so many ways it infects each and every one of us."

"Dynamic movements always have a transformative vision for society, and that puts them in tension with it."

"Christianity is at its very best when it is on the more chaotic fringes. It is when the church settles down, and moves away from the edge of chaos, that things go awry."

So, yeah. I realize they're out of context, but yo can tell the book is about affecting change in the status quo of the current situation the church "lives" in? Well, yeah. I have MUCH more to say on this subject, but I thought I'd at least throw these out there for your consumption to chew on until I can crystallize my thinking on SO much of what I'm reading about the state of play in the North American Church in 2011.

2011-08-20T22:00:00.002-05:00

Just A Cool Quote

So, I read the book One Day by David Nicholls. Not bad. Anyway, I thought this quote was well-written as the life philosophy of one of the characters. Simply wanted to make sure I didn't lose it. Sorry for the interruption.

"Live each day as if it's your last,' that was the conventional advice, but really, who had the energy for that? What if it rained or you felt a bit gandy? It just wasn't practical. Better by far to simply try and be good adn courageous and bold and to make a difference. Not change the world exactly, but the bit around you. Go out there with your passion and your electric typewriter and work hard at...something. Change lives through art maybe. Cherish your friends, stay true to your principles, live passionately and fully and well. Experience new things. Love and be loved, if you ever get the chance."

--David Nicholls.

Not bad, eh? But also a few holes, too, right? Your thoughts?

2011-08-07T08:53:00.002-05:00

Team Ireland Expansion Pack, Decompression Edition

So, the plane--carrying the 10 teens & 4 adults who went on our church's mission trip to Ireland--landed at DFW on July 26...a little before 5PM. We were welcomed back by a lot of folks from Crossroads. Parents happy to see their kids for the first time in two weeks; friends happy to see their friends they'd only connected with via social media; boyfriends happy to see their girlfriends & girlfriends happy to see their boyfriends.

I was happy about all this on two levels because I was greeted by my family members, but also greeted by all the above folks: Parents, students, friends & boyfriends/girlfriends of students, all happy. One of the perks of my job.

A couple of thoughts about travel before I get to the "meat" of my thoughts about the trip: First, It's pretty cool to serve a group of students who are airport savvy. My guess is that some who work with youth would have to give tremendous oversight and management to their students when in airports...but I live in an area where the kids have traveled by air so frequently that they know how to find gates, keep up with their boarding passes (the leader of a group of college kids on the mission we were on actually kept the passports for everyone in his group...how are they supposed to learn?), know the drill for boarding, etc. Makes my job a lot less stressful knowing they are going to be able to grab a snack without having to keep tabs on 'em.

Second, my students know that my view of missions is a lot like my view of Christmas decor: When it's over, MAN, IT'S OVER. When Christmas is over, I want the decorations back in the attic. When the "mission" is over, the travel is a necessary evil to get back to the folks I love. I'm not interested in much else. The teens know this and choose to serve me by being where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to be there with the stuff they're supposed to have with them. Another one of the perks of having been at a place as long as I have: The students know what sets me off and avoid doing those things. The legends have been passed down from kid to kid.

One last thing about travel: The folks at Chicago O'Hare have botched customs & immigration for so long that now they've been cut out of the deal (I've been there three times and it sucked royally each and every time). You clear customs and security in Dublin. The actually welcome you back to the U.S. while you're in Europe...which seemed strange. They still don't take dollars on the other side, though. Nice to be on the 7 hour flight back without having to worry about the possibility of mismanagement and ineptitude keeping you from making your connection, that's for sure.

Now, after a week of "staycation" recovering from 2 mission trips and preparing for student ministry's fall planning (which we're woefully behind on while preparing for two mission trips) what did I glean from the trip to Ireland?

First, there aren't any shortcuts to understanding the context of the people you're ministering to. I have to admit that I wasn't well-versed in the history of the island I was going to minister to and was going to depend on the training sessions to get me up to speed.

Sure, they tried to get us up to speed with a few jokes about the weather, and some catch phrases that are cute but mostly only used by those of us who attended the training, and some general cultural stuff. But there were some serious realities of the culture that I learned so much about during my two week stay.

Like the politics of Northern Ireland and Ireland. Simply because there isn't an army or immigration booths when you cross they really are two wildly different political systems of belief.

Which hinged largely on the Protestant/Catholic divide. Words can't express how a battle in 1680 affects so much of their worlds even (especially?) today. It even drips into the sports teams they follow...yes, your religion will dictate who you choose to support in athletics.

And the "culture of fighting." It doesn't take long to realize that when you mix...

...politics
...religion
...sports
...and often, alcohol, well it's no surprise that passions run VERY deep. And I'm not sure they can teach you that in ANY training session.

Main lesson learned: You have to take the time to get to know people, their "story," to engage them in life. PROGRAMS BASED ON ATTRACTION MODELS (get them to come to our event) ARE NO LONGER EFFECTIVE FOR MEANINGFUL EVANGELISM.

Second, "professional" ministers are not as effective as the folks who just walk with Christ and express His love. In Northern Ireland, most of the professional clergy were part of a denomination or church that was in decline and/or dying. The folks getting the ministry done were people who were volunteers or part-timers who already lived in the community and worked among the folks there. They had a hearing that the "pros" don't and won't...because the church and Christian culture (especially "fundamental evangelicalism") has lost any type of platform for discussion--and the reasons for that are myriad.

But, at the end of the day, the relationships formed the context to share your view of Christ. The programs we ran didn't really do much.

For example, there were drop-ins at the youth center--which were sparsely attended and a lot of energy & resources were put forth to get the word out about times and events and such. But even the free concert didn't draw as well as hoped. The "success" of all of that was ultimately measured in how those events fostered a relationship. The kid who was trouble hung out with a staffer for a long time. Or the community fun-day was well-attended and helped the volunteers meet and trust some parents. Stuff like that.

On the other hand, the late-night pub ministry ("Safe Haven") where the team walked the area where a lot of bars existed, carrying hot tea for cold folks waiting in taxi lines, or helping bouncers with crowd control, or giving flip-flops to girls wearing high heels who had too much to drink walking to the fast-food place gave Youth for Christ a brilliant platform with the community. The drunks were aware and appreciative of the folks in purple hoodies showing love & compassion as were the bouncers and pub owners who thanked us on our walkabouts. The relationships formed set the stage for future conversations.

Main lesson learned: Every area of your life is your mission field. And it doesn't look like "invite your friends to our 'trunk or treat Halloween alternative' or 'come to the event at our church' anymore. Sometimes it really is as simple as seeing a need and meeting that need with love and compassion, and most of the time that will be with people who don't think and act like us.

Third, the institutional Church is in decline. The sooner we admit our methods aren't working, the sooner we can change.

Granted, their situation is different with all the cathedrals and nearly four times more history playing into the equation there, but there is certainly a mindset that the Church just...IS. Each town seemed to have a church for every denomination that used that very identity to draw folks. In other words, folks should come to us because we are who we are. Hence, they're all in decline.

The ministries that were growing were not married to any methodology or system. They didn't view change as an enemy, but embraced change. They allowed ministries to grow out of need...almost organically. Those ministries used "grass-roots" methods and were almost successful BECAUSE they weren't hinging on a credibility that doesn't really exist anyway.

Sometimes, we need to value the bohemians and revolutionaries and barbarians moreso than those that clean up real nice and look like us and think like us and conform to our mores. We can learn from the outside-the-box thinkers we bump shoulders with...and should seek them out, man.

Main lesson learned: Have an open mind about the forms of ministry, and don't assume that the institutional church is "doing it the right way." Think about it. The churches in Africa and China are growing. Churches in the West are seemingly in decline. There's a reason for that.

Fourth, spiritual formation is a "team" effort.

In many ways, our team showing up was an encouragement to the Christians we came in contact with in Ireland. See, one thing I picked up pretty quickly was that Project 32 was the vision of a few key people. It's only two years old, really (in the current form). And those key people had a trust and knowledge of one another and were in alignment on ministry vision and such.

Then here come the young kids from Texas, and I could sense the "wait-and-see" raised eyebrows of those Project 32 leaders about our team. On paper, we were decidedly much more young than the rest of the internationals coming to serve...and they didn't know me or my church or my ministry philosophy.

They didn't know what I know: That years of serving in various capacities had prepared our team members for a ministry just like this one...building relationships and sharing Christ within that context.

So, after a few days on the field, I asked the folks traveling to each city (and they'd seen ALL the teams that had CBC folks on them by this time) how our kids were doing. "The Texans have made their mark, that's for sure. They hit the ground and were already ready for this. They didn't really need the training sessions. They 'got it.'" Music to my ears, man.

Much of our ministry was simply encouraging other believers...
...or team leaders...
...or visionaries for Project 32...

...but those are highly valuable, too.

Granted, we'd done our part on our end. I mean, Christian growth isn't rocket science. You need times of contemplation & thinking to figure out the universe and your place in it. You need your "Paul" & you need your "Timothy." You need your "tribe." You need to use/develop your gifts and talents.

So, when we showed up, our "kids" had been prepared simply because we didn't try to get fancy...we just tried to use this as an extension of what we were already doing. And the kids we bring back are different (having had their horizons broadened) in the best of ways.

What was also really cool was having many of the Northern Ireland folks we worked with wanting to come to Texas next summer to do mission work alongside our teens in our environment. You bet we're working on that to make it a reality.

Main lesson learned: Discipleship is a team effort, whether that team is across an ocean or across the hallway in the building. Sometimes you do the discipling, others you're being discipled, but in the end, we all have a role to play. We'd best be playing our role to the full.

So, it was a great trip.

65 degree high temperatures (if you're currently experiencing the record heat of North Texas, well, you get how that alone would make the trip great).
Beautiful views of the Northern Ireland coast where you can see Scotland on a clear day.
Using our gifts and talents in all sorts of environments from church VBS events to Safe Haven and everything in-between.
The connection with other believers in their context as well as creating a curiosity in them to the degree they want to connect with us in our context.

And the lessons learned are best summed up in a quote from a Chinese poem I read in a book about Celtic evangelism after I got back (as did our team to help them process everything from our trip):

Go to the people.
Live among them.
Learn from them.
Love them.
Start with what they know.
Build on what they have.

And, yes...I'd really like to go back to Northern Ireland.

ASAP.

2011-07-20T08:10:00.003-05:00

Team Ireland Expansion Pack, Entry 5

Team Dungannon is starting to settle into the routine: We wake up, have times of prayer and prep for the day of ministry. This is followed by going into neighborhoods, passing out flyers that announce that the YFC here is having a fun day in the park (see my Facebook for photos of the parks that exist in each "subdivision") and we go and wait to see who shows up.

We've done face-painting for the little ones and frisbee/soccer for the older ones, and all of it is to invite the people we meet to one of two things: First, the "drop-in" center at Youth for Christ which is the town square (which, incidentally, is on a street that has tremendous historical & political consequence--historically, during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, it has become the most bombed street in the world, and politically, it serves as almost a dividing line between the Protestants and Catholics). Secondly, we invite them to a much bigger deal that will take place on Saturday with a bunch of bouncy houses for the kids and a climbing wall for the teens.

This morning highlighted the reality here. Several kids showed up to play soccer and the game went well, adding more players once they saw a real game on. They were in a proudly Protestant community and we told them they were welcome to come to the drop-in center this afternoon from 2-4 and play table tennis or shoot pool or play Wii. They asked where it was. We told them on the square above retail store they all know.

"We won't be allowed." The message was clear: You can't come that close to the line of historical and political significance.

Nonetheless, it was a good morning of ministry, and they might come to the Saturday fun day. The game ended in a 7-7 tie as the international team played against Milltown residents.

Last night, several of us left the senior high "drop-in" time (which is after dinner, and the middle schoolers all "drop-in" in the early afternoon) to attend a prayer meeting at the church with the Methodist church that invited us. I have to admit that I wasn't really looking forward to it because it was a decidedly older church community that has a few theological differences...

...but it turned out to be one of the high points of my trip to date.

It was a privilege to pray with people that had a true heart for the Lord...which was evident in their eloquent words. They weren't repetitive phrases they learned by hanging out with other Christians. They were only the kinds of words that people who have studied Scripture for decades and prayed consistently for decades and lived in community with people who took prayer seriously. It was a 45-minute time with other saints who have loved the Lord for a very long time. It was 45-minutes I won't soon forget.

So, the ministry is going well, and our team here is hearing good reports from all the other teams. I'm really trying to stay in the "now" because I can't wait to get all our CBC kids back together in one room to hear how God worked in and through them. Thus far, it's been a great mission trip!

I'll try to be better about blogging, but keep checking the Facebook page for photos. Just don't have time to put them all here. I know it's inconvenient to go back and forth between the two, but I appreciate your taking the time to do that.

2011-07-17T08:31:00.002-05:00

Team Ireland Expansion Pack, Entry 4

We broke into our various teams yesterday...9 teams total, and the best I can tell you is that we're all doing the work of our various ministries in our various locations in the Republic of Ireland as well as in North Ireland. You can scroll way past my anniversary update of yesterday to get the breakdown, but basically, you're looking at about 125 workers on 9 teams.

The common thread each team is supposed to accomplish together involves a prayer ministry, a service aspect, a children's ministry and a youth ministry. Our team in Dungannon arrived yesterday morning, got settled and began work on our service project.

We were serving Youth for Christ's Dungannon office specifically. They recently acquired a new "drop-in" center in the town square and needed help moving their stuff from their storage facility. Now, in the U.S. there are trucks and plenty of room on the streets and the whole deal. However, here, not so much...we had one small car, 10 people, and about a 2-block walk. We managed to get everything over in about 2 hours.

A second project in the office involves making their prayer room an actual prayer room (instead of extra storage). Three team members are part of that.

We then spent some time in the afternoon planning our team's children's ministry. Basically, we're hoping to go into local "estates" (in the U.S., they're usually referred to as "projects.") and put on a VBS-type carnival with games, snacks, skits and a message. We had a fun putting some ideas into our "super-hero" theme.

We ate dinner...which evolved into everyone on the team sharing their testimonies. I was blown away at the work of God in the folks I'm working with on this trip. What was extra cool was that I got to hear parts of the CBC team's story that I didn't know about already. We were there almost two hours and it was certainly a great way to kick off a week of ministry with these folks (just so you know, our team has 4 from Dallas, 4 from Calgary and 4 North Irish members).

Then our first ministry event was last night...they call it Safe Haven. It's a ministry to the folks who have been out drinking on the weekends. See, the YFC office is right on the town square and within walking distance of many of the pubs. YFC works in tandem with the city to help keep some sort of limits once the pubs stop letting people in at midnight. Eventually, they all come out of the bars at 1AM or so and eat or head home or whatever and YFC takes advantage to show love to these people. How? By giving them hot tea if they're waiting outside a restaurant for food, or by giving girls who are having trouble walking in their high heels a pair of flip flops, or getting taxis, and they even have a little first-aid kit in the backpack full of goods for any cuts/scrapes. On colder nights, they might even open their "drop in" center for snacks and such. It is a pretty cool little ministry and I got to take one of the rounds. Nothing eventful on my watch, but other team members had some chances for real ministry (and a few laughs, to be sure).

Then this morning we all attended the Methodist church in Dungallon. It was a strange juxtaposition of the old building (complete with church bells ringing out 15 minutes before service) with LCD projectors inside and the computer-driven sound equipment with the old-time replaceable hymnal numbers in a wooden sign. Gotta admit it was hard to sit through an old-time service on about 4 hours sleep.

Tonight we'll be leading the evening service at the church. Grayson will lead worship and our team will be presenting testimonies & readings and such.

One small side note: We may not be as frequently updating as our Internet is about 3 blocks away from where we're staying.

Anyway, thanks for keeping up with what we're doing!

2011-07-16T00:01:00.007-05:00

23 for the 23rd

23 years, man.

8,401 days, man. (Gotta count 6 leap years, don't forget)

201,624 hours, man.

12,097,440 minutes, man.

725,846,400 seconds, man.

That's how long I've been married to my lovely wife, Tracy. And, yes, this is yet another anniversary we've spent apart...occupational hazard of sorts. When you work with high school students for a church, well, you wind up working a lot of summertime hours. As best I can figure, it's the 17th one we've spent apart. The third one in which there's been an ocean between the two of us.

But, don't worry about us, kids. We're like everyone else in life when it comes to stuff like this. Plenty of folks work jobs that require travel or other kinds of time away. We'll find time to celebrate when I get back!

So, in honor of our 23rd anniversary, I thought I'd find 23 quotes from pop culture that, in some weird way say something about us and our strange life together. In no particular order, here are some snippets from pop culture and some commentary about us/life and why I picked it to describe something I appreciate about my wife. Here goes:

1) "I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not."--Kurt Cobain, singer/songwriter for Nirvana

Tracy has put up with my poor fashion sense which, on most days, resembles Kurt's clothes. My Doc Martens or flip-flops, the jeans, the t-shirt and button-down over it. As I've said many times that you can dress me up but you can't make me care about fashion. And she just rolls her eyes and moves on. She never picks on the minors, man. She accepts me for who I am more than most women I know ever would. She lets me be myself, which, for those of you that know me, is quite an act of grace.

2) "Ed McDonnough: I'm not gonna live this way, Hi! It just ain't family life!
H.I. McDonnough: Well... it ain't "Ozzie and Harriet." (from the movie Raising Arizona)

Tracy has accepted the role of minister's wife and all the idiosyncrasies that come along with it. Her home has been invaded, her dinners interrupted, her husband's emotions given to others at her expense, her life more public than she'd like, given up more creature comforts, done without more, and put up with more than most women ever do or will have to. And she's done it with an understanding smile, or a timely hug, or closed mouth far beyond what we ever thought or planned.

3) (all the following are from famed photographer Annie Leibovitz)

"You don't have to sort of enhance reality. There is nothing stranger than truth."
"A very subtle difference can make the picture or not."
"A thing that you see in my pictures is that I was not afraid to fall in love with these people."

Others have said it so often that I don't really have to, but the facts of the matter are I'm married to an incredibly gifted and talented photographer. I had no idea when we were in college that this would be something that she'd discover almost a decade later...but discover it she did, man. And she's so lassaiz-faire about her talent, too. She gets more out of the same opportunities that others can't. Sure, some people think they're good photographers and tell others all about how good they are a lot and act like they know a lot...but Tracy just quietly takes amazing photos. A blind guy with one eye can see it. I'm so proud of her and her work...not to mention how cool it is to be inspired by her.

4) (The Old 97's, from their song "I'm A Trainwreck")

"I’m a train wreck, And so are you.
And if you don’t know where your going do you mind if I come too?...
I’ll say I love you what the heck
I’m a train wreck."

I constantly feel like I'm getting the better end of this marriage deal. I guess I always feel the ways in which she's a train wreck are endearing. The ways I'm a train wreck seem so alienating to others, I guess. I love her. What the heck? I mean, what have I got to lose? She, on the other hand, is amazing.

5) "Now, here in the desert, Auburn's journey is complete. Fifty-three years of waiting, of hoping, of dreaming, of coming so close, it's all over. The Auburn Tigers are on top of the college football world. And the view from here is sheer perfection." (Auburn University radio announcer Rod Bramblett's radio call of January 10, 2011)

She puts up with my undying AUbsession with our college football team. She, on the other hand, keeps it all in a proper perspective. I, on the other hand, live and die with them. But I can tell you this: When that field goal went through the uprights and AU won it all, I'm glad her hug and kiss let me know that SHE knew exactly how much it meant to me. She was happy, sure. She likes them, too. But she knew that for me, I could now die happier with this little item crossed off my bucket list.

6) "One ball, two strikes, two outs. Six to one the Rangers lead in the top of the 9th. Feliz the high-set. Here comes the pitch. Breaking ball...STRIKE THREE CALL! THE RANGERS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!" (Texas Rangers radio announcer Eric Nadel's radio call on October 22, 2010)

She also tolerates my love of the Great Game. She also knows that one of the absolute best times I've ever had thus far in life was sitting next to her at the first ever World Series game in Arlington. I was so happy to be with the girl of my dreams at the game of my dreams. And we won that night, too. Another bucket list thing and I got to see this one in person with her. Very cool.

7) (George Harrison, from his song "Got My Mind Set On You")

"It's gonna take time
A whole lot of precious time
It's gonna take patience and time, ummm
To do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it,
To do it right child
I got my mind set on you
I got my mind set on you"

Can you believe that I proposed and MTV was on in the background and this song was playing? This woman has learned that if romance is about flowers and creative dates and poems and big plans, well I don't know a thing about romance. But if love is about devotion and faithfulness and all those things, well, I'm all in. She does without a lot of the romantic stuff because she knows every time I try it somehow goes awry.

8) (from Disney's movie Aladdin)

"One jump ahead of the lawman.
One jump, and that's no joke.
These guys don't appreciate I'm broke."

The reality is that she's an incredible mother. And when we were super-poor instead of Flower Mound poor, the hours we spent just playing with our kids were some of the best times of our lives. Kid1 playing with her guys and singing these words in such a way that they were unintelligible to any outsider but perfectly understood by us reminds me of those times when I first saw her be who God created her to be. Manalive was that beautiful.

9) (Pearl Jam, in their song "Go")

"Oh, please don't go out on me,
don't go on me now
Never acted up before, don't go on me now
I swear I never took it for granted, just thought of it now
Suppose I abused you, just passing it on
Go."

She put up with all sorts of my goofy parenting, understanding that was one way she could be a great parent. For some reason, when Kid2 would point at the stereo and want to dance around with Dad to Pearl Jam and I'd crank it up and we'd thrash around, well, she just laughed and joined in after the obligatory eye-rolls. We still have that CD Kid2 loved to hear so much and laugh about those times when the song comes on satellite radio.

10) "The most difficult lie I ever contended with is this: Life is a story about me." (Donald Miller, in his book Blue Like Jazz)
I'd heard that marriage would give you character. I've come to believe that statement is nonsense on stilts. The reality is that marriage exposes the character that is already existent in you. She's allowed me to grow and change at my own rate, and her patience with this selfish oaf of a husband is incredible when you think about it.

11) "Ladies and gentlemen, the City of Orlando and the Executive Committee of the Citrus Bowl proudly present, for your halftime entertainment, Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers!" (Public address announcer for the 1987 Citrus Bowl game between Auburn and the University of Southern California)

The day after our first kiss at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando we were at the coldest New Year's Day bowl game ever in Orlando, and the Gatlin's played for half an hour. We were freezing but still had the best time laughing at the Gatlins and the USC band's stupid war chant. It seems like all my best times are with her...and Auburn won that day, 16-7..

12) (From the Song "Birmingham Tonight" as performed by Telluride)

"And I can't help but feel
That everything would be alright
If I could be in Birmingham Tonight."

I love Tracy's get-up-and-go mindset. I'm a homebody. She's always up for a 3-day trip to Paris with Kid1 when she won airline tickets, or staying out late with friends or a late movie or some sense of adventure that I simply don't have. This song is from our college days and a college band she loved (that I wasn't much for, but what else is new?) where she'd say things like, "The floor of the Supper Club is orange and blue, didn't you know that?" When I asked how she knew, she talked about how many times she'd been out with friends and was there so late they turned the lights on so the clean up would go more smoothly. I don't think I've ever been in a club when they turned the lights on. Granted, now that we're older, I'd be surprised if she knew the color of floor tiles, but she's probably heard a few more "last calls" with her friends than most. My wife is a fun girl, man. Still.

13) "I noticed you have braces. I have braces, too...come to Butt-head." (from the Mike Judge movie Beavis & Butt-head Do America)

Yep. She puts up with my love of incredibly juvenile movies. And even supports it with thoughtful gifts on Father's Day. Sure, other dads get ties and soap-on-a-rope, but I get complete box sets of Beavis and Butt-head DVD's. Not even kidding.

14) "Oh yeah this is happening. Oh, and by the way, it's your day on dishes." (Jack Fuller from the movie What Happens in Vegas)

She puts up with my ability to obsess over all sorts of strange things...like the time a silly romantic comedy starring Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz was on HBO every hour for like a month. For some reason, the more I watched that movie, the funnier it got, and the more I thought it was funny, the more she laughed at me. She constantly reminds me not to take myself too seriously, because, let's be honest: In my job, sometimes you can believe your own PR and she's been just the girl to keep my balanced with a proper perspective of who I am, what I do and Who I serve. I'm glad she reminds me of those things, because without that accountability I be dead in the water.

15) (From the University of Texas fight song)

"The Eyes of Texas are upon you,
All the livelong day.
The Eyes of Texas are upon you,
You cannot get away.
Texas Fight, Texas Fight"

Watching my wife grow into the role of parenting our kids who are growing up is cool to watch. Kid1 went off to college and she was incredibly thoughtful and encouraging with stuff like care packages of holiday goodies and making sure our first-born still felt that family connection even though she was growing up and truly becoming independent. I'm amazed at how good a mom she is, equally as good at letting them go as she was when they required full-time attention. A rare balance.

16) "You make mistakes, but I don't have any regrets. I'm the kind of person who takes responsibility for it and deals with it. I learn from everything I do. I work very hard, I have so many things going on in my life. Get to know me and see who I am."--Kim Kardashian

Watching Tracy be able to pick out the subtle differences in our kids is beautiful, too. We've been blessed with two kids with very different personalities/interests/talents/passions, etc., and Tracy's been able to navigate those and adapt her parenting style to the needs of each kid. If Kid2 would rather read Kardashian than Hemingway, so be it. She's taught me to be flexible and roll with the punches of parenting, but moreso how to truly appreciate and love those differences and to be students of both. And I do...because Tracy teaches me that stuff.

17) "Having a child is surely the most beautifully irrational act that two people in love can commit."--Bill Cosby

Again, parenting exposes your character, and watching her parent with such grace and patience has been encouraging to me. The days of parenting are indeed long, and the years of parenting are indeed short. As we come to the end of the day-in and day-out oversight of children, she continues to teach me how to let go and still be there at the same time. A delicate balance she has the natural feel for that I don't.

18) (from the song Private Idaho by the B-52's)

"Get out of that state,
get out of that state you're in.
You better beware.
You're living in your own Private Idaho.
You're living in your own Private Idaho.
Keep off the patio..."

One of the best vacations we ever took was to a lake house in Idaho and what it made it so great was that we were together with people we love and just spent time together. It can be in Idaho, a beach in Alabama, or at our church's family camp in Colorado, or Disney World or just in our den renting a movie and buying pizza, but I just like being with her. She makes me happy wherever she happens to be.

19) "I'll tell you where. Someplace warm. A place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I'm talking about a little place called Aspen."--Lloyd Christmas, in the movie Dumb & Dumber.

Again, with the stupid movies (it's right there in the title, right?). But in this case we named our dog after Jim Carrey's character in the movie...and the fact that we have a dog is testament to her willing to be flexible. I detest & loathe cats and she grew up with cats. Yet, when we got married, she let me get a dog (even though allegedly it was for HER birthday) a big old mixed black lab that shed big time but raised our kids after being our first kid. Then we get Lloyd, the Shih-Tzu that has his own Facebook page. But Tracy was a cat person, but chose to be a dog person because she knows how much I'm NOT a cat person. She's a giver. As much as I joke that I'm a giver, she's REALLY a giver.

20) (from the song Outsider by the Ramones)

"I am an outsider
Outside of everything
I am an outsider
Outside of everything
I am an outsider
Outside of everything
Everything you know
Everything you know
It disturbs me so"

Tracy has to deal with a husband who really feels like an outsider in any arena he finds himself in...doesn't matter, really. At dinner parties. In church circles. At the parent's nights or PTA meetings. At the little league softball games. At the ballet studio. I'm outside of everything you know. And everything you know, well, disturbs me so. See why the Ramones were my band of choice as a teen? But it's hard on a wife to be married to someone who lives this way most of the time. She loves me anyway, even if she doesn't understand my feelings...which I appreciate more than I tell her.

21) "And lord, we're especially thankful for nuclear power, the cleanest safest energy source there is. Except for solar, which is just a pipe dream. Anyway, we'd like to thank you for the occasional moments of peace and love our family's experienced. Well, not today, you saw what happened! Oh lord, be honest! Are we the most pathetic family in the universe or what?"--Homer Simpson, praying on the Thanksgiving episode in Season 2.

Tracy has had to change her view of what spiritual leadership in the home actually is. Or at least how it plays out. I feel confident that she had a different view of it before we were married, and she allowed God to work in me rather than trying to change me. Now, don't get me wrong, she was just as much against the lavender-colored devotional over a cup of coffee view of the way married couples do the spiritual life together, but even as flexible as she is, I'm not sure that long hair and tattoos and finding spiritual lessons in the Simpson's was in her original way of thinking. But she's given me the grace to do it the way I have to do it before God, that's for sure.

22) "There's no exquisite beauty without some strangeness in the proportion." (Author Edgar Allen Poe, quoting Francis Bacon in the short story Ligeia.)

I won't get all sappy here. But my wife is exquisitely beautiful, and the strangeness that makes it so are things I truly love about her. But exquisitely beautiful does her justice. So, I'll leave it at that. Not many women could take my breath away in flannel pants and a t-shirt while carrying a laundry basket through my living room, but she still can. She's getting more beautiful to me each year. No joke. And I'm not just saying that to be nice.

23) "And in the end, I realized that I took more than I gave, I was trusted more than I trusted, and I was loved more than I loved." (Jefferson Edward Briggs--a.k.a. "Jake"--in the movie She's Having A Baby)

If there's a statement more true that describes where I fit in our marriage from a John Hughes movie or anywhere else, I haven't seen or heard it.

So, Tracy...

...thank you for the 725,846,400 seconds, man.

...thank you for the 12,097,440 minutes, man.

...thank you for the 201,624 hours, man.

...thank you for the 8,395 days, man.

(and thank you for the extra six leap year days. I didn't forget)

...thank you for 23 great years.

I love you very much.

And I'll see you on the 26th.

Happy Anniversary!

2011-07-15T17:16:00.002-05:00

Team Ireland Expansion Pack, Entry 3

I love my job.

One more time, for emphasis: I...

...LOVE...

...my job.

Okay, sure. Today started off with a child protection seminar. It was all good & necessary information. But, no matter how you slice it, a seminar is a seminar.

Then we broke for coffee and some more cage soccer (see Facebook) in which Charlie led Team USA to a victory against Italy, 3-2. The soccer world may never be the same.

Followed by a few hours roaming around Belfast...in which most of you reading this will likely be getting some souvenirs from so I won't spoil the surprise. What I will tell you is that one of you WILL NOT be getting a Guinness Beer glass, which was dropped on the bus apparently. My guess is you'll be getting something else. Shame. It was a REALLY good glass, too.

Then we went to our 2nd dinner at The Seasons restaurant. Again, the owner and his wife closed their restaurant to the public and fed the entire Project 32 team...tonight it was a choice of lasagna or Chicken Tikki, but you didn't have to go either/or on the deal. You could go both/and, and followed it up with a parfait. Last night it was Pavlova. Google that and make the recipe. You won't regret that.

Afterward the team went to a very special event at City Church Belfast where we were commissioned. The worship was honest, and prayers were offered for the leaders/teams/cities we're going to. Parents and friends of all the local people who are involved in Project 32 were there to support the mission. I even got to greet the congregation on behalf of Crossroads--it was a pleasure to represent a congregation that wants us to be here.

And, yes, that is one of the parts I love.

But here we are.

Some 9 months after this idea came about to send a team of students on an 8.5 hour plane ride to tell people about Jesus in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland...

...money has been raised.
...team member applications have been screened and members chosen.
...prayers have transpired on both sides of the ocean.
...and the team arrived and has been trained.
...and the team has now been commissioned.

Vanessa, Cheri & Nicole are off to Nenagh Baptist Church in Tipperary, Republic of Ireland.

Charlie, Macy and Kathleen are off to Gorey Methodist Church in Wexford.

Parker & Lauren are off to Enniskillen YFC.

Ryan & Elli are off to serve the churches in Garvagh in County Londonderry (truth be told, this is going to be one in a city I'd really love to spend a week in in North Ireland).

Me, Sue, Justin & Grayson are off to Dungannon YFC.

Each team has different ministries involving everything from children's vacation Bible schools to nursing homes to teen clubs to serving churches and prayer ministries.

(as an aside, now that all the team members are scattered for the next 8 days, they're on their own for Facebook updates and such...so tune in. I'll have access to the Internet for my team, but not all will, and so all my entries will be from my own perspective. So make sure to check their pages and such--they were told to update as often as possible!)

Yes.

I feel confident that God will be at work through the teams as they work with international teams from France, Italy, Canada, Ireland & Northern Ireland. And yes, that's another of the reasons I love my job.

But I just had a conversation with one of our teens.

She told me she felt like God has erased the whiteboard of plans she had drawn up for her life.

She told me that she felt like, for the first time, she was going to hand God the marker and let him draw what He wants on it.

She told me that it might look like the one she drew up. It might not. But she was sure she wanted Him to do the writing, and she wasn't going to put a lot of pressure on herself to figure it all out right now.

She told me that she was going to enjoy simply knowing that God was up to something in her life and that she has time to see what that looks like...but she didn't want to miss what He has for her today.

What she didn't know is that she was reminding me of why--

--exactly--

--that I truly love my job.

It's what He does IN my kids, moreso that through them, that reminds me He's at work and all I have to do is water and plant.

He'll grow them.

And manalive is it beautifully terrifying to watch.

2011-07-15T01:45:00.002-05:00

Team Ireland Expansion Pack, Entry 2

As I'm sure most of you gleaned, the tone of this trip has changed a wee bit. (Everyone has started interjecting wee into conversation, and I'm telling all of you to be prepared for phrases such as "Shut your bake" when we get back) The Irish students joined us yesterday for training sessions all day.

We learned about the importance of culture and how it shapes worldviews. We got a short lesson in Irish culture, including politics, religion, history, traditions, etc.

And we learned how to engage the culture (anyone back home paying attention?) to get to a point of conversation with young people to eventually get to an age-appropriate way to get them thinking about 3 questions:

1) Does God exist?
2) Does Jesus love me?
3) Is Jesus' offer of an abundant life "work" better than my life now?

We've also been hearing a lot about how to tell our "story" (again, anyone back home paying attention?) and more importantly, how to listen to *their* stories.

We enjoyed a dinner as guests of a local restauranteur who is highly involved in supporting Youth for Christ here in Northern Ireland. Apparently, they'll be serving us dinner again tonight as well.

The evening closed with a discussion of the way St. Patrick, and all of Ireland, took the Gospel to the world: A practical walk with Christ that engaged the whole of life...starting with an authentic walk with Christ in yourself and then loving others.

