you can listen to Jimi, but you can't HEAR Jimi

There’s a trend or rather a Renaissance in the body of Christ right now. It’s the rebirth of Christians thinking in terms of community rather than an individual pursuit of personal “holiness”. Some people are listening to the trend and others are actually hearing the calling of this trend. To listen is to observe, to hear is to participate and get swept up by the movement.

Reading Matthew 13 recently, it reminded my of the scene in the movie “White Men Can’t Jump”, a movie from 1992, starring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. At one point, Harrelson’s character is listening to Jimi Hendrix and Snipes character sort of laughs and makes the statement that “you can listen to Jimi, but you can’t hear Jimi”. It’s a great scene and lately my mind has been spinning this very scene into a modern parable of sorts.

The more I learn about following Jesus and the more my passions are transformed into His passions – I’m realizing that God is community. He is relational. The doctrine of the trinity takes on a whole new meaning to me when I realized that God is community with Himself. God is relational. Simply put, following Jesus is about our relationship with God and our relationship with other people. If either one of these things is missing in our life, we’re merely listening and not hearing. Most of us can understand the importance of having a relationship with God because that relationship is personal and individualistic. However, relationship with other people, well, that’s a different story.

Because of our natural tendency to be ‘individuals’ and to live our lives for ourselves (or even live our lives to protect ourselves) we don’t engage in community. We’re either too busy or we have compartmentalized our friendships. Over here are our ‘church’ friends and over here are our ‘other’ friends. Why the division? Maybe…just maybe there is a correlation between our relationship with God and our relationship with other people?

Because we compartmentalize our relationship with God, we tend to compartmentalize our relationships with other people. When we feel like being Christians, we hang out with our Christian friends. When we feel like being something other than Christian, we hang out with our ‘other’ friends.

Why is that?

Maybe it’s because your faith is personal? It’s between you and God. Up to this point in my life, I would probably agree with that concept of Christianity. However, in hopes of truly being Christian (according to the books of Acts), I want to be known for following Christ so closely that people see the Living God through every aspect of my life.

Life transformation happens in the midst of healthy community: a healthy community of Christians who are following Jesus Christ. It’s your new family; experiencing life together, celebrating, mourning and sharing in the transformation process.

“Your faith is private, it’s personal and I respect that”. I’m not sure who said that to me, but I’m now seeing that there is a generation of people who truly believe this. Maybe my parent’s generation (the baby boomers), I don’t know. Regardless, it is possible that faith is private and personal. Faithfulness could even be private and personal, but following Jesus Christ was not intended to be private or personal. It was intended to be lived out in community, whether Christians or non-Christian. Community is where relationship happens and it is only through relationship that people gain trust. Trust is the only ingredient for life changing dialogue.

Personal faith is listening and observing Christianity.

Community faith is hearing and engaging in the following of Jesus Christ with others.

Personal is a sprint. Community is a marathon.

Personal can be religious. Community is relational.

Personal is private. Community is public.

Personal is clean and predictable. Community can be dirty and unpredictable.

In a “me” driven culture, community is counter cultural. It stretches me – I think it stretches all of us. Before you have friends, you must BE a friend. We must begin to hear the call of community – we must participate.

Rather than listening, let’s write a new song. Rather than observe, let’s create and participate.

It’s shifting our mindset from finding joy in our personal pursuit of following Jesus and beginning to find our joy in seeing others following Jesus. Celebrating the victory in other’s lives, rather than our own. Participating in others lives and helping them discover what God’s passion is for their life during the transformation process of following Jesus. That’s community. That’s a movement. That’s hearing and following the voice of God, but also hearing and meeting the needs of God’s people – whether Christian or non-Christian.

fo-getta 'bout it! (living a life of kingdom posture)

postlude: march 14, 2006

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3: 13-14 TNIV)

The apostle Paul had quite the resume, didn’t he? He was “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.” And yet, with all of his clout, he confesses to his friends in Philippi that he had not “taken hold of it.” (Philippians 3:5-6 TNIV) Better yet, he says that he is “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.”

In my mind, all I can hear is one of the Sopranos saying (in a thick New York accent) “fo-getta ‘bout it”; translated: forget about it.

Paul is pleading with his friends to live with a kingdom posture and to “live up to what we have already attained” through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

“Kingdom posture?” you ask. Let me back up a bit and hopefully this terminology will make more sense.

Many years ago, when I was in college, I played in the jazz band. The director of the jazz band had this way of instructing that was…well, let’s just say it was unlike any teaching technique I’d seen before.

Here’s the scenario:
The band would play the chart (the musical arrangement) and really work hard to make it sound good. When we would finish, our director would peer at us from over his eyeglasses and say something like: “It wasn’t happenin’ guys – do it again from the top.”

I remember sneaking a peek to see the reaction of the other band members because in my mind I was thinking that I put everything I had into that particular run through of the chart and all he can say is “it wasn’t happenin’ guys.” What does that mean exactly? Isn’t that just a tad bit ambiguous, or is it just me?

So, our director counted us off and we started another run through of the chart, and guess what? It was worse. Not necessarily because of his rehearsal technique (or lack of), but because we were on our defenses. We were thinking more about ‘why wasn’t that last run through good?’ and less about improving the next run through. We were thinking about the past and not the present.

Living in the past can be a defensive posture and on the flip side, living in the future can be an offensive posture. Either way, we’re not living in the present, which is the kingdom posture. It’s living in the present moment and living in the presence of God, the living God.