Now, if you have about 10 minutes, check out this video of the story of St. Patrick brought to you by our friends at Veggie Tales. It's surprisingly historical and a great way to learn a bit about his influence. They showed it at our meeting.

Anyway, the night closed with worship and prayer...suffice to say it was an incredibly meaningful time. Trying to describe it wouldn't do it justice, but based on discussions with our teens, adults and other Project 32 team members afterward, God is really provoking our minds and hearts about this whole mission.

He is certainly working in us.

And we're looking forward to seeing how he works through us...

(Again, don't get too used to all this Internet access. We simply don't know about availability once we leave for our individual cities on Saturday morning)

2011-07-14T01:26:00.002-05:00

Team Ireland Expansion Pack, Entry 1

So, Facebook and Twitter are helping keep everyone in touch with family and friends at a pretty good clip, but there are a few things here and there that I can expound on beyond a status update or a photo or that 140 characters just won't cover.

However, don't get too accustomed to this. It looks like our access to Internet and such is intermittent...so it's possible even the FB/Twitter stuff will slow down as well.

At any rate, the travel over was uneventful, really. We did have a delay of half an hour (or "ur" as our new friends pronounce it)...and a bit of an "uh-oh" moment when the flight before us on the same airline to Chicago was cancelled due to weather, but other than that not much. Wasn't too bumpy, one of the in-flight movies was "The Adjustment Bureau" and everyone grabbed a couple of hours sleep.

The crossing into Dublin went smoothly, too. Cued up, waited our turn, got our passports stamped, grabbed our luggage and met Ian & Alan who were our bus transportation to Belfast (about 1.5 hours, "urs"). We grabbed some coffee and waited on the team from Minnesota (Crown College) to arrive.

One thing our students noticed: The "pace" of the different airports. In Dallas, everybody's moving quickly and seems in a hurry to get where they're going. You can pick up that vibe. In Dublin, everybody's having a leisurely stroll and seems to be enjoying the moment. Charlie and I wondered if maybe we'd been born on the wrong continent when it comes to that mindset. Believe me, we'd both prefer to mosey.

Once in Belfast, we spent a little bit of time getting into our dorm rooms, key distribution and a little bit of unpacking. In order to keep our teens awake we had planned on a long walk to explore a bit...and we were in LUCK. See, we'd arrived on July 12 here in Ireland. It's a celebration of a Protestant victory over a Catholic king in 1688 complete with parades and such.

The difference in our July 4 celebration is that these celebrations tie in political and religious overtones...and we walked down a parade route from a parade that ended recently and you could feel the tension. You can feel the passion both sides feel for their causes in the air, too. One side commemorating, one side seething. Add alcohol to the mix on both sides and see what you get.

But, in the morning parade there didn't seem to be any violence, so we took a walking tour of our little area. We saw the Belfast City Hall(which is incredible), a view of one of the remains of the previous night's bonfire (click the link for July 12 to see what that's all about) as well as got a view from the top of the mall observation deck. You could see the shipyard where they built the Titanic, tall church spires, and grassy knolls.

We also got a tale of love from the security guard who agreed to take a photo of some of us together...he'd asked where we were from and when he found out we were Christians, he said, "I'd like to tell you a Christian story. Now, I'm not a Christian, but..."

Uh-oh.

I didn't know if we were being set up for a joke, or if he was going to belittle us or what, but it turned out to be a snippet from his toast at his daughter's wedding and a touching story. Anyway, the gist of it is that his daughter had a part-time job as an elf for Christmas and one of her co-workers noticed she was tired and offered her a Twix candy bar and nice conversation while in the break room. His daughter was 17 at the time. Four years later, this girl had gone to a youth conference while in university and become a Christian. When she moved back home, she told the family she was looking for a church and after several months she settled on one a mile from their house. At that very church she'd discovered the guy that offered her a Twix bar years earlier was also a Christian and they fell in love and eventually got married. The guard delivered it with the local accent and much more flair...but all I could think about what how God might use that very story in his own life to reveal Himself. We all applauded and he took our picture. It was a great spontaneous moment.

We walked the 3.5 miles BACK to the dorms and were walking through the crowd assembling for the next parade. This is a big-time holiday, folks. Kids were banging on toy drums & blowing whistles & parents were festive and drinking and the tone of walk back seemed much more celebratory. Turns out that while we were blissfully back in our dorm sleeping, well, in the words of our hosts, "We had an interesting night last night." Passions certainly run high. I'm actually glad our teens got this little history lesson from a safe distance. I'm glad I got to be here to walk through it, and truth be told, I would've liked to been a little closer to the action of that night to see that side of it.

One of the interesting things about the people I've met and gotten to know a little bit about are where they are with regard to their views on church and how it's done in the U.S. and all that. Suffice to say that all I've been reading lately (namely the books I've blogged about here and a few others) about where the church is headed and what we need to be doing, well, these guys are in that same ideological place. They've read the same books. I mean, we're all the same age, we're reading books that describe what we're seeing, and we're coming to many of the same conclusions. Very interesting to see what God is teaching me in a bigger picture sense being confirmed by pastors from Calgary and Minnesota.

Yesterday was a sightseeing day along the beautiful coastline of Northern Ireland. It seemed like every view was camera worthy. We went to a pretty little coastal town (I'll try to get the name of it and edit this later), followed by a trip to a rope bridge with views of the sea and cliffs, then to the Giant's Causeway (we could see Scotland in the distance because of the sunny day) and finished with a beach rest at Portrush. The kids have walked a total of 12 miles in the last two days...

...but my guess is most of that will come to a halt as we begin training for ministry in about an hour (ur) and it's going to last for two days...so I'm not sure how well we'll be able to access Internet much, but I'll try to fill you in as time permits.

I'll close with a fun fact: We discovered that you can fit 8.5 Irelands into 1 Texas.

Kind of a scoreboard...but when you compare aesthetics, well, they win hands-down.

2011-07-09T08:17:00.002-05:00

Thoughts on "The Tangible Kingdom" by Hugh Halter & Matt Smay

Okay.

I know.

A great deal of my "professional" reading has been in the realm of all the ways the current Western Church's methods are coming up short when it comes to making disciples or even leading people to a relationship with Christ. I'll leave it up to you to determine whether or not this is because--

--as someone who has intimate knowledge of the absolute highest levels of evangelicalism's inner workings (professional experience seminary, parachurch & churches for the last quarter century as well as growing up in it)--

I see the fault-lines very few others get to see. See, I'm a deep deep deep insider.

Or rather because the "system" truly hasn't been accomplishing what a church is supposed to accomplish and American publishing is catching up with it (and please know that I'm aware of what the Church is doing in China, Africa and other "closed" nations, but the American/Western church is what I know/experience, so know that my comments are limited to that arena).

Or maybe it's somewhere between or in orbit around that dichotomy. Again, I'll leave it up to you. But whatever the reason, I'm reading a lot about our shortcomings...and there's A LOT of current publishing out there about them. Feel free to draw your own conclusions.

At any rate, here's a few insights from Halter & Smay to get your mind vitamins for today. And, as always, feel free to jump in with your contributions to the discussions.

As is common in these types of books, the authors point out their views on what's gone wrong in our churches. Here's a few snippets:

"Individualism is a deep-seated WestMod [their term for the post-modern church in the West] bias that fights against commitment to anything that doesn't directly serve our individual interests. Most specifically, this relates to our interaction with people. Although we may want a deeper sense of community, we're not going to make the changes in our lives so that we can commit to it." (page 150)

Conviction, anyone? Er. Let's move on before we think too much about that, shall we?

"Church can be a huge consumer trap. We provide large comfortable worship centers, encourage pastoral staff to give us everything we need spirtually, and, at the end of the day, we don't have any money or time left to extend blessing and resources toward mission." (pg. 152)

But once you get past the "programming" issues they talk a bit about how those folks that aren't followers of Christ view us as a Tribe:

"Christianity is now almost impossible to explain, not because the concepts aren't intelligible, but because the living, moving, speaking examples of our faith don't line up with the message. Our poor posture overshadows the most beautiful story and reality the world has ever known." (pg. 41)"

Let's move on again, shall we? Of course, this is nothing new. Francis Schaeffer was writing about the same things in the early 1970's, but my experience is that now the cultural view of the church has shifted significantly from what it was 40 years ago.

The authors expound on a thought by Alan Hirsch (the author I spent a few days talking about his book in earlier entries) about this shift, which he calls "cultural distance":

"It can be applied to missions and church in the sense that certain people and groups are really close to the Gospel and others are very far away. That is, some share much of what evangelicals hold dear, so all you need to do is provide a church in the middle of a suburb that provides safe child care, school tutoring, ice cream socials, divorce and alcohol recovery, and basic moral training, and you'll probably see some growth in the church...
...It all depends on who you are called to reach. If your calling is to influence those with the most similarly held values, then you can keep providing the same thing. But if you want to influence the massively growing percentage of people who are much further from the Gospel, you'll have to provide, model and invite people into an inclusive community that welcomes people with alternative values." (pg. 72)

See, those people think like this:

"People in America are not ignorant of Christianity. They've heard the message, seen our churches on every corner, they flick by our Christian TV shows, they see our fish symbols on the backs of our cars. They've seen so much of pop Christian culture that they have a programmed response to us: ignore, ignore, ignore." (pg. 125)

So, what's the solution of the authors? Basically that a church needs to unique in contrast to what's already out there, as they train their folks to answer these questions as they plant a church:

"What's going to be the unique thumbprint of God on your congregation? What is different about your calling than what God may call other churches to?" (pg. 173)

They also ask this question earlier in the book to set the tone for later:

"If Christianity was only about finding a group of people to live life with, who shared openly their search for God and allowed anyone, regardless of their behavior, to seek too, and who collectively lived by faith to make the world a little more like Heaven, would you be interested?" (pg. 10)

Great question, don't you think?

And, of course this will require leadership to lead, which may cause a few ripples in the church:

"...you may understand that you can't keep everyone together when you move forward to the ancient incarnational way. Some people will be like Milo [a guy from an earlier illustration in which he didn't like the changes his church was making]. They don't want to go and make it very clear. Let them 'not go.' Some will be like Mitten [a contrast Milo from the same illustration], who seem to want to go but really don't. They are the ones who pay your bills if you're a pastor, give you nice strokes after your sermon, who generally make life peaceful for you as long as you make it peaceful for them..."(pg. 27)

Then the authors talk about how once the people you're trying to reach will upset your church's apple cart and leaders have a choice to make:

"Wise leadership requires that you steward everyone well; pastor everyone well; be honest with where you want to go and try to express what your journey will be like, what they won't get to take if they go, and what will cost them if they do. Then let people decide for themselves." (pg. 27)

So what this comes down to is that the church needs to make some changes...
...people won't want to make those changes...
...and leadership needs to clearly communicate why and what and how and all that...

And do so in a way that's okay if the folks leave for more traditional confines. In fact, the one thing I appreciated about this book in contrast to the last one I wrote about extensively is that these guys said it was "okay" for there to be different degrees of this sense of "mission." That some older folks could lovingly be uncomfortable yet be supportive and the younger folks could lean on them and serve them to go forward and much more supportive pace and all that jazz. This book wasn't as much of a "blow it up and let the chips fall where they may" approach but was much more understanding of the reality of implementation and doing so in a loving way.

I must be mellowing in my old age if I lean towards this approach, right?

But anyway, that's enough mind vitamin.

Grab your cup o' joe & discuss. This should be a good one, right?!

2011-07-09T07:02:00.001-05:00

So, Today I'm Thinking...

...that I saw where Social Distortion and Foo Fighters are playing in Atlanta in November. That might be worth an 839 mile drive, man.
...most of us don't know that we lose $400 per year in the electricity it takes to run a DVR because they suck so much power even when the TV's off. The awful thing is that set-top boxes that go to sleep cost the same and would save us $220 per year or so, but the cable companies (which admittedly could get them for the same price since everyone in Europe uses them) don't use them because Americans won't wait the 45 seconds it takes them to "wake up." Sometimes, we get what we deserve, man.
...that I got a Kindle and can now read on the elliptical machine. This is NOT a good thing as I read one book in 4 days in time I usually killed watching DVD's or listening to the radio or sermon podcasts. Much like the iPhone, I could afford the initial investment, but it's the after-purchase use that could kill me financially (and yes, I'm getting some of the free classics available, but even one of those per month and I'll be back buying them in a year and a half).
...that I don't get when any minister says things slow down in the summer. No youth minister gets that, because after graduation, leading a mission trip where 81 of us camped out in the desert with 4 days of driving and a two-week stint leading a trip to Ireland (it ain't the vacation you think it is when you're the group leader) and a week of staycation after that to keep my head together, well, it'll be time for our Fall ministries to kick off.
...that sometimes the Christian community can really be brutal toward those faithful pastors that lead them. I'm seeing that in several situations with colleagues in ministry lately, and it does two things: 1) stun me because I can't believe people would treat their pastors that way, and 2) well, reminds me that even though I may get under the skin of folks at my church a great deal they haven't come close to pulling stunts like I'm hearing about. Sometimes, we get what we don't deserve, man.
...a new life-station: Just had a beer with my daughter's boyfriend over dinner. I can't believe she's old enough to date someone "legal."
...that I got invited to a Google+ testing thing and even after filling out a profile and all, well, I think I've got plenty of social networking going on in my life and I'm not exactly sure how this is an improvement at all.
...I don't get the sadness about the ending of the shuttle flights by NASA. In fact, I'd much rather get our scientists full-throttle on the business of getting wind/solar/any other power and alternative fuels and going. I mean, if we've got money, I'm not too into space right now. I'd rather spend our money, time & energy on things that will work practically here and now right now. We can deal with space later. I mean, if we're talking about manned flights to Mars or an asteroid, we've done all we need to do up there for a while, right? Discuss.
...that I can honestly say I didn't watch one minute of the trial of Casey Anthony. However, a quote from Boston Globe columnist Joanna Weiss sums up my feelings on the matter: "But too many cable-news talk shows are set up with hosts who channel indignation and guests cast as dueling voices. You don't get the most airtime by offering a measured point of view." She also said that "juries consider evidence, not outrage." So, before you blame the system, folks, maybe you should ask a few pointed questions to the prosecution, right? Discuss.
...that the 10-day forecast for Flower Mound has 10 days all over 100 degrees, never getting below 80. One of my friends described this oppressive heat as the equivalent of winter up north: You stay inside and clean closets and organize stuff. What wears on you isn't the high temp each day, though. It's the low-end that never cools off. Even in the Arizona desert on our mission trip, sure it got to 113--for about two hours every day. Then at night it would get into the low-60's and take 4 or 5 hours after the sun came up to get warm. Not here, man. It just stays hot. Glad I'm going to Belfast for two weeks where the high for the entire time is supposed to be 65, suckers!
...that I've lost 30 pounds since I started my diet. That stuff about counting calories and exercising more really works. Who knew? But 10 more pounds to reach my goal, and I've heard these are the hardest.
...things look bleak for Auburn's football team this year. Graduated too many players who were incredible and while they're talented, they're young and will struggle. My guess in 8-4 or 7-5. Of course, I remember when those numbers were considered successful for my college's football team, but the words "defending National Champions" for the first time in 53 years have changed expectations all around.
...that the Old 97's new CD is incredible. I'm always amazed at bands that have made great music for over 15 years that wallow in relative obscurity while singer-songwriters in Nashville can virtually create money-making stars almost at will. Sometimes we get what we deserve, man.
...I tried to call a lawn-care guy to handle my lawn for July 16 & July 23 while I'm gone and he hasn't returned my call yet. Know anybody that wants a two-week paying gig to handle my yardwork?
...that I've already taken up enough of your valuable time, so I'll get on with my day.

2011-06-16T06:11:00.003-05:00

*what follows is the final entry of the discussion here at the Diner on my reading "The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church," by Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch. Feel free to check out the previous 5 entries--June 7 through June 11--before you dive in to this one. It'll give you some context.

I've said before that I don't buy the myth that "people don't like change." Usually, this phrase is used as an argument as to why a suggested idea should be put on the shelf. The reasoning behind folks saying that is well-intentioned...they just want to make sure that the people affected by suggested changes are thought through and treated with concern. Nothing wrong with that.

But I think people are okay with change...provided two things: First, that the reason for the suggested change is explained satisfactorily. Second, that the suggested change is shown to be somehow more beneficial than the status quo. So, yes, if the change isn't understood or seen as inferior, then sure, people won't like it.

For example: It gets super hot and stays super hot here in Texas. All summer. And this isn't like some places where it gets to 95 during the day but drops to 65 at night. No, it gets to 101 by about 2PM. It'll be 95 at 11PM. It won't get below 85 overnight. It goes like this for weeks...maybe even months.

Now, if you didn't have air-conditioning and were getting by with fans and damp towels on your neck and I tell you that for a one-time payment, and an increase to your monthly electric bill and some small upkeep costs (like filters, yearly maintenance, etc.), it can be 72 degrees in your home all summer.

That's a change.

And sure, you'd have some questions that I'd need to clearly communicate. Like whether or not that one-time payment could be financed to within your budget. Same for the monthly payment. Then you'd have to weigh whether or not the comfort was worth the cost. But as long as your concerns were addressed and feasible, you'd likely be on board with the...

...change. See? It isn't the change their against necessarily. Just practical concerns.

And, Frost and Hirsch are suggesting radical change in the Western Church in this book. They point to decline in denominations (even the vaunted Southern Baptist Convention is experiencing numeric decline) and some other data, but here's the first quote to deal with today:

As we keep saying, what the church needs is deep-seated restructuring in order to make a place for the genuinely missional types of leaders in our churches. There are of course exceptions, but by far the majority of seminaries that we know basically produce pastoral and teacher types of people who are sent to maintain established churches. This is not a time for more maintenance! In the West at least, maintenance is tantamount to decline, and we have effectively been in long-term decline since the Enlightenment...Giving space for those disturbers of the status quo will require massive permission-giving from all levels of established denominations, who currently give little indication that they are really willing to let that happen.

A quick question: Why are they unwilling to "let that happen" if they're in varying degrees of decline?

But I'm okay with change, generally speaking. Maybe it's because of how much change is generated in student ministries. I mean, every single year we get a new group...seniors leave and the new kids come in, and the entire dynamic is different. We have to spend a lot of time being flexible because of flat tires or lost reservations or even drug-cartel violence in your favorite city to do missions in.

And don't even get me started on my personality. I have always admired rabble-rousers (especially punk rock, even if it died due to it's inability to replace what it smashed--which was everything...and grunge. And the American Revolution is one of my favorite historical studies). In fact, my favorite stories of Jesus involve him turning over the tables in the Temple (twice, the first time is my favorite one because he makes a whip out of the curtains)...or the Sermon on the Mount--given the context, it was highly revolutionary, man.

The authors bring up two things that are necessary to get change going: "Encouraging Holy dissatisfaction" and "Embracing subversive questioning."

"One of the great weapons in the revolutionary leader's arsenal is to cultivate a holy dissatisfaction--to provoke a basic discontent with "what is" and so awaken a desire to move toward "what could be."...The real revolutionary, perhaps the only one, is the person who has nothing left to lose. Rub discontent raw and throw salt on it--our times are urgent; Christendom must be brought down and apostolic faith and practice established if we are to be true to our call as followers of the revolutionary Jesus in our day."

Quick questions: Why are these types of people unappreciated in churches? Shouldn't we value their presence? And, in your opinion, are the times truly "urgent" to this degree?

Oh, and anyone else like that difference between "what is" and "what could be?" That's pretty much where I live.

On to the subversive questions:

Another invaluable tool for the reconceptualizing of the ministry and mission of the church is the art of subversive questioning...they force the hearer to a self-awareness and a personal search for answers.

Some of their examples (based on their belief that Christendom's focuses are on buildings, Sundays and clergy) of "subversive questions" would be:

Is a church still a church if it doesn't function like a church anymore?
If we could start all over again, would we do it the same way?
What would our church be like if we:
a) No longer had a building?
b) No longer could meet on Sundays?
c) No longer had your pastor or ministry team?

Good stuff, right? At least you could see why I was drawn to much of this book, right? In fact, I'd encourage you to read it for yourself and have your hair blown back and your thoughts about church challenged...whether or not you agree.

I think I've given you guys enough to think about...so have at it, patrons. And I'll be moving on to a book called The Tangible Kingdom pronto.

2011-06-15T06:55:00.002-05:00

"If A Therapist Is Telling You To Pay LESS Attention To Your Kids' Feelings, You Know Something Has Gotten WAY Out Of Whack."

Great article in The Atlantic Monthly's July/August edition. From the blog title today, you know it's about parenting, and the article's title is "How To Land Your Kid in Therapy."

Yes.

In the last 4 days I've publicly admitted that I subscribe to The New York Times and The Atlantic Monthly. #TrueConfessions.

Anyway, parents, read the article...Seems now that common sense is cutting edge, doesn't it.

...and here are a few quotes to whet the appetite:

"Wendy Mogel says that colleges have had so much trouble getting parents off campus after freshman orientation that school administrators have had to come up with strategies to boot them. At the University of Chicago, she said, they’ve now added a second bagpipe processional at the end of opening ceremonies—the first is to lead the students to another event, the second to usher the parents away from their kids. The University of Vermont has hired “parent bouncers,” whose job is to keep hovering parents at bay. She said that many schools are appointing an unofficial “dean of parents” just to wrangle the grown-ups. Despite the spate of articles in recent years exploring why so many people in their 20s seem reluctant to grow up, the problem may be less that kids are refusing to separate and individuate than that their parents are resisting doing so."

“We want our kids to be happy living the life we envision for them—the banker who’s happy, the surgeon who’s happy,” Barry Schwartz, the Swarthmore social scientist, told me, even though those professions “might not actually make them happy.” At least for parents of a certain demographic (and if you’re reading this article, you’re likely among them), “we’re not so happy if our kids work at Walmart but show up each day with a smile on their faces,” Schwartz says. “They’re happy, but we’re not. Even though we say what we want most for our kids is their happiness, and we’ll do everything we can to help them achieve that, it’s unclear where parental happiness ends and our children’s happiness begins.”

"In early adulthood, this becomes a big problem. “People who feel like they’re unusually special end up alienating those around them,” Twenge says. “They don’t know how to work on teams as well or deal with limits. They get into the workplace and expect to be stimulated all the time, because their worlds were so structured with activities. They don’t like being told by a boss that their work might need improvement, and they feel insecure if they don’t get a constant stream of praise. They grew up in a culture where everyone gets a trophy just for participating, which is ludicrous and makes no sense when you apply it to actual sports games or work performance. Who would watch an NBA game with no winners or losers? Should everyone get paid the same amount, or get promoted, when some people have superior performance? They grew up in a bubble, so they get out into the real world and they start to feel lost and helpless. Kids who always have problems solved for them believe that they don’t know how to solve problems. And they’re right—they don’t.”

"The message we send kids with all the choices we give them is that they are entitled to a perfect life—that, as Dan Kindlon, the psychologist from Harvard, puts it, “if they ever feel a twinge of non-euphoria, there should be another option.” Mogel puts it even more bluntly: what parents are creating with all this choice are anxious and entitled kids whom she describes as “handicapped royalty.”

Well, that should get you going today (and yes, tomorrow I'll finish the discussion of the book we began last week). Have at it, patrons!

2011-06-11T06:30:00.005-05:00

The Medium Is The Message

*what follows is a continuation of the discussion here at the Diner on my reading "The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church," by Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch. Feel free to check out the past four entries before you dive in to this one. It'll give you some context.

I fell in love with the Ramones because of an album cover. This album cover:

Now you have to have some context here, kids. This was the mid-70's and the music that was being put out there was over-the-top with stage shows and theatrics and all the bells and whistles. Think Elton John. Think Kiss. Think anything and everything about disco with lights and smoke and lighted floors. You get the idea, right?

Well, for a kid who didn't "get" any of that (although I have to admit being 13 and seeing a Kiss show is pretty incredible, but you outgrew that pretty quickly), the Ramones spoke volumes.

Put on your normal clothes.
Turn the amps up.
Play the best you can.
Play fast.
Let the music BE the message.

And it was. A simple album cover (unlike Molly Hatchet or Iron Maiden or Electric Light Orchestra). A simple stage show. A sheet with the band logo draped behind the band, stacked Marshall amps, drummer & 2 guitarists and lead singer, and GO!

The music was the message.

And that's the theme of the latest chapter I read as the authors are moving into how the church should look differently heading into the new millennium...which naturally means they have to take a look at where the current church is and how effective we're being...and they do so by looking at four general areas, the sermons we give, the buildings we use, the seminaries the train our leaders in and the leaders we have.

First, On "the sermon":

"As a result of this appetite for hyper-reality, the era of the monologue sermon that can have an impact is coming to an abrupt and sad end...We're not signaling the end of the spoken word ot communicate, but preachers will need to have a long hard look at how they speak if they expect to be heard. Except for the preaching of outstanding communicators, sermons have little or no impact."

Side note: Not a lot of encouragement for a guy giving a sermon tomorrow, eh? Their solution is that sermons should be designed to be more interactive with maybe even throwing some Q&A into them. Stuff like that.

On "the building":

"Christianity was at its most effective and most true to its nature as the poeple of God when it did not own any buildings...(our building designs make) the vast majority of people were passive consumers. The few active people were the ones on the stage presented in a highly professional manner. The church looks like it was designed for the presentation of a show of some sort. The building exuded wealth, success, and professionalism. All the needs of the consumer were catered to. But what does the building say to the average not-yet-Christian about the Gospel?"

Their solution is along the lines of using the building to invite the community and making the atmospheres less-"churchy" and welcoming to people not accustomed to our evangelical culture.

On "the seminary":

"It's worth asking about the ways Jesus developed disciples during his ministry and then considering to what degree the theological academy has mirrored this."

Their solution is to make seminary more hands-on and more life-on-life with professors/leaders, etc.

"...we need to recognize that authentic community can only be founded on changed relations between people; and these changed relations can only follow the inner change and preparation of the people who lead, work, and sacrifice for the community. In other words, it must begin with leadership. We must embody our visions and values in such a way that people can 'see' the vision in and through our existence. It will take sacrifice on the part of the leader. It must, especially if he or she is asking for sacrifice! We simply don't believe that people in the 'crap-detector' generation, savvy people who understand what it means to be constantly targeted by hundreds of thousands of clever sales messages, are going to follow other people who don't live out their messages. If leadership fails to embody the message, no one is going to follow. Leaders, you cannot lead where you will not go; you cannot teach what you do not know."

What do the current church leaders as a medium convey to others about our message? Oh, manalive, could you offer a lot of insight here...

So kids, a lot of things to think about today...

How are we doing when it comes to our "mediums" being our "message?"

What messages are we sending by our...
...sermons?
...buildings?
...seminary training?
and our leaders--who they are and how they lead?

Oh, man. This should be good.

*rubs hands together, pours coffee & waits for patrons to come in and offer their two-cents.

2011-06-10T07:47:00.002-05:00

Hallowing The Ephemeral

*what follows is a continuation of the discussion here at the Diner on my reading "The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church," by Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch. Feel free to check out the past three entries before you dive in to this one. It'll give you some context.

My day yesterday:

I drove to work. Frank Turner's new CD was running through it's 3rd listening and I got two songs in before I got there.

I got some paperwork done.

I had a friend spontaneously stop by my office as she was making copies and we chatted about The Diner's topic o' conversation as of late.

I studied/prepped for my sermon coming up on Sunday.

I checked the tires/gassed up my car for my daughter's weekend trip to Austin for a wedding she's attending. She repaid me by letting me buy her lunch.

I studied/prepped some more.

I had a serious conversation with a student who is in crisis.

I picked up dinner for the fam.

I got all sports-intensive watching both the Rangers and Mavs.

I got a late-night phone call from a former student in crisis...and went to bed much later than planned (note later blog entry time...good thing today's my off day and I could sleep in a bit!).

Nothing particularly special, right?

Well, according to the authors, it should all be viewed as incredibly special...first they quote Martin Buber in his 1958 book I and Thou and then expound on it:

One should, and one must, truly live with all people and things, but one must live with all these in holiness, one must hallow all which one does in one's natural life. No renunciation is commanded. When one eats in holiness, when one tastes the flavor of the food in holiness, then the table becomes an altar. When one works in holiness, he raises up the sparks that hide themselves in all tools. When one walks in holiness across the field then the soft songs of all herbs, which they voice to God, enters into the song of our soul. When one drinks in holiness to each other with one's companions, it is as if one read together in the Torah. When once dances the roundelay in holiness, brightness shines over the gathering. When a husband is united with his wife in holiness, then the Shekinah rests over them."

And now the author's commentary:

"A positive post-Jesus Jewish mysticism holiness is active in the world. It is a missional holiness. It moves to change the world, to sanctify it. This is not an ephemeral thing; it is active in every sphere of life and does not shirk back from the redemption of dark things. Holiness partners with God in the redemption of the world, "True holiness is when God's hallowing of the world and our hallowing of the world meet (quoting Buber again)."

First, a little housekeeping to help out:

"Hallow" means to set something apart for holy use.
"Ephemeral" means lasting a short time.

Okay.

Now the authors have moved into a discussion of what it is we should emulate about Christ that would be attractive to non-believers...and I'm kinda glad they did. Now we can have happier coffee discussions here at The Diner.

So, in effect, they kind of get all Carpe Diem here...but there's something that rings true with me in it. This idea of the proper perspective on life in this world while we're waiting for our King to come back...a "kingdom perspective."

All of a sudden, this fantastic music stirs something in my soul even if I happen to disagree with the singer's point of view (and, sure, there's a lot of it I deeply relate to as well). My life is deeper because of that 10 minutes of music on the drive to work.

The paperwork matters to people I live this life with...because most of it is how we're doing life together.

A drop in at the office and a spontaneous conversation about how we're doing as a church family on doing this life together is both doing life-together and maybe encouraging to each other as we do life together.

My sermon prep involves a lot of talking/listening to God Himself in my little cube-office, and thinking about how God might move in the lives of those that hear it Sunday morning. I'm thinking about people I love and how it might help them love and walk with Christ a little more deeply. I know it's just a sermon...but still. That encounter with God could shape the Kingdom in who knows how many ways, right? My struggles with the text and the editing of what I want to say are indeed "hallow."

Checking the air pressure and saving my little girl a step (and some cash) by putting gas in the tank became "hallow," didn't it? I mean, we got to enjoy some Chipotle outside in nice (well, by Texas standards, nice. Only 85 at the time.) weather and talk about her hopes and dreams and plans and moves of God in her life.

Serious discussions with students and former students are hard, but it's a chance to use my gifts and talents to use hard words, and/or encouraging words, and/or hopeful words and depend on God for those words, even if it's right there in my living room or on the phone with somebody 600 miles away.

Grabbing dinner for my wife (and getting to hear two more Frank Turner songs--I made another copy of the CD since my other one was on the way to Austin) after a hard day at work for her, the opportunity to serve her even if I didn't FEEL like serving...knowing that choice to love/serve honors my King...

The excitement and drama of the sports I was watching made me feel alive, man. My heart was racing and I even appreciated the true art of a Dirk high-arching 3-pointer followed by the "agony of defeat" of the Ranger bullpen...AGAIN. And the home team won, which was exciting, even if I don't have huge emotional investment.

And, finally, after the long phone call, I crawled in bed with the wife asleep, dog at the foot of the bed, and I got to read more of this book with my cool new reading light...and fall asleep kind of prayerfully thinking about even more stuff (I even thought it might be better for my sermon if I just took a few weeks and read this book aloud to the congregation).

So, in retrospect, the day was "ephemeral" but "hallow."

And I think the reason so many Christians get it wrong is because they make a division between their "Christian" life and their "other" life. Somehow, over time, we've let the fact that there are Christian bookstores and Christian radio station and Christian clothes (yes, I've got girls in my group that have their "church swimsuit" and their "regular" one) and Christian music...

...that they yawn at what they should be awed by.
...that they have forgotten to see the hallow in the every day of their life.
...that they expect those that aren't in the Tribe to adhere to the codes of the Tribe, which only frustrates everyone involved.
...that they can experience the movement of the Most High God in the beauty of a marinated steak, or a beautiful arching 3-pointer that hits nothing but net, or studying His words, or a great anthem-arena-rock song, or a movie that moves you that didn't even have Christian themes, or a great novel, or a conversation with friends that didn't even talk about Jesus but had lots of laughter and maybe even a few beers, or stopping on your run to take photos and sharing them with your blog community (I've got a friend that does this), or starting a blog (yes, I'm talking to you), or loving confrontation, or sending out announcements...

..I could go on...

...but if we're going to engage the lost, well, kids, I've said it before and I'll say it again until we're all singing off the same page...

...the days of "presuppositional apologetics" and trying to win those that don't know Christ with rational arguments and reason are long gone. They are important, and can help when it comes to answering questions all people eventually ask once they start walking with God...

...but if we're going to want others to follow our King--the same King that had the nation of Israel spend one night during the festival making sure the music was loud and the drinks flowed and the Temple was well-lit ("I am the light of the World makes a lot more sense when you know Jesus was saying this as they were getting prepared for the necessary fires) for an all-night party so the world would note that the Israelite God knows how to make sure his children Carpe Diem--

(--and we reduce wedding receptions to no alcohol and cheese and fruit?--I digress)

...we're going to have to start out-living them with the abundant life...

...the sensual, redemptive abundant life Christ lived and meant for us...

...before a watching world.

And it all starts with the ephemeral hallowing.

You with me? Or do you disagree?

So, what are you waiting for?

2011-06-09T06:22:00.002-05:00

On Francis Schaeffer And Baby Boomers

*what follows is a continuation of the discussion here at the Diner on my reading "The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church," by Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch. Feel free to check out the past two entries before you dive in to this one. It'll give you some context.

In college, I strangely identified with Francis Schaeffer. If you don't know him, he wrote books and was dubbed "the missionary to the intellectuals." Not that I was intellectual, mind you, but the guy discipling me recommended him for a course I was taking where I had to read all the works by a particular author in "religion." Most everyone else picked C.S. Lewis.

Anyway, one of the reasons I identified with him (it certainly wasn't regarding intellect) was from an introduction he wrote to one of his works and why he wrote it. See, he'd been a pastor for like a decade and become disillusioned. He said the book he wrote was the product of him going back and "rethinking his entire position" on what it means to be a Christian.

The reason he did that?

He said he wasn't seeing, in himself or in the congregation members he served, the things that Scripture says should be so clearly the result of someone who walks with Christ.

So, he walked back in forth in a barn in Switzerland or outside if the weather was nicer. He re-thought his whole position. The books he left us made me glad he bothered and wrestled with it all.

I also read a newspaper article written by Ellen Goodman of the Boston Globe, and she was talking about the nature of parenting by the Baby Boomers. Basically, she said that their generation "did a lot, regretted little, but wanted their children to have none of it." In other words, the revolution of the 1960's they so desperately wanted to occur was fine for them, but their kids better not kick against their institutions. And, that free love/drug/rock 'n roll thing didn't fit their view of appropriate behavior for their kids.

Interesting, right?

And, let's be honest, patrons. Hypocrisy in any form, whether we do it or whether we see someone else being hypocritical, drives us crazy.

But in both cases, Francis Schaeffer and the general Baby Boomer population, we have elements of what we believe to be right that don't translate into real life-living. And, we get it. We all have our anecdotes, right?

We tell our kids how important their going on the mission trip is but we haven't been on a mission trip in ages. We rail against texting while driving and then we do it. We whine about the guy taking the parking spot we waited for and then do that very thing the next day. We tell our kids that their spiritual growth is our highest priority but everything we do/say lets them know clearly that it's their educational achievement. I could go on.

It doesn't matter if it's about the spiritual life or traffic patterns...inconsistency of message and action makes us all go nuts.

Which is, if we're honest, one of the main things that drives people from the church. The authors put it this way...

"Built into the very fabric of New Testament teaching on the extension of the kingdom is the assumption that when the Christian community embraces a godly, holy lifestyle, it will so tantalize the wider community that they will seek after God. And yet so much of what typifies the so-called holiness movement is the fundamentalist-evangelical churches has had the opposite effect. When the wonders of the life in Christ are boiled down to teetotalling, it's hardly likely to arouse great interest in the community about us. If by holiness we simply mean no drinking, no smoking and no dancing, we have a very limited view of the concept."

Please tell me you read that sentence about the "wonders of Christ" slowly and with much interest.

Then, in a later chapter, as they develop this line of thought, they describe Christ:

"We have already mentioned the kind of holiness He exuded was the kind that didn't repulse normal 'sinners.' Rather, his was a very attractive spirituality. And yet he was not your ordinary evangelical guy. He was notorious (yes, that's the right word) for hanging out with the wrong types. In contrast with today, when so much of our Christianity is being with the right people in the right places at the right times, Jesus was always in the wrong places, with the wrong people, at the wrong times, according to the religious establishment. We want to say that this is the Jesus we must rediscover to balance our excessively sober images of our Lord. We need the model of his holy laughter, of his sheer love of life, of his infectious holiness, of his common people's religion, for our day. We want to say that being Christlike is not only hard work, but it's also a load of fun--you get to do what Jesus did and hang out with the interesting people. This is our eternal destiny, to be conformed to the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29) and this must now become a vital dimension of our messianic mission in the world. Being Christlike gives us a positive model of engagement, and this is why we need to imitate Jesus as our primary model for mission and evangelism."

Now, we'll all read the 2nd quote and go, "Yep. Darn right that's how it should be done." In fact, yesterday, that's where most of you guys went in your discussion.

But we all have a little bit of Francis Schaeffer in us, don't we? We're not seeing much of that in our own life or in the lives of those around us, are we?

But we all have a little bit of Baby Booomer parent in us, don't we? We have our areas of belief that we shed at the first hint of practicality, don't we?

And the questions are a little deeper in my mind as I type this...

...do most evangelicals even associate with the "right" people/places/times so much that they don't know the "wrong" people/places/times anymore?

...how do we "fix" this on a congregational scale? (Assuming, of course, you agree that we aren't doing this, but I'm open to that discussion, too.)

...what would this "look like" in our lives if we decided to "fix" it? Or, what practical steps would we take?

Sorry if the last few days have been a little deep at The Diner lately, patrons. I guess I get this way during sermon prep week!

2011-06-08T05:38:00.003-05:00

They're Not Coming. Really. They're not.

I grew up in the Episcopal Church. Confirmation classes. Stained glass. Kneelers. Pot-luck lunches EVERY Sunday. Communion EVERY Sunday down front from a common cup. Hymns played on an organ. Responding to all the priests phrases. The whole bit.

Oh, and something else: I grew up in the Episcopal Church in Alabama.

That 2nd part is important, so a little latitude, your honor, please?

After the death of my dad when I was 13, church-going became one of my family's lowest priorities. My mom had to go back to school and got a full-time job teaching to support us...and it became difficult for her to make the half-hour drive to our Episcopal church, stick around until 2PM Sunday (the pot-luck lunch isn't going to eat or clean up after itself, now is it?) with weekly fatigue and throw in a little grad-school homework on Sunday afternoon and sleeping in quickly became a habit.

Throw in a little angsty 13-year-old with an inward seething anger about "God's plan" and "dad being in a better place," and, well, let's just say the surviving McKinney's drifted a bit when it came to church attendance.

But I didn't realize until I came back to church about 3 years later that so much of what I thought was normal was, in the words of the E-Trade Baby, "frowned upon in this establishment." It helps if you throw your head back and say that to the ceiling, complete with the pause between "upon" and "in."

Anyway, we Episcopals had been hauling off and having a lot of fun amidst our spiritual conversations. For example, we had a dance at our all-Episcopal summer camp (Wonderful, wonderful, CAMP McDOWELL, beeyutiful queen of Clear Creek, clap clap) in the gym almost every night. Our counselors asked us if we'd kissed a girl behind chapel with a genuine hopeful curiosity because 11-year-old guys looking for that first kiss viewed that as a distinct possibility. Our priest came up to visit and had a beer with the camp leader in plain view of everybody. We played all sorts of Eagles and Steve Miller and some song about Black Betty bam-a-lam during the air guitar talent-show. We didn't give life a second thought.

Until...

I came back into Evangelical circles when I was 16.

The local SBC didn't have a dance scheduled at any point during the lock-in. Which lock-in? Any lock-in. If you had any affections at all for the feminine of the species, you were "discipled" to stare at her eyes and look at her brain. Kissing, apparently, was the gateway to pregnancy. You might not want to hold hands with her as a preventative measure as well.

Beer? Forget about it.

And, for a kid who loved music, well, let's just say Keith Green couldn't hold a candle to AC/DC (and don't even get me started on the Ramones or the Clash). I'd never had one of those "want to get away moments"until I asked my youth group if they'd heard the great new Ozzy Osbourne album and that really cool solo during "Crazy Train." This was followed by my youth pastor's diatribe on how Chicago's own Resurrection Band was better than Ozzy or AC/DC. He gave me a cassette for my car. After 30 seconds of listening, I concluded that even Bob didn't believe the speech he just gave...but he was required by parents to give it.

See, growing up in the Bible Belt had some very strange cultural no-no's.

Which, oh by the way, didn't seem to have much basis in Scripture. I was a kid reading my Bible for the first time and coming to small groups to discuss it for the first time and I was really trying to grow in my relationship with Christ and I wasn't scared to ask questions.

Like, "where is that in the Bible?" The Bible-church raised kids in my group couldn't believe the mores were being questioned. I, on the other hand, just wanted to know. Because I was serious, man. If Jesus didn't want me to kiss my girlfriend, then I wouldn't kiss my girlfriend. Or at least I'd keep kissing her but tell my friends we were "trying to honor God so we stopped kissing." Thankfully, all my group leader came up with was verses about "wisdom" so I wisely kept kissing her. Apparently, there was no "Thou shalt not kiss" verse afoot.

That's when I first started to dislike Christians.

And, it turns out, most of my negative experiences with Church have come from legalism or some variant of it. When Christians speak boldly and with some level of God-authority about something that Scripture doesn't. And they did that a lot.

But most everyone who has ever been to church leaves because of SOME REASON. Legalism was mine. But everyone has their reasons--ranging from "we're exhausted" to "my priest molested me" and everything in between.

Which is why the "Mommies and Mimosa/Soccer Sunday" crowd (see yesterday's entry) isn't coming to church...or even care if they ever come back. No matter how great our stuff is...

...the Church has lost their credibility among the non-Christian community.

Sure, they used to have it some 50 years ago. Everyone went to church, right? Or at least they went at Easter and Christmas and the whole bit.

No longer.

Finding a church doesn't have the priority-level it used to (and for my older readers, please don't bother to try to disprove this. The countless hours I've had in discussion with people who grew up with the attractional model--see yesterday--about how if we just had this or that, young people would come back to church...well, the stats are in. You can disagree if you want, but these numbers don't lie).

So, if the Mommies and Mimosa group isn't ever coming to our bigger, better deal (but other Christians shuffle the deck in their own city and we call it "church growth" so we keep doing it)...

...shouldn't we view them as an unreached people group and take the church missionally to them?

I used the phrase yesterday about a "faith community centered around Christ" for a reason.

Some more quotes from the book before I wind up:

"We so easily impose a cultural form on the people and the groups we hope to reach with the love of Jesus. We often make the gospel synonymous with a bland middle-class conformity and thereby alienate countless people from encountering Christ. How often have we seen public opinion polls that reflect the attitude of 'Jesus YES! Church NO!'"

And...

"Jesus moved into the neighborhood; he experienced its life, its rhythms, and its people from the inside and not as an outsider. It is sobering to think that for thirty years Jesus practiced this presence for 30 years before he actually started his ministry. Nazareth had indeed become a living part of him and defined him in so many unaccountable ways. If this was so for Jesus, then, we believe, we, too, need to practice the missinoal discipline of presence ad identification with any of the groups and people we hope to engage with. This is true whether they are local ravers or members of bohemian art cooperatives, sports clubs, common interest groups, or parent groups--we need to identify a whole lot more before we can expect to really share Jesus in a meaningful way with them."

So, as we continue our conversation...

...let's assume that non-Christians ARE NOT looking for a better church or service or whatever and aren't going to come because the local church is having a concert so "bring a friend!" Or they aren't coming because your church is going to have a series on marriage and family so "pack the pews!" They don't. They aren't.

...pick a group. Doesn't matter. Starving artists. Single moms. PTA group. The local university booster club that gets together to watch games. Your literal neighbors. And, if you can't think of people you know that don't know Christ, maybe there's another step you need to be thinking about.

...and how could you reach them for Christ if they never came to your church. What would you do?

See?

That's the question.

Because they aren't coming to your church no matter how comfy and/or flashy. They all have their reasons, too. Just like we did, and WE'RE Christians, for crying out loud! They're not...

So, what do you do?

And, yes, we'll continue the discussion...

2011-06-07T06:49:00.002-05:00

Extreme, But SERIOUS Mind Vitamin...or "Soccer Sunday"

I'll get to the mommies & mimosas in a second, okay?

The deal is that I'm reading The Shaping of Things to Come, by Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch. The subtitle is "Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church." If you've ever heard the phrase "missional" regarding churches, this book was on the forefront of that verbage/mindset.

I know.

I know.

Whenever I dive into a "professional" reading discussion, many of you turn around, exit the Diner, and wait for a discussion of almost anything else. Wait. Wait. Wait. I think you'll like this discussion.

But, this book is blowing my tiny mind, man. Granted, I'm late to the party (it's almost 9 years old now) but the stuff the authors were talking about have proven to be dead-on in my experience.

So, thought I'd give you a taste of what's blowing my tiny mind, man (even though I'm only halfway through the book). Early on, the authors describe the current situation in the American church--

--and the word they use is "attractional." The idea is that they describe as "An approach to Christian mission in which the church develops programs, meetings, services or other 'products' in order to attract unbelievers into the influence of the Christian community."

--the suggestion as to what the church should be is "missional." They describe that as "A missional church is one whose primary commitment is to the missionary calling of the people of God. As such, it is one that aligns itself with God's missionary purposes in the world."

Here's the quote for today (oh yes, we will be discussing this more in the days to come):

"Nonetheless, when we say it is a flaw for the church to be attractional, we refer more to the stance the church takes in its community. By anticipating that if they get their internal features right, people will flock to the services, the church betrays its belief in attractionalism. It's like the Kevin Costner character in the film 'Field of Dreams' being told by a disembodied voice, 'If you will build it, they will come.' How much of the traditional church's energy goes into adjusting their programs and their public meetings to cater to an unseen consituency? If we get our seating, our parking, our children's program, our preaching, and our music right, they will come. This assumes we have a place in our society and that people don't join our churches because, though they want to be Christians, they're unhappy with the product. The missional church recognizes that it does not hold a place of honor in its host community and that its missional imperative compels it to move out from itself into that host community as salt and light."

Now, this reality of this quote was highlighted to me on Soccer Sunday.

My higher-order life-liver sister Jilly and barnstorming brother-in-law get together with their friends on Sunday mornings. They set up some soccer goals in a local park and throw some soccer balls out there and their toddlers can kick 'em around or play on the monkey bars or swings at the park. Another parent sets up a table & breaks out the orange juice & champagne.

Then the hanging out commences. There is some minor kid-wrangling going on. But by-and-large, community is taking place.

These people are all intelligent, funny and interesting. They are all professionally successful by whatever stretch of that definition you'd like to use.

And their Sunday morning consists of mimosas and conversation in the park. Having been filled in beforehand that I was a pastor, the obvious conversation-starter was whether or not I was enjoying a "Sunday among the heathens." Their words.

And in very matter-of-fact terms (they certainly were interested in my line of work and asked lots of questions, too) they described their issues with "Church." They'd all tried it in various forms and had varying degrees of positive and negative experiences. They weren't angry or bitter, but to them, the negatives outweighed the positives.

Nobody...

...and I mean NOBODY...

...disliked Soccer Sunday. It was overwhelmingly positive.

And it dawned on me:

It wouldn't matter how good our worship leader is.
It wouldn't matter how much charisma and/or passion our pastor had.
It wouldn't matter how comfy our auditorium was or how good the coffee is.
It wouldn't matter how awesome our children's area was.

These people aren't coming.

Sure, other Christians might come and check us out and see our cool worship leader/preacher/playland/building might be. Some might even stay and become part of our church family.

But, trust me. The Mimosa & Mommies crowd isn't coming.

And the question struck me amidst all the laughs and kid-wrangling and great time I was having...

...what would it take to get these folks to be a part of a faith community centered around Christ?

And I think that's what is at the heart of the quote, and at the heart of the book.

So, this could be fun today, patrons.

Have at it!

*rubs hands together and waits expectantly for you to join the conversation*

2011-06-06T06:39:00.002-05:00

A Better Graduation Message

Those of you who know me know that one of my occupational hazards is that I attend a number of graduation ceremonies to celebrate with my students. In light of this, I've been on the lookout for graduation speeches/articles from those that get away from the traditional kind of speech. Believe me, I hear enough generic rah-rah speeches per year to tune out about the first time I hear "follow your dreams" or "change the world" stuff. Anyway, there's a good article from David Brooks on May 30 in the New York Times.

I'd post a link and a few quotes to whet the appetite, but it's short enough to read the whole thing. You won't regret it.

"It's Not About You" by David Brooks

Over the past few weeks, America’s colleges have sent another class of graduates off into the world. These graduates possess something of inestimable value. Nearly every sensible middle-aged person would give away all their money to be able to go back to age 22 and begin adulthood anew.

But, especially this year, one is conscious of the many ways in which this year’s graduating class has been ill served by their elders. They enter a bad job market, the hangover from decades of excessive borrowing. They inherit a ruinous federal debt.

More important, their lives have been perversely structured. This year’s graduates are members of the most supervised generation in American history. Through their childhoods and teenage years, they have been monitored, tutored, coached and honed to an unprecedented degree.

Yet upon graduation they will enter a world that is unprecedentedly wide open and unstructured. Most of them will not quickly get married, buy a home and have kids, as previous generations did. Instead, they will confront amazingly diverse job markets, social landscapes and lifestyle niches. Most will spend a decade wandering from job to job and clique to clique, searching for a role.

No one would design a system of extreme supervision to prepare people for a decade of extreme openness. But this is exactly what has emerged in modern America. College students are raised in an environment that demands one set of navigational skills, and they are then cast out into a different environment requiring a different set of skills, which they have to figure out on their own.

Worst of all, they are sent off into this world with the whole baby-boomer theology ringing in their ears. If you sample some of the commencement addresses being broadcast on C-Span these days, you see that many graduates are told to: Follow your passion, chart your own course, march to the beat of your own drummer, follow your dreams and find yourself. This is the litany of expressive individualism, which is still the dominant note in American culture.

But, of course, this mantra misleads on nearly every front.

College grads are often sent out into the world amid rapturous talk of limitless possibilities. But this talk is of no help to the central business of adulthood, finding serious things to tie yourself down to. The successful young adult is beginning to make sacred commitments — to a spouse, a community and calling — yet mostly hears about freedom and autonomy.

Today’s graduates are also told to find their passion and then pursue their dreams. The implication is that they should find themselves first and then go off and live their quest. But, of course, very few people at age 22 or 24 can take an inward journey and come out having discovered a developed self.

Most successful young people don’t look inside and then plan a life. They look outside and find a problem, which summons their life. A relative suffers from Alzheimer’s and a young woman feels called to help cure that disease. A young man works under a miserable boss and must develop management skills so his department can function. Another young woman finds herself confronted by an opportunity she never thought of in a job category she never imagined. This wasn’t in her plans, but this is where she can make her contribution.

Most people don’t form a self and then lead a life. They are called by a problem, and the self is constructed gradually by their calling.

The graduates are also told to pursue happiness and joy. But, of course, when you read a biography of someone you admire, it’s rarely the things that made them happy that compel your admiration. It’s the things they did to court unhappiness — the things they did that were arduous and miserable, which sometimes cost them friends and aroused hatred. It’s excellence, not happiness, that we admire most.

Finally, graduates are told to be independent-minded and to express their inner spirit. But, of course, doing your job well often means suppressing yourself. As Atul Gawande mentioned during his countercultural address last week at Harvard Medical School, being a good doctor often means being part of a team, following the rules of an institution, going down a regimented checklist.

Today’s grads enter a cultural climate that preaches the self as the center of a life. But, of course, as they age, they’ll discover that the tasks of a life are at the center. Fulfillment is a byproduct of how people engage their tasks, and can’t be pursued directly. Most of us are egotistical and most are self-concerned most of the time, but it’s nonetheless true that life comes to a point only in those moments when the self dissolves into some task. The purpose in life is not to find yourself. It’s to lose yourself."

Loved the line about them being the most supervised generation in history. Your thoughts, patrons?

2011-05-30T07:07:00.004-05:00

So, Today I'm Thinking...

...that when I drive by the new DART rail station in Highland Village, I can't decide if the parking lot is big enough or not. I mean, it might get used a TON. It might not get used at all.

...that the morning paper wasn't delivered. I clicked the new web page section for subscribers and let them know at 7:34am. The clock is running to see how fast it gets here.

...that my daughters have the most interesting friends.

...that I hope the people at my church who whine on blogs/Facebook incessantly about the President of the United States are spending AT LEAST as much time praying for him. I don't hold much hope for that, though.

...that, while I'm being politically theological, most Americans don't balance their political/theological positions on the reality that the current political state of Israel may or may not be the Israel that is mentioned in Scripture. I mean, before 1945, how would some of those passages have been interpreted?

...I'm having a hard time getting into baseball season. I haven't even been to a game yet and we're past 1/4th of the year.

...the current school district calendar goofs up summer and is really a waste of time. I mean, the kids haven't done much by way of education since the end of all the standardized testing and they are being entertained for TWO MORE WEEKS of attendance for things like movies in class and field trips to Six Flags. I think it's safe to say that classes should end and the graduations take place no later than the first week of June. Everybody's in vacation mode mentally.

...I know I'm in vacation mode right now since my old grill rusted through and I need to get a new one today.

...that I have watched the Auburn victory over Oregon for the National Championship of college football on DVD several times now, and it's like a fine wine. I think I'll appreciate it more the further removed from it I get.

...that I can't say what I really want to say in this forum. Like there's a certain local ministry that failed me recently with regard to one of my students and there's no excuse for how they handled things. But, alas, I'm much better served handling this behind the scenes. Rest assured I will, certain local ministry. Rest assured I will.

...that Frank Turner's new CD is coming out June 7 and I can't think of a release I've been looking more forward to.

...that I'm halfway to my weight loss goal I set 10 weeks ago, but I've hit that time when your body gets used to the routine and so I've hit a plateau. Just means I gotta ramp up the game, right?

...that, when I added some yogurt & the flavors I wanted to a shopping list, Kid1 said, "Dad, none of your yogurt is fruit. All of them are flavored like pies."

...that it's funny what your kids remember. For example, when my girls were younger and were having friends sleep over, I'd get chocolate donuts with sprinkles and a big box of doughnut holes and chocolate milk for breakfast. I haven't done it in years. But there were a lot of friends who found their way to our home overnight two nights ago, and the first words from Kid2 upon waking up to fending for herself for breakfast food were, "What, Dad? No donuts and chocolate milk?" I didn't know we were still doing that. Apparently we are: I fulfilled the request the next day.

...that I think I've got another week before the crowds die down and I make a run to In-N-Out Burger that just opened here in the Dallas area. I'll definitely have to buy t-shirts that have "Texas" below the logo for my family that lives in California.

...that I've been reading a lot of good books lately. I should post more quotes. Do you people still like that?

...I wonder if anyone still reads The Diner, anyway.

2011-05-06T05:26:00.007-05:00

Interview With My Daughter, Final Entry

So, I was at a conference in Atlanta for work and at one of the main sessions, they interviewed the children of well-known ministers about how their parents fulfilled their roles as parents...

...so, I stole the idea from them, recorded the questions and asked my oldest daughter (the youngest declined, wisely, because she still lives in this house & goes to that church) to respond to them. She did, and I'll ask the questions and have one entry every day this week.

And, for those of you interested, you can check out Kelsey's personal blog with lots of her art and thoughts...

Question 6: What did your dad do for you as a daughter that you would encourage other pastors who have daughters to do?

"I could write a book on this question. There are a lot of really hard realities that come with your father being a pastor: even more with being the daughter of a pastor.

First, my father never made a single comment about my appearance. At times, I find the flaw in this as that I feel that he was much more affirming of my sister's appearance than of mine.(This of course being because she looks exactly like the woman he fell in love with). But now my approval idol is showing. The beauty of my father never talking about our appearances, is that my father never made Christianity legalism on any front. Seek God. That was the rule. If I wanted to wear a tiny little bikini, well, he may not have liked it, but my spiritual growth was more important.

Secondly, my dad respected me. As an intellectual, as an adult, as a child, and as a fellow believer. Never was my opinion discounted because I was young, but more importantly for me, never was it discounted because I am a woman. This is less applicable to less traditional churches of course. But I have met SO many pastors daughters who are always talking about submission: to boys, to their fathers, to members of authority. But my dad made it really clear who I am to submit to. I submit to the Lord. I seek Him. This will lead me to follow my father's wisdom, and to listen to the wisdom of my future husband. However, he never devalued me. He never taught that because I am a woman I am weaker or less important or less valuable.

Finally, he pursued me. In what my father considers an act of rebellion and I consider spiritual growth (haha), I have recently switched my perception of theology. I've become a Calvinist, which I guess is why this is so important to me. My father pursued me as his daughter and as a woman in ways I cannot even express. He loved me, he served me, and he went out of his way to make me happy. My father, for a time, went to coffee with me once a week just to talk to me and know me. He approved of me when I made mistakes, and he loved me when I failed. He was able to counsel me and teach me and admonish me because he understood me. The absolute most important thing a pastor with a daughter can do, is pursue his daughter the way Christ pursued you. Go after her. Learn what makes her tick, and what the desires of her heart are and you will be able to minister to her and provide her with wisdom better than anyone else."

Well, there you have it...I hope you enjoyed it. And thanks for being a good sport, Kelsey! It was pretty cool (and, well, truth be told) as well as kind of scary to have the reality of your parenting put out there largely unedited.

And, if any of you are wondering, she said she'd use the same word she used on Tuesday if she were ever on a stage at a big ministry conference. What I wouldn't give to see the reaction of 5,000 evangelicals at that moment! :)

2011-05-05T05:24:00.003-05:00

Interview With My Daughter, Part 5

So, I was at a conference in Atlanta for work and at one of the main sessions, they interviewed the children of well-known ministers about how their parents fulfilled their roles as parents...

...so, I stole the idea from them, recorded the questions and asked my oldest daughter (the youngest declined, wisely, because she still lives in this house & goes to that church) to respond to them. She did, and I'll ask the questions and have one entry every day this week.

And, for those of you interested, you can check out Kelsey's personal blog with lots of her art and thoughts...

Question 5: What are the spiritual traits of your parents that you decidedly want to emulate even as you make your faith your own?

"My mother has the spiritual gift of hospitality and I think maybe also encouragement. She has dealt with teenagers in her house since 1988 and there is no sign of that EVER stopping. She is gracious and open and loving to them, and its incredible. I'd take that kind of selflessness in a heart beat.

My father has wisdom and discernment. But the trait he has that I am the most jealous of is his passion for the Word. My dad knows the Word. He reads every day, whether he wants to or not. He analyzes and he breaks it down and he knows his stuff. I'd love to have that kind of desire."

Tomorrow is the last one!

2011-05-04T05:21:00.002-05:00

Interview With My Daughter, Part 4

So, I was at a conference in Atlanta for work and at one of the main sessions, they interviewed the children of well-known ministers about how their parents fulfilled their roles as parents...

...so, I stole the idea from them, recorded the questions and asked my oldest daughter (the youngest declined, wisely, because she still lives in this house & goes to that church) to respond to them. She did, and I'll ask the questions and have one entry every day this week.

And, for those of you interested, you can check out Kelsey's personal blog with lots of her art and thoughts...

Question 4: What attribute of God does your mother best exemplify that you learned from her? Which attribute from your father?

"When I look back at growing up in my parent's house, and I remember all of the really good times and really hard times I had on Prairie Creek Drive, I remember mostly sitting on the kitchen counter, and my mom's hugs. My parent's are not touchy-feely people. They do not hold hands, and have still yet to see them kiss. I, however, am, and I think my mom really understood that about me.

In 2 Corinthians 1:3 and 4 Paul writes, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

In this verse--I think--Paul is talking about spiritual comfort, and there is no one better at that in my life than my mother. While she may not be a bible scholar or a questioner of deep theological questions, Tracy McKinney loves the Lord and his comfort in her life does allow her to comfort me through all afflictions. I may not tell her every single trial in my life, but I am always grateful when I share with her because she is so good at speaking truth to me, and hugging me all the while.

Sometimes when I read the Gospels, I am reminded of being a little kid. To say that my father reminds and is an active representation of who Jesus is in my life may be a little bold, but nonetheless true. My father shows me that the lord is wise, and just. Jesus was hard on his disciples but it was only because he wanted for them to understand truth.

In the gospel of John, Jesus tells the same stories over and over again, and the disciples in their sin and small minds, cannot understand him. It's funny because when I read this question, I thought I would talk about how my Dad taught me who God is, but he didn't really. My Dad shows me, actively and forcefully who Jesus is. He forces me to learn and to reevaluate and to focus. He does not let me tell myself lies or be fooled by the ways of this world. He is constantly correcting me and reinforcing and drawing in the sand while he waits for me to catch up. He disciplined me in ways that I could not understand, but that were of the Lord and that I came to understand."

2 more to come!

2011-05-03T05:17:00.002-05:00

Interview With My Daughter, Part 3

So, I was at a conference in Atlanta for work and at one of the main sessions, they interviewed the children of well-known ministers about how their parents fulfilled their roles as parents...

...so, I stole the idea from them, recorded the questions and asked my oldest daughter (the youngest declined, wisely, because she still lives in this house & goes to that church) to respond to them. She did, and I'll ask the questions and have one entry every day this week.

Question 3: What do you wish the church knew about your father that they probably don't see or know?

*warning: strong language alert. I asked her if she wanted to change it, and she said that it was precisely the word she wanted to use.

"No one except a pastor and his wife and children really understands the shit pastors go through. No one. I don't care how many books on pastoring a church, or leading a congregation you've read, you don't understand. I have heard, time and time again people devalue or fail to recognize the worth of my father's job. Nothing will get me angry faster.

When a normal man goes to work he works 40-50 hours a week and then goes home to his family and is there. He gets vacation time and he has hobbies. My father works 40 hours a week in the office, but the job never ends. The books he reads (85% of the time) are to make him better at his job. He is constantly bouncing new ideas for creative ways to do ministry and his job never stops.

I know some of you reading this blog are saying, "I work a lot. I work 70 hours a week and do not sleep and fight with my wife/husband AND go to church." But that is exactly why you will never understand. You do not know what it is like to have church be your job. There are politics and there is, of course, sin. Pastors do not get the spiritual refreshment from a church service that everyone in the congregation receives . Pastors do not take breaks from their jobs. Because they are responsible for your spiritual life before God, when you call--at 2 in the morning and while they're on vacation--they answer.

That being said, you get their best. My father works for his people. He shepherds his sheep. He loves his high schoolers and his people. He is absolutely phenomenal at his job. And he will work until he runs himself into the ground working. Note that this may not be true for all pastors, but it sure is true for my father. You, as his patrons, get his best. So when he is frustrated and grumpy and burnt out at home, we understand. But that doesn't make it easy. He needs encouragement and community as much as you need him to build it for you."

3 more to come!

2011-05-02T05:05:00.002-05:00

Interview With My Daughter, Part 2

So, I was at a conference in Atlanta for work and at one of the main sessions, they interviewed the children of well-known ministers about how their parents fulfilled their roles as parents...

...so, I stole the idea from them, recorded the questions and asked my oldest daughter (the youngest declined, wisely, because she still lives in this house & goes to that church) to respond to them. She did, and I'll ask the questions and have one entry every day this week.

Question 2: What role did the church community play in your spiritual growth?

"As a pastor's kid, your parents can only have so much influence on your spiritual growth. For most kids in the church, they have parents and a youth pastor and adults in the church. But as pastor's kids, it is the other people in the church that raise us and teach us and show us. Your parents are still your parents, and on top of that, the person reminding you, admonishing you, and teaching you, is also your parent. I, as a result, managed to barely learn anything from my parents. Which is a shame since they are so great.

For me, it was the people in the church who loved me and loved my parents who really helped me grow. Having women who will pour into you even if you aren't their kid, or even in their bible study, will show you the love of God better than anything else.

There is an old saying that says "it takes a village to raise a child." Nothing is more true for pastors kids. I was raised by Brent and Tracy McKinney. True. I was raised by The Riskeys, and the Hayes' and the Davises and Shuffeilds, and the Egberts and the Stevensons, and the Semmelbecks, and the Messerlis and the Gelnetts and the Lees and those are just the ones I could think of in 10 seconds. I was raised by a village of people who loved my parents and loved me. They showed Christ's love.

The reverse, and much harder, side of this truth though is not very pretty. I lost a lot of those families around my sophomore year of high school and that was the greatest time of spiritual apathy I have experienced thus far in my life. When I lost my secondary parents, and all I had were my real parents, I had no one discipling me and I became apathetic. It's dangerous putting your child in the hands of a village, but for me at least, I am so grateful my parents did.

4 more entries to come!

2011-05-01T05:56:00.001-05:00

Interview With My Daughter, Part 1

So, I was at a conference in Atlanta for work and at one of the main sessions, they interviewed the children of well-known ministers about how their parents fulfilled their roles as parents...

...so, I stole the idea from them, recorded the questions and asked my oldest daughter (the youngest declined, wisely, because she still lives in this house & goes to that church) to respond to them. She did, and I'll ask the questions and have one entry every day this week.

Question 1: What do you think your parents did right?

"I think my parents are a great team. I often thought, as a child, that if one of them were to leave or die or disappear, our whole family dynamic would have collapsed. This, I still think is true.

There are two things that I think my parents did absolutely brilliantly. The first is that they were always on the same team. If my dad said no, my mom did too. They consulted each other and they worked and lived in community. Through their interactions they provided a biblical example of not only what a marriage should be, but what biblical community looks like. They never fought in front of us unless it was about something trivial like who was better at Mario Kart, and that only strengthened their connection in my head.

The most important thought process I learned from my parents though, is the idea of Grace. My father, from the stage and from his really old and tattered rocking chair, taught Grace from the beginning. He believes that Christ is the only thing necessary for salvation, that the Lord forgives and that grace is undeserved and free.

Had I only ever listened to my Dad speak on Sundays about this truth, I would have understood it, but the way my parents parented me is what helped me to really and deeply understand the concept of grace. I messed up a lot as a daughter. Not in "big" ways, but I sinned against my parents more times than anyone could count. Yet, over and over and over they forgave me. Were there consequences for my actions? Absolutely. Did it break their hearts to see me fail? Yes. Did they love me even more despite my failure? I have no doubt. I will never be legalistic because of the great Grace that my parents exemplified in their parenting of me. For that I am eternally grateful, because in legalism we all fall short."

5 more to come!

2011-04-30T08:53:00.002-05:00

A Few Quotes From Rick McKinley's Book

Oh, just some food for thought:

"The issue of relevance is only a problem because we have failed to engage the culture for such a significant period of time that the culture no longer speaks the same language we do. But the problem exists because at some point we stopped being the church that is displaying the kingdom and instead became a church that is hiding the King in the basement, trying to protect Him from the bad world."

This retreating mentality comes from not asking a better question and because we haven't thought critically about the answer to that question. What does the church desire? Do we desire Jesus? We cannot assume the answer is yes. Do we want to display the kingdom and live into the love and life of the King? We retreat from the world because we want some level of protection that we were never called to have. In the Kingdom, we are called to be a different kind of community: an unprotective one, a courageous and crucified one, a community of Jesus."

And...

"Vocation is central to understanding the the role of the church in building the Kingdom. Doctors, nurses and dentists, gifted by the Spirit, come into a new understanding of what they were created for. They are not given those gifts just to have a job and make a living. Their vocation is so much bigger. They are kingdom people first and foremost whose desire to bring healing was given them by God. They didn't simply come up with the idea to become doctors, nurses, or dentists on their own. These were God-given desires that have become God-given vocations. These desires are central to their personalities. These desires bring them joy and pay the bills. And here in the Kingdom their desires become a key to unlocking heaven on earth, so the greatness of our King is displayed to the world.

What we love to do is significant. We may be tempted to think of our work or passions as "non-spiritual," but I don't believe that. I think those desires that move us toward our vocation are central to the Kingdom. When we take what we were made to do and what gives us joy and imagine how God could use that to display His Kingdom, the result is heavenlike."