In years past (in one of my many moments of self-pity), I would tell my wife “I wish I could just go back to playing the drums…that’s it, just playing the drums”. It was comfortable, not because those were the best days of my life, but because I knew what to expect. In times of struggle, we tend to want less of what we need and more of what we know. We know the past. The present requires us to think and sometimes that is not altogether comfortable.

Think about the times you’ve dated someone and then ended that relationship. At the time, you are present to both the reason why the relationship is not working and why the relationship simply won’t work. However, when times get lonely, you start thinking about the past and that relationship. You begin to say to yourself “well, it wasn’t THAT bad.” All of a sudden, you’re back in the relationship only to realize in a small window of time all the reasons why you ended the relationship in the first place.

The old adage “don’t read your press clippings” isn’t just about the danger of feeding your ego. It’s also a challenge to live in the present moment.

Living life with a defensive posture (living in the past), does not create the future. Creating the future is in the decisions we are making NOW, in the present. Kingdom posture is being in the present, in the NOW. Kingdom posture is when you are present to life, present to the people and environment of opportunity all around you and most importantly, present to your Heavenly Father.

“Live up to what we have already attained.” Paul was pleading with his friends in Philippi and to us, to walk in Kingdom posture. To take hold of the prize – the constant, ongoing relationship with the Creator of the Universe, our Heavenly Father – and run to the finish line.

If you’re living in the past, drop your defensive posture and FO-GETTA ‘BOUT IT! Jesus said and is saying “the kingdom is at hand.” Our Savior and those who gave their lives for His message of freedom are calling us to live in the NOW and live with a Kingdom posture. They’re call us to create the future by living in the present.

the potter's hand remix

The minute my community group meeting comes to an end I frantically jump in my car, racing to a rehearsal I have downtown. As I’m driving, my mind can NOT stop thinking about the conversation that had unfolded only moments earlier.

The group had been studying the Book of John and in an "A.D.D. Moment" we had nixed our formal topic, “Is Jesus the Christ?” in order to discuss what it really means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. While driving at perilously high speeds, my mind was completely processing this question.

As Christians are we:

following Jesus Christ in order to be molded in His image?

or…

following Jesus Christ in order that we may serve humanity?

During our discussion, the Biblical illustration of “the potter’s hand” had been thrown into the mix of dialogue. As the phrase hammered itself into my head, I knew that I was in need of some spiritual back-up. I picked up my cell phone and called a friend of mine who is starting a new
church to help me process the information that our group had stumbled upon. The call worked out well because he was driving home and had time to talk.

Short Break in the Action…before I continue my musing, here’s some background info...

The potter’s hand illustration is found in Isaiah 64:8. This particular insight from Isaiah plays very well into the Christian communities’ understanding that God’s intent for us following Jesus Christ is that we
will be molded in His image or likeness. That He (God) is the potter and we are the clay. Can I get an amen, brothers and sisters? As our group navigated through this illustration, I immediately realized that the potter’s wheel is moving....it’s in motion – action! The molding
process occurs while the clay is in motion on the wheel.

During our last community group gathering, I raised the question “What is the difference between being a believer in Jesus Christ and being a follower of Jesus Christ?” In order to make it simple, we listed words that were synonymous with either believing or following. After we
mentioned a couple of words, a girl in the group quietly said, “action.” It was as if that was the period to the sentence of our conversation. So, when that word “action” resounded again in our discussion on God's pottery, there was a bit of an "Ah-hah" moment. As the word “action” was
hanging in the air (sort of like a cartoon bubble next to my mouth), our group made this exciting move to a different frontier of being Christians. Awesome moment….however, we were running late, SO, I closed our group in prayer and quickly jumped in my car....(remember, I had a rehearsal).

Right...the cell phone conversation with the church-starting friend....his name is Matt.

Knowing that I process information through dialogue, I make a phone call to my buddy Matt and I recount the happenings of the night in our community group. After I finished talking, there was a moment of silence....then, he says “let me throw another thought into the mix.”

Matt continued, “not only is the potter’s wheel in motion, but the potter is putting pressure on the clay....there's a tension and release involved with the molding process. Also, don’t rule out the idea that the clay could all of a sudden collapse and the potter would have to start the
molding process all over again. And let me take it another layer deeper, I don’t think that the potter is molding the clay into some sort of piece
of art, but rather a vessel to be used in order to serve someone or something.”

The silence was now on my end of the phone....“Al, did I lose you? Are you there?”

“No man...you didn’t lose me. That’s crystal clear. Thanks Matt.”

Matt’s wife beeped in and with perfect timing we ended our phone call. However, it wasn’t the end for me. The rush of thoughts inside of my mind would not stop...and honestly, I didn’t want them to stop.

My conclusion (at this point) is YES, we will be molded in the image of Christ; however, I’m beginning to understand that the process of being molded will happened as we are in the process of serving humanity. This process may get messy; it may collapse and have to be started again, but
it is the process of God in our lives while serving in the lives of others around us.

What does following Jesus Christ look like in your life?
How can God use you to serve His people?

It’s crazy to think that God will use broken people like you and me to change the world through serving it, and it’s even crazier to think that in the process of serving, He is making us whole.

“The search for wholeness is counterintuitive and requires us to let go of what we so long to take hold of and begin a pilgrimage that leads us to an entirely different path. †Wholeness is not found through receiving, but through giving.” -Erwin McManus, from his book “Uprising”

In case you’re wondering, I made it to my rehearsal!

your mess is NOT your own

[made for TV remix]

I was having lunch with my family at a deli recently and my wife and I ordered two taco salads. After ordering, the norm is that I’m in charge of the food pick-up and delivery to the table. For whatever reason, at this deli, they don’t bring the salads to the table; you have to pick them up. That’s not usually a problem…usually.