(he is using "doctors, nurses and dentists" as examples from an earlier illustration. It could be any vocation, though.)

Well, patrons, there's a couple of mind vitamins for ya. Have a cup of joe and weigh in on the discussion!

2011-04-24T05:02:00.002-05:00

Post #3,000

So, I've been posting here at The Diner for almost 8 years now. Blogging was, at one time, "in." This was before MySpace came along with all their bells & whistles and fancy backgrounds and music. Before Facebook streamlined everything and made connecting on-line more personal with photos and short burst status updates. Before Twitter with it's 140 characters and links and hashtags.

I still do it. I'm not really sure why. Seems more natural for me than all the others...but when I do it, I feel like I typing a paper on the old Smith-Corona with the correction ribbon: Behind the times, but it feels better to me.

And this is post #3,000. If a baseball player gets 3,000 hits, he makes it into the Hall of Fame. I don't know if anything should happen to bloggers for post #3,000 or if it's even a noteworthy milestone. But, it's a nice, round number nonetheless.

And I thought about what I should post.

And it dawned on me that it should be the thing that is most important to me in my life, right? And, coincidentally, on Easter Sunday...it seems fitting:

"Now if Christ is being preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is futile and your faith is empty. Also, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified against God that he raised Christ from the dead, when in reality he did not raise him, if indeed the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless; you are still in your sins. Furthermore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. For if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than anyone."

It's pretty simple, really.

If Christ was raised from the dead, well, it is the most important event in human history...with all sorts of eternal consequences.

If Christ wasn't raised from the dead, well, Christians should be pitied. More than anyone in human history.

There ain't much middle ground there, kids.

So, there you have it.

Post #3,000.

That's a little over 1 post per day since 2003. A lot of words, man. A lot of fun man.

The Diner management thanks you all for your continued patronage...even if those visits seem mostly nostalgic these days.

2011-04-23T16:37:00.002-05:00

Bossypants

I finished reading Tina Fey's best-selling book Bossypants. Manalive, is that woman funny.

Anyway, one of her chapters focused on her move to Chicago to study improvisational comedy in hopes of her furthering her acting career...which to that point in her life had been mostly holding down day jobs and grabbing whatever parts she could wherever she could. She landed at a sketch comedy troupe called The Second City.

In her words,

"I moved to Chicago in 1992 to study improv and it was everything I wanted it to be. It was like a cult. People ate, slept, and definitely drank improv. They worked at crappy day jobs just to hand over their money for improv classes. Eager young people in khakis and polo shirts were willing to do whatever teachers like Del Close and Martin de Maat told them to. In retrospect, it may actually have been a cult."

Well, I didn't know what the "rules" of improv were and thankfully she explained them:

First, always agree and say yes. This keeps you from leaving your partner in an awkward moment. So, if they say they're robbing a bank to start the scene, you agree with that and move forward. Think about it. If you followed up with something about how they weren't robbing a bank, you've killed the scene before it started.

Second, it's always "yes...AND...". Again, you don't want to leave your partner hanging. Her example was that if someone said it was hot in here to start the scene, and you just said "yep" then it still doesn't move. But if you follow with, "Yes, and this can't be good for the wax figures" the scene starts to move.

Third, make statements. You can't always ask questions in improv. A few good questions can make a scene work, but mostly you put the scene in the other person's hands all the time unless you contribute to the scene with statements. Instead of pointing out obstacles all the time but rather be part of solutions.

Finally, there are no mistakes, only opportunities. Her example was that if you start a scene mimicking a cop riding a bicycle, but your partner doesn't see that and assumes you're a hamster in a wheel, then you just become a hamster in the wheel and keep the scene moving. To try to correct the other person would kill the scene or make it drag, so you just view it as a happy accident and see where it leads you.

This profoundly affected Tina Fey's worldview...and it's easy to see if you lived your life by those rules, the world would be a much better place.

Start with a "yes" and see where it takes you. "No" kills things before they start.
Always add something to the discussion. If you're afraid to contribute, the rest of the group misses out on potential.
Whatever the problem, be part of the solution. Raising questions without solutions is easy, not to mention annoying to others.
Many of the world's greatest discoveries have been by happy accidents.

Think about it.

In her words,

"The rules of improvisation appealed to me not only as a way of creating comedy, but as a worldview. Studying improvisation literally changed my life. It set me on a career path toward 'Saturday Night Live.' It changed the way I look at the world, and it's where I met my husband. What has your cult done for you lately?"

Good question, eh?

2011-04-19T11:45:00.002-05:00

What Rob Bell Really Believes

Worth 54 seconds of your time, IMHO:

Yeah.

Good advice.

2011-04-15T17:37:00.004-05:00

My Morning Songs

So, this creativity class is pretty fun...and one of the exercises is that you journal 3 pages per day. Hence, not much blogging energy.

One of the exercises has me registering the first song in my brain each day. Thought it'd be fun to list them all for the last two months or so:

Lynyrd Skynyrd, "You Got That Right"
Soundgarden, "Superunknown"
Kiss, "Cold Gin"
Frank Turner, "Once We Were Anarchists"
Blind Melon, "Tones of Home"
Pearl Jam, "Daughter"
High Strung, "The Look You Got"
Pearl Jam, "World Wide Suicide"
Frank Turner, "Reasons Not To Be An Idiot"
Bad Religion, "21st Century Digital Boy"
Cracker, "Teen Angst (What The World Needs Now)"
Frank Turner, "Reasons Not To Be An Idiot" (again?)
Frank Turner, "Photosynthesis"
Social Distortion, "I Was Wrong"
The Refreshments, "Pistoles"
Frank Turner, "Once We Were Anarchists" (again)
The Presidents of the United States, "She's Lump"
Frank Turner, "Once We Were Anarchists" (again!)
Free, "All Right Now"
Cold War Kids, "Something's Not Right With Me"
Black Sabbath, "Paranoid"
Cracker, "Teen Angst" (again)
The Smiths, "What Difference Does It Make"
R.E.M., "Oh My Heart"
R.E.M., "Discoverer"
Black Eyed Peas, "Tonight's Gonna Be A Good Night"
Nine Inch Nails, "Head Like A Hole"
Pavement, "Summer Babe"
Kiss, "Watchin' You"
R.E.M., "Discoverer"
R.E.M., "All The Best"
Alice Cooper, "Elected"
Dire Straits, "Walk of Life"
R.E.M., "That Someone Is You"
Smashing Pumpkins, "Muzzle"
Toad The Wet Sprocket, "Walk on the Ocean"
The Cure, "Primary"
Yuck, "Holing Out"
My Morning Jacket, "I'm Amazed"
Frank Turner, "I Still Believe"
Pavement, "Summer Babe"
Spoon, "The Way We Get By"
Rolling Stones, "Gimme Shelter"
R.E.M., "That Someone Is You" (again)
Elton John, "Saturday Night's Alright For Fightin'"
The Raconteurs, "Consoler of the Lonely"
Counting Crows, "The Reign King"
Kings of Leon, "Molly's Chambers"
Concrete Blonde, "True"
Frank Turner, "Take You Home"
Son Volt, "Jukebox of Steel"
Paul McCartney, "Let 'Em In"
Cold War Kids, "Mexican Dogs"
Cold War Kids, "We Used To Vacation"
Frank Turner, "I Still Believe"
Social Distortion, "I Was Wrong"
Foo Fighters, "The Pretender"
Foo Fighters, "White Limo"

So...try it yourself. First song in your brain this morning. GO!

2011-03-05T18:21:00.003-06:00

So, yeah...

I started taking this course on creativity and bringing it out in you.

And you aren't supposed to read ahead and you're only supposed to one chapter at a time and all that. Say what you want about me, but when I undertake something, I do it exactly the way it's supposed to be done.

Each week there are these little exercises and such to help you get rid of any kind of creativity "blocks." You know, like writer's block or whatever. It's been kind of fun so far as there are these little surprises in the curriculum that do try to "unblock" you.

This week's little surprise: Except what's ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY for your job (which, this week for me is one Bible study prep time...most weeks it's 3)...

...NO READING.

No newspapers.
No web pages for reading...or blogs and stuff.
No social networking, like Facebook and Twitter.
No magazines.
No novels.
No anything.

The stupid chapter anticipated my arguments and refuted them in short order.

So that means the little essay series that I started is probably kaput. I can't imagine it bothers the 30 of you reading this thing every day, though. No comments in an entire week? Yeah. It was probably time to give it up, anyway.

So, starting tonight at midnight, no reading for a week.

For me.

For the first time in probably 15 years I won't finish a book in...

a week.

Oh, man. Kind of a little mini Fat Tuesday for me tonight, I guess.

See ya next Sunday.

2011-03-02T10:23:00.003-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 61

What I Read Today: Joshua 6-8.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: Joshua 6: 6-16, " So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and instructed them, 'Pick up the ark of the covenant, and seven priests must carry seven rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord.' And he told the army, 'Move ahead and march around the city, with armed troops going ahead of the ark of the Lord.'

When Joshua gave the army its orders, the seven priests carrying the seven rams’ horns before the Lord moved ahead and blew the horns as the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed behind. Armed troops marched ahead of the priests blowing the horns, while the rear guard followed along behind the ark blowing rams’ horns. Now Joshua had instructed the army, 'Do not give a battle cry or raise your voices; say nothing until the day I tell you, ‘Give the battle cry.’ Then give the battle cry!' So Joshua made sure they marched the ark of the Lord around the city one time. Then they went back to the camp and spent the night there.

Bright and early the next morning Joshua had the priests pick up the ark of the Lord. The seven priests carrying the seven rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord marched along blowing their horns. Armed troops marched ahead of them, while the rear guard followed along behind the ark of the Lord blowing rams’ horns. They marched around the city one time on the second day, then returned to the camp. They did this six days in all.

On the seventh day they were up at the crack of dawn and marched around the city as before – only this time they marched around it seven times. The seventh time around, the priests blew the rams’ horns and Joshua told the army, 'Give the battle cry, for the Lord is handing the city over to you!'"

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

It seemed odd to me, but my wife and I were pretty darn convinced.

I mean, we were a part of a unique ministry that was growing numerically and all that jazz...and we'd been a part of it long enough to establish "roots" in both the ministry and the community. But that organization was focused on evangelism...and all the growth we were experiencing (and the thing I was most passionate about) was in the area of discipling folks.

So, we felt like we needed to work for a church.
And, all the resumes were coming up "snake-eyes." Including one interview that went so well they took me house-hunting before dropping me off at the airport. Weird.

But after much prayer and fasting (yep), we felt God was leading us to Dallas Seminary to prepare for church work.

But, it was October, smack in the middle of any semester and almost past the application date for the new year.
But, how do you sell a house that fast when the neighbor's had been on the market for months?
But, we have a toddler and an infant.
But, what about the kids we've grown to love?

It seemed odd to go.

Just like it must've seemed odd for warriors who spent their lives preparing for battle to be told to follow a bunch of priests who'd been reading books their whole lives carrying a symbolic box.

Just like it seemed odd to walk aroud, blow some trumpets and then go sit and wait. For six days.

Just like it seemed odd that God would help you cross the Jordan in miraculous ways and then bring the process to a tedious, grinding game of patience.

Just like it must've seemed odd that trumpets and shouting were the tools of war.

But that's what it's like when you follow God. You might have the big picture in hand, but it's the details that make you crazy.

And the same thing must've been going through Joshua's mind when the horrible military defeat at Ai transpired after the miraculous military victory over much more powerful Jericho. He focused on the consequences of the loss...not the cause. He was worried now. The military victory at Jericho would give them leverage and intimidation moving through the Promised Land. Now, the loss might've not only undone the victory but also taken them a few steps back. He was fearful and worried.

But once Joshua discovered the cause and dealt with it in obedience, it was full steam ahead.

Obedience was the key in both instances. When Joshua was likely highly frustrated and dealing with warriors who were chomping at the bit to get going, it was simply "be obedient." Do the Lord's work the Lord's way and you'll be fine. Even if it means walking around a city with no human voices going.

Even if it means stoning a man and his family for their crime (the family was an accomplice by their silence) which led to the death of 36 warriors in a battle they should've easily won.

Even if it means another unique battle plan to defeat Ai.

Just go forward trusting God, with obedience as evidence of that.

And when Tracy and I decided to be obedient...

...the house sold in 5 hours, we made money, and even had two buyers going at it for a little bit there.
...the application process got streamlined and we got in.
...the house we rented sight unseen was perfect for our needs, close to seminary and with nice neighbors.
...the kids understood and were great to us as we departed. We still keep in touch with many of them.

...we wound up in a church after seminary that has been a joy to serve as well as made us a part of their family for nearly 15 years.

And the moral of the story is that whatever it is that God is asking you to do, whether big or small, simply be obedient, especially if you don't know all the consequences. No matter how strange of goofy that may appear to you or to others. The benefits show themselves, even if all the details don't.

(Tomorrow's Reading: Joshua 9-12)

2011-03-02T08:47:00.002-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 60

What I Read Today: Joshua 1-5.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: "When the entire nation was on the other side, the Lord told Joshua, 'Select for yourselves twelve men from the people, one per tribe.' Instruct them, ‘Pick up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests stand firmly, and carry them over with you and put them in the place where you camp tonight.’”

Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one per tribe. Joshua told them, 'Go in front of the ark of the Lord your God to the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to put a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the Israelite tribes. The stones 3 will be a reminder to you. When your children ask someday, ‘Why are these stones important to you?’ tell them how the water of the Jordan stopped flowing before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the water of the Jordan stopped flowing. These stones will be a lasting memorial for the Israelites.”

The Israelites did just as Joshua commanded. They picked up twelve stones, according to the number of the Israelite tribes, from the middle of the Jordan as the Lord had instructed Joshua. They carried them over with them to the camp and put them there. Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan in the very place where the priests carrying the ark of the covenant stood. They remain there to this very day."

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

Our church used to have a summer "Family Camp" in Colorado. Now, from our location in Texas to the resort town in the mountains it's about 840 miles...so for most families it's a two-day drive. And since the idea is that families would be traveling together with their little kids, we invented a game to make it bearable.

For example, there were various points your family could get for spotting license plates on the highway or in a parking lot. The further away the state, the more points your family was awarded. You could get more points for stopping at various roadside attractions and tourist traps.

One particular exit had a big sign saying that you could see the monument to the Ludlow Massacre. It seemed interesting enough...and I was certainly expecting some sort of slice of American history having something to do with westward expansion.

Turns out, not so much. This was a monument to a labor dispute gone horribly wrong, and women and kids were killed. The story is one that, unless you took Colorado history as a kid, I can't imagine you'd ever heard of. The bottom line is that it had an effect on unions and labor relations that led to several reforms for workers and their bosses.

Now, there are about 30 familes who know about it all because they needed to stretch their legs and could get points (which winners were given ice cream cones)...and I'm pretty sure they'll remember it. The monument, which isn't much of a much, and surrounding park (with picnic tables) made a lasting impression even if most of us didn't relate or have a dog in that fight. It was important enough to the people of Colorado to put it up and maintain the park and put a sign on the interstate.

The power of memorials is strong. I mean, I've never been to Washington, D.C. But the images in my brain of that city...The Lincoln Memorial. The Washington Monument. The WWII Mermorial. The Vietnam Memorial. And when I grew up in Alabama, there were restored homes from the Civil War era and battlefields preserved. I can tell you all sorts of things about the events that spurred those memorials even if I've only seen them on TV!

And God knows that the power of memorials is strong.

When we pick up the story today, Joshua is about to lead the Israelites into the promised land. Moses died, and his 2nd in command was now in charge. 40 long years of wandering in the desert was about to come to an end and they were about to come home.

It wasn't going to be easy. God repeatedly told them to be strong and courageous. Wars and battles would be fought. People were living there already and likely wouldn't just say, "Oh, the Lord said you could have this land? Sure, give us a minute to grab our things and we'll be on our way." It might take a while.

So, Joshua sent out spies to see what needed to be done. The spies were close to getting caught, but were helped out by a prositute who kept them safe through her knowledge of the town and how the search would go. When the spies came back and informed them that the people of Jericho were already worried and disheartened as they saw the Israelites coming, it was time to go into the Promised Land (which, interestingly, Joshua had been into as a spy 40 years earlier).

They set out early one morning with specific instructions: Carry the ark of the covenant into the Jordan River and stand still.

Joshua, well aware of Moses' impatience in following the minor details (which kept him out of the land after 40 years of paying for that failure) instructed them to do so with painstaking precision...

...and...

...tell me if you've heard this one before...

...when they took the ark into the river, dry land was provided for them to cross. That would certainly speed up the military operation, wouldn't it?

And Joshua got representatives from each tribe to pick up a stone so large that they'd have to carry it on their shoulders. The priests would show them where to put it.

They were builing a monument out of the stones from the river bottom, that to them was only a path on that day. And God instructed Joseph as to the "why" of that act:

When the kids ask, and they will, you'll tell them about God's faithfulness on that day. And that memory will be important in their story, too. Even years from now when everybody's moved on with their lives and have their own events to remember, you'll walk with your kid and they'll ask why that pile of rocks is there.

And you'll tell them about God.
And his faithfulness then.
And how He's faithful now...even if you don't know how your story turns out.

When you look around my office, there are all sort of monuments: A Coke bottle from my grandmother's house I lifted when she passed away because she always gave us a Coke when we sat on her porch to talk. I have souvenir baseballs from Opening Day every year I went with my daughter. I have pieces of wood signed by the kids who built a home in Juarez...one from every house we ever built. I have photos of mission trips...all of them.

They're monuments of special moments, and when I tell you about the hockey puck from Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs where Brett Hull scored an important goal with 4 minutes left and the Stars hung on for dear life in an incredibly loud arena...

...well...

...I hope I get that same fond look in my eye when I tell you about God's faithfulness in the moments in my past.

Because I think that monuments are really only as important as they story they tell, and the reminder of why it's important enough to remember.

And God's handiwork is always worthy of remembrance, and re-telling.

(Tomorrow's Reading: Joshua 6-8)

2011-02-28T08:58:00.003-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 59

What I Read Today: 2 Corinthians 12-13.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: 2 Corinthians 12: 6-10, "For even if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I would be telling the truth, but I refrain from this so that no one may regard me beyond what he sees in me or what he hears from me, even because of the extraordinary character of the revelations. Therefore, so that I would not become arrogant, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to trouble me – so that I would not become arrogant. I asked the Lord three times about this, that it would depart from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with troubles, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong."

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

More than one commentator has made a list of all the negative things Paul has said about himself in 2 Corinthians.

In 11:6 he admits he's just not that good at public speaking (which would've been a big deal in Corinth as philosophers were known by their ability to be an orator and if they were any good, they'd gather large followings and make big cash).
In 11:21 he was seen as a weak leader for a variety of reasons, appearance and natural leadership skills among those.
In 11:23, well, um, he'd had a prison record.
In 11:28-29, he went through periods of self-doubt and internal struggles.
In 12: 8-9, he struggled through a prayer life that didn't seem to be getting any answers.
In 12:10, he'd been insulted by all sorts of people, he'd been in all sorts of trouble, and he'd been through real persecution for his work.
In 12:20, he'd been worried about disappointing people, he'd been afraid of being rejected by them, and he was afraid of what the future held for him.
In 12:21, he was worried that he'd be humiliated in public...especially if he cried in public. He'd also worried that his people wouldn't listen to what he was saying and carry on with their rebellious ways.

I have to admit, I get those pangs of jealousy when looking at some of the gifted church leaders and/or authors in my Tribe. They're having their podcasts downloaded at amazing rates (and I'm one of them doing the downloading) and they're part of those churches that get magazines to write about how influential they are in their communities and they get interviewed by all sorts of media and...

...like anybody else, man, I kinda want to have their giftedness and talents.

They're good public speakers.
They're natural born leaders, with good looks and strong personalities and ability to think well.
They've been to all the right seminaries and Bible colleges. They've lined up with the "who's who" and networked well and get invited to speak at all the right conferences.
They ooze confidence and the ability to project that to others.
They all have stories about amazing answers to prayer and always manage to come out on top.
They get constant praise from people within and outside their congregations.
People are drawn to them and they stay loyal to them.
Every roll of the dice comes up 7 for them.
They get professional accolades for their work.
They have 10-year vision and plan for that and it always seems to work precisely that way for them.
Their churches seem to be on-board with their teaching and they see lots of immediate results.

See, I am a pastor in the Dallas-area. This means that it's a hotbed of ministry talent. You know, like how high-school football in Texas is a hotbed for players who will excel at the next level? Yeah. It's that way in Dallas. So many great churches, all pastored by great people with great gifts and talents.

It reminds me a lot when I watched Bo Jackson play sports when I was in college. For those of you who don't know who he is, well, he was the best athlete in America in the mid-80's. He was a football running back that was bigger and faster than most people on the field and he won the Heisman Trophy. In track and field events, he was Olympic caliber in sprints and any event that involved running, throwing or jumping. In baseball, he wound up being the number one draft pick in all the major leagues.

He went to the same university I did and when my friends and I (avid baseball fans and we'd all played baseball almost all our lives) would watch him play, we'd say things like, "Man, I'd like to step into his body for just one day to see what it's like to be able to hit a ball that far or run that fast or throw a ball that hard." The comparisons were inevitable, because we'd all played and knew where we came up short in the deal.

Same for when I look at the other pastors. They seem to be strong everywhere I'm not. This is why Paul is somebody I can easily relate to. The funny thing is, when Paul was moving up the chain of the Jewish hierarchy my guess is that he'd have never said these things about himself. He likely viewed himself as the ambitious and vicious guy who had the education and the stripes to get to the top.

Now that he's serving Christ, well, he even got a "thorn in the flesh" to remind him of his weakness. Anyone who tells you they know what that was, well, I'm not so convinced a definitive answer is out there.

And, yes. I know I'm not the most skillful speaker. I know I don't have natural leadership gifts. I didn't make all these great choices for my background to make an impressive interview (sure, I have some educational stripes that might get me to the interview, but there's plenty of skeletons that come out of my closet pretty quickly). I'm continually second-guessing myself. I pray about a lot of things that don't seem to have any answers (one I won't tell you about has been going on about 5 years now). My faults are highly visible and my personality is such that people feel free to tell it to me like they see it, sometimes in front of my wife and kids. I've had a lot of disappointments. I fear being rejected. I don't relish difficult situations as a chance to shine. I often think it's just a matter of time before people get tired of my service to them. I'm always doubtful of my own effectiveness in ministry because I simply don't see immediate results.

But, the funny thing is...

...I'm okay with all of that. I've become pretty comfortable in my own skin over the years. It's okay to have all those, because my guess is that the other folks I see in ministry who have all the a-list kinds of things...

...well, God knows they can humbly handle all those blessings and that they'll honor Him through all the good stuff and high times.

Me?

Well, it's probably best God hasn't given me those things. I'd probably let it go to my head anyway.

So, today, I'm thankful for the reality that for some odd reason, God chose me. I'm a bit overweight, of average intelligence and average gifting. I have all the doubts and insecurities most of the folks on the planet have. I have the same fears. Other guys can, and will, hit the home runs.

I'm happy just to be on the team and have the role of a utility player.

(Tomorrow's Reading: Joshua 1-5)

2011-02-27T05:53:00.003-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 58

What I Read Today: 2 Corinthians 10-11.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: 2 Corinthians 10: 7-12, "You are looking at outward appearances. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should reflect on this again: Just as he himself belongs to Christ, so too do we. For if I boast somewhat more about our authority that the Lord gave us for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of doing so. I do not want to seem as though I am trying to terrify you with my letters, because some say, 'His letters are weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is weak and his speech is of no account.' Let such a person consider this: What we say by letters when we are absent, we also are in actions when we are present. For we would not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who recommend themselves. But when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding."

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

I know how I come across to people.

I blame The Clash, The Ramones, Black Flag, Social Distortion, and possibly X. The long hair and tattoos don't really help matters much, either.

I can have a punk-rock edge, that's for sure. If there were some sort of "matching" test where you drew a line from your name to which disciple you most resembled (listed vertically in the right-hand column) my line would move from me to Simon the Zealot. But rest assured, I have my "John the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved" moments. Ask my wife who sees me melt whenever she walks into a room or when I get all sappy at weddings (which is all of them). Ask my daughters who have been doted on since they were in the womb and have every reason to believe my "smitten" factor rises each and every day for them. Ask my students who know that my favorite things on my to-do list involves laughing until I'm crying with them. Ask my dog.

But I get the power of perception. I really do. And the perception would turn out to be part of the problem.

The whole thing started on the last day of school many years ago. You know they have those deals where you go to your kid's elementary school and listen to the kids play "Love Me Do" on their recorders and they sing like crazy and then they all run and hug their teachers and get all sorts of certificates and such? Yeah. They're pretty fun and cute. Us dads promise our daughters we wouldn't miss them for the world because we wouldn't.

I'd promised.

I drug myself out of bed after one of the Top-10 worst ministry nights of my life because I'd promised. More on the Top-10 night later.

It was all I could do to get dressed and walk the half mile (we don't drive to these things because the parking is too much of a hassle because of all the parent promises) to the school. I got there, did the wave where you make sure your kid saw you, got the smile of acknowledgement and grabbed a seat in the back.

A man from my church saw me and asked me if I had a minute to talk. I simply said that I was there for my kid and didn't really have a minute and I just wanted to watch my kid sing. His body language told me he was VERY frustrated by my response and I heard him mutter that it wouldn't take long and that "everybody says you only have time for the people you like." Against better judgment, I told him to relax and give me an overview of the problem.

His overview lasted, literally, the entire length of the program. The gist of it was that his kid wasn't getting a fair shot in his extracurricular thing and he wanted to know how to deal with the leader because his kid was so much better than the other kids who were a part of the thing. He was still going when my kid came up and showed me her certificate and wanted a ride to some pool party some other kid was having. I'd had enough. "Hey, man. Can we continue this later? I've had a long night and I missed my kid's performance. Could we just do this when I get back to the office tomorrow? If you'll call to make an..."

"You're an ass."

Excuse me?

"I'm telling you about a very important thing that's affecting my family and you're going to blow me off because you're tired and your kid wants a ride? So what if she's a few minutes late and I was up all night doing some work, too...so yeah. You're an ass."

Black Flag inspired response coming up: "Yeah. You're right. I guess the family of that kid who committed suicide last night that I baptized last weekend and my own family should take a back seat to whether or not your kid gets more time in the spotlight. Oh yeah. You call me that again and you'll need orthodontic work, I'm sure of it."

Not one of my finer moments. Even if we were the only two that heard it. Even if it made sense at the time in my fleshly way of thinking. I was certainly out of bounds to unload on him.

So...I called him later to apologize for my actions.

He answered and informed me that he'd already talked to my bosses and such. There would be meetings.

There were.

He said some horrible things about me in those meetings. In front of a colleague. Some of them related to my appearance. All questioned my role as a pastor and indicated he'd like me relieved of my job.

He made some harsh accusations. When it was my turn to talk I simply asked him if he'd like to convene the elder board of our church and make the accusations to them. Because, fact of the matter is, if I'm guilty of the things he said, well, I need to be instructed and taught and corrected and restored. I told him that if my elders said those things were true, I'd take a leave of absence. I meant it. But...

...if those things aren't true...

...well, you need to be instructed.

See, like Paul, there was a reality that I didn't want to fight this battle using worldly ways to fight it. Sure, I could've spent my time in the meeting by defending myself against his accusations and even throwing in a few more of my observations about him and his life that would put me in a great light. I could've gone with the eye-for-an-eye deal and come out smelling like a rose if I'd wanted.

Like Paul, I wanted to take my thoughts captive and truly give him a hearing. I meant it. If the things he was saying were true, I wouldn't want a guy like that working for my church, either. But I'd searched myself and didn't agree, so I felt if we'd bring in the proper authorities then we'd get a more objective opinion than either of ours.

Like Paul, I'd hoped he'd looked past outward appearances. (Early records of Paul show him to be below average height, with a sharply crooked nose and even mentions what we call a unibrow--not even kidding) That he'd see my track record over the years of people who don't view me in that light and see that, even though we'd had some tough sledding, the people closest to me over the years know I'd never set out to tear someone down in their walk with Christ.

Like Paul, I wanted his faith to be enlarged because he'd been in my ministry.

Like Paul, I don't want my ministry to be a numbers game where only the outside looks good. I want it to be one that is known for preaching Christ and making disciples, not "comparing themselves with themselves." I want it to be on real stuff. I want my students to have a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Like Paul, I don't want anybody to think I'm in this gig for the money...or the prestige.

But, also like Paul, I'm not afraid to mix it up if people "masquerade as a servant of righteousness." I'll stand my ground against false accusations. But, also like Paul, I'll apologize and try to make peace if I'm out of bounds.

And, let's be honest, shall we? If Paul's resume showed up on a desk to apply for the pastor's job at any church, we wouldn't get too far on the outward appearances, would we? Racial and religious differences in background are there. Former job as a killer of infidels. Arrested...often. Beaten by the religious elite on a couple of occasions. Danger and trouble seem to follow this guy. Currently working as a tentmaker and hadn't worked for any one church in quite a while? Not too sure of many churches where he gets more than a form rejection letter.

Like Paul, I'm glad my church looks past the influences the Clash may have had on me to see the influences Dr. Suess had on me...

...and don't even get me started on how gracious they are in seeing and encouraging the influences Jesus Christ has had on me...

even when I blow it.

Really.

I am.

(Tomorrow's Reading: 2 Corinthians 12-13)

2011-02-26T10:50:00.004-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 57

What I Read Today: 2 Corinthians 8-9.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: 2 Corinthians 8: 9-14, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that you by his poverty could become rich. So here is my opinion on this matter: It is to your advantage, since you made a good start last year both in your giving and your desire to give, to finish what you started, so that just as you wanted to do it eagerly, you can also complete it according to your means. For if the eagerness is present, the gift itself is acceptable according to whatever one has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not say this so there would be relief for others and suffering for you, but as a matter of equality. At the present time, your abundance will meet their need, so that one day their abundance may also meet your need, and thus there may be equality..."

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

I didn't realize that I'd been given a very healthy view of giving to the church...or to missions...or to the building campaign, or whatever. In fact, the Bible church that I was a part of during my formative years was highly focused on being joyful when you were doing. I did, in fact, give joyfully out of my paycheck, first from Green Valley Country Club and later from Cobb's Hoover Square 6 Theaters. I never thought about amounts...just made a mental calculation in my brain of how much was in my bank account and how much I might need in that week and gave whatever seemed to make sense that week. I was glad to be a part of paying the pastors and for the air conditioning and the kids ministry and the various missionaries we supported. It seemed fair, and I had plenty.

In fact, I had to ask my friends in my small group (part of another organization) what they meant during a discussion we were having on giving, exactly what was "tithing." They showed me. Basically it came out to 10% of their paycheck. For some reason, without question, I started deducting 10% from my paycheck.

Eventually, my giving tapered off.

It wasn't fun anymore.

I began to resent it, too. Hence, the tapering off.

It wasn't until later that it came up in college when we talked about giving. Some of us didn't have jobs and others did, so we discussed it. Basically, we researched tithing for a few weeks. I landed back on joyful giving...but I didn't really have any money that was my own to give, but when I had a few extra bucks, I was glad to give the guy that was discipling me a few bucks to take his girlfriend out or treat him to a CD every now and then. It was fun again.

And never thought about again, really. Even when I was a part of a ministry that raised funds from believers to do the work of the ministry, I simply assumed that people were joyfully giving to the work we were doing and happy to be a part of it.

Then I got a job in a denomination that diligently teaches 10% tithing across the board. Interestingly, they wanted me to be seen as more than a youth minister so they asked me to teach an adult Sunday School class...and we were going through this very book/passage.

I didn't know the Molotov cocktail this little question would become: "So, what you're saying is that you don't tithe?"

I answered honestly. I also happened to ask a question along the lines of that if tithing were a part of the spiritual life don't you think that Jesus or Paul would've brought it up? Needless to say, I followed up with my belief that if you were to add up all the giving the Israelites were asked to do (which is far beyond the 10% mentioned in Malachi, the tither's key passage) it would come out to somewhere between 25% and 35% of their income, depending on the amount they made. Lots of festivals and every other year giving for the poor and some other odds and ends would make it that way. Of course, the rant continued with the fact that I think 10% could be limiting...I mean, what if someone was only giving that basic level when they could actually give away 75% joyfully and still be faithful to their other demands and goals? For good measure, I threw in my initial joyful giving story and what tithing did to it.

Obviously, I was excited to enlighten my brothers and sisters in Christ on the research we'd done in college as well as my current understanding I was garnering at seminary.

You got it.

There was a meeting on Monday.

Let's just say that there was a pretty direct line of questioning on all this. This particular denomination took this very seriously. Unfortunately, the pastor hadn't really studied much about it and he was starting to defend his position and we'd have a bit of give and take on the matter. He was starting to get curious. After about an hour of looking up verses and chatting, he actually said, "Well, that does make sense. And, I do think you can back up what you believe. So, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. But the official position of this church is that giving 10% across the board is what will be taught in our pulpits and classrooms. Let's be honest, if you're a mature believer, joyful giving works. But we have to get these baby Christians to give their 10% before they can understand that."

They sent out a letter to all Sunday School teachers and ministry leaders that if they weren't giving 10% they would be asked to step down from their leadership positions.

I didn't like that...so me and another staff person decided we'd start giving cash.

The pastor asked us both why our giving had gone from one level to another in the last month. We told him we were giving in cash because we didn't think it should be monitored. We were having our own little protest.

He informed us we needed to use the cash giving envelopes so they'd have a record for tax purposes. We told him we didn't care about the tax deduction.

They started taking it out of our paycheck.

See where all this went?

Before all this started, I was a happy camper. Now I was back to grudgingly giving...even moreso now that I was being strong-armed.

I even recoiled during my current church's initial building campaign. Thankfully, our staff was like-minded on things like not having thermometers in the auditorium and all those kinds of things. But we hired a church consulting firm to guide us through such a "big-ticket" deal. At their advice (they were the experts and we were paying them, right?) we held a big luncheon with a slide show (back when those were harder to make than they are now) and a big old "Kick Off" way of thinking where people could make their initial donations and such.

Thankfully, our staff was like-minded in our thoughts about that event: We didn't think it was "us." Sure, it was a quality event. Sure, it rallied the troops. Sure, it gave us some nice start-up giving. Make no mistake, this company is good at what they do and certainly did what we asked them to do. But in our review of the event, it still didn't "feel like us." Someone actually asked in the staff meeting if we could just stand up in front of the church, tell them how much we need and what it's going to go to and how we're going to minister to people more effectively because of it and just trust God to bring us what we need? That wasn't me, by the way...but he said what I was thinking.

That became our plan of action. Beyond tithing, I simply don't like anything about giving unless it's presented in a joyful way. this was. We even had people thank us for the approach, even if it took a few months longer than we thought and caused a few changes to building plans/designs along the way. Nothing major...but still.

Yeah.

I know.

My church also uses a course from a well-known Christian money manager who spends 55 minutes of video teaching on the importance of that 10%. I approved that class (back when I was in CE) on the condition that they would send an elder in after that portion of the course to teach what my current church believes about...

...joyful giving.

They did. Still do as far as I know (I'm not in CE anymore). But I was dead serious. I don't care if you spend the first 5 minutes of the video saying that every church doesn't teach this and they need to check with their elders. The 55 minutes of emphasis certainly buries that belief. In fact, I have a former student who works for that very organization writing curriculum. I should call him. Nonetheless, it's nice to work for a church that has a document saying we believe in joyful giving.

But the point is, folks, give joyfully to causes you love and causes you believe in with all your heart and that you want to be a part of. Let's be honest, shall we? Nobody really likes getting a Christmas gift that the giver really didn't want to give, right? And if you joyfully tithe, well, rock on...You have major denominations and big-time radio hosts in your corner. It's all good.

Really.

It is.

Let's just all give to the Lord's work joyfully. Or save your cash, man. Seriously.

(Tomorrow's Reading: 2 Corinthians 10-11)

2011-02-26T10:44:00.004-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 56

What I Read Today: 2 Corinthians 6-7.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: 2 Corinthians 6: 8-13, "...through glory and dishonor, through slander and praise; regarded as impostors, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well-known; as dying and yet – see! – we continue to live; as those who are scourged and yet not executed; as sorrowful, but always rejoicing, as poor, but making many rich, as having nothing, and yet possessing everything. We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart has been opened wide to you. Our affection for you is not restricted, but you are restricted in your affections for us. Now as a fair exchange – I speak as to my children – open wide your hearts to us also."

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

Early in my ministry I was pretty diligent about building relationships with other youth ministers. In particular, one of the guys with the biggest ministries and had been doing it the longest was high on my list to try to glean information from. One particular lunch, I was tired.

He asked why.

I'd told him that kids were over at the house until almost midnight (there wasn't school the next day) playing a Nintendo basketball tournament on a game called Double Dribble.

He was incredulous. "You let you students come to your house? Why? That's a very bad idea. You need a teen-free zone that NEVER needs to be violated."

My turn to be incredulous. I respected this guy's opinion and valued his input. But one of the major drawing cards of our ministry was that the teens were over to our house all the time it seemed. We even had a system. The big bay-window in the front had curtains, and if the curtains were open, the kids could just walk in and hang out unannounced for as long as they wanted. If the curtains were closed, we were having family time. Tracy and I also took almost every single date-night to a high school football game or play or pep rally or even awards banquets where we got invited.

It seemed to me that the gospel was best shared in the context of relationships, and we needed to be at THEIR stuff to do that. They also needed to be involved in our lives and giving them reasons to come over helped them do that.

Our mindset was, to use Paul's words, along the lines of if we opened our hearts to them, they'd open their hearts to us. Then we could most effectively minister to them. The teens might not like what they see, but what they see would be...

...real.

Christ was real at church. He was real at my home. He was real when we had Bible study. He was real when we watched a football game. He was real when we prayed. He was real when we discussed which girl in the group liked which guy in the group. And so it goes.

I look back at all the opened hearts both ways...

They dropped in when we'd been fighting.
They had Nintendo tournaments with Double Dribble, Tecmo Bowl, and Blades of Steel.
They left baby bath bubbles on our front porch when they found out Tracy and I were having a baby.
They purchased a croquet set and one spring played games daily on front lawn.
They came by to sell Krispy Kreme's every Saturday because some group was having a fundraiser.
They brought food to throw on the grill on Friday nights and we'd supply a video.
They discussed dating.
There were Bible studies in our den sometimes 3 nights a week.
There were cheerleader breakfasts.
There were big wins for Alabama or Auburn football games where jumping and dancing were a big part of the celebration.
There was prayer.
There was confrontation, and one night did it get really heated.
There was confession, and boy were there tears that night.
One girl will tell the story about how her first kiss got interrupted because the youth pastor was bringing more burgers out the deck to grill.
One guy practiced his balloon animal making skills on my daughter for his summer job at an amusement park.
And so it went.

My point is that for the Christian life to hum along like it's supposed to, well, it's to be lived out in community. And manalive did we have community in those five years. Our first five years of marriage, man. They moved us from our first apartment to our first home. They came in WAY past visiting hours after the first baby was born at the hospital. They threw a baby shower for the second baby...after she was born because, well, let's just say she came into the world a bit early. And when we left, it hurt. Them and us. Oh, yeah. Through their tears they paid for our moving van.

We opened our hearts to them. Sure. They saw us at our best. They saw us at our worst. Sometimes I wonder if we got more out of the deal than they did.

Nonetheless, I think that's what Paul was after here.

This idea that we'd love each other.

That we wouldn't pretend at the spiritual life...that we'd live it out. That we'd love one another through the muck and the mire. Through the celebrations and all that.

In fact, I heard another favorite youth minister friend say that "when you stop pretending, you'll expose the pretentiousness of others." Truer words have never been spoken.

I don't want to pretend.
I want to do life together.
I want it to be real.
I want to dive deep into people's lives and have them dive into mine.

So, my friend can have his safe haven from his kids if he needs that.

Me, on the other hand, when we moved here we didn't have a big bay-window for them to see about the curtains. So, we simply installed one of those decorative flag poles and when the flag is up, they can come in without knocking and all that jazz. We have a cabinet full of only food and candy and sodas for them...which also expanded to an additional refrigerator out in the garage (they love Pop Ice...who knew?).

And, yes, we have red meat & movie nights.
We have Wii contests with Michael Jackson Experience dancing going on.
We have had full-contact Uno (don't ask).
Just last week, I suspect I interrupted another girl's first kiss. She says I didn't. My suspicions tell me otherwise.
They've watched our "nest" start to "empty."
They've broken a hammock.
They've put a foot through our attic floor into the garage.
They've eaten 117 Pop-Ice's in one afternoon among 6 of them.
There's been Bible study.
Prayer.
Confrontation. Some of it gets heated.
There's been college acceptance letters read in my house before their own parents (yes, we sent them straight home) heard the news.
And so it goes.

We open our hearts and dive into their lives.
They reciprocate.
But we don't pretend.
And they expose our pretentiousness.

And, manalive, is it a beautiful thing. So I know how much it hurt Paul when they were restricted in their response to him...even if I don't experience that all that much.

(Tomorrow's Reading: 2 Corinthians 8-9)

2011-02-26T10:39:00.003-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 55

What I Read Today: 2 Corinthians 4-5.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: 2 Corinthians 4: 1-5, "Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as God has shown us mercy, we do not become discouraged. But we have rejected 3 shameful hidden deeds, not behaving with deceptiveness or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing, among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake."

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

I can tell you when I knew.

See, I'd graduated university and headed off for seminary long before the days of e-mail or Skype or mobile phones. My girlfriend and I had to communicate by letters or photos on the desk or using the hall phone in my dorm since she had another year of college to finish up. 660 miles of distance between us.

Anyway, her parents had given her a trip to Dallas for her birthday after we'd been apart for nearly two months. Back in the day, you could go and wait for your friends or family where the plane unloaded...right there at the gate. She came off the plane and I knew.

I knew that was the girl I wanted to marry.

And I knew this was going to be a "make-or-break" weekend for our relationship. We'd talk about what we thought our marriage would be like...specifically what it would be like to marry a youth minister. I'd known enough youth ministers and their wives to know we should give serious discussion to the demands a ministry puts on a wife and family.

So, we ate dinner at a restaurant atop Dallas' landmark Reunion Tower (it spun around to give you different views of the city) and discussed what we thought that lifestyle would be like.

What we didn't know is that we were pretty much pooling ignorance. The poor girl agreed to a lot of things that weren't reality...

...but make no mistake: If we'd read this section of scripture that night, we'd have been a little more informed, that's for sure.

The first section is from verses 1-4...the pastor's life is living in a fishbowl. We live "out loud" in front of a watching world. All too often, people think this lifestyle is one lived in the spotlight with the whole world applauding your performance. Hardly, kiddos. We've had people watch whether or not we were singing in the service or watching how we interacted together or what movies we came out of. There's a beauty in that, though. Sure, it's pressure. But, if you're on the up-and-up, it's also a joy. It's one of the reasons we have teenagers into our home so much, because they get to see the people they love and the message they give as the same thing. Verses 5-7 remind us that the spotlight is never a reality if you're doing it. Unless that spotlight shines on Christ then it's a colossal waste of time.

The section in verses 8-11 are a reminder that there will be all sorts of circumstances in ministry. Our first home didn't have a dishwasher or central air conditioning (which mattered in Birmingham, AL) and now we have both (which matters in Dallas, TX). We've had times when ministry was easy and it seemed like every kid was growing, followed by times when it was very hard and it seemed like every kid wasn't even close to even an elementary understanding of anything we were talking about. We've had congregations that overworked us and underpaid us and we've had a congregation (our current one) that goes to great lengths to show me love, and after 15 years they are aware of all my warts. There have been times of tremendous joy and deep mourning. The pastor will live life in a community...the good, the bad and the ugly of all of it.

Verses 16-18 are that reminder that even though we're in the midst of all the wins and losses that life with those we love brings our way, we're to view it entirely in a different perspective. This isn't all there is here, man. I still am drawn to that quote I use so frequently from author Douglas Coupland: The only valid viewpoint for any decision is eternity. Manlive is that ever true. Because that whole king coming back thing and eternity and all that jazz is either true or we're all living a lie anyway.

And going into chapter 5, we see that famous verse that we walk by faith and not by sight...and brother, that is another thing about ministry. You can't ever really gauge results by what you're currently seeing. People are good actors, especially at church and double especially around the pastors at their church. You simply go along and preach the message and let the Holy Spirit have His way with people. There's a spiritual world going on that we NEVER see...doesn't make it any less true, though.

Then you get to verses 11-14 and you get another reality of ministry: That you can get discouraged easily if you only look at what people are showing you. In my own experience, I'm not sure that I understood exactly why this particular guy chose me to build into my life in a spiritual sense. I had no idea why he put up with as much immaturity as he did, or as much inconsideration as I gave him, as much stupid-head as I used. One day I asked him. His response was, "Well, for whatever reason, God showed me supernatural possibilities in a very ordinary kid." I've hung my hat on that for almost 23 years.

Why bother? It's simple. The love of Christ compels us in verse 14. When people ask me why I spend all day every day in student ministry, I always ask them why they assume that I have a choice. I mean, I love Christ. I'm unspeakably thankful for the work He did for me, is doing now in me, and will do for me in the future. I love teenagers. It seems like a pretty natural mix...like Reese's chocolate and peanut butter.

Christ came that we might have life, and have life with abundance (again with the resurrection)...and we can't live that life if God is dead. So, He rose again, lives through us now, and it's pretty easy for me to see that chocolate and peanut butter mix that your love for God and them allows you to teach that life as an occupation? Beats my other options (which are two: slim and none), that's for sure.

Lastly, we're ambassadors for Christ. While He isn't with us in the flesh, we can represent Him and tell others about Him.

We'll live in the fishbowl. Not under spotlights.

We'll have ups. We'll have downs.

We won't ever see the same world that other people see and the things they think are important in most cases really aren't important at all. So, we'll feel like odd ducks even among those who love us most.

We'll spend most of our life together making decisions based on things we can't really see...and we'll often be misunderstood by even our own families.

And you'll spend all day every day among people that you love talking about the Person you love most.

It'll be your life.

That's what we should've been talking about as the restaurant was spinning and giving us different views of downtown Dallas. Instead, we talked about paychecks and office hours and whether or not our kids would be able to live near grandparents.

We were young. And it was a wonderful night. Because I knew.

I knew.

Even if we had no idea how great our life would be together...because we undersold the richness of the lifestyle Paul described in these verses.

(Tomorrow's Reading: 2 Corinthians 6-7)

2011-02-23T09:31:00.002-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 54

What I Read Today: 2 Corinthians 2:5--3:18.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: 2 Corinthians 17--3: 6, "For we are not like so many others, hucksters who peddle the word of God for profit, but we are speaking in Christ before God as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God. Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? We don’t need letters of recommendation to you or from you as some other people do, do we? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone, revealing that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on tablets of human hearts. Now we have such confidence in God through Christ. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as if it were coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who made us adequate to be servants of a new covenant not based on the letter but on the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

Random Thoughts About What I Read Today:

College football coach Steve Spurrier left the University of Florida's football team a few years earlier to coach in the National Football League. Spurrier had won the Heisman Trophy when he played for the Gators, and during his coaching tenure the football team had risen to heights never experienced before his arrival as head coach. National championships. Heisman trophies. When they didn't win the national championship they were strong contenders for conference championships. They were dominant.

Which led to Spurrier getting a ton of money to coach professionals. He wasn't nearly as good at coaching millionaires as he was coaching students who would become millionaires.

After that, the head-coaching job at Florida became open as his successor didn't do as well as hoped. Naturally, since Spurrier was looking for a job and Florida needed a coach, it seemed like a lock.

Until the person in charge of the search told Spurrier that he could submit a resume like any other candidate.

Supposedly, Spurrier was highly offended and said something along the lines of, "Walk down the hall from your office and take a look at all those trophies. That's my resume." Spurrier then took a job at a rival school and has done pretty well. He's taken that school, South Carolina, to levels they've never been before and gotten better players than they've ever had before (except for maybe one in their history).

While he might've been somewhat arrogant in his approach, I think he made his point that he was being disrespected asking for a piece of paper to prove his worth to that particular school.

I kind of get where he's coming from, though. I mean, I've been in ministry well over 22 years dealing full-time with other people's teenagers. Trust me when I tell you that parents of teenagers all have an opinion of how I should do my work. Or even if I should be doing my work. In other words, I take a lot of heat in my job.

Now, don't get me wrong. I knew that when I signed on for the job. In case I forget, it happens about once a week...but I won't bore you with specifics.

And it used to bother me a great deal.

But my years in youth ministry have helped me so much with how I view things.

See, when I first started, all I had was this idea that youth ministry, as it was being done at that time, was really a mix of entertainment and legalism and got rewarded for keeping kids out of trouble until such a time as they were "ready for leadership" in the church. What that meant was that you should have positive things to do for kids so they'd stay out of trouble until they went off for college for a couple of years of wilding until they had kids and came back to be deacons at their church. Repeat process.

Well, I had this idea that teenagers weren't the church of the future, they were part of our church NOW. I had this idea that we should be about more serious stuff than lock-ins and ski-trips (even if we did them, we'd do them for a DIFFERENT REASON with measurable goals & objectives) and other positive events that kept kids out of trouble. I had this idea that if you taught grace as the motivation for the spiritual life, you'd help kids grow faster than if you managed their behavior by legalism (even if that would result in more kids making more unwise choices here and htere). I noticed that people who followed Jesus weren't really "safe," but more revolutionary (hence, "dangerous").

So, when I first started, I didn't have much of a track record.

But then, the years started piling up. Those guys from my first small group Bible study became full-time pastors, college ministers, youth ministers and curriculum writers for some nationally known Christian ministries. Others went from being drug addicts to going to rehab and walking with Christ. Some were just good kids who started walking with Christ for the first time. Some were athletes who simply started doing the same things but for entirely different reasons. Those early years were so much fun.

Then even more years. That next group of kids has church planters, youth ministers (and a youth minister's wife), a pastor, a full-time missionary, some loving housewives/moms, and some guys in the business world doing the same things but for entirely different reasons. It was a smaller group but I had more time with them so it was incredibly fun.

In my current position I've had even more years. Pastors. Missionaries galore (something I attribute to our church's support & emphasis on missions). Youth pastors. Working with Christian musicians using their gifts and talents. Serving other churches in ministry. Schoolteachers who are dangerous even within the confines of their curriculum. Seminary grads. Doctors who get where their gifts come from. Mechanics who work with integrity. Housewives who run Sunday School programs. Children's ministers. Parents who served on a mission trip, left their job and now are on the field. It's pretty cool.

They're my "living letters," folks.

Transformed lives.

And I don't do it.

Says right there the Holy Spirit does it. And His agents are all over the place in the form of parents, nursery workers, children's Sunday School teachers, interns and assistants, college ministers, pastors & small group leaders, and on and on and so it goes.

I'm simply one part of the process...where I try to build a foundation with the best materials: gold, silver & precious stones. I plant. Others water. God causes the growth. I didn't miss that day in seminary, folks.

Which is why I've learned to do my ministry for an Unseen Audience of One.

Because when people don't understand the method or necessarily see the results they want to see in their kids or think I'm out of bounds (and yes, in some of those cases I need to be taught and learn and find a better way to serve...or tone it down a bit if needed)...

...God has put me here to His work the way I think He wants me to do it and gives honor to Him.

Believe me, I get the last few verses I highlighted here:

I'm not adequate on my own.
It all comes from God.
I'm a servant in His process.
The New Covenant of grace will cause people to grow...
...not rules or programs or personalities or anything else because they'll kill growth.
Only the Spirit gives life as it was meant to be lived.

That's for sure.

And I think that's the question any search committee should ask, or anyone evaluating a ministry's effectiveness and/or a minister's effectiveness, "Where are the transformed lives?" If you answer that question, well, who needs a resume?

And my "trophy case" lives and walks among you. For good or bad, that's the way it is. Believe me, I truly love my "living letters." You really have no idea how much.

(Tomorrow's Reading: 2 Corinthians 4--5)

2011-02-23T08:42:00.002-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 53

What I Read Today: 2 Corinthians 1:1--2:4.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: 2 Corinthians 1: 3-7, "Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow toward us, so also our comfort through Christ overflows to you. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort that you experience in your patient endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer. And our hope for you is steadfast because we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in our comfort.

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

It's one of those sayings you pick up when you live in the Deep South. I have no idea where I heard it first or who said it or even where it originated...but it stuck in my brain from my childhood:

"You don't look under the bed unless you've hidden there before."

The idea seems obvious to me, but whenever I use the phrase, some folks from outside the South seem to need an explanation. It paints a picture that whenever you accuse someome one of something that isn't necessarily obvious, it's highly likely that you picked up on that nuance because you've done that very thing.

For example, a friend of mine was walking into a fast-food restaurant and noticed a parked car with cracked windows at the far end of the parking lot. Her immediate observation was that those kids were over there smoking pot...and they'd soon be hungry and rolling into the food place to each be getting as much food as possible for as little money as possible. I likley would never have noticed it, but my friend, who had been a part of that kind of behavior in her life "pre-conversion" spotted it right off. She'd hidden under that bed before so she knew to look there.

In my world, I see kids coming to class a little bit--but not too much--late. They grab a chair in the back. They are usually wearing clothes that mimick or represent their favorite musical artists. They might have a piercing or tattoo. They sit in the back rows and are listening intently, with a healthy set of questions they'd like to ask about Jesus and the Bible and the spiritual life and the teacher's personal life but they'll never do it in a public setting.

So, usually, I'm able to stroll up after class and say something like, "Hey, I could tell you have some questions you'd like to ask. I was wondering if you'd like to grab a cup of coffee sometime and maybe get to know me a little bit to see if you want to ask me those questions. Oh, by the way, I really like "Pavement," too." ("Pavement" is a relatively obscure but highly respected indie rock band)

How would I even know how to phrase the question that way?

Because that kid was me when I was his age. I didn't want to deal with the awkward social situations that new kids bring, so I came late on purpose. Sometimes I'd even sit in the car and listen to R.E.M. until 5 minutes after the start time. I could stroll in unnoticed and slide into a seat in the back...even in my "Clash" t-shirt. I didn't know the social codes of conduct of this group of people, so I didn't feel comfortable asking questions, particularly since everyone else seemed to know the answers. Sometimes, I'd even write my questions down on a napkin or the announcements or my hand. And as much as I might've wanted to get to know the teacher, I never would've initiated contact (especially since I didn't know if that was even allowed in this new tribe I was hanging out with).

And that's a lot of what is being talked about in the verses I highlighted today.

See, we've all been through some crud in our lives, haven't we? Miscarriages. Cancer of all shapes and sizes. Flunking out of school. Getting arrested. Losing a business. Divorce. Crushed dreams. Mean people. Car wrecks. Bad injuries. Broken friendships. Goofy family dynamics. Being misunderstood. Drug use. Compulsions and/or addictions. You name it. We all have baggage. It's just different colors and shapes and sizes...but we all have baggage.

And one of the things that is pretty cool about God is that He's hidden under all our beds. And He seems to give us varying degrees of opportunity to talk about that crud we've been through with someone else that is going through that crud. Who better to spend time with a young woman who miscarried than someone who has miscarried? Who better to talk about fighting cancer than someone who has? Wh better to help a kid struggling with grades than someone who wasn't at the top of their class? Who better to minister to someone in jail? Who better to help the businessman that got fired? Who better to help someone going through a divorce? Who better to pick up someone who just lost their big shot? Who better to talk to a middle school girl getting treated badly? Etc. Etc. and on and on, but you get the idea, right?

It's right here in Scripture.

We experience trouble. We go through the muck and the mire and maybe we get a few scars and maybe we win some and lose some and learn to depend on Him a little bit more in the process than we did when the process started. Somehow, someway, we got through it with His help.

It's peculiar how a few months or weeks or months or years after the crud that gave us this baggage shows up right in front of us in the form of someone else who is going through the same crud. We never knew anyone before that had been through what we'd been through and then some one mentions casually how they're in the middle of the crud.

And there we are. All equipped and ready to serve and show God's mercy and love. Because we've hidden under that bed before.

As a quick aside...all too often parents went through this stuff and then HIGHLY overreact to protect their children from going through the same things. Sure, you can save some heartache here and there, but you can't protect them from everything. So, stop trying. Sometimes our kids need to learn to experience God's grace and mercy and love from someone so they can grow in Him. Two quick things: Your hyper helicopter parenting is ultimately WAY more harmful than if they come rolling in drunk one night, giving you the chance to talk about behavior and such while they're under your roof, don't you think? They'll never grow up with you protecting them from anything and everything. God loves them more than you do, anyway, right? So you might want to trust Him more than your own ability to protect & defend, right?

So, today, look at your hurts and crud and baggage...

...and be on the alert for how you can serve others because of the beds you've hidden under.

And don't think for a second that I don't know that this is going to cause you to be open & honest with others as well as yourselves. Because if we take off those masks and be ourselves, well, others will grow.

We will grow.

And that's the point. Trust me, the point isn't to become better at hide-and-seek.

(Tomorrow's Reading: 2 Corinthians 2:5--3:18)

2011-02-21T09:57:00.003-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 52

What I Read Today: 1 Corinthians 15-16.

What Stood Out About What I Read: 1 Corinthians 15: 12-20, "Now if Christ is being preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is futile and your faith is empty. Also, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified against God that he raised Christ from the dead, when in reality he did not raise him, if indeed the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless; you are still in your sins. Furthermore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. For if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than anyone.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

Like most of you, I really enjoyed the movie Dead Poets Society. You know, the one with Robin Williams playing Mr. Keating who gets a lot of private boarding school teenagers to appreciate poetry?

Well, kinda. He actually is trying to teach them about life more than poetry. Remember the initial scene where these boys who were used to a strict & ordered teaching style in their college prep school? Mr. Keating whistles as he takes them outside the classroom and holds his class outside the school trophy case. In it there were pictures of the long history of excellence at the school, including members of the various successful teams from long ago.

Mr. Keating tells the boys about how the students in the pictures were once just like them, with the world in front of them and all the excitement and possibilities that were in front of them.

But now those guys in the pictures are dead.

"Food for worms" is how I think Mr. Keating put it.
"Pushing up daffodils" was another.

And the lesson that day for the boys was Carpe Deim. Right? Seize the day. Make the most of this life because one day you will be food for worms like them. You'll be pushing up daffodils, too. In fact, Mr. Keating told them that if the boys in those photos could speak, they'd whisper to them to do that very thing:

Seize the day.

It all sounds wonderful and inspiring and I do like the sentiment behind it. Live life to the fullest.

But, see, here's where anyone who is really thinking will catch the reality that it's still a sad message.

Let me explain.

Let's say that these boys do, indeed, seize the day. Let's say they string together a whole bunch of seized days. Let's say they string together a long, healthy life of seized days.

Let's say they take full advantage of the education they're given and truly discover beauty and meaning in every single one of their courses and topics and majors. Let's say they drink the finest wines and eat the best foods. Let's say they walk on the most beautiful beaches in the world and explore the best mountaintops. Let's say they love their jobs and find meaning in that. Let's say that they explore the wonders of the most beautiful women in the world and indulge that, and even in that process they find their soul mate, marry them and have the most intimate marriage emotionally & physically & intellectually. Let's say they appreciate the wonder of their children. Let's say they have money to do whatever they want. Let's say it's a life full of the truest possible seizing the days.

At the end of it, well, they're still food for worms.
At the end of it, well, they're still pushing up daisies.
At the end of it, well, all you've got is 24,000 or so seized days.

But what if...

IF...

...Jesus Christ...

...the person that undeniably walked the earth in the Middle East in the first century...

...the one that was crucified in the first half of that century for the crime of claiming to be a king, or King, depending on if you were Roman or Jewish...

...the one who died, really died, in real-time human history...

...really did rise from the dead?

Oh, man.

It would be the most significant occurrence in all of human history that has an awful lot of significant occurrences, right? Because if it did happen, well, that means that Jesus Christ is who He says He is/was and that He is alive now and can live an abundant life through us (talk about seizing days!) and is coming back to do what He said He was going to do (as well as what the Jewish Scriptures say He is going to do).

If he didn't rise from the dead...

...well...

...it says right there: We (Christians) should be the most pitied people on the planet.

It's an all-or-nothing deal, man. And that's a big chasm in-between. We're either supposed to be seizing days to a degree the world has never seen because our King is coming back to seize The Day and we want everyone to fall in love with Him like we have...

...or...

...we're the most pitiful folks to ever walk the earth.

No in-between.

And I'm sure the resurrection of Jesus Christ took place on a certain date in history in the first half of that first century.

So, yes, I think because our King is alive and lives through us, we should be all about living the abundant life He gives before a watching world. It should be full of abundance and whatever that might look like. My suspicion is that might involve a great wine or two along the way, and certainly Blue Bell ice cream...but past that we'll have to individually assert what that looks like. By all means, SEIZE THE FREAKING DAYS so a watching world will want to be a part of what we are, who we are, and Who we follow.

And if that resurrection did indeed take place, my suspicion is that those boys in those photographs Mr. Keating highlighted to his class are involved in something a great deal more horrifying than being...

food for worms...

or far more gruesome than pushing up daffodils.

In fact, if my theology is correct, it involves a great deal of agony and asking for a drop of water on their very tongue.

Because, if I'm wrong, well, pity me for all the days I'm not seizing by your definition of seizing.

But...

...if I'm right...

...well...

...that changes everything.

Every.

Single.

Thing.

(Tomorrow's Reading: 2 Corinthians 1-2:4)

2011-02-20T05:52:00.001-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 51

What I Read Today: 1 Corinthians 14.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: 1 Corinthians 14: 20-25, "Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking. Instead, be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. It is written in the law: “By people with strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, yet not even in this way will they listen to me,” says the Lord. So then, tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. So if the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and unbelievers or uninformed people enter, will they not say that you have lost your minds? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or uninformed person enters, he will be convicted by all, he will be called to account by all. The secrets of his heart are disclosed, and in this way he will fall down with his face to the ground and worship God, declaring, “God is really among you.”

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

In my early ministry, I was working for an organization that partnered with several churches in the area to have an outreach on local high school campuses. This required that I build relationships with the pastors and youth pastors at all these local churches, which was really one of the best parts of the job.

I started my ministry with some dogmatic stances regarding doctrine, and these relationships sharpened me to the point where I could at least understand my friends in ministry and where they were coming from.

This was highlighted when I'd had an event where several teens walked an aisle and "received Christ." I usually just viewed these as a chance to find out where each of these kids were spiritually and was hesitant to tell people they became Christians until I'd spent a few hours with them at McDonald's talking about it. Granted, I worked for a ministry that felt it important to count them as at least a "recommitment" on all our forms.

I was mentioning my struggle with this to the gathering of youth ministers we held once a month. I'd read some statistic that said if you added up all the ministries' in America's reports of salvations, every man, woman and child in the U.S. had been saved 3 times over. Or something like that.

One of my friends said, "It's really not that hard to see if they're really saved. All you have to do is see whether or not they've had the gift of tongues. It's called the Second Blessing. Then you can no for sure. That's why we don't have the problem you have at our Full Gospel church. We know who is saved and who isn't, eventually."

This blew my tiny mind.

Because I wasn't sure he was correct...I mean, how was he ignoring the passage I quoted here? Says right there that the gift of tongues is a sign for unbelievers, right?

We had an excellent discussion around lunch. I mean that. It was curiosity by all of us with more conservative backgrounds and he was well-versed in the doctrine of his church. We asked questions about the nature of revelation, about exactly what tongues was (he had two different "types") and about interpretation and the nature of spiritual growth/life and all that stuff. It was fun to hear from someone who knew their stuff on the matter and see where he was coming from.

At the end, I wasn't swayed. Nor was he. Nor was anyone else at the table. But it was pretty cool to leave in respectful disagreement, knowing that we all loved teens, we all cared about each other, and that we could understand the place everyone was coming from.

But I thought maybe I should pray for the gift of tongues--at least the prayer language he talked about. I mean, if God has something intended for the spiritual life, I want it, right? I don't want to experience less that what God has intended for us.

I'm still waiting on the gift, I suppose.

However, I'm of the opinion that my mind can answer the question as to why I haven't gotten it. I'll spare you the long & drawn out reasoning of where I stand on the issue, is that I believe that the gift of tongues (speaking a known language in which you've never been trained, and interpreted by someone who has never been trained in that language) has ceased AS A NORMATIVE GIFT.

Like many of you, I've heard instances of "tongues" taking place on the mission field by people I deeply respect that are hard to deny given the circumstances that lead me to believe that "tongues" can be used in an instance by people who don't claim to have the gift itself. So, while I think the gift is dormant, I don't deny that God can reveal Himself in this manner on occasion in ways that lead to people coming to Christ.

It's a gift intended for UNBELIEVERS.

The gift of prophecy, on the other hand, is for believers. The revelation of the Word of God is something intended to edify believers and help them mature in their relationship with Him.

No matter where you fall on the "issue" of tongues, it's clear that Paul is downplaying it (my guess is that it was being abused to no end in the Corinthian church, possibly by vocal women, given the context). He asks that if an unbeliever comes in and the ENTIRE CHURCH were speaking in tongues (out of control) the visitor would think everyone had gone nuts. By contrast, if the ENTIRE CHURCH were speaking the Word of God, they'd be likely convicted.

Again the issue is more one of order here. The idea that God is a God of order in the worship service and not to let the gifts, no matter what they are, run amok and unchecked. Paul highlights the use of his mind. Paul highlights the reality that he'd rather speak 5 intelligible words with his mind than 10,000 in a tongue--and this is from a guy who had spoken in tongues and was having the Holy Spirit write Scripture through him!

But on my mind today is the idea of how those outside the faith see us in our corporate gathering. Even when we bicker among ourselves about the nature of our walk with God and what all is a part of that or what is not...

...or whether or not the gifts exist today...

...or whether or not a prayer language exists...

...or whether or not revelation happens in certain ways...

(even though I still have hard and fast opinions on the matter whether or not I'll talk much about them to others)

...I think Paul's point is well taken:

We need to experience God moving among us all through His living and active Word in our ordered worship services. The rest are just details.

(Tomorrow's Reading: 1 Corinthians 15-16)

2011-02-19T08:46:00.003-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 50

What I Read Today: 1 Corinthians 12-13.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: 1 Corinthians 12: 4-7, "Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different results, but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the benefit of all."

And, 1 Corinthians 13: 1-6, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit. Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

The guy that was discipling me asked me what my spiritual gift was. I hemmed and hawed about what it might be, but the bottom line was that I really didn't know. He, rightfully, felt like it'd be good for me to get a better handle on it...and he knew of a tool they used at his office to determine their staff's gifts. He said he'd get me one and to set aside an hour on Saturday to take it.

So, I did.

I broke the seal on the booklet and filled in the bubbles on the questions it asked me. Sure, there are inherent flaws on any self-reporting test like these and this particular test allowed someone else who knew you well to take it making judgments about YOU. Apparently, the deal was that you'd compare notes with how you viewed yourself against how others saw you.

Afterward, you took your bubbles sheet and put this transparent key-sheet over it and it told you how many points to put in each column based on responses and all that. At the end you took your highest point total from each column which corresponded with another sheet that had the gifts and their definitions and their strengths and weaknesses.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my spiritual gift was...

...wait for it...

...Martyrdom.

Oh, yeah. My secondary gift: Celibacy.

So the odds seemed good that I'd die for my faith before I ever had sex. The odds seemed VERY good given that Charles' evaluation of me revealed the same thing.

Evidently, we were both wrong given that I'm still alive a quarter-century later and married (of course, those same things were a reality only 4 years later, too).

But even though I still laugh about the results--especially since I'm not sure that my results are even spiritual gifts--I appreciated the reality that we're supposed to have a gift.

(As an aside, I personally believe that we have one spiritual gift. I know other pastors who think we have something akin to a "gift mix" in which we have two or three that we're using, but that's here nor there, really)

But Scripture is clear: We have at least one gift. That gift is given by the Holy Spirit.

We all have different ministries in which we use that gift, which God places us in. So, for example, I know some touring musicians that have the gift of teaching, several pastors with that gift, and some school teachers with that gift, and yes, some housewives and business folks with that gift. You can imagine the differences in how the gift is employed, but the gift is the same.

And there are different results. So, my musician friends entertain their fans who all laugh and have a good time during the interaction, but you'd be amazed at how all the banter with the crowd results in people learning about the spiritual life. I know a pulpit pastor, a small group pastor and a youth pastor will all have their gift look different and help their various charges grow in their faith. The school teachers teach the spiritual life in an entirely different way, but nonetheless communicate in such a way that their students glean things. Same for moms with their kids or businessmen during the presentation.