While carrying the tray with 2 taco salads, I was thinking to myself “I really don’t want to drop these salads; please don’t let me drop these salads”. I’m not sure WHY I was thinking about this, but I was. Once I got to the table, I carefully took one of the salads off of the tray, set it on the table in front of my wife and totally forgot that this would offset the balance of the tray on the table…viola – my taco salad goes crashing to the floor. Salsa, cheese, sour cream, chips and lettuce had taken flight and made a crash landing.

At first, I had no reaction. I think I was in shock; not because this happened, but more so because I had been thinking that I didn’t want this to happen, and it did. I was just standing there…motionless.

When I finally came out of shock, I looked down at the floor and saw the mess. I saw that half of me (my entire left leg) was covered with cheese, salsa and sour cream. I looked at my wife. Then I looked around to see everyone in that area of the restaurant looking at my family and me.

After a couple of seconds, my wife asked, “Al, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just glad that this mess didn’t get onto anyone else.”

She paused. Looked at me with a bit of confusion and said, “uh…maybe you should take another look.” With a bit of embarrassment, she pointed at the person behind me. Hesitating, I looked behind me to see the other half of what didn’t make it onto my left leg, made it onto this guy’s jacket. Before I could get an apologetic word, my wife points to a well-dressed businessman at the table next to us. His white, tailored, cuff link, initial embroidered, dress shirt, was now speckled with salsa polk-a-dots. That’s not the worst part. The worst part was that he didn’t know that he had received ‘extra salsa’ with his turkey sandwich (if you get what I’m saying).

“I’m really sorry about your shirt, sir.”

“Oh, it’s not a problem, I’ve got kids. I know all about this kind of stuff.” He replied.

I smiled at my wife because I was thinking “yeah, except it wasn’t a kid that sprayed you with Pace Picante …it was an adult (sort of).”

The manager of the deli came over with the clean-up crew. They started working on the mess like a NASCAR pit crew. The manager gave me a wet hand towel to clean off my clothes and politely said, “Sir, we’ll take care of this mess. Why don’t you go to the bathroom and clean off your jeans.”

So I headed to the bathroom. While I was in the bathroom I started thinking about the scene that had just played out in the deli and how it not only altered my day, but others around me. The guy behind me, the businessman, the deli manager, the clean up crew, my wife and family and as I was thinking about it, this thought came to me…

“Your mess is not your own.”

It wasn’t that I intentionally dropped the salad and decided to make a mess. It was an accident. But regardless of it being an accident or not, my accident effected other people around me. For a moment, I felt really guilty about it. In my mind I kept seeing an instant reply of messing up the guy’s jacket, the businessman’s shirt, the floor of deli and just the thought of burdening anybody with any aspect of my life starts to get me angry. My wife tells me it’s because I’m non-confrontational and a fellow Midwesterner friend of mine has told me that my “being prone to guilt complexes is a Midwest thing.” I don’t think it’s either. It’s more than a personality quirk. It’s a personal realization.

When Christians enter into authentic spiritual community with each other, the decisions that each person in that community makes affect everyone else in that community. In essence, the decisions you make in your life will indirectly affect others around you. Whether you want it to or not; whether you are thinking about it or not, it happens.

In the bible, Jonah receives instructions from God to ‘go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it’ and so what does Jonah do? He ‘ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish.’ For Jonah and many of us, because we are naturally self-centered and it’s not really on our personal radar, we don’t think that our day-to-day decisions affect anything other than our life. In the case of Jonah, it affected an entire ship of people that were headed to Tarshish.

“…he went aboard and sailed to Tarshish to flee from the Lord. Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.” (Jonah 1: 3-5 TNIV)

Have you ever known someone who professes to be a Christian and yet the actions and decisions they make in their life run contrary to that profession of faith? It’s as if they don’t see their own hypocrisy. More than that, they don’t even seem to care. Like Jonah, they are completely ambivalent to the situation. They don’t realize that the decisions that are making affect the community of people around them. It’s as if they are in a ‘deep sleep’.

Unlike the community of people around me at the deli that day, the sailors that we’re on the ship with Jonah were not nearly as understanding.
“The captain went to him and said, ‘How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.’ Then the sailors said to each other, ‘Come let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.’ They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. So they asked him, ‘Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?’ He answered them, ‘I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.’” (Jonah 1: 6-9 TNIV)

Jonah’s cover was blown. In that moment, Jonah was awakened to the reality that his decision to run from God could possibly cost him his own life and the life of these sailors. For some people, they do awaken to the reality of their life and how it is interconnected with the community of people around them. For others, they remain in a deep sleep and continue to live their life in a constant state of confusion. They ‘need more church in their life’ or they ask you to ‘pray for them’. It’s a spiritual mask for personal failure.

Your decisions are not your own, because your life is not your own.

If you claim to be a Christian, then you are claiming to be part of the family of God, through a relationship with Jesus. You surrender your life and your will to following Jesus because it is through His sacrifice on the cross that you are able to have a new life in Him. Your life is no longer yours, but His, Jesus. Your decision to follow Jesus brought about a celebration on earth through your water baptism and a celebration in heaven by glorifying God. Your decision to follow Jesus affected the community of people around. Doesn’t it make sense that a decision that is outside of following Jesus would also affect that same community?

How do you handle this?

What is the appropriate action to take?

Let’s look back at the scene with Jonah and the sailors.

“So they asked him, ‘What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?’
‘Pick me up and throw me into the sea…and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.’” (Jonah 1:11-12 TNIV)

The sailors get right to the point. They ask a very direct question because their life is on the line. If they don’t quickly get the root of the problem, the boat will crash and that’s the end for them. For the sailors, this was a matter of life or death.

Why isn’t it a matter of life or death for us?

Why don’t we have a sense of urgency?

More than the abdication of responsibility of the individual, I’m more concerned about the response of the community. The salvation of one of God’s children is on the line. If our salvation was important enough for Him to sacrifice Jesus, it should go without saying that it is important to you and me? We’re human and we will ‘all fall short’ in our following of Jesus. That’s where the real strength of an authentic spiritual community is. It’s in action. Not only in the decisions we make without God, but the decisions we make on behalf of God.

We have all been adopted into the family of God, sons and daughters. When we see a spiritual sister or brother making decision that we KNOW will affect our community we must act. We must intercede for the individual, the community and the Savior we profess to follow.

Your decision is not your own, it is His. Our salvation and our freedom as followers of Jesus have never been found in our independence from Him but in our complete dependence on Him. Helping people learn to process life this way and building communities of people that live this way, is the ‘kingdom among us’. It is the truth that ‘sets the captives free’.

Nice Guys Always Finish Last

But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
(Matthew 19:30 TNIV)

Recently, I was having a conversation with a friend and both of us realized that for the majority of our adult life (up to this point) we had worked hard. We’re both artists, so we’ve had seasons of day jobs, seasons of multiple part-time jobs…heck, both of us have had seasons where we are working a full-time “day job”, a couple part-time jobs and we’re trying to pursue our true passion, our artistic endeavors (mine being a pastor/musician and his being a sound engineering). Although most of our full-time and our part-time jobs were just a means to support our passion, we began to realize that regardless of what season it may be or may have been, with all our hard work there seemed to be an invisible ceiling to the amount of money we were able to make in one year. It’s not that we don’t want to make more money per year or that we do want to make more money per year, we both came to the realization that for whatever reason, we weren’t able to break past a certain yearly income bracket.

“What’s up with that?” I asked.

My friend replied, “I don’t know, I guess we should just come to terms with the fact that we are wired to make a certain amount of money per year, no more, no less.”

There was an awkward silence.

“No way…I’m not buying that.” I said.

There was another awkward silence.

With a little hesitation, he says “Buy it or not. Maybe that’s just the way it is.”

I left the conversation a little miffed and a little confused. Not at my friend and not at God. Maybe I was angry at life. I mean, we both have families; we both have 3 children; we both have mortgages and yet, our budget is month-to-month. Neither of us is afraid to roll up our sleeves and work. We’re not above working ANY kind of day job to support our family and what we believe our ‘calling’ is. Why such a struggle?

As I was thinking and taking a personal inventory I remembered something one of my college roommates used to say to me.

“Nice guys always finish last, Sergel…always.”

At the time, he was talking about my dating life, which you can probably surmise from his “wisdom” I was not really a dating Casanova nor was I ‘playa’ – I just loved drumming…more than anything; more than girls and at the time, more than God. Regardless, this statement was just floating around in my head.

“Nice guys finish last.”

I guess another way of stating this would be “idealists finish last.”

So, the questions start coming to me:

What is a nice guy?
Am I a nice guy?
Is being a nice guy sort of like being an idealist?
Am I an idealist?
Do I really want to finish first?
Is finishing last a bad thing, considering what Jesus taught?

There’s a part of me that feels justified in my questions and there is another part of me that feels shameful. My shame is parallel to the shame that the disciples may have felt after they were arguing about ‘which of them was considered to be greatest’ . (Luke 22:24 TNIV)

“For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves?” (Luke 22:27 TNIV)

Was Jesus an idealist?
Was Paul an idealist?
Was Mother Theresa an idealist?
Martin Luther King, Ghandi, JFK?

Did these historical figures finish last?
Did they ever struggle with the reality of balancing their passion, and their calling with balancing their check book?

Seriously, I know it may be a stretch, but you know what I’m saying. Deep down inside your soul you know that God designed you with a unique talent and ability and yet, that very talent or ability is breaking the bank. What’s up with that?

Outside the challenge of answering all these questions (as I think of more), there is the biting reality of trusting the God; the ‘biting’ reality of trusting the economy of God. It’s the reality that Paul faced in prison; the reality that Peter and John faced before the Sanhedrin and the reality that Jesus faced on the cross.

In an ideal world, artists would be able to live a life of constant creativity and be able to pay their bills with no problems. Maybe that’s the new Kingdom we can look forward to…the balance between idealism and the reality of paying our bills. Maybe that’s what is meant by “nice guys (idealists) finish last”. Maybe the ‘nice guys’ of this world do finish last. Maybe that’s because the new Kingdom – the balance between ideality and reality - is worth giving your current life for. You think?
My hope is for you and I to continue to trust in every aspect of God’s sovereignty, including His economy that the “last shall be first”. That we would be willing to give our entire lives to establishing the new Kingdom that Jesus gave His life for. That while we live in the real world, we create the ideal world.

what's in a name?

1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, [a] we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:1-2 TNIV)


I went to see the movie Firewall a few weekends ago. It stars Harrison Ford and the overall the movie was good. The group of guys I went to see the movie with all agreed that it ended sort of abruptly, but that’s sort of beside the point.