But another thing is clear, too: The manifestation of each gift is for everyone's benefit.

See, we all have a role to play in God's economy. And you can usually see them on display on any Sunday morning at any church. Folks with the gift of hospitality can't help but walk around and greet folks and do whatever they can to make people feel comfortable. Teachers and teaching in various classrooms. The encouragers are usually involved in personal conversations, checking up on people, weeping with the weepers and celebrating with the celebrators. Those with service are setting up chairs and making coffee (usually done before everyone else is there) and so it goes.

What's scary is when you decide your gift isn't as valuable as someone else's. When the coffee maker gets irritable because the chair set up got a pat on the back from the pastor and he didn't get so much as a "good morning." Because, yes, some gifts get noticed a lot more than others...particularly those that put you in front of groups.

Which is why Paul puts the importance of love in the mix...no matter what your gift truly is.

And notice that there are positives and negatives in the "love" passage, too. Things love "is" and things love "is not." Also notice that the adjectives are primarily CHOICES, not feelings.

For example, one time a mom was in my office talking to me about their child and I mentioned that the teen told me the mom had a "short fuse" and was "angry" all the time and "yelled" at her. The mom told me that I had no idea what that kid put her through and that those actions were all necessary to "get her point across."

I looked her dead in the eye and asked her if she loved her child. She looked offended and insinuated that it was a stupid question because she never loved another person so much.

I told her I disagreed...that she didn't love her child. Want to send a mom over the edge? Use that counseling technique. She went over the edge, and I proved my point.

You're not patient with her.
You're not kind with her.
You envy her station of life.
You're rude.
You're self-serving.

You get the point, right? Love is a choice. Not a feeling. Install that on all your hard-drives, pronto. Yes. Yes. The feelings will follow the choices. But the sooner you agree to idea that love is a choice the better off we'll all be.

So, no matter what your gift, your to exercise it by choosing to be loving...and that looks 100 different ways.

And there's no test with bubbles that can tell you what your gift is definitively. I'm of the belief that your ministry is a series of observations based on what you think your gift is, your natural abilities, things you're passionate about, things that you love to do, and the experiences you've had that would make you empathize with certain situations.

But there is a test of love...just ask yourself if you're choosing to be all those things.

And one without the other is just noise.

(Tomorrow's Reading: 1 Corinthians 14)

2011-02-18T13:36:00.002-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 49

What I Read Today: 1 Corinthians 11.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26, "For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

I got all into that television show on HBO called "Band of Brothers." For the uninitiated, it's the story of Easy Company. The men of the 506th parachute infantry regiment. The reason they were famous is they were in the invasion of Normandy, faught through Europe, and managed to secure Hitler's Eagle's Nest.

In other words, they were in on all the significant parts of the war.

We follow the story from the company's training days, in which there was a trainer of this elite group named Herbert Sobel (played by Friends actor David Schwimmer). He'd been with the company since basic training and then trained them as they were getting ready for the assignment of their life: D-Day.

The men detested both Sobel and his methods...and Sobel was transferred shortly after the Normandy invasion.

So, the men fight through an awful lot of warfare together and become this "band of brothers" in the 8 months between D-day and drinking Hitler's wine in the Eagle's Nest. They lost a lot of men. They lost a lot of leaders.

And you can imagine the distrust of the Band of Brothers once they discovered that Sobel would be brought back in to the company as the war got closer to the end. There was a significant role the paratroopers were supposed to play in a battle and paratroopers would be needed.

A poignant moment came about when one of the men in the 506th, Dick Winters, had risen in rank to Major, and Sobel rejoined the men at the lesser rank of Captain. He wouldn't look at Winters due to their dislike of one another that went all the way back to basic training. Winters saluted when they made eye-contact.

Sobel looked away and kept walking. Major Winters said, "Captain Sobel."

Sobel stopped and looked at Winters. Major Winters continued, "You salute the rank, not the man." What he meant was that you might not have to like your superior officer, but for this thing to maintain order (and order kept everyone alive, frankly), you salute because it reminds everyone of the order of things.

That's the mindset I think people need to have in reading Chapter 11. So much has been made about the role of women in the church service, and the over-arching idea is that order within the church is to be maintained. So, this, in many ways, is to help with those chain-of-command kinds of issues.

This chapter is fraught with things we don't know about the culture of Corinth as well as the 1st century meanings. What we do know is that the chain of command is laid out very quickly.

Christ is the head of every man.
Man is head of the woman.
God is the head of Christ.

It doesn't say anything about the WORTH of anyone--men or women.

The next is that women are supposed to somehow cover her head while praying/prophesying. Likely some sort of shawl, or possibly the way in which she wore her hair was the "covering." For example, in that culture it is believed that a woman with long hair that wore her hair "loose" was either a sign of mourning or bearing shame of being an adulteress. Likley, what Paul was saying is that it might be confusing to folks in society who'd become Christians or maybe visiting the church assembly to misunderstand what was going on. But make no mistake, the women were assumed to be active participants in worship.

Conversely, the men were to do the OPPOSITE of the Jewish men, and uncover their heads during prayer. Again, this was helping the ORDER of the worship service.

In fact, in verse 11 & 12, Paul makes sure he's not misunderstood in the role of women and men by pointing out that self-centeredness destroys unity within the Body and everyone is subordinate to God.

He then argues that men are distinguishably different from women by their very nature. (And before anyone decides to ask me about long hair on men, I'd encourage you to think that through, because to define "long" you have to use a cultural standard--and a 1st century Corinthian man's hair would've likely been longer than even what we might consider "long" on men in other times/cultures...and you better hope your wife doesn't have a short hairdo)

While it's a shame that this section of Scripture has been twisted to mean all sorts of things it doesn't, here's what it does mean:

Christians should live in unity.
Established order helps us live in unity.
Men and women are equal in essence and both should participate in worship.
Christian men and women should be ordered and respectful so they can have unity.

It's difficult to grasp all the reasoning Paul uses here, but I think it's relatively easy to get the main points.

What's not so difficult is to grasp another area of corporate worship, the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Apparently, what had been going on was that divisiveness had become a problem with the love feast that happened before the supper.

Turns out the rich folks could get off early to take part in the Supper and eaten and had their fill of drink before the poor people had their dinner. The rich people were taking the good seats and places of prominence.

They weren't taking it seriously...they seemed to forget that the purpose was to remember the work of Christ. There supposed to examine themselves...to prepare their hearts. The entire point is to treat their brothers & sisters in love, and be orderly and unified. If they couldn't do it right, it'd be better for them to eat at home before they came to the supper.

Too often we miss the main points in both of these areas: Love each other and choose to serve one another. It really isn't about me here...

...and, like Band of Brothers...

...we may all come from different walks of like with differences in sex, social status, economic status...

...but we have a war to win against our culture...

...and we can't fight unless we salute the rank, not the man. Submit to our God and one another in such a way that we can more truly love one another, even in our public gatherings.

(Tomorrow's Reading: 1 Corinthians 12-13)

2011-02-17T16:44:00.002-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 48

What I Read Today: 1 Corinthians 8-10.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: 1 Corinthians 9: 19-22, "For since I am free from all I can make myself a slave to all, in order to gain even more people. To the Jews I became like a Jew to gain the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) to gain those under the law. To those free from the law I became like one free from the law (though I am not free from God’s law but under the law of Christ) to gain those free from the law. To the weak I became weak in order to gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I may save some."

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

The movie The Matrix had just come out on DVD...and right after Sunday School the person that purchased it invited everyone over to their house for a screening. They were told to grab some food and come on over and the movie would start in about half an hour. The room was pretty excited about it and, even though I wasn't planning on going, I figured they'd all have fun.

Until the next day.

I heard that they DVD was put in the player that the Motion Picture Association rating came up. You know. That green background with the familiar white box that lets you know who the movie's intended audience is. In this case, the letter was "R." For those of you that aren't sure, that's for 17 and over.

One of my students told the host that they wanted to watch the movie but they knew their parents wouldn't approve because their rule was only PG-13 movies until they turned 17. The host, a senior in high school, said to call the parents and check to see if they'd make an exception. The other student said that they weren't going to because the parents were pretty much firm on that rule.

"You can do whatever you want but we're all watching it." This is what I was told happened.

So, the younger student called their parents, who promptly came and picked their child up...and this is how I knew what went on. They called me in the next day. Somehow, I got in trouble.

Another time, we were in a van full of students on the way to a service project. This project is one of our ministry's favorites and they look forward to going...and we'd developed a tradition of listening to a CD that was a compilation of many classic "funk" songs that are pretty much a staple of 70's music that most of the parents of my students had been playing around the house for years. Let's just say that I didn't have to teach any of my students any words to "Roller Coaster" or "Brick House." They were already very familiar with them. And they were belting them out and having a great time!

Until...

...one of my students sitting very close to the front whispered in my ear to ask if she could change the CD.

I asked her if we could wait til this particular one was over and we'd be happy to put hers in next. She told me that I didn't understand. She explained that she had a conviction...

...a CONVICTION!...

...that she shouldn't listen to music that wasn't performed by Christians. Even more specifically, she felt that she should only listen to music on Christian record labels. She only wanted her money going to businesses that endorsed Christians.

I knew it wasn't going to go over well.
I knew that there was going to have to be a "teachable moment" for the other 13 passengers in the van.

So, mid-song, I ejected the CD. Put on another one that was a mix of some songs by Christian artists who worked only for Christian record labels.

It didn't go over well. Apparently, I needed a lecture on fun and the group's tradition.
I was rehearsing my "teachable moment" lecture, too.

So, yeah.

In both instances, the unpopular move was the right move.
In both instances, I had to teach the issue of personal freedom vs. the most loving choice.

I still have plenty of instances where that has to be invoked. Such is the life when you teach the importance of grace and freedom in the Spirit...it always has to be run through the filter of the Law of Love. Sometimes, the most loving thing that can be done is to joyfully choose to limit your freedom for the benefit of the other person.

I'll freely admit that often there are times when it gets blown up. Mistakes are made. But I'll take the mistakes of grace over the poison of legalism if those are my choices. We can always have/give those teachable moments.

So, when I had a chance to pull my 18-year-old seniors aside to talk about this very thing...that, yes, they were free in the spirit to watch The Matrix. But instead of watching what they wanted to watch, couldn't they have chosen one of the other 79 movies on their shelf and made sure that everybody had a chance to hang out? Sure, there were 24 other people who wanted to, but the most loving thing was to include everyone, right? I did.

So, when I got to the camp, I pulled the other 13 passengers in the van aside at various times and said...yes, it is "tradition" and they are certainly free in the spirit to enjoy the funk party, but instead couldn't they be supportive of their friend's very CONVICTION even if they thought it was silly and inconsistent and all the other things and made her feel like she was the most important person in the world and that she mattered to them?

That's the very crux of this portion of Scripture.

In the case of the Corinthian church, they were buying cheap cuts of meat from the markets that were selling meat that had been sacrificed to various gods in the greater Corinth area. You could get good deals, right? You could have more folks over and enjoy fellowship, right? Besides, we all know these idols are just cut-out sticks of wood so since they're sacrificing to nothing, what's the harm in getting a sweet deal on groceries? I get it. I'd have been all over it. Meat offered to a stick of wood that has no power outside of being a stick? Good. Saving money? Good. Done.

But, wait!

What if someone had come to Christ who had previously taken that very stick of wood to be their very God? What if they knew it was from the market and that it had been offered as a sacrifice to the very God that had caused them so much pain and Christ had freed them from? All of a sudden, wouldn't saving a few pennies here and there pale in comparison to having your guest be able to enjoy the meal with you? This way they get all of the enjoyment and none of the guilt or bad feelings don't get stirred up.

Yes. I know. A buck's a buck. Yes I know. They should come to realize that their old God is really not even a god. Just a stick carved by some guy. But they don't realize that yet. There's still stuff attached to their past. Maybe they will at some point in the future. But right now, they're still trying to figure out. And, Paul's point is that a few pennies aren't even worth the risk.

He even uses his own freedom as an example. He says he's an apostle with all the rights contained therein. This would include getting paid. However, given the reality that in Corinth lots of teachers made big bucks coming to town and garnering followings, he chose to work for his pay and preach the Gospel on his own time. This way no one could accuse him of doing it for the money like the other itinerant philosophers. Nope. He willingly denied something that he could legitimately be entitled to do so that he would in no way hinder the message he was trying to teach. He loved people so much...

...people he didn't even know...

...that he'd deny himself a paycheck and work outside the church to make that happen.

That's love.

He chose to be weak even though he didn't have to. He wanted to fight to win. No second place was good enough. All to tell people about Jesus, which is a fight where second place has eternal consequences. What's a paycheck compared to that?

For good measure, he reminded the folks of Israel's long history with idols and the dangers they fell into. Paul really didn't want those that had come to Christ to fall under the same spell...and it's always good to remember that your people have struggled with that very thing, too.

So, the application is pretty straightforward as I see it: Are there any areas of my life in which I'm exercising my own freedom at the expense of others? Where is that balance because sometimes those very boundaries can be taken to extremes? But the greater question is, am I following the Law of Love?

(Tomorrow's Reading: 1 Corinthians 11)

2011-02-17T12:10:00.002-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 47

What I Read Today: 1 Corinthians 7.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: 1 Corinthians 7: 3, "A husband should give to his wife her sexual rights, and likewise a wife to her husband.”

And 1 Corinthians 7: 17-24, "Nevertheless, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each person, so must he live. I give this sort of direction in all the churches. Was anyone called after he had been circumcised? He should not try to undo his circumcision. Was anyone called who is uncircumcised? He should not get circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Instead, keeping God’s commandments is what counts. Let each one remain in that situation in life in which he was called. Were you called as a slave? Do not worry about it. But if indeed you are able to be free, make the most of the opportunity. For the one who was called in the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. In the same way, the one who was called as a free person is Christ’s slave. You were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men. In whatever situation someone was called, brothers and sisters, let him remain in it with God."

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

My friend had been married about 3 months. His good friend got married about a week before he did. He called and wanted to talk...he was worried about the state of his marriage.

I asked him why he thought his marriage was off to a rough start. I mean, we'd already covered the bases of them not fighting much (if at all), they were having long talks on walks most nights, they'd been out on several dates, and, frankly, they seemed to me like they were ahead of the curve that most newlyweds go through when they start life together.

He leaned forward and told me in a low voice, "I don't think we're having enough sex." Since this is always awkward, I asked generic questions to which he responded that she was happy and he was happy and that their times together were very enjoyable.

"What's the problem, then?"

"It's not as much as Jim & Jane. They're having almost twice as much sex as we are and they've been married as long as we have. This can't be good." I spent some time talking about how comparison is never good, how it leads to pride or envy, and my guess was that he was envious and Jim was now prideful since they'd compared notes. My advice went along the lines of the reality that since he was happy and she was happy with both frequency and experience to stop talking to anyone about both of those things.

That conversation was kind of cute, but in my role as pastor, I hear about a lot of those things from guys who have generally been married much longer. And, often, those conversations aren't cute at all. I realize there are a lot of dynamics at play in any relationship, so before you write any hate-mail about how I don't understand your particular situation, just remember that this is a general rule:

Meet each other's needs in this area, spouses. Just re-read verse 3. I don't see any loopholes or exceptions here, folks. No excuses. And that's all I have to say about that.

But the bigger picture of this passage kind of ties in with that very idea of comparison. We all have a tendency to think that other people have it better than we have it.

Maybe we're married and maybe we see that group of college fraternity guys driving around in the convertible and think they've got life so good. Maybe we're looking at our friends' marriage and thinking they've got the perfect relationship. Maybe we're single and thinking that those folks that are married have got the life and kids that we always wanted and never got. Maybe it's that somebody else has the good job and we wish we got the promotion. Maybe it's looking at somebody else's kids and thinking how little trouble they must be compared to our own. Maybe it's somebody else's really cool job. It could be anything, really.

And, like I said earlier, we tend to compare. Again, whenever you compare, you ultimately lose.

The peculiar thing is that even if we can do the reverse, too. We can think our marriage is great, so everybody should be married. For example, I have a former female student who is living a great life. She travels a good deal. She has a job in a great city. She loves to go dancing all night with her friends. She's taken jobs in foreign countries simply because it sounded fun. She's enjoying her life and doesn't seems to be enjoying the opportunities that her lifestyle affords.

I know some single guys in a similar boat.

And I know some young married couples who enjoy the life they have without kids in the picture yet.

And I can't tell you how often I hear people talking about how they can't wait to try and fix her up with the perfect guy they know.

Or they have just the girl who will help the guy mature and be all he can be.

Or they ask the married couple when they're going to settle down and start that family (which will give their friends those grandkids they'd been wanting).

Which, in my way of thinking, runs somewhat contrary to what you read in this chapter...the words of verse 17, we should all be concentrating on serving Him no matter what your current condition happens to be.

If you're married, be married well. Enjoy the relationship to the full.

If you're unmarried, there are advantages to that.

If you're a slave...

If you're a free man...

If you're a virgin...

And so it goes.

Each situation has advantages. Each situation has disadvantages. And no matter what your situation, honor God in that situation and in that time. No one situation is intrinsically "better" than another.

Sometimes it's helpful to remember that...

...because when we compare, we lose. No matter what.

(Tomorrow's Reading: 1 Corinthians 8-10)

2011-02-17T10:44:00.004-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 46

What I Read Today: I Corinthians 5-6.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: 1 Corinthians 5: 9-11, "I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. In no way did I mean the immoral people of this world, or the greedy and swindlers and idolaters, since you would then have to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who calls himself a Christian who is sexually immoral, or greedy, or an idolater, or verbally abusive, or a drunkard, or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person."

And, 1 Corinthians 6: 9-11, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God. Some of you once lived this way. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

I was fresh off my state-school football-factory campus. I'd finished my undergraduate work and a few days later I was headed off to seminary. Most of my college life was living in the fraternity house, and there were all types of shenanigans that went on during my three years of residency in that house (I'm using the word "shenanigans" as a polite word for "sin").

Now, I'd been on my high school campus and there were some milder forms of shenanigans in that world. So, even though I had become active in the student ministry at my church, I was not shielded from the shenanigans.

So, my most meaningful friendships were with people who enjoyed wine (often to excess), women (often to excess) and song (often to excess). Never a dull moment. Easily likeable people who I have lots of fond memories with (it wasn't all wine, women and song...that was generally limited to Thursday at around 9PM until Sunday morning around 4AM--so the majority was pretty normal life together). And they were interesting people, too. In the prime of life. With big hopes and dreams and plans. I liked them. No. Truth be told. I loved those guys.

I was always around and in the mix, even if my beliefs were markedly different.

So, when I drove to seminary and was in another dorm-style life set-up. A bunch of single guys and I had high expectations of deep friendships with interesting and fun people to spend my grad school years with.

Not so much.

In fact, there were really only two guys that were interesting and fun. One was a skateboarder from California who had just graduated from university and the other was from Canada and he was a free-spirit, too. Granted, it was grad school so everybody was a little older and a little more mature, but still. So, me and the Canadian and the Californian hung out.

And we met George.

George had been to a private, evangelical school where he attended kindergarten, elementary school, middle school and high school. From there, he attended one of the most conservative Bible colleges in America, known for even teaching their students to refer to God in prayer with "Thee" and "Thou." For the better part of his 22 years of age he was in formal education with nothing but Christians.

And, here he was at a conservative, private seminary.

He noticed that me and the Californian and the Canadian were often headed out to movies or to play basketball at the park across the street or even some nights to just hit some Dallas restaurants and night clubs. We were single. It was just fun.

One particular Friday night we were headed out to whatever particular nightclub was big with young singles at that time. George asked if he could come with us. I think he viewed it as a field trip of sorts. We certainly felt like we were taking him on one.

And it was ON that night in Dallas.

The band was loud and heavy and good.
I saw a drug deal go down in the bathroom.
The ladies were pretty and the beverages were cold.

A good time was had by the Alabamian and the Canadian and the Californian.

When we got back into the car, we asked George what he thought of the first time he'd ever used his ID to get into anywhere.

"I can't believe how many people smoked," was his answer.

We were stunned.

We expected him to be shocked by the lifestyle of the unsaved. We didn't know he wouldn't be able to even get past the least concerning of the behaviors to see the others.

And that "Christian bubble" exists, man. In spades. My Tribe tends to distance from that stuff. Granted, in many cases, family folks don't participate in all that night life, but we do it in other ways. We fear the influences of culture on our kids, so we hover over them like helicopters.

We judge the behavior of people who don't follow Christ on our mores...and that isn't fair. We judge their lives as somehow inferior and worthy of our scorn.

We tend to hyper-involve ourselves in our own safe little Christian bubble and we're at church so often and involed in church stuff so much that we no longer have any contact with non-believers.

And Paul was pretty stern about the Christian bubble in this section. In verse 9, he makes a point to say that, in his last letter, he didn't want them to associate with immoral people. They took that to mean avoid them at all costs.

So, here he clarifies it. He said to avoid the world is a bad thing in verse 10. he assumed that you'd be out and about in the world. Not necessarily hitting the hot spots of your hometown, but surely at the PTA meetings, or at the soccer fields (anyone ever asked why we have sports programs for Christian kids only? Ugh), in the office or even in our social groups. We were never supposed to have this bubble--which South Park once portrayed some Christian kids who came to public school in an extra large hamster ball (really funny, BTW)--because Christ Himself was out and about most of the time.

Nope.

You were supposed to avoid the "so-called" brother who was engaged in that behavior. There was a church discipline set aside for that person who was engaged in openly sinful behavior without any real desire to change. The idea is that you would remove them from fellowship until they'd been restored.

As an aside, chapter 6 verse 9, these verses are often interpreted to mean that those who practice these things aren't saved. Granted it's a tough passage with a lot of differing views, but one thing that the passage seems to say is the idea of an inheritance within that Kingdom. You are still a son even if your inheritance is less. The issue of eternal security and rewards certainly fit this interpretation...and Paul taught in other places that there would be varying degrees of inheritance among believers, too.

And, given the context, Paul even points out that they WERE like this in the past and certainly understood that the Corinthian behaviors weren't expected to be the norm in their church. They'd been set apart in their salvation.

I'll be talking more about this in the next couple of entries, but Paul is stressing that you have to make wise choices given that all the things God has given us are certainly good, but can be misused.

But what I'm thinking of by way of application today is two-fold:

First, are there areas of our lives in which we are in the "Christian bubble" and what steps can we take to avoid this? Do I even have any non-Christian friends that I enjoy spending time with who aren't "evangelistic targets?"

Second, are there areas of sin in our camp where we judge outsiders more harshly than those inside our camp? What attitudes do I hold toward both with regard to sin that might need to be modified?

Heavy, hard stuff today, that's for sure.

(Tomorrow's reading: 1 Corinthians 7)

2011-02-14T09:32:00.002-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 45

What I Read Today: 1 Corinthians 2-4.

What Stood Out About What I Read: 1 Corinthians 2: 14-16, "The unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is understood by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? But we have the mind of Christ."

And, 1 Corinthians 3: 8-13, "The one who plants and the one who waters work as one, but each will receive his reward according to his work. We are coworkers belonging to God. You are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master-builder I laid a foundation, but someone else builds on it. And each one must be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than what is being laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, each builder’s work will be plainly seen, for the Day will make it clear, because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test what kind of work each has done."

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

Yesterday was a peculiar day for me as I went through my normal pastor-type life at church. Since our church was emphasizing our missions program the schedule allowed me to take a break from my normal teaching routine and spend more time talking with people. Several people took the time to give me words of encouragement which did indeed encourage me for sure...but the reasons they were giving me the encouragement simply seems peculiar to me. More on that later.

It all started with a parent who stopped me to tell me how neat it was that a former student of mine who had gone all the way through our student ministry from middle school all the way up was a full-time missionary now and coming back to teach both the middle and high school from his experiences. The parent was right, it was really cool to see that. But the compliment felt peculiar.

Then, most people didn't know that we had to make MAJOR changes in our Sunday morning programming on Friday afternoon due to the reality that our keynote speaker had a family emergency. So, we brainstormed and decided to let our congregation hear from folks in our church who had their lives impacted by missions. Someone pointed out that three of the four speakers had been significantly impacted by their involvement on the student mission trips. The person pointed out that not only were those people impacted but also the shape of our mission program as students led the way to Europe--and many folks had been so encouraged by that trip that lots of adults got involved in full-time missions or service on our church's board or even been on short-term trips because of the student ministry focus on missions. But the encouragement felt peculiar.

My next stop was a class for people wanting to know more about our church. I introduced myself and gave a brief overview of what it is that I do. The leaders of the class pointed out that a lot of our students had gone on to be pastors or youth ministers or missionaries and asked me if I knew how many had done so in my 14+ years at CBC...and a quick flip through my brain Rolodex guesstimated about 25-30. I did some thinking about it later and that was close enough for government work. But the raving by the class leader about our "success" felt peculiar.

Then watching my former student teach my class and talk about all the things God had taught him along the way about missions and following Him, a parent who visited said, "It's amazing the work God has done in him, isn't it? You did well by building into him so much." Again, peculiar.

We tried something different for us at our night-time missions event, and it is something that is VERY normal for our student ministry but the adults had never really done anything like it. We were concerned it might alienate our older members, but we wanted to try something new. The people who came up afterward told me what a great job I did in hiring the guy who designed and led the night and what a great time they had. Again, felt peculiar.

Finally, as I was leaving, a parent came up and thanked me for being willing to spend some time with their child who was having some trouble. Nothing big, just needed some encouragement. He said a lot of nice things about why they trusted me to serve their kid for a few hours but, again, it felt peculiar.

Make no mistake: I was extremely encouraged by the conversations. Some people never get those types of pats on the back for their work. It made for a nice day and made me feel loved and appreciated. All good things.

But the peculiarity came from the reality that it isn't really me doing the work.

See, if I read these verses correctly, I'm more or less a seed planter. My job is to put the "seed" of God's Word into the soil. Other people come along and water, and ultimately God causes the growth. Plain and simple. So, it kind of feels peculiar to be getting some sort of credit when, in my view, I had very little to do with whatever results the encouragers were patting me on the back for!

And, much of the way that I view my work comes from these passages. Take, for example, the first quote I highlighted from chapter 2. It says the spiritual person is the person who appraises all things with the mind of Christ. See, like I said yesterday, this letter is written to teach followers of Christ how to live in the Zombieland of walking dead in our culture.

So, I don't spend much time teaching kids what movies, music or TV to avoid so they won't get exposed to the horrors of this world's temptations. See, I've heard Christians use this phrase "garbage-in, garbage-out" to keep young people from watching shows or reading books or whatever else they fear. In fact, I'd suggest that this way of thinking is what has created the "Christian/Secular" divide that evangelicals strangely embrace.

You know what I'm talking about, right? This idea that Christian music is good and secular music is bad. Same for movies and whatever else pop culture throws at them. Well, I don't believe in that. To me, it's all music. Or movies. Or books. Or commercials. Or whatever else creates culture.

But "garbage-in, garbage out" is a computer programming term that basically means that if you put garbage into writing the code, you'll get a garbage code and ultimately a garbage program. But a computer isn't the human mind. The properly trained brain can take a look at any cultural deal and determine it's worth against Scripture. So, you can watch a show with a distinctly different worldview and analyze it against the truth of Scripture.

Same for a Christian book. There's plenty of bad theology in books you buy at a Christian bookstore. It's still garbage if it isn't truth even if you buy it in a retail establishment that has a cross on the door.

It says right here that a mature person appraises all things through Scripture's lens. It doesn't say that a mature person avoids culture and runs and hides from it. In fact, that very thing will lead to fear and stunt growth.

Which is why we build with the foundation of gold, silver and precious stones of God's word...

...based in grace, not in fear.

Because we believe that if we teach truth so fervently that our students will learn to discern what is wise and unwise as well as what sin is and what is permissible over the course of time. We set that bar very high, because we believe that teens are part of the church now and not some arbitrary time in the future when they assume leadership positions.

Sure, there'll be some trial and error when the kids walk around with shoelaces untied. Sometimes they'll choose poorly. Sometimes they'll surprise us with their wisdom.

But we won't build on the flammable materials of wood, hay and straw that legalism demands. We won't strive to manage behavior or keep kids in line by drawing it all out for them and arranging their lives so that they never make mistakes. Nope.

See, we'll be judged on our labor. Says so right there in 3:8. Not results.

So, we build on the truth. And make no mistake, kids. I get the importance and the gravity of it all. Says so right there in 3: 16-17. If I destroy them, well, things go very poorly for me at the end of it all. I'll be judged, that's for sure. But not by people. See 4:3.

So, while I'm glad I had so many people talk about the results of what they've seen in my ministry lately...

...well...

...I think I know too much.

Because it's God that has done that.

I'm simply a servant picking out materials to build with and hammering them together as best I can. Nothing more. Nothing less.

And it's peculiar to get pats on the back for what God has done...

...but I'm thankful He seems to be doing a lot in my students, in my church, and in their ministries, that's for sure.

(Tomorrow's Reading: 1 Corinthians 5-6)

2011-02-13T05:56:00.002-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 44

What I Read Today: 1 Corinthians 1.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: 1 Corinthians 1: 4-12, "I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus. For you were made rich in every way in him, in all your speech and in every kind of knowledge just as the testimony about Christ has been confirmed among you – so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ our Lord. I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree together, to end your divisions, and to be united by the same mind and purpose. For members of Chloe’s household have made it clear to me, my brothers and sisters, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each of you is saying, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” or “I am with Cephas,” or “I am with Christ."

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

There's this pivotal scene in the movie "The Sixth Sense" where a psychologist, Dr. Malcom Crowe (played by Bruce Willis) is dealing with a deeply disturbed little boy, Cole Sear (played by Haley Joel Osment).

The boy has a secret, which he doesn't want to tell anyone.

Dr. Crowe tries to develop a repore with the boy and eventually does get him to spill the beans. The scene is dark and slow and methodical, but finally, the boy tells his secret in the now-famous slow whisper:

"I see dead people."

Dr. Crowe asks for clarification: In your dreams while you sleep? In graves?

"Walking around like regular people. They don't see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don't know they're dead...they're everywhere." Same slow, clearly enunciated whisper. Creepy and amazing scene all at the same time.

This scene, and Cole's words in particular, kind of give an overview of 1 Corinthians. See, the theme of the letter (which is actually not 1 Corinthians at all, but rather Paul sent the "former letter" and then the church in Corinth sent a reply. This letter is the reply to that reply. So, in a sense, it's 2nd Corinthians--we just don't have the first letter or the reply) is how is it that the church stays distinct when the culture around it is influencing it.

In other words, how do we live among the dead?

They're everywhere.
They only see what they want to see.
They don't even know they're dead.

Yet, they continually influence the church.

Which is why I love it when Paul refers to believers as those "sanctified" in Christ. The literal translation of sanctified is "set apart." This implies that we're unique. Not status-quo kind of folks. There's the way things are and then there's "us." Not only have we been set apart from something, but we've been set apart "to" something.

In this case, take a look at our uniqueness starting in verse 4:
We've been given grace (unmerited favor AND divine enablement. Sometimes we leave off the positive part of the word when we talk about it...which is sad, because it's the active part of our faith) in Christ.

We've made rich in Him in every way...

...in our speech.
...and in our knowledge.

We don't lack ANY spiritual gift in and among us. That doesn't mean that any one person has them all, but rather in whatever body of believers we associate with there will be adequate gifts for the specific needs of that body.

We will be strengthened as needed so that we will be blameless before Him.

We have the faithfulness of God to hold up His end of the bargain. And the cherry on top is that we have fellowship with Jesus Christ Himself.

That's really set apart, man.

Dead people don't have gifts. Dead people don't have riches. They can't know anything. They can't say anything. They haven't received Christ. They haven't experienced His grace. They don't know the faithfulness of God and they aren't in fellowship with anything or anybody.

They're dead. They're everywhere. And they don't even know it.

And we're not them.

Paul's argument is that since we're not them, why do we act like them? See, in their culture, philosophers were kind of like rock stars. The polished orators would come to town and spew their belief system and then garner a following...which, in turn, would allow these teachers the opportunity to make a living off their "schools."

Naturally, the more famous the teacher, the larger the following and the more intense the factions would be that would gather around them. So, you had people all over town saying, "I follow Great Teacher A!" Others would follow "Great Teacher B" and that would create a rivalry in and among all the teachers in town.

And this behavior then came into the church. See, you have Paul, a former member on the fast-track to the Supreme Court who was likely seen as a blood-thirsty ruffian because the job they gave him was to kill Christians. This requires a certain type of personality--that'd be my guess, anyway.

Then you have Apollos...a highly educated, articulate, gifted orator with a rock-star personality. Not the kind of guy you'd put in the field killing people, but rather the kind of guy you'd put in a pulpit

Then you have the out of town guy with a reputation for strong leadership, Peter. This is somebody who might not've been formally educated, but he'd learned first-hand about Christ. No one else except maybe John saw the things Peter saw, experienced the things Peter did or had the direct commissioning of Christ himself. He'd garner a following as well.

The problem came when the "living" started acting like the "dead." They began to view themselves as superior and condescending when they'd align themselves with the various leaders that appealed to them. Maybe Paul garnered the outlaws and those alienated from their Jewish faith and those that had no background in Judaism. Maybe Apollos grabbed the populace that was very well educated and connected in society--the white collar folks. Then maybe Peter gathered the Average Joe...the blue-collar pragmatists that called things as they saw them.

And you could see the factions making their points as to why their guy was better or why the other guy was worse. The positives and negatives would fly back and forth and then all of a sudden nobody likes each other anymore and the church is no different than the world's way of doing business.

Paul chose to address those that made him popular...by telling them to stop. In fact, while he founded the church he didn't baptize many believers there (for those that say baptism is essential for salvation, good luck with this passage. If it was, Paul certainly would've baptized a lot more than a couple of people, right? It would seem logical that the founder of the church would've been a baptizing machine if it was required for salvation.). He tells them that he came to preach and teach the Gospel, not be a polished orator. He ran with the non-traditional and spoke their language.

The people were paying attention to the superficial and the popular...not the substance. And this is something I can relate to. It's interesting to me how many people simply focus on hair and tattoos rather than my qualifications (both educationally and scriptural) to be a pastor, the substance of my teaching over 22 years or my love of students.

Anyway, Paul closes the chapter with the difference between the message of the Cross against the message of the world. The message of followers of Christ is the Cross, which seems foolish to the world. So, here Paul is making a firm statement: The wisdom of Christ is actually HIGHER than the wisdom of the world when it comes to THEOLOGICAL issues. The way the world works, the view of God, all that stuff.