The beginning of the movie is a montage of the day-to-day happenings of Harrison Ford’s character (Jack Stanfield) and his family: Beth (his wife), Sarah (his teenage daughter) and Andrew (his son). After the montage and initial credits for the movie are done, the first scene of the movie shows Jack getting ready to leave the house for work. Jack kisses his Beth good-bye, tells Sarah and Andrew to stop fighting and right before he is about to go out the door, they show his daughter Sarah say “good-bye, Jack”; and she says it with this defy-authority, teenage kind of tone in her voice.

Forward to the end of the movie…(no, I’m NOT going to tell you what happens).

Let’s just say that tragedy strikes this upper income, Seattle-based family. And in the very last scene of the movie, Jack’s family runs up to him in relief that they are all alive and you hear the voice of the once defiant Sarah scream, “Daddy!”

It’s a small detail, but a detail that I noticed.

A few months ago, I made a conscience decision to begin referring to God as “The Father”. In effect, calling Him the Heavenly Father. Now, I don’t call Him this exclusively. Sometimes I call Him God or Lord. But, I’ve really tried to use “Father” or “The Father”. There were several reasons for this. One reason was because many of the authors that I was reading referred to God as The Father. Another reason was because Jesus referred to God as His Father, The Father. And lastly, in hopes of having a relationship with God and being more present to Him, I felt like using the title “Father” would make things more personal, more intimate.

For many people, this might be extremely difficult. Using the term father may be a reminder of growing up without a father or growing up with a bad father. For instance, my wife’s father divorced her mom and left the country when she was 17 years old and has not contacted her since then. He was a Muslim man and had a pseudo-epiphany about his devotion to his religion. When his attempts to revitalize some of the religious customs with his family failed, he made the decision that God was more important than his family and he moved back overseas to Jordan. Meaning he divorced his wife and left his 19 year-old son, his 17 year-old daughter (now, my wife) and his 8 year-old daughter.
For my wife, it was understandable that calling God “Father” may not have been the easiest thing to do. But, as her relationship with God has grown and gotten deeper, it’s become less difficult.

In the movie, Sarah is not unlike many of us. The title Father has lost some respect over time. Because of the lack of fathering in our country it has become less enticing to say and less meaningful in our society. It makes sense that we would rather call our Father in Heaven anything ranging from God to Lord to “the big man up stairs” as long as it keeps Him at arms length from us. It gives the illusion of holiness or religious piety without any relationship or true intimacy.

Jesus instructs us in Matthew 6 “this, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus, modeled intimacy for us and with this prayer, He is inviting us into that type of intimate relationship with His Father and our Father, God.

After the movie finished, all I could think about was “why did it take a tragedy in Sarah’s life to scream out ‘Daddy’?” In the comfort of suburbia, Sarah was able to become complacent enough to just call her dad “Jack”. Then tragedy strikes and puts every member of the family’s life on the line and at the very end…she is screaming “Daddy” as she’s running to hug him.

Why do we wait for tragedy to strike our lives before we accept Jesus’ invitation to call His Father in Heaven, our Father?

Are we complacent?

Is there just enough religion in our life to keep an arm’s length from God, because ‘we just don’t call God ‘the Father’ in this congregation’?

Do we really need tragedy to strike in our lives before we identify God as our Heavenly Father?

What will it take for us to begin walking in the promise? It’s the promise that we are the children of our Heavenly Father, the sons and daughters of the Living God.

Are you walking in the promise? Or are you living your life like a defiant teenager?

My challenge to you is the same challenge I place upon myself. Begin to refer to God as “the Father” or “the Heaven Father” or “the Father in Heaven”. They are synonymous, so don’t get hung up on which one you use or whether you are consistent. The point is to begin making your relationship with God personal, more personal. Intimate. Like a Father and a son; Like a Father and a daughter; Like Jesus, the ultimate Son.

Don’t wait until tragedy strikes your life to accept the invitation that Jesus died to make available to you.

Ah...youth

[archive: January 19, 2006]

I was in the airport recently and after I took care of my ethical addiction at Starbucks (coffee), I walked past the bookstore. Casually glancing at the displays of books, I couldn’t help but notice the latest, greatest Christian inspiration book. In hopes of not being sued or verbally lashed for this commentary, let’s just say the book was called “your better than average existence today”. The author of the book is a well-known TV evangelist and the pastor of a mega church. Just seeing the book got my mind racing and my blood boiling.

Whether it is a Christian bookstore or a Barnes and Nobles bookstore, this book is usually in the forefront display of both stores and quite frankly, the very title of the book (not too mention the author and the idea of it’s content) makes my skin CRAWL! In my mind, it’s just a newer, slicker, hotter version of the prosperity Gospel; the idea that the favor and blessing of our Heavenly Father comes in the form of material wealth and tangible things. More so, the fact that people (including my generation) buy this book and others like it is because deep down inside of us we want that blessing. It’s part of being human in Western culture. In some form or another we all equate favor or blessing with being successful; being successful is then associated with material wealth. And so we have many Christians living life with this pervading thought process or ‘prosperity’ Gospel.