Paul's point, is that God's Word is the highest reality, even if the world sees it as foolishness. Keep in mind that some of the greatest philosophies that are still studied in universities were coming of age in that culture: Stoicism, Epicurians, Sophists, Plato. It was all there. And now Paul is placing the Word of God above those. Wow. Pretty bold statement all around, don't you think?

The Cross is a stumbling block to the Jews because they didn't see how a Messiah could end up on the cross. They were all looking for signs of the Messiah and the Cross just didn't compute.

The Greeks were always looking for wisdom and a well-articulated argument. How could an executed criminal have any respect in that sense?

So, in this case, the "foolishness" of God is the highest wisdom on the planet. Pretty bold statement, don't you think?

Why would God do it this way? Because God wanted to glorify Himself through us. So, if man could do it or achieve it, well, how good can it really be?

And that's the application the way I see it: Do we see God's Word and the philosophy of life that it sets forth as better than the world it contrasts with? Because if we really believe that, well, there's an awful lot of living among the dead we should be about.

Because the dead are out there.
And they don't know they're dead.
They're everywhere.

And we have the solution...
...because we're gifted and have everything we need...
...and we're set apart.

Because our foolishness is life-giving.

(Tomorrow's Reading: 1 Corinthians 2-4)

2011-02-12T09:05:00.002-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 43

What I Read Today: Psalms 79-84.

What Stood Out About What I Read: Psalm 81: 1-4, " Shout for joy to God, our source of strength! Shout out to the God of Jacob! Sing a song and play the tambourine, the pleasant sounding harp, and the ten-stringed instrument! Sound the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon, and on the day of the full moon when our festival begins. For observing the festival is a requirement for Israel; it is an ordinance given by the God of Jacob."

and Psalm 81: 11-13, "But my people did not obey me; Israel did not submit to me. I gave them over to their stubborn desires; they did what seemed right to them. If only my people would obey me! If only Israel would keep my commands!"

Random Thoughts About What I Read Today:

I'm thinking of two songs today. The first one harkens back to the days when I was 16 and riding around with my buddies. Generally, they hated the stuff I normally listened to (the punk stuff) so when we rode around with the windows down we popped in a tape of the typical common ground of 16-year-old guys riding around with the windows down: Led Zeppelin.

Oh, sure, we argued about which Led Zeppelin tape would get priority, so we made a mix tape of our favorite songs. Granted the first few songs were ones everybody liked, like "Whole Lotta Love" and "Rock and Roll." But we threw everyone a curveball by keeping "Stairway to Heaven" off the tape (it was overplayed even by 1981)...and one song we all loved that not many people did: "Celebration Day."

If you have it, listen to it now. It'll help.

But here are some of the lyrics:

"Her face is cracked from smiling,
all the fears that she's been hiding,
And it seems pretty soon
everybody's gonna know.
And her voice is sore from shouting,
cheering winners who are losing,
And she worries if their days are few
and soon they'll have to go.

My, my, my, I'm so happy, I'm gonna join the band,
We are gonna dance and sing in celebration,
We are in the promised land.

Now, you have to remember that we weren't aware that the song was somewhat ironic in that it's about race relations in America in the early '70's...and how the cost would be more than you thought and how when you got to the "promised land" (a brilliant reference to MLK) it wouldn't be exactly what you thought.

Nope. We just full-throttled the chorus like the happiest people in the world. We might've been. My, my, my we were so happy! We were going to sing and dance in celebration. We're in the promised land! Yep. Driving around with the windows down in suburban Alabama, blissfully ignorant of the meaning of the song, and if you've ever heard the song...
...well...
...Jimmy Page's furious guitar work throughout (sounds like he's playing 3 different parts at once)
...John Henry Bonham's thundering drums
...John Paul Jones' bass runs
...Robert Plant's wailing about being so happy and dancing and singing and celebration

...suffice to say that it was an authentic celebration of life for us. We sang loud (the music was up loud enough that we couldn't hear each other--none of us were near the vocal range of Robert Plant, let's get real, okay?) and we meant it. We were very happy on those days.

And that's sort of the mindset of the beginning of this Psalm. See, the Israelites were required by The Law to attend several festivals...this one, The Feast of the Tabernacles, was specifically put in place to remind the people of God's work in Israel's history. Kind of like America's July 4th.

And that's how I picture the first few verses of the song. Urgent. Flying guitar work. Happy, voices at full volume, kind of like that pure life-moment at a concert of your favorite artist. The lights come on and the crowd roars with that air of anticipation.

Get out your tambourines!
Get out the harp!
Get out the 10-stringed instrument!
Get out the Ram's Horn--
--to start the party!
Them's the rules!
God says we have to do this!
So LET'S DO THIS!

Let's show the world how excited we are about the work of God!
Who wouldn't want to follow a God that REQUIRES THIS IN OUR LIVES?!

Then they sing a song of celebration, man.
About the freedom they got from Egypt when God delivered them!
About that trust they learned from Him at Meribah!
About how God revealed Himself to them at Mount Sinai!

Rock on!
Full-throated!
Singing loud!
Singing and dancing in celebration!
We're in the promised land!
Furious guitar work here!
Thundering drums here!
10-string bass runs here!
More wailing like Robert Plant here!

(side note: I wish more church music were like Led Zeppelin, but that's another issue altogether)

Until...

...verses 13-16.

Then it becomes like a Frank Turner song. Most of you haven't heard of him and that's a shame. But he's got a song he wrote, "Once We Were Anarchists" in which he laments the passion of his younger days and how he's lost that:

"...But it's hard to keep on fighting the good fight
When no one else seems bothered, yeah,
When no one's on your side...

But I must say I envy the way that they live
In a style that's all take and no give,
While I'm playing the Lone Ranger,
Riding to the rescue of six billion strangers,
Armed with only unoriginal songs
And a sense that something's wrong...

...And everybody's jaded and tired and bored
And no one lifts a finger because
It's just not in our culture.
Our culture is carrion and we're all vultures,
And no one seems bothered by this state of play '
It seems that the stench is with us to stay...

...m young enough to be all pissed off
But I'm old enough to be jaded.
I'm of the age where I want things to change
But with age my hopes have faded.
I'm young and bored of being young and bored '
If I was old I could say I'd seen it all before.
In short, I'm tired...

"

And that's kind of like verses 13-16.

Part of Israel's history is that Israel doesn't change their own history.
They didn't listen to God's voice.
They didn't obey God.
They were pretty good at keeping a stubborn heart.
They were pretty good and walking however they darn well wanted to.

Cue the simple drumbeat.
Cue the lone off-key voice.
Cue the repetitive and monotonous music.
Cue the harmonica.
Cue the folk-singer sensibility of a call to action.
Cue the sing-along chorus...

If only the people would listen!
If only they would walk in God's ways!
Oh, the things God would do for them!
Oh, the enemies he would slay for them!
Oh, the blessings he would bestow on them!
The finest bread!
The most wonderful honey!

Delivered in only the way a Bob Dylan-esque singer could do it.

And that's what this Psalm brings out in my way of thinking: A song of celebration...fast and furious and fun and loud and all the best things of singing full-throated together...

...followed by the more pensive folk-singer coffee-shop reminder that this isn't a history we want to repeat. This celebration should never need a folk singer with a harmonica and a guitar to remind us of what is supposed to be...

...and what isn't.
...and that he got tired of fighting.
...and that his hopes have faded and he's jaded...

...because the corporate reality isn't going to change.

And today, the application is obvious:

In what ways are we not listening or obeying?
And what are we going to do about that?

Because the celebration shouldn't have to stop, right?

(Tomorrow's Reading: 1 Corinthians 1)

2011-02-11T09:32:00.002-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 42

What I Read Today: Psalms 73-78.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: Psalm 73: 12-17, " Take a good look! This is what the wicked are like, those who always have it so easy and get richer and richer. I concluded, “Surely in vain I have kept my motives purevand maintained a pure lifestyle. I suffer all day long, and am punished every morning.” If I had publicized these thoughts, I would have betrayed your loyal followers. When I tried to make sense of this, it was troubling to me. Then I entered the precincts of God’s temple, and understood the destiny of the wicked."

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

My father died when I was young and there were times when that caused me to wince at my lot in life. You know, those times when there was a father-son tournament of any kind and, while I had a couple of uncles who were happy to drop everything and fill in, well, it wasn't the same. Those moments when the collge football team we both loved had a great moment and no one in my house cared much. Learning to drive and having my mother have to do all that stuff. The lost games of H-O-R-S-E or "Around the World" or One-on-One in the driveway. Letting him meet my girlfriend.

The big moments, too...opening the letter of acceptance to the university we both loved. Graduating from high school. Graduating from college. Introducing him to the girl I was gonna marry. Him never meeting my in-laws at the dinner you have to introduce each other's parents. The empty space next to my mom at my wedding. He never held his granddaughters, and manalive I would pay any price to have seen that.

So, sure. It's easy to have a pity-party when you focus on all the stuff YOU didn't get to enjoy, and when you're a teenager, since you're the star of the world's play, well, you don't view how that event affected anyone else.

Like, say, my grandmother. Because one day when one of those uncles who filled in on the father/son stuff had to tell her that he was sick with a disease that could kill him if it progressed significantly...well, it hit me for the first time when I was told that her words to him were very passionate. Something along the lines of, "Jimmy, you're damn well going to fight this with everything you've got because I CANNOT bury another son. I just can't! And you better not make me do it!"

I never thought about how my dad's death affected her. Never once. Until that moment. And my views of what a great lady she was changed profoundly to even more admiration at precisely that moment.

Perspective. Changed.

Another day I was having one of those teenage "star of your own show" moments. I think it had something to do with a combo package of unexpected expensive car repairs and things going wrong with a girl I liked and some plans falling through with my friends. I'm pretty sure the sum of the damage was that I was going to have to stay home on a weekend night because of no plans and no wheels. I said to no one in particular, "My life is just NOT FAIR!"

Mom overheard that and read me the riot act in the way only a Southern mom can about how kids are starving and I'm whining about a vehicle that is going to be ready the next day at the expense of a bank account that had more than enough money in it to cover repairs and friends that made other plans because they thought I was going out with a girl who I wasn't going to wind up spending any time with. That was just for starters.

It ended with something along the lines of, "You think YOUR life is unfair? Son, I was a widow at age 36 with two kids to feed and nobody to help and I had to go back to school to get a Master's Degree while I was working in my job! The way I had it all drawn up was that I'd have about 10 more years of being a homemaker with your dad strolling in the door every night and going back to work so we could save enough money so we could retire to Destin where your dad could finally own one of those damn charter boats so he could fish all day and then he'd come back to the condo we bought every night and we'd watch sunsets on the beach every day until we died. That's how my life was supposed to turn out! You might want to just grab a book and get happy about Friday night here at the house."

I knew all that already. I knew what my dad wanted to do with his life and all that. I knew he loved her and planned on spending his retirement with her. I knew a charter boat was involved. But hearing my mom so plainly state it that her life was entirely flipped upside-down so clearly and passionately was a first.

Perspective. Changed.

And that's the way it is, usually. We get all wrapped up in our perspective and views and situations and events that we wind up so self-focused that we can't see things the way they really are.

Which is really the lesson of Psalm 73.

Take a look at Asaph's observations...starting with the reaffirmation of God's goodness in verse 1 to those who follow Him.

We get a contrast word, "but," in verse 2. His ALMOST stumbled (he didn't). He almost slipped (he didn't). And this slipping and sliding was caused by his inner desires of the people that boasted about their lives. The wealth of the wicked. Their carefree lifestyle. They're land-of-plenty existence. They never get caught. they look like they have no troubles. They have tokens that highlight their wealth and leave behind a trail those they exploited.

Their eyes sparkle because of their wealth. They have all sorts of evil plans. They threaten and profit from those who have no voice or defense. They have a platform to speak from and others listen. They put themselves higher than God and seem to run the earth.

Others come after them. Others prosper because of them. They act without God and even question what possible information he might have to share with the earth. He wraps up with telling us the wicked will keep on prospering and it seems like a waste of time to follow God. In fact, it even seems in some ways that God is punishing Asaph for following Him.

But he couldn't say anything (verse 15) because it would dishearten the masses and hurt the cause. He thought about it. He looked at the world around him and couldn't figure out why things were the way they are.

Life is SO UNFAIR!!! It was trouble in his sight (verse 16).

Until...

Until...

A word that lets us know his perspective is going to change in verse 17.

Until I came into the sanctuary of God.

Wow. Until he looked at those things from the perspective of eternity. That changes EVERYTHING!

They're doomed, really. And the house of cards will come crashing down. They'll wake up from their dream and hate themselves.

And this caused Asaph to evaluate his life. He'd become bitter and deeply hurt because of what his improper perspective did to him. He was irrational and foolish...even like a beast. Thankfully, by verse 23 his fellowship is restored with God and He looks to the future. And then, oh, man we get one of the truly beautiful expressions of faith in Scripture:

"Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from Thee will perish. Thou hast destroyed all those who are unfaithful to Thee."

Then verse 28 bookends with verse 1: It is good to be near God. God is Asaph's refuge and he wants to share this reality with others.

God is good in verse 1, to those that follow Him. He's Good to those near to Him in verse 28.

Things go badly when we focus on ourselves and life here on earth...

Because life is UNFAIR.

But when you view it from the perspective of eternity...

...well...

...The Lord is good to those who follow and stay near to Him.

Perspective. Changed.

(Tomorrow's Reading: Psalms 79-84)

2011-02-10T11:44:00.003-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 41

What I Read Today: Psalms 64-72.

What Stood Out About What I Read: Psalm 71: 17-21, " O God, you have taught me since I was young, and I am still declaring your amazing deeds. Even when I am old and gray, O God, do not abandon me, until I tell the next generation about your strength, and those coming after me about your power. Your justice, O God, extends to the skies above; you have done great things. O God, who can compare to you? Though you have allowed me to experience much trouble and distress, revive me once again! Bring me up once again from the depths of the earth! Raise me to a position of great honor! Turn and comfort me!"

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

One time our church's women's ministry had a meeting in which the younger women of our congregation were asked to sit up front and discuss what it was they were looking for in a church ministry. In a lot of ways they were being asked to help design what that ministry would look like in the future.

The younger women, most of whom had been through the student ministry that I lead, came away from the meeting very enthusiastic. They felt they'd had a chance to talk about what they loved about our church as well as listened to when they talked about things our church needed to work on. They felt they had a strong voice in the future of the women's ministry.

Interestingly, there were generally two types of responses from the leadership of the ministry. One was a feeling that things might have to change...which caused various reactions in the leadership both positively and negatively. That's to be expected with any change but it was encouraging to me that the discussions of how that might happen and what that might look like were taking place.

The other was an amused bewilderment that the young people wanted to hear the stories of the previous generation! This is what excited me the most. Because these discussions of the leadership all went along the lines of "there's nothing special about me, so why do they care about my story?"

The reason I was excited about this was that I could help answer the question: There's more special to you than you might realize. See, these friends and peers of mine had done a lot of living. They'd dumped and been dumped. They'd graduated with honors and they'd flunked out. They'd run companies and gave it all up for motherhood. They'd been mommies and been childless. They'd followed Christ for 65 years and for only 65 hours. They'd been poor and rich. They'd moved like a M*A*S*H* unit and lived in the community their whole life. They'd been homecoming queens and nobodies. They'd been to Woodstock and chaired the committee for ladies' teas. They been tattooed and prim/proper. There'd been happy marriages and bitter divorces. Name it...and these ladies (my friends and peers, mind you) were incredibly interesting by almost any standard--even if years of suburbia caused them to doubt that reality.

And all this happened in the context of their walks with Christ.

And all this was encouraging that we could design programs & ministries with the idea that they could pass on this life experience with a group of people that didn't really see any type of generation gap at all. They were hungry to grow in Christ and were happy that people a little further down the road could help them out here and there.

And all this fits within my firm belief that the Body of Christ needs to be about CONVERGING. I've heard enough about the "emergent church" that I'm pretty tired of it and glad it seems to be fading from publishing/discussion. I've always felt that the younger generation can bring us passion and enthusiasm, and the older generation can bring wisdom and experience, which makes for a pretty perfect blend if you think about it.

Anyway, that's what I get from Psalm 71.

These are the words of a more experienced person. They've taken refuge in God. They've proudly walked with Him. They understood their need to be delivered by His righteousness and that they needed to be rescued. They wanted to be heard by God and knew He could save them. They wanted to dwell where He was & is.

They've also done this over the long haul. From their youth. From the time of their birth. They understood that God had a plan for them from the time they were in their mother's belly...and they continually praise God.

Other people noticed, too. See verse 7? People wondered how God could be their refuge. They praised God early & often.

They also understood they were getting older. Their strength would fail. And they knew it was possible that their enemies were going to get weak and try to harm them. They also knew that God would help them, take up their cause...for one reason: So they could talk about God's salvation all day long.

And in particular, one group: The next generation (see v. 18). God has built them and grown them, and the psalmist was going to ask for a few more years past being old and gray so they could tell the younger members of their tribe all that God had done in and through them over the years.

The good & bad.
The up & down.
The in-betweens.

All of it. God was there, working, and they were there, growing. They knew it would be important to tell the younger ones about why God was so praiseworthy.

Unfortunately, in our culture, that isn't seen as a goal or even a desire. One time I had the chance to talk about ways we could design more ministries and programs to give the more seasoned in our church the chance to do that very thing and I was told, in no uncertain terms, that they'd poured a lot of money into this place. They designed it the way they liked it and were very happy here. They also said they'd be happy to keep supporting the student ministry with staff and money and resources to make sure they were taught well...

...but somehow, someway, this particular group didn't want to invest their lives in the lives of students. This seemed odd to me, and I told them so. They seemed resolute.

But just about the time I was getting discouraged, the oldest lady in our senior citizen's ministry was being nice and polite and listening to my diatribe about all this. I decided to ask her to lead a special time of our middle school weekend retreat where just the girls ages 11-14 would be there.

Elna laughed. She said, "Brent, I haven't been a teenage girl in--literally--60 years. What could I possibly tell them about that would interest them?"

My response: "How about almost 70 years of walking with Jesus? I think you might have a little experience witht that."

Her eyes lit up...

..."I can tell them about Jesus? Well, if that's what you want me to talk about, then I'll be there. I'll need a comfortable chair because it might take me a while. How much time will I have?"

I told her: "About half an hour. Maybe 45 minutes."

Elna said, "Well, that might not be enough time. Will you be mad if I go over?"

Not at all.

May her tribe increase...

...of a group of people who will tell their stories of what God has done in them and through them.

...who are willing to share His strength in the ups and downs and ins and outs and good and bad and rich and poor and everything around and in-between all those.

...who will shout for joy and sing praises to Him and teach them how to do it while giving them the room to make it their very own.

Again, may her tribe increase.

(Tomorrow's Reading: Psalm 73-78)

2011-02-09T15:55:00.002-06:00

Good Stuff In The Latest Issue of Christianity Today...

In the February issue of Christianity Today. I checked on-line but the articles weren't posted yet.

First, from the CT Interview with Mark Regnerus (author of Premarital Sex in America: How Young Americans Meet, Mate, and Think about Marrying) has a few good quotes in it. For example...

"Others--especially but not only Christians--are in the marriage market. But since what they hope for-chastity in a spouse-is becoming increasingly rare, the average Christian is spending more time on the marriage market, and making more sexual compromises along the way, than in previous generations...So many young adult Christians are making peace with pre-marital sex, some because they wish to, but many because they feel they have little choice, that to delay sex puts the relationship at risk."

So, in effect, because Christians (like the rest of society) are waiting longer to get married, they're feeling the need to just go ahead and have sex. Another finding is that young people tend to be involved in "serial monogamy" where they profess love for a few months, have a lot of sex, and then break up. Lots of food for thought, there.

Another quote:

"I'm optimistic about individuals' chances. Always. But collectively I'm not optimistic. I'm in the 'marriage is deinstitutionalizing' category. I'm not pessimistic about people's ability to marry. I'm pessimistic about women's ability to marry without making compromises and waiting as long."

This issue was also their "Awards" issue for music & movies and books. The best news for me was that the award for "Best Book of 2010" in the category labeled "The Church/Pastoral Leadership" category was a book I loved, called Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church by Kenda Dean. Here's the reason they gave for giving it the award:

"Kenda Dean managed to take a sociological study of American teenagers and turn it into a truly prophetic book. I read the data and her analysis and felt convicted by them. You can't read this book and not want to take action."

The subtitle of the book reads: "What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church." Having read the book, well, we can ignore it at our peril. And, once again, it's the youth ministers and youth ministries pointing the way. Just sayin'. One of the reasons I love my work.

Their Movie Award for 2010 were broken into two categories: "Most Redeeming" and "Critic's Choice." The difference is that the former is a movie that highlights redemption and has biblical themes (love, unity, etc.) running through it. The choices for "Most Redeeming" were:
Toy Story 3
The King's Speech
Get Low
True Grit
Winter's Bone
Despicable Me
Tangled
The Fighter

The "Critic's Choice" were simply superb films in their opinion. Here were their choices:
The King's Speech
The Social Network
True Grit
Toy Story 3
Inception
The Fighter
Winter's Bone
Get Low
127 Hours
Tangled

I wasn't as impressed with their Music choices. Patty Griffin's Downtown Church was their top album and the typical Christian "approved" artists were on their list, like Sufjan Stevens, Arcade Fire and Robert Plant (which I think is hysterical that he's now on the Christian's "good list"). It's a shame, too. I thought The National's High Violet, The Dead Weather's Sea of Cowards, Spoon's Transference, and Kings of Leon's Come Around Sundown were all a bit more innovative...

...but I get that music is a MUCH bigger category and when you only have 12 albums on your list a TON of good ones are going to be left off.

Anyway, it's a lot of food for thought in this month's edition. Kinda glad about that!

2011-02-09T09:10:00.003-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 40

What I Read Today: Psalms 57-63.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: Psalm 62: 3-8, "How long will you threaten a man? All of you are murderers, as dangerous as a leaning wall or an unstable fence. They spend all their time planning how to bring him down. They love to use deceit; they pronounce blessings with their mouths, but inwardly they utter curses. (Selah) Patiently wait for God alone, my soul! For he is the one who gives me confidence. He alone is my protector and deliverer. He is my refuge; I will not be upended. God delivers me and exalts me; God is my strong protector and my shelter. Trust in him at all times, you people! Pour out your hearts before him! God is our shelter! (Selah)"

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

We all have those moments where we demean someone else's stress level based on our own experiences. You know that moment where a teenager says that they're stressed because they have two tests and a paper due on Friday, and the parent responds with, "You don't know what stress is, young lady! Wait until you've got a sick baby and bills to pay and a husband who might lose his job." The cycle is really endless, because there's somebody out there that says, "Well, I've lost a child and can't buy a house because we lost the last one due to bankruptcy and my wife left me."

All in all, I've got it pretty good compared to David in Psalm 62.

See, David had this ability to accumulate enemies of all shapes and sizes. Maybe it was the jealousy of his brothers when Samuel anointed him king instead of them. It was certainly seen at the parade route after David killed Goliath and King Saul didn't get the good PR. Saul then noted David's rise in the palace and tried to pin him to the wall with a spear. That started a chain reaction.

David is a fugitive.

And the King of the nation is personally trying to track him and kill him. My guess is that Saul had gotten word of David's anointed by Samuel and knew that in order to keep his position of power, best eliminate the threat.

For 14 or so years David was on the run. Hiding in caves. Living in deserts. Taking odd jobs here and there protecting livestock and pastureland and homes for whoever would hire him. Sometimes the heat was really on, too. The king even strolled into a cave David and his men were hiding in to *ahem* relieve himself. David was even pressured by his own men who had deduced that this was the time to kill the king because it was obvious that God brought him there for David to slay.

David had to stand firm against the only people he trusted. He chose to wait on the Lord in that moment of decision.

And we see David in stress in Psalm 62. He's under attack. People want to murder him. Think about that for a second. How many of us have been under that level of stress where you had to hide from people wanting to KILL you? It made him feel like a rickety fence trying withstand gusts of wind. That's a great description of feeling like falling could happen at any time.

Notice that twice he mentions that his soul will wait in silence for the Lord: Verses 1 & 5. David knows salvation is from God. He knows that God is his salvation. A subtle difference but an important one. God is His rock. His fortress.

David sandwiches these beliefs around the reality that people want to kill him. That repetition reminds us that David is nothing and has nothing without God. Same goes for us.

And that idea of waiting in silence is difficult, too.

First, we, like David, see the world going on around us and the wicked doing just fine. It tests our patience. It rocks our beliefs. It goes against everything we feel SHOULD be.

Second, in our world, we rarely have time to sit and think. David had that in spades. He had time to wait...in caves in the middle east with no television, no iPhone, no computer, internet or car. He had time to wait. He had time to focus and be still.

Finally, in verses 11 & 12, we hear reference to the reality that God will speak. At some point, our patience will be rewarded. Our beliefs will be justified. Justice will be served.

He'd heard it from God once.
No...
...twice. This device is used to highlight David's belief that this would indeed happen.

And the theme of Psalm 61-63 all say similar things:

That when you feel far from God, you can and should still worship Him. All our days are numbered and we could be under all sorts of stress at any given time. We could even die at any second. It's possible to trust in what you can't see clearly.

Which, when you think about it, is the key to being at peace...

...no matter the stress level you're currently under...

...and how real that is to you.

(Tomorrow's Reading: Psalms 64-72)

2011-02-08T07:02:00.003-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 39

What I Read Today: Psalms 50-56.

What Stood Out About What I Read: Psalm 51: 1-4, "For the music director; a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, because of your loyal love! Because of your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts! Wash away my wrongdoing! Cleanse me of my sin! For I am aware of my rebellious acts; I am forever conscious of my sin. Against you – you above all – I have sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. So you are just when you confront me; you are right when you condemn me.'

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

I had been caught.

Red-handed. In the very act itself.

The specifics don't really matter for our purposes here but suffice to say that, while adultery & murder weren't the topics she and I would be discussing that afternoon, I had sinned. She was aware of it. We ran in the same circles even if we went to different churches, but she knew I followed Christ. And her confrontation was impassioned. That's a nice way of saying she was livid.

And my friend pulled me aside and called it like it was. Through tears she told me how much what I'd done hurt her, my witness for Christ, and all sorts of other things that nobody likes to hear.

She finished. That really long awkward silence followed. It was only a minute or so but it felt like four weeks and five days.

"Well?" she asked.

More silence.

"Well?" she asked, again.

"What do you want me to say?" I knew the answer. I just didn't like the answer.

"That you're sorry. That you want me to forgive you. That you want God to forgive you. That you won't do anything like that again. You're the one that put yourself in this position where people expect you to be different and be salt & light and you let a lot of people down. That you'll make this right." Vicki was a couple of years older than me and had seen me grow a lot, which is probably why she was so stern. My action must've seemed like I'd taken about 342 steps backward in her mind.

"Well, Vicki, you've given me a lot to think about," was all I said.

She shook her head and walked off. So did I. The tension was going to take a while.

I went through all the stages while I was alone. While I didn't really deny the act, I certainly denied the gravity of the act. I attacked her behind her back to no one in particular. I minimized what I did. I rationalized what I did. I downplayed the effects on these alleged people who were watching me. Who cares, man?

This went on for about a week.

Then the sleep wouldn't come. So I took a late-night life walk. Still muttering about why Vicki thought she was so great and how this really wasn't a set-back at all. Might even be a regular thing, man. I'm still not sure what all this fuss is about, right?

Until that point where you just stop walking, shove your hands in the kangaroo pockets as you lower your hoodied head and the voice in your brain says, "She's right, you know."

More silence. Then you say it out loud to yourself. "She's right, you know."

You finally start to walk again. "God, Vicki's right..." and you spend the rest of the walk confessing and asking forgiveness and then you're too emotionally tired after about half an hour of this. You crawl back into bed at 3:30am and fall asleep devising your list of people to apologize to.

And this only took about a week.

It took David nearly an entire YEAR before he penned this psalm. Of course, adultery and murder and all sorts of stuff were on his agenda...so I can cut him some slack.

Let's look at a few elements of this psalm of confession today. In verse 1, David addresses God as "Elohim." This is much more formal than other words for God...maybe it's because of the situation he's chosen to use a more formal address or maybe it's because he felt further from God. Either way, this situation is more grave to David.

He praises God for his "loyal love." David refers to God's greatness. He refers to God's compassion to lead off his prayer. He knows God is God, he isn't Him, and that he's going to have to throw himself on the mercy of the Court.

In verse 2, he talks about washing the iniquity from his clothes. To a Jewish person, this idea of changing into clean clothes would've been seen as a literary equivalent to starting a new life. In addition to this new life, he mentioned a "cleansing," which a first century reader would've tied in with a temple ritual.

And David covers the three major Hebrew terms for sin here, too. Hata, is a failure to meet a standard. Pesha is a more active rebellion against the standard. Awon is a twisting of the standard. The English words are usually translated "sin," "transgression" and "iniquity." He admitted he didn't meet the standard, then mocked the standard and then twisted the standard. Attacked & rationalized.

We're not even out of verse 2, kids.

David admits he'd throttled God and he was seeing evidence every day. When he looked at his baby. When he looked at his wife, who he had caused to become a war widow. His sin was in front of him often. The consequences were living and breathing.

I happen to like the way the NetBible translates verse 4 above. While the NASB's literal take of "sinning against God only" is certainly accurate, I'm pretty sure a strong case could be made for David's big time list of other folks he'd sinned against. He'd likely fall asleep about 30 or 40 times making his list of folks he needed to apologize to in this mess with Bathsheba and all.

In verse 5, David realizes he's been a sinner from the get-go and owned up to his responsibility for it, too. All too often we blame our circumstances or others and deny our part in sin. David got it, that's for sure.

I often use verse 6 to help my students see through the idea that God didn't view the act of making sacrifices for sin as the major part of atoning for sins. In other words, the idea of doing whatever sin you wanted and then coming to the temple and making the required sacrifice and then leaving the temple happy to do it again was NEVER the idea behind covering their sin. It was always a heart attitude which was to precede the sacrifice. A repentant heart is God's desire no matter what Testament you happen to be reading.

Then verses 7-12 we see David not only asking for forgiveness, but asking to be restored. He knew he needed God to create a clean heart. As an aside, David knew what it was like to live with the indwelling Holy Spirit as well as what it was like to NOT live with the indwelling Holy Spirit. In this case it matters what Testament you're reading, because in the older one, God didn't permanently indwell His followers with the Holy Spirit. In the newer one, the Holy Spirit does not "come and go." David was asking for the Spirit to stay with Him.

In verse 13, we see that we can and should be bold in trying to teach others from our mistakes. Culturally, we kind of shy away from teaching others lessons learned from our sin because, "Well, we did it, so what credibility do I have to talk about it?" How about first-hand experience with consequences, folks?

And then we see the turn in David...the true repentance. He's going to go forward now. Again, his broken and contrite heart are WAY more meaningful than throwing a bull on the altar with no desire to deal with yourself and God.

It took him a year, folks. From confrontation to repentance. That's a long time to carry that weight around.

But I understand it...even though it's on a much smaller consequential scale.

But it was a weight to carry around.

And I did pray to God and ask forgiveness and, in fact, used this Psalm as a guide.
And, I did talk to Vicky about it. I said I was sorry and asked her forgiveness, too.
And I did talk to the others involved. They seemed socially awkward while I talked, maybe because they wondered why I cared to say I was sorry to them.

And, even though it was humbling, I finally felt free. The broken spirit and a contrite heart are starting points for us, no matter how many times we have to reboot.

(Tomorrow's Reading: Psalms 57-63)

2011-02-07T16:55:00.002-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 38

What I Read Today: Psalm 42-49.

What Stood Out About What I Read: Psalm 42: 1-8, "As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God! I thirst for God, for the living God. I say, “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?” I cannot eat, I weep day and night; all day long they say to me, “Where is your God?” I will remember and weep! For I was once walking along with the great throng to the temple of God, shouting and giving thanks along with the crowd as we celebrated the holy festival. Why are you depressed, O my soul? Why are you upset? Wait for God! For I will again give thanks to my God for his saving intervention. I am depressed, so I will pray to you while I am trapped here in the region of the upper Jordan, from Hermon, from Mount Mizar. One deep stream calls out to another at the sound of your waterfalls; all your billows and waves overwhelm me. By day the Lord decrees his loyal love, and by night he gives me a song, a prayer to the living God."

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

You remember, grunge, right? Pearl Jam. Nirvana. Soundgarden. Flannel shirts. Rain and drizzle of Seattle. Hair over their eyes. Staring at the floor while they sung. Strip the stage down to microphones and amps and let it rip. Small clubs and stage diving. Angry at nothing. Angry at everything. Took the bridge out of songs and just went verse-chorus-verse. Very quiet & thoughtful followed by very loud & angry.

I loved it.

Reminded me so much of the punk movement that I was as into as a kid in suburban Alabama in the late 70's/early 80's could be into it. The punk movement, especially the bands I was into, was really angry. Sure, it had it's own look and sound, but it was all about anger.

Eventually, all anger gets tired. Punk burned out and got tired. Enter grunge and depression. Depression is tired anger.

(As an aside, depression eventually causes you to lose hope. Enter the Rave scene, which is all about loud music, party style and--in many cases--drug use & sensual experiences. A logical next step for a generation of kids who lost hope. It's an eat-drink-be-merry kind of scene)

And Psalm 42 is, in my mind, a perfect grunge Psalm. It's a tired anger when you think about it.

It even begins with an analogy of a soul thirsty for God...thirsty like a deer looking for a river. He really misses his God, man. It's a physical need he's done without and striving hard to find. Any guy who's been away from his girl for a significant length of time knows this kind of longing. That's the best way I can think of to describe it.

So, he's thirsty for God, who's alive and the author can't seem to find Him.

He's eating his tears as food. Others have been pointing out that the writer's God isn't exactly showing Himself, too. That's always helpful, right?

He remembers the old days when times were better...when the throngs were followed God enthusiastically. His soul is in despair. His soul is disturbed. He mentions that he'll praise Him again (note: not doing so now). God's presence isn't there now. His soul is in despair. He remembers the times in the past by the Jordan, and Mount Hermon. He uses imagery that Jonah used when he was in the belly of the great fish...with billows rolling over him.

And that's just the first 7 verses!