While thinking about this book, I walked down to my gate. I was early for the flight and had some extra time, so I decided to read some of the book of Philippians. I started with chapter 1 and when I finished reading it, the following verses hit me right in the gut:

“It is true that some preach about Christ because they are jealous and ambitious, but others preach about Christ because they want to help. They preach because they have love, and they know that God gave me the work of defending the Good News. But the others preach about Christ for selfish and wrong reasons, wanting to make trouble for me in prison. But it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that in every way, whether for right or wrong reasons, they are preaching about Christ. So I am happy and will continue to be happy.” (Philippians 1: 15-19 NCV)

It was as if Paul was sitting in the seat next to me at my gate, patting me on the back and saying, “ah…youth.” You know that saying, it’s the phrase that your parents or older friends say to you when your youthful enthusiasm gets the best of you. And it’s not really the enthusiastic optimism, but rather, zeal.

Paul and Timothy are sitting in prison, writing a letter to the church of Philippi and in their imprisonment, they GET IT. They have the love that passes all understanding or better said passes MY understanding. Apparently, during this time period, there were people preaching some sort of prosperity gospel. The comedian in me immediately had the image of these preachers telling people they would have larger huts, bigger camels and more fashionable sandals. ☺

In all seriousness, it was comforting to know that this was not a new problem yet it was convicting that I was not reacting like a saint, like Paul and Timothy. In all my wisdom, I felt ignorant. In all my maturity, I felt immature.

Paul’s love for people was broad, deep and embraced all that is human. His ambition and his life had one ambition “to know Him and to make Him known.” If they were preaching about Jesus, even for “wrong reasons”, Paul was happy. And that happiness was birthed out of his love and trust in the sovereignty of God. Because of the depth of Paul’s relationship with Jesus – really loving, knowing, trusting and being attentive to His presence – he was able to confidently love and rest in the sovereignty that His Father in Heaven is more than capable of using not only his (Paul’s) helpful, unselfish message, but the ambitious, selfish messages of others to His Glory.

That type of love is beyond understanding, because it is a love that finds confidence in Jesus, not in our own thoughts or judgments. That type of trust is inspiring because it is an outward response of a deep, ever-growing relationship with the Father. Both of these character qualities should motivate us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

A Letter Home

[archive: September 21, 2006]

Recently, my mom sent me an email for my birthday. In my reply back to her, I wrote the following words, “I’m merely a product of a great God, great parents and great friends. The rest is improvisation.” After I sent the email, I couldn’t stop thinking “how does that statement play out for a follower of Jesus Christ?”

More often than I care to admit, I struggle with the mainstream Christian community. Because of our focus on being the moral voice in society, rather than the spiritual voice in society we seem to spend our time studying scripture in order to be better people. In effect, we’re studying the scriptures to pass the God test (making it into Heaven), rather than studying the scripture so that we understand it, make it our own and be able to carry a conversation with someone about it (the Great Commission).

I heard someone say recently that, “In the modern world a great preacher was a person who could teach you the information of the bible. Now (in the post-modern world) people want to know, has that book taken you anywhere – where you’ve met and experienced God?”

Studying the ancient scriptures for information is great if your intent is to apply it in your own life AND the lives of those living around you. However, the human soul does not connect with information alone – it’s the combination of that information with your own personal experience that connects with the human soul. That’s what I call improvisation.

It’s reading the ancient scriptures, thinking about what it says, questioning what it says and talking with others about what you’ve read. In that process, the Spirit of God will bring the words on those pages alive, giving you new incite into that scripture. It’s relevant, it’s fresh, it’s personal and it’s applicable. This is the collision that happens when you’re seeking God and God is seeking you. It’s a time of personal revelation and when in conversation with other people, it is also improvisation. It’s utilizing the information contained in the bible on a day-to-day basis with real people. It’s un-sanitized Christianity. It’s raw, unique and it connects with the human soul.

Our lives are important to God, not only because we are His creation, but also because we are completely unique. That individuality lends itself to the Good News of Jesus being improvised and broadcasted in such a way that can be very personal and unique for all the people who do not know Him. Your life was created with the intention of effecting one or more lives. Your story will connect with one or more human souls. Your story will be developed as you read the scriptures and live your life amongst people. Do not be surprised if you are put in some interesting situations and conversations…you may not know what to say or do and at that point you’ll have to ‘wing it’ or improvise. All of your studying will be put the real test – putting faith into action.

Talk to God and hear from Him through the scriptures – then go talk with people….and repeat, and repeat. Let your new song, your life’s improvisation resound in the lives of those around you.

freedom: sex, drugs and the road to damascus

“We have relinquished our uniqueness by becoming far less than we were intended to be.” -Erwin McManus**

What is freedom?
How do you define true freedom?
Are you like me and define freedom as the greener grass on the other side of the fence?

If only we could all be rockstars. You know, going from city to city…sex…drugs…rock-n-roll. It’s the ultimate way to live, right? But, then again, is this the kind of freedom that Jesus illustrates for the ‘Jews who had believed” (John: 8:31-47). Is that lifestyle truly free? Or did we just buy into the ‘illusion of freedom’?

Before we begin to answer these questions and ask even more questions, let’s define some of the terms that will eventually fall into our mix of dialogue.

Freedom- 1 the quality or state of being free: as (a) the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action (b) liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another.

Transform- 1 (a) to change in composition or structure (b) to change the outward form or appearance of (c) to change in character or condition : CONVERT.

Conversion- 1 (a) to bring over from one belief, view, or party to another (b)to bring about a religious conversion in
2 (b)to alter the physical or chemical nature or properties of especially in manufacturing b (1) : to change from one form or function to another (2) : to alter for more effective utilization (3) : to appropriate without right c : to exchange for an equivalent

When or where was your road to Damascus experience? Read Acts 9 and get acquainted with Paul’s conversion. Paul’s encounter with Jesus was the beginning of the transformation process. It was the beginning of Paul working out his salvation or his newfound freedom in Christ. You can call it being saved, a spiritual rebirth, regeneration or the acknowledgement of a Higher Power. Honestly, I don’t care how you verbalize it. The point to grasp is that this is the beginning, not the ending point.

Transformation in our following of Jesus Christ is a lifelong process. It runs against the grain of our ‘take a pill and it will all be better’ society. We want it NOW. Through modern culture, we have been conditioned to instant food, instant information and instant makeovers. To some degree, has Christianity bought into ‘instant’ conversion? Have we cultivated a faith that eliminates the transformation process? Have we traded the conversion process for convenience?

When we cloud our thought process with instant-this or instant-that we totally miss the process of God in our lives. We are enslaved to our own idea of following Christ. We are enslaved to our convenient ‘knee-jerk reaction’ faith. To often, I see this scenario.

• A person encounters God
• They realize their need for Him in their life
• They surrender
• They are born again

The ‘illusion’ that we have bought into (and enslaved ourselves in) is that this is the end. As if our lives will now be full of joy and we can allow God to mold us into His image. It’s instant, no work involved, no process…no transformation and definitely not a lifetime of transformation.

After the honeymoon period of our encounter comes to an end, this is where I struggled and have watched others struggle. Somehow, we still have the same ‘bad’ thoughts and we still have desires to do ‘bad’ things. Aren’t we supposed to be void of temptation after being born again? Let me rephrase the question, ‘aren’t we supposed to be void of being HUMAN after being born again?

I’m afraid not. ☺

This confuses most of us and our knee-jerk reaction is to be more moral, to work harder and do better. To start doing things that we think are good…or better said, to start doing things that we think are NOT bad. We hi-jack the process of God, because we MUST have done something wrong. Did I say the wrong prayer? Am I not good enough? Maybe I’m not one of the ‘chosen’? This doesn’t feel like ‘freedom’? The list of questions we have can be endless. The sense of confusion can be detrimental.

So, let’s re-visit the scenario:
• A person encounters God
• They realize their need for Him in their life
• They surrender
• They are born again
• They begin the process of transformation
• They begin to understand a life of freedom through Christ

It’s interesting to think about how our modern view of instantaneous conversion has created most of us to find ‘freedom’ in the very things of this world that will enslave us. Did God do that? Or did we do that to ourselves? Unfortunately, we are no different than other societies before us. We have always chosen convenience over conversion. It’s just easier and it’s much easier for us to control. “In the end it fools us into seeking freedom from God rather than finding freedom in God”*.

Jesus came to set us free. We were created to be free. As a follower of Jesus Christ we are called to be free. But understanding how that plays out in our individual lives is a transformation process that begins with our rebirth. Being born again is like walking through a door…it’s the beginning. We are walking into the process of pursuing and understanding the heart and nature of God.

Don’t confuse your new beginning in Christ as the end of your pursuit. Don’t be confused by the modern day, convenient Christianity. Don’t buy into the idea of an instant conversion. Realize that this freedom is found in the process of transformation. It may be painful at times, it may be joyful at times. Either way we can celebrate.

“For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and ether are few who find it.” Jesus (Matt. 7:14)

Life is a transformation process, not a destination. Embrace it as a lifestyle and find the narrow road to true freedom and the heart of God.

**taken from “Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul” by: Erwin McManus

Observing Tragedy Sucks

[archive: July 27, 2005]

It’s tough to observe a friend or loved one self-destruct. Watching another person make a bad decision is really tough. Somehow inside of all of us is this ‘superhero’ who wants to save the day. We desperately want to help this person.

It’s that feeling you have when you’re watching a movie and a person is wandering in an abandoned house and you KNOW the villain is lurking somewhere in the house….every step that the person takes you just want to scream aloud, “GET OUT”. But, this person, this movie character is on a screen and can’t hear you…so, they open the closet door and WHAMO – the villain attacks…end of story.

We had to watch the attack; we had to observe the tragedy. Why? In a movie, it’s part of the story, the plot….of course, if it’s a horror movie, it may be nothing more than another person getting killed by the psycho-serial killer freak….but in most stories, tragedy plays a major part of the story. Somehow, we forget this in real life. For whatever reason, we understand and are moved by stories on TV or on the movie screen, but aren’t able to qualify our lives in the terms of a story. Maybe it’s because we don’t want to face the end of the story? I’m not really sure.

When you begin to follow Jesus, I think that a portion of the transformation process in a person’s life is the idea that we are part of God’s story. Not only did God create each of us as unique human beings, but also our individual stories are unique. And the individual stories of our lives are the instrument that God uses to reconcile people back to relationship with Himself. The good, the bad and the ugly of your life are all a significant part of who you are and your personal story. In some Christian communities, people use the word ‘testimony’ to describe their story. Let’s look at the definition of both words and I’ll let you draw your own conclusion:

Testimony:
1 a (1) : the tablets inscribed with the Mosaic law (2) : the ark containing the tablets b : a divine decree attested in the Scriptures
2 a : firsthand authentication of a fact : EVIDENCE b : an outward sign c : a solemn declaration usually made orally by a witness under oath in response to interrogation by a lawyer or authorized public official
3 a : an open acknowledgment b : a public profession of religious experience

Story:
1 archaic : HISTORY 1, 3
2 a : an account of incidents or events b : a statement regarding the facts pertinent to a situation in question c : ANECDOTE; especially : an amusing one
3 a : a fictional narrative shorter than a novel; specifically : SHORT STORY b : the intrigue or plot of a narrative or dramatic work

They seem very close in their basic meaning. However, story seems to be more relational and testimony seems to be more religious (formal). What do people relate to more, a statement or a story? Here’s a good litmus test for that question, go and ask some people to recite the Gettysburg Address. See how far they get with that. Then, ask them the plot of a recent movie or even and old movie like ‘The Wizard of Oz”.

You can probably guess the outcome.

As we begin to see our life as a story that God will use to impact the people around us, I think we are free to celebrate the good, the bad and the ugly in our lives because we now know that it God is working in our lives; He’s working out our story. Not only do we see the living God working in our lives but it allows us to see the living God working in the lives of people around us. This can be awesome and it can be gruesome.

Why gruesome?

Our lives are a series of daily choices and ‘the consequences of our choices are a part of our future” It’s very easy to observe that in our own lives, but very difficult to observe in other peoples lives, particularly those people that are close to us, in community with us, those people that we love.

When we observe our friends or family make choices in their life that seem to be counter to their personality or counter to the community that they live in, it’s really difficult. For people who are following Jesus, it’s even more difficult. In the scriptures it says the following:
• 15"If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him--work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend. 16If he won't listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. 17If he still won't listen, tell the church. If he won't listen to the church, you'll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love.
• From the book of Matthew: 18"Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. 19When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. 20And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."
• From Paul’s letter to Galatia: 1Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. 2Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. 3If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived. 4Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. 5Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life. 6Be very sure now, you who have been trained to a self-sufficient maturity, that you enter into a generous common life with those who have trained you, sharing all the good things that you have and experience.
• From Paul’s letter to Thessalonica: 14If anyone refuses to obey our clear command written in this letter, don't let him get by with it. Point out such a person and refuse to subsidize his freeloading. Maybe then he'll think twice. 15But don't treat him as an enemy. Sit him down and talk about the problem as someone who cares.

Whether it is Jesus or the apostle Paul, the responsibility that followers of Jesus have when it involves approaching another follower of Jesus that is making iniquitous choices in their life, the scenario is layered and difficult.

Let me backtrack to my title “observing sucks…tragedy happens”. When followers of Jesus are in healthy community and they are doing life together, I think it is very important to prayerfully consider whether to approach or NOT to approach a FOJ that is making iniquitous choices.

Why?

Because, we may be interrupting the story that God is writing in this person’s life. As I said early, every good story has tragedy. Is it possible that the person who is making poor choices in their life NEEDS to hit the wall? They need to crash headlong into a bad situation? Is it possible that hitting the wall is the only way that God will be able to reconcile this person to Himself?

As with most situations, we must question our intent as well. Confession and repentance are the essence of following Jesus, but those actions are in response to God first and man second. I think it’s important to honestly call out bad decision in my life as well as others, however, how we remedy the situation, how we move forward in repentance is personal. Repentance is between that person and God.

It’s not easy. Especially knowing that the majority of churches talk more in terms of how to live a moral life, rather than how to pursue the heart of God. Or as Dallas Willard has said, the point isn’t sin management . Rather, the point is who we are becoming. We must train ourselves to name the problem that we see in a FOJ’s life, but allow God to be God and work out the solution (or repentance) in their life. Make sense?

We can speak into a person’s life about the finite, but we should be very careful that we are not trying to speak the infinite.

It takes enough fortitude to have a conversation like this; it takes another level of restraint or even maturity to know when and where to STOP the conversation.

It’s the balance of when you stop talking and allow God to talk.
It’s the balance of knowing when to act and when NOT to act.

In all things, it is important to evaluate the relationship between the finite and the Infinite. We are intended and designed to do amazing things by the power of our life in Jesus Christ, however, we must remember it is through His spirit that all of this is possible. We must know when we end and when He begins.

Sometimes bad things, tragedies, are meant to happen.

When it happens in our own life, it’s tough, however we have the advantage of knowing that it is part of the transformation process…it’s part of our story.

For some, that light bulb has not come on yet. And the only way that the Light will come on, is if tragedy has it’s way because of the iniquitous choices that have been made.

Think about it…

Not one of Jesus’ disciples wanted Him to die on the cross; they had to observe tragedy. God didn’t allow anyone or anything to interrupt the tragedy of His story. Because He knew that it was the only way to transform and change the course of humanity, forever. Tragedy began the process of transformation….for all of us.

Observing tragedy in the lives of people around us sucks, but when we realize it is part of the story that God is writing our lives, we are enlightened to a life that resolves.

Downward Mobility (just another dying star)

“If the whole wide world is staring straight at you, they can't see me...”-Jason Upton (from Dying Star)

Recently, I received a ministry newsletter via email and it was sort of unexpected. I didn’t remember signing up for it, but I had recently met the person who’s ministry it was, so maybe this person assumed I wanted to be updated on the recent ministry happenings. Regardless of intent, I read the email newsletter.

The best part of the newsletter, entitled “what’s God up to?” was interesting…really interesting. In this section, it described various church events that the ministry had been involved in; as well, it talked about a recent audition for Nashville Star (a USA Network star-search kind-of-thing). Read below:

"On Saturday November 5th I traveled to Raleigh, NC on a whim to audition for the Nashville Star show that comes on the USA Network. It’s like a nicer, safer, country American Idol. I was genuinely uninterested in going, but for about 2 or 3 good reasons that I may fill you in on later, I went. Over two thousand were present, only 25 were called back on Sunday. Yours truly made call backs. After leading worship Sunday morning