It picks up again in verse 9. He's asking why God has forgotten him. He is being oppressed by his enemy, which feels like death. He's in mourning. It's like his bones are shattering the pain is so great (I've broken my tibia & fibula before, so I really get that imagery!). People are still taking note that His God isn't around. Again, in verse 11 his soul is in despair. It's disturbed within him. The psalm eventually ends with almost a shrug of the shoulders and admitting that the writer will, at some point in the future, praise God. His facial expression and body language is struggling to do so, but he will praise His God.

Oh, man.

Depressing, man. Seattle rain and drizzle. Flannel. Quiet.

But it got loud there for a second, too, man. Did you catch what I left out?

Verse 8!

It's so out of place. Right after the sea billows are rolling over the depressed man it says, "The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime! His song will be with me in the night! A prayer to the God of my life!"

Misery.
Depression.
Doom.
Gloom.

Then...

...the ray of true hope. His loyal love is there no matter what. His song will be with the writer each night no matter what. He prays anyway, to the God he loves and desperately wants to see while he's in the muck. All day, every day. 24/7/365. No matter what it looks like at the moment.

What he sees isn't what really is.

It's what he doesn't see and feel that really is.

And that's the heart of the Psalm. The writer knows His God is there regardless of how he feels. He knows that feelings are responders primarily...not definers of truth. He knows his feelings are often liars and subject to change at any moment.

God is none of those things.
He is Truth.
He is constant.
He is reality.

Regardless of how we feel.

And, yes. It's okay to be down in the dumps. Depressed even. In some ways, it's the most honest view of any given situation...

...until you take eternity into consideration to balance reality.

It's a nice reminder that God is with us in the muck and mire. Even if we're depressed. Even if you're eating tears for food. Even if the rest of the world is asking where your God is. Even if your soul is looking for God like a thirsty animal and he doesn't seem to be anywhere around.

He is there.
Truth.
Constant.
Reality.

And Who we know...

...and What we know...

is what we should hang our hats on. Even in the muck and mire.

(Tomorrow's Reading: Psalms 50-56)

2011-02-07T16:01:00.002-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 37

What I Read: Psalms 34-41.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: Psalm 37: 1-6, " Do not fret when wicked men seem to succeed! Do not envy evildoers! For they will quickly dry up like grass,
and wither away like plants. Trust in the Lord and do what is right! Settle in the land and maintain your integrity! Then you will take delight in the Lord, and he will answer your prayers. Commit your future to the Lord! Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf. He will vindicate you in broad daylight, and publicly defend your just cause.

Random Thought About What I Read:

One of my favorite things about going to the movies is watching the trailers for upcoming movies. These little 2 or 3 minute bits break down the central premise of the movie and are designed to make us want to see it...even when we know that so many of those movies look like they'll be fantastic but we know they'll be a let down.

In other words, the premise of most movies are usually great ideas.

Take, for example, a preview for the movie I saw before a movie the other night. It really got my brain going.

The premise of the movie is that there's this down & out guy who stumbles across a drug that will allow him to use his brain to his fullest capacity (supposedly most people use their brains at about 20% capacity--I'm too lazy to check the facts on that). During the preview a GREAT question was asked:

"How many of us ever know what it is to become perfect versions of ourselves?"

I have no idea if the movie "Limitless" will be any good or not. We'll see. The great irony could be if that movie is the perfect version of itself!

Because the question is one I think we often ask ourselves. For whatever reason, I ask it myself a lot. And I thought about that for a few days...

...and I think Psalm 37 highlights an area of my life in which I'd like to be the perfect version of myself: The ability to truly trust God.

See, like everybody else, I want to trust God. I say I trust God. I act like a trust God. Until...

...things don't go my way. Or go as I expected them to. Or things don't seem to get answered. Then I try to take charge of my own life. But Psalm 37 shows us a lot about what it means to trust God, and the benefits of trusting God. Usually it does this right in the same verse or so!

For example, in verse 3 we're given the command to trust God and do good. Then we'll cultivate faithfulness. That's a cycle I've talked about earlier in these posts, that the more you obey the more you trust, and the more you trust, the more you obey. So often I find ways to be disobedient as the first step when I begin to lose trust in Him.

In verse 4 we're to delight in the Lord, he'll give us the desires of our heart. This isn't a genie-in-a-bottle kind of desire, but rather a heart that's delighted in the Lord will naturally gravitate to the desires that God wants for us. Think of it as our heart syncing up with His will for us.

In verse 5 we're to commit our way to the Lord and he will make sure that, even when it doesn't look like the good guys finish first, the good guys will get noticed for the good they do.

In verse 7 we're not to worry about the bad guys getting ahead...which always causes me to lose trust in God because sometimes it seems like it doesn't "pay" to follow Him. Literally and/or figuratively. Instead, we're supposed to be still and wait on Him. Ugh.

In verse 8 we're not supposed to get angry or use violence or worry when things look dark. Those only lead to more unrest. Ugh.

And if you keep reading you see all sorts of elements of trusting Him...

...like verse 16. Be satisfied with little. I'm rarely satisfied with "little." Mostly, my idea of trusting Him involves Him giving me "more," even if that "more" isn't necessarily stuff. It's usually more of doing it my way.

...like verse 21. We're supposed to be gracious givers. I'm more about saving for rainy days and taking care of my own.

...like verse 27. We're to turn from evil and turn to doing good. When things aren't going my way it seems like the perfect time to chuck it all and just be bad.

...like verse 31. We're to plant His Word in our hearts. When I don't trust God, His Word is the last thing I want to get in my heart.

...like verse 34. We're supposed to wait on the Lord. Ugh. Even though I know His timing is perfect, I have a way it's all supposed to go and if it doesn't, well, I take that as license to go full steam ahead my way!

...like verse 40. We're supposed to take refuge in the Lord. My plan is usually to attack and fight my own battles. Aren't we supposed to pick ourselves up by our own bootstraps?

And look at the benefits of trusting God we see if we keep reading, man!

In several verses (say 9, 22 or 34) we see an inheritance mentioned. Granted, mostly in the Old Testament that inheritance is talking about the land they'll inherit and get to rest in once God sets everything right for His people. But even for us New Testamenters, the inheritance is significant. Those rewards are meaningful, man. That inheritance is forever if you read verse 18.
We get to enjoy peace in verse 11. Who doesn't want more peace?
We get to be propped up by God according to verse 17.
When there's a famine, we'll have plenty if we trust Him in verse 19.
We have security if we read verse 27 correctly.
We'll never be forsaken by God according to verse 28.
We won't slip while we're moving along in verse 31.
We'll see the wicked get what's coming to them in verse 34.
We'll be helped and delivered by the Lord in verse 40.

Let's be honest, shall we?

We all say that we want to trust God.
We all are aware of the benefits of trusting God.

We can read them all right there.

But the truth about me is that I want to be a perfect version of myself when it comes to trusting God...

...I seem to fall short even if I'm fully aware of the pros and cons of it.

So, the question of the day is, what is it that we need to be trusting God for? And, are we simply going to be people who WANT to trust God or are we going to trust God?

The premise of trusting God is for sure a great idea. The question is whether or not we'll do the idea justice.

(Tomorrow's reading: Psalms 42-49)

2011-02-05T07:56:00.003-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 36

What I Read Today: Psalms 27-33.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: Psalm 32: 7-11, "You are my hiding place; you protect me from distress. You surround me with shouts of joy from those celebrating deliverance. (Selah) I will instruct and teach you about how you should live. I will advise you as I look you in the eye. Do not be like an unintelligent horse or mule, which will not obey you unless they are controlled by a bridle and bit. An evil person suffers much pain, but the Lord’s faithfulness overwhelms the one who trusts in him. Rejoice in the Lord and be happy, you who are godly! Shout for joy, all you who are morally upright!"

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

One of the perks of professional student ministry (not like there's a bunch of them) is that you occasionally get a book or CD or DVD in the mail for your review before it's available to everyone else...and they're free! Most of them go straight to the church library which survives on donations (I've gotten pretty adept at making the determination on what I'll spend time sifting through)but, occasionally, I get one that I'm excited to give a read/listen.

I was pretty happy when one of my favorite artists sent me his upcoming CD even if it came during a time when I couldn't give it a full-listen in one sitting. So, it stayed in my car CD player for a few days and so, and I was grabbing a song or two on my five-mile (that's round trip, mind you) commute and during various errands. It was taking longer than I'd hoped, but it was really good.

Anyway, this particular artist had a unique idea: After a couple of years playing large venues, he decided to downsize and do concerts in intimate settings. In some cases, the concerts were actually people's houses! Listening to the CD was a lot like watching the old MTV series "Unplugged" or VH1's "Storytellers" where the artists would spend some time talking about the meanings of the songs or the circumstances in which they were written.

After about two days, I was just driving along and the artist was talking about a particular song and while he was introducing it he made a side comment that went something like, "The best thing that could happen to us would be for all our sins to be broadcast on the evening news."

Um. Okay. Whatever.

But that little phrase stayed with me for a bit. It was a brain worm of the highest order for some reason.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized he was right: That would be pretty darn freeing. I mean, one thing that I learned early-on in my encounters with evangelicals was that everyone's behavior was monitored with a little less gusto than the "Church Lady" on SNL's "Church Chat" skits (oh, man. Dana Carvey must've had some sort of experiences with southern evangelical ladies).

Granted much of the behavior being judged at that time in my life was more along the lines of "grey areas" rather than actual "sin," but I learned that when you were honest about your actual "sin," there was going to be a stern lecture and then a series of follow-ups...usually delivered by friends or mentors that somehow found a way to be condescending enough to keep me from wanting to go through that process again.

So, I figured out ways to hide sin from peeople.
And, scarily, I got good at it.

Here I thought that when you stop pretending, you expose the pretending of others. Unfortunately, that wasn't my experience early on.

Thankfully, as I got older and was able to more freely choose those circles of trust, I found a group of guys (and a leader) that handled things differently and we sharpened each other rather than kicked each other.

But let's be honest: Most of us are a lot like that stubborn mule, not only with those Christians we're in orbit around, but also with God who already knows us better than we realize and loves us more than we could ever know. Our sins are already more intimately known by Him than us.

Yet we are stubborn like a mule.
Unintelligent.
We shoot ourselves in the foot for temporary moments of fun or pleasure or escape and continue in it because it's fun and gives pleasure and allows us to escape. And then we get it together in front of others.

And in front of God.

But he instructs us.
He looks us in the eye and tells us how to live.
He protects us.
He surrounds us with shouts founded in deliverance.
His faithfulness will overwhelm us.
It'll keep us from pain (and let's just admit that all those things we did when we were young that we regret little but don't want our kids to have any part of did cause us some degree of pain).

And confession will allow us to be joyful.
We can shout enthusiastically.
We can live in harmony with Him like we're supposed to.

But this Psalm shows us the artist was right about the sin on the nightly news: It will give us freedom and give all those around us freedom to stop pretending. We can sharpen each other.

We don't have to hide from God.
We don't have to live in fear of Him.

Confession is much more for us than for God. He already forgave us at the Cross when all our sins were in the future anyway. Our sins were already exposed, man. Yet we act like they aren't.

Aren't you tired of pretending with each other?
Aren't you tired of pretending with God?

I am.

(Tomorrow's Reading: Psalms 37-44)

(and if you're so inclined, you can go to iTunes and download the "intro to 'I Repent" and the song "I Repent." Your life will better for it.)

2011-02-04T05:51:00.004-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 35

What I Read Today: Psalms 20-26.

What Stood Out Today About What I Read: Psalm 23, A psalm of David.

The Lord is my shepherd,
I lack nothing.
He takes me to lush pastures, he leads me to refreshing water.
He restores my strength.
He leads me down the right paths for the sake of his reputation.
Even when I must walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff reassure me.
You prepare a feast before me in plain sight of my enemies.
You refresh my head with oil; my cup is completely full.
Surely your goodness and faithfulness will pursue me all my days,
and I will live in the Lord’s house for the rest of my life.

Random Thoughts About What I Read: (a little artistic diversion, if you will)

A Psalm of Man.

I am my own guide,
Striving is constant.
I stand in a chamber of white noise
I'm at the mercy of rushing rivers.
My soul is at war.
I blaze my own trails for the sake of fortune and fame.

Even while I run in the rat-race and stall in the gridlock,
I have no worries, for I maintain control.
My talent and my resolve they comfort me.
I build socioeconomic walls to insulate from the riff-raff;
The sweat of my brow is perfume;
My cup is a sieve.

Surely comforts and vanities will lead me all the days of my life,
as I dwell on this earth for decades.

The contrast is a reminder, isn't it? It was for me...

Your thoughts?

(Tomorrow's reading: Psalms 27-33)

2011-02-03T11:37:00.002-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 34

What I Read Today: Psalms 13-19.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: There isn't really one unifying theme in all these, so I'll highlight several random thoughts.

Random Thoughts About What I Read Today:

From Psalm 13: 3 & 6, "Look at me! Answer me, O Lord my God! Revive me, or else I will die! ...But I trust in your faithfulness. May I rejoice because of your deliverance! I will sing praises to the Lord when he vindicates me."

It's usually at these looks at David's life that I question my own ability to "be a man after God's own heart." I mean, that's how David is described...and here we see how desperate he is to have God answer his pleas. I have no idea about the origins of this Psalm or what David was going through, but I rarely (if ever) have times where I shake my fist at God and beg him to Look/answer/revive me or else I will die. And, frankly, if I'm ever in moments like that, well, let's just say that I'm not really the kind of person who rejoices in advance of my deliverance. I have this innate ability to decide to push through whatever lack of answers I'm getting from God and mumble to myself that I'll just keep waiting on God. Make me wonder about how I'm wired both emotionally and spiritually when I read stuff like this from David.

From Psalm 14: 4 & 5, "All those who behave wickedly do not understand–those who devour my people as if they were eating bread, and do not call out to the Lord. They are absolutely terrified, for God defends the godly."

I get this idea: God defends the godly. But it rarely seems to happen at the time frame it needs to happen. What I'm saying is that I see with human eyes. You know, stuff like pastors in Africa just having a church service on a Sunday morning. Thugs come in and shoot everyone...and torture the pastor in front of his family before killing them all. Granted, that's an extreme example. But my guess is that I rarely have any idea what oppression is really like or rarely have any idea what God's definition of "defense" is. Like the psalmist, I pretty much wish deliverance would come from Zion...because often-times I'm more confused by the events around me than I am seeing the godly defended. Weird.

From Psalm 15: 4, "...He makes firm commitments and does not renege on his promise." I had a seminary professor give a piece of advice to the class, "Say 'no' to something good every day, just to stay in practice." He knew that, in professional ministry, there's a lot of good things out there to do for and with people...and it was easy to say 'yes' because, the things being asked are important to the people doing the asking. But it's also probable that, at some point, you wind up telling people 'yes' and making promises that you'll eventually have to break. One of my friend used the analogy that you should spend a lot of time making deposits into your "Credibility Account" and rarely make withdrawals. Good advice on both counts.

From Psalm 16: 5-7, "Lord, you give me stability and prosperity; you make my future secure. It is as if I have been given fertile fields or received a beautiful tract of land. I will praise the Lord who guides me; yes, during the night I reflect and learn." This section actually is translated better in the NASB...but I often feel like I've been given the "breaks" by my heritage. I mean, I was born to college graduates, one from an entrepreneur/blue collar background & the other from a more white collar world (well, by the time I came into the picture, anyway). I've had lots of advantages that others never get. I've had healthy children and a good marriage. I've had jobs that paid the bills (well, one job for 14 years that did...the others not so much) even if there was more month than money at the end of it. I have little to complain about, really.

(As an aside, growing up in the suburban Deep South certainly gave me plenty of baggage to overcome...so I'm not saying my heritage is unspoiled. Just the overall reality is that I've caught most every break along the way...and God has given me all of that)

But it all pails in comparison to the portion of my inheritance that He WILL give me, which is what this entire Psalm is really about. We will not be abandoned and as we reflect and learn, well, let's not focus too much on our past and a lot more about what our future in Him will be. And that includes the reality that some of our pasts are more difficult than others.

From Psalm 17: 7-8, "Wonderously show Your lovingkindness, O Savior of those who take refuge at Your right hand from those who rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of your eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wing..." I remember walking along a street in Amsterdam and I saw a guy with a t-shirt that read, "God loves everybody...but I'm His favorite." I laughed out loud at first...but then I realized that it was theologically accurate no matter how many people owned the shirt. See, it's really true when you think about it. And I love how David asks God to keep him as the "apple of his eye" and to protect him. Sometimes, I forget to ask God to show me His loyal love in wonderous ways...because I'm his favorite. You are, too.

From Psalm 18: Again...David's in trouble, but this time it's more specific. He's on the run from Saul--the King. And the King, of all people, wants to kill David. Never mind that David likely remembers that night at his father's house when Samuel the prophet anointed him to be king (never mind over his own older brothers, but over Saul. Wow!). I love the reminder in verses 30-31, when we question the order of things. I mean, sure, David knew he was going to be king. And I'm sure when he moved into the palace and played music for the current king that seemed like a natural progression of things. But I don't think David could see that his preparation for the throne would involve living as a fugitive for over a decade, on the run from the king who wanted to kill him ever since that fateful day he killed Goliath. He lived in caves, taking odd jobs protecting flocks and all that...probably wondering, "What the heck is God doing? This just doesn't look right." Then, like we all should do, is focus on the reality that God is God and we aren't Him, and that He knows best for us no matter what we think: "As for God, His was is blameless; The word of the Lord is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. For who is God, but the Lord? And who is our rock, except our God...?"

From Psalm 19: 7-10. "The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb." Look at the descripters and benefits in this passage

The Law: Perfect. Restores the soul.
The Testimony: Sure. Makes the simple wise.
The precepts: Right. Makes the heart rejoice.
The Commandment: Clean. Endures forever.
The Judgment: True. Right through and through.

So, if I read this right, everything God says and does is perfect, sure, right, clean and true. And the benefits are that my soul will be restored, my simpleness made wise, my heart glad, knowing that it will be thus forever and ever and from top to bottom they are intrinsically "right."

Then why is it that, most of the time, I don't desire it more than gold...yes, than much fine gold? Why don't they seem sweeter than honey and the drippings off the comb? My guess is because I really don't trust God enough. Add to that my own heart is deceptive, and the reality that I always think I know better than God does, and well, you have a potent mix to have an unrestored soul that stays unwise and sad, settling for the temporary and intrinsically incorrect. Ugh. Sometimes I really don't like myself.

(Tomorrow's Reading: Psalms 20-26)

2011-02-02T07:58:00.002-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 33

What I Read Today: Psalms 6-12.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: Psalm 10: 5-12, "He is secure at all times. He has no regard for your commands; he disdains all his enemies. He says to himself, 'I will never be upended, because I experience no calamity.' His mouth is full of curses and deceptive, harmful words; his tongue injures and destroys. He waits in ambush near the villages; in hidden places he kills the innocent. His eyes look for some unfortunate victim. He lies in ambush in a hidden place, like a lion in a thicket; he lies in ambush, waiting to catch the oppressed; he catches the oppressed by pulling in his net. His victims are crushed and beaten down; they are trapped in his sturdy nets. He says to himself, 'God overlooks it; he does not pay attention; he never notices.' Rise up, Lord! O God, strike him down! Do not forget the oppressed!"

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

I'm a first-born and tend to embody all the traits of the first-born.

The funny thing is that I used to think I was a Ferris Bueller-type free spirit complete with that "Life is a Highway" mindset. Oh, what a gift he gives us, to see ourselves like others see us.

My mirror was my little sister. She rolls the dice. It never really hit her brain that the road less traveled was actually less traveled. She is much more likely to enjoy the moment...just make her last excused absence count with a day of cruising with the top down, Cubs games, museums, dinners at fancy restaurants and the whole bit.

I came to the realization that I was much more like Ferris' older sister, Jeannie/Shauna (please tell me you get that). I was where I was supposed to be when I was supposed to be there. I took the road most-traveled and wished/admired/imagined I was on the road less traveled. There was a way of living life and I toed the line: college/job/wife/house/kids. Jeannie's cry of, "Why does Ferris get to ditch when everybody else has to go?" highlighted a sense of justice, right?

And I have that sense of justice, man. In spades. Especially when it comes to those that "have" keeping those that "have not" down...even when I'm in the camp of the "have's" and benefit from that reality almost every minute of my life.

For example, I live in a school district that pays taxes joyfully to have great schools for our kids (sure, we can tie in pork into those bond elections with the best of them, but such is life). This includes all sorts of side benefits like free classes to prepare for the PSAT's, which help students qualify for scholarships (and with stiff competition, every point matters). They have counselors that can find obscure grants and scholarships, too...so the kids technically qualify even if they never grew up on a "reservation" or had to learn Spanish in class or ever lived in the inner city.

It gets under my skin when the "bad guys" win. I feel for the underdogs. I mean, like everybody else, I appreciate a good old-fashioned uprising of students against "The Man." I don't like it when corporations rip-off the workers. I don't like it when bands like "Kansas" sell millions of records and bands like "Pavement" wallow in obscurity. And so it goes.

And David got this in Psalm 10. Except his stuff mattered a little more than a band not getting recognition.

He looked around and noticed that people who were enemies of God were getting what they wanted. They devised ways to keep the oppressed oppressed. They got what they wanted. They robbed good people while cursing and denying God. They were secure. They couldn't care less what God said. They weren't worried about falling from their lofty place. They were deceptive. They said and did harmful things. They ambushed the innocent. They did all sorts of ugly things...

...and then assumed God was overlooking it and/or not acting on it.

But it's funny.

Because there are times when I have all those elements in my own life. At the very least, I tend to do things that I pretty much pretend that God is overlooking and/or not acting on it.

But what scares me the most is that I generally don't have that passion that David had for God to right the wrongs ASAP. Sure, I can see the news like you and watch some sort of group getting unfairly treated and say to myself, "Man, that's not fair. We should help them."

And, for some reason, I lose the idea of eternal perspective on matters.

That, at some point in time, God will hear the cries of the oppressed. The widows and orphans will be championed. The arms of the evil will be broken. The wicked will be driven out of His land.

But it seems like a long time from verse 1 to verse 18, that's for sure. Sometimes, we take this world too seriously. Sometimes we don't take the Kingdom seriously enough. In my way of thinking, it's tough living in the "now" while waiting on the "not yet." There seems like there's too much for us to champion and fight for. I guess I just have to be glad that knowing it won't always be this way is enough.

Because it is...

...even when it appears the bad guys "win." Because my guess is that "winning" will be redefined in time. And it won't bother me at all if that redefinition comes sooner rather than later.

(Tomorrow's reading: Psalm 13-19)

2011-02-01T11:14:00.003-06:00

Snow Day in Big D

This is how it usually goes on the newscasts for two days before the 10PM backtrack the night the snow is supposed to start ("We were going to get a foot of snow here in the MetroPlex, but now that's going to stay north of the Red River. It'll just be a light rain for us this time."):

But here's how it ended up today in FloMo:

I'm not sure what it is, but I really do like snow days!

2011-02-01T09:58:00.003-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 32

What I Read Today: Psalms 1-5.

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: Psalm 1: 1-3. "How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners, or sit in the assembly of scoffers! Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord’s commands; he meditates on his commands day and night. He is like a tree planted by flowing streams; it yields its fruit at the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts." and Psalm 4: 4-5, "Tremble with fear and do not sin! Meditate as you lie in bed, and repent of your ways! (Selah) Offer the prescribed sacrifices and trust in the Lord!"

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

Here's some advice I got from a leader in my church when I was all of 18 years old: "If you're going to join a fraternity, you should find one a lot like 'Animal House' and do everything you can to be light in the darkness." It all sounded so noble and I took it to heart and did that very thing.

Before you even begin to wonder if that's good advice or not, you have to keep in mind that this person knew me very well. He'd seen me grow a great deal--spiritually speaking--in a very short time. He knew that it'd probably be good for me to take what I believed and make it my own. He knew that it was probably time to get out of my suburban Christian behavior bubble--it was full of good kids doing church-type things in a time where Christian ministries were doing everything possible to keep us entertained and out of trouble.

Again. It seemed like the right advice at the right time for me. Generally speaking, this is horrible advice.

Because it was at college in that very fraternity that the mindset was different. See, in high school, my circle of friends had a generally negative view of the party scene. Certain behaviors were off-limits...and while experimentation was certainly taking place, it was either repented of or lied about (legalism'll do that). But in the fraternity life, the mindset was that all of these things were expected...and the more excessive the better.

And, let's be honest: Sin is fun. There's an appeal.

And when the message of sin is positively reinforced, well, let's just say it's easy to begin to follow the advice of the wicked. You just begin walking alongside them rather than watching from afar.

Then you stand. You begin to take it more seriously. You can still turn and go the other way pretty quickly, but instead of just going with the flow, you begin to spend more time there. It's kind of like walking in front of a bar every day on your way to work, but then one day you decide to stop and look at the prices of the drinks on the menu in the frame outside. You were moving, kind of curious, maybe wondering what it was like and why people in there might be laughing or listening to great music or shooting pool or whatever. Then you stop to see what it might cost. (It's just an analogy, folks. It breaks down when you realize that all of those things are not sin--just making a point about walking and then standing)

I call this "giving them your ear." In fact, whenever I'm involved in situations where I'm asked to work with a couple whose marriage is in trouble, that's on of the first things I ask: Who has their ear? For example, a wife will say her husband is considering a divorce and while there isn't another woman involved, he's going out now and partying and probably dancing and chatting up other girls. It's usually at this point I try to figure out who is giving him the advice that his current situation is awful and their lifestyle is better...because that's almost always the case. I mean, if the guy was still plugged into a group of solid Christian guys who were encouraging him to talk to his wife about the state of things and find ways to serve her and communicate to her because she's not the kind of lady that wants her husband to end their marriage and all that jazz...

(okay, speaking of analogies that break down--I realized that's kind of a Disneyland group of guys, man. Let's be honest, most Christian small groups are not the types of environments where that kind of thing can come up without judgment so most people wouldn't bother bringing it up in their small group anyway. But lets just say the group was a solid one and said things encouraging him to work on his marriage, okay?)

...instead of guys who reinforce the idea that his wife is the kind of woman who beats him down and he needs to get out of that situation and the kids are better off without him in the mix and besides, life is too short to not live it up and these women are more fun and the single life is the best life and all that.

Well, that's "standing."

Then you sit. You're in now. You're one of them and you're staying a while. It's an active view that not only is the God-thing not for them, but it's not for anybody. In fact, those that are walking with God are nuts or wackos or closed-minded or whatever else the current milieu says we are...and nobody wants to be in with the losers, right?

See, the process there the verbs in the verses give you?

Then the passage gives you a contrast...BUT (or in the case of the NetBible, "INSTEAD")...

...a blessed person is one who finds pleasure in the Lord's commands.
...a blessed person is one who meditates on His Word.

He's a tree unswayed by the current milieu. Strong, because he's planted for the long-term by a stream that will constantly replenish him. When the time is right, the fruit will show, too.

The meditating on His Word was usually pretty easy. I've been given extreme doses of it all along my journey. I've been involved in Bible-teaching churches and small groups that were focused on deep study and I really liked reading about it all anyway. So, for me, meditating on His Word is still something I thrive on and believe in as I head up my own ministry.

It's that catch of "finding pleasure in the Lord's commands" that was trouble for me. I mean, I gotta be honest. There were rarely times that I didn't know the right thing to do given a situation. It isn't like I'd walk into my small group of guys (who were actually kind of a Disneyland kind of group now that I think about it) after the weekend and brag about the wrong thing. "Hey, boys! I got totally hammered this weekend and it was AWESOME! You guys should try it out!" Nope. I knew better. Cover that stuff up. If they ask, minimize the story, too. Thankfully, they learned my M.O. over time and asked much harder questions and held me accountable--which, interestingly, they "had my ear." I'm glad they were there. But sometimes it was hard to take pleasure in the commands.

That's where the Psalm 4 passage came into play for me.

First, I had to "tremble." Realize the God was God and I'm not Him. That kind of gives Him the right to "tell me what to do."

Then, I had to meditate and repent. See, it's one thing to read it and learn it. But the greek word for "repent" is a 3-fold process. It involved a consideration of the facts, which will convict the heart, which will change the mind (thank you, DTS alliteration sermons in 3-points!). So, you get the data in your brain and think about it, which pokes at your emotions, and you change the way you think--which causes you to turn away from that old way.

Finally, you just "offer the sacrifices" and "obey." Just decide to do the right thing even if the wrong thing looks a lot more fun and gratifying whatever urge is the chink in your armor.

Over time, I realized that I never really regretted doing the right thing. Sure, I might've missed out on the last two hours of the greatest party of all time, or got away from the drunk girl when my initial idea seemed more fun, or being the designated driver by choice or however else the "right thing" looked given the situation.

And I watched the payment for "following the wicked, standing with sinners, or sitting with scoffers" play out in my friends. Maybe it was when I had to bail out the friend for drunk & disorderly conduct, or a guy who had a one-night stand tell him she was "late," or watching a guy lose his pilot slot due to a DUI or whatever else the "wrong thing" was given the situation. It was in those moments I learned how much the payment for the wrong thing always shows up in the fine print of the deal.

As those processes played out, they more or less rewarded themselves. So, as I got older and a bit more experienced, I began to find pleasure in the the Lord's commands. They were the best thing for me, as only a Father who loves me can give me, even when I thought I knew better.

And yes, trying to be salt & light turned out to be a good thing for me and the next step in my spiritual growth at age 18. The reality is that it was a 3-year (more bad advice: Graduate in 3 years so you can get to seminary. Why leave college, man?) lab experiment in seeing what it means to follow/stand/sit against learning to love the Lord's commands. So, I do wish I'd been more salt & light. That's for sure.

But I learned. I grew. And hopefully, the standing firm is a lot more frequent than hopping on the path to follow these days...

(Tomorrow's Reading: Psalm 6-12)

2011-02-01T07:07:00.002-06:00

Reading Through The Bible in 2011, Part 31

What I Read Today: Song of Solomon

What Stood Out About What I Read Today: Song of Solomon 8: 6-7, "The Beloved to Her Lover: Set me like a cylinder seal over your heart, like a signet on your arm. For love is as strong as death, passion is as unrelenting as Sheol. Its flames burst forth,
it is a blazing flame. Surging waters cannot quench love; floodwaters cannot overflow it. If someone were to offer all his possessions to buy love, the offer would be utterly despised."

Random Thoughts About What I Read:

I am the father of daughters. This is a role I relish.

So far, I've enjoyed every stage of parenting daughters. I loved the late nights alone with a bottle, a baby and ESPN SportsCenter. I loved the toddler stuff, with Legos and snuggles. I loved the princess phase and board games. I loved the elementary days of discovery. I loved the middle school stuff where personalities and such were beginning to become more defined. I enjoyed the high school stuff where you watch them become who they're supposed to be and getting ready to see them launch. To be sure, there were times when I didn't understand 20% of what went on in my own home, but even those were few and far-between and temporary.

I am also the father of girls who are exquisitely beautiful. Like Edgar Allen Poe said, there can be no exquisite beauty without some strangeness to the proportion...and this defines them pretty well. They're smart, bitingly witty, and, oh, yeah: They're pretty.

This means boys. And yes, we've all heard about the dads that sharpen knives while the dates show up...or clean their shotguns.

But see, I pretty much have understood that, at some point, the odds are that they're going to fall in love. They're going to have some boy become absolutely smitten with them. And they're going to become absolutely smitten with a boy. I'm pretty confident that, at some point, I'll walk them down an aisle and hand them to a young man who has no idea of how happy he's going to be with them. I have no reason to believe I won't enjoy that stage of parenting, too. So, I tend to take it easy on the boys who show up. Besides, thus far, the kind of guys who've shown up haven't been the kind of guys that need a knife-sharpening to keep them on the straight and narrow.

(As an aside, I'm under no illusions any and all underlying realities and motives that these boys all have. I remember MY motives when in pursuit of another man's daughter. What I'm saying is that my girls are likely a much tougher strainer with regard to who they give their emotions, kisses and tears to...but I do have a shotgun, just FYI, if needed)

My girls have also been raised in evangelical Bible church circles.

And there's a LOT of focus on being a Proverbs 31 kind of woman. She works hard, man. She makes her husband look good in the city gates, man. She helps the poor and the needy, man. She runs a business, man. She teaches her children and others, man. She doesn't worry about beauty and charm as much as she does her walk with God, man. And don't get me wrong. These are great things...but it's only 21 verses. Somehow this is the standard of Godly womanhood.

And then we read Song of Solomon. 8 chapters of stuff in which there is no possible way to deny the erotic nature of the work. Sure, we miss a lot of the cultural things that would've turned on a 10th Century B.C. woman (hair like a goat?), but unless you do some sort of American Puritanical dance to get to this being an allegory of God's love for his people, well, you can't deny the heat in the relationship.

And this was brought to my attention during a True Love Waits class I was teaching. A female student asked me why I didn't use any of the text from Song. Good question, right? Here I was hammering away on all the verses that talked about what NOT to do and all that and ignoring a vital part of the big picture. We're supposed to be preparing these young people for a lifetime of healthy sexuality and simply focused on the negative and obvious.

It's a fascinating question, really. How in the world to you highlight what Scripture says about modesty while at the same time teaching young ladies to appreciate their curves? How are you supposed to teach a girl that these undeniable parts of the Song of Songs are some of the best realities about being a woman while evangelicals are writing books that tell them that kissing is verboten until the wedding night? And does the reality that, in most of the times/cultures the Bible was written in, women were likely married around 16--give or take a year or two--somehow change in our American now given that some women wait much longer to get their career going before they get married?

Thankfully, there are a lot of books being written by evangelical women for evangelical women on this very topic. I'll leave them to their work. That's not my point today.

My point today is that there should be a balance in our teaching somewhere between the Proverbs 31 woman and the Shulamite woman...and not just to our teenagers. Even if I'm not sure exactly where that balance is or how it plays out...I'm pretty sure I want my daughters to be the best of both of those passages.

Their marriages will be better for it.
They'll better embrace who they are and who they're created to be.
Their relationship to God will be enhanced.

But that's personal.

It also works corporately, too.

Our marriages will be better, in contrast to a world that needs to see great marriages.
Our children will get an accurate and balanced view (re: healthy) of sexuality & marriage.
Our churches will be healthier because they'll know God better, even if they're a bit more uncomfortable.

I'm open for suggestions on how to practically apply this one, today, patrons!

(Tomorrow's Reading: Proverbs 1-5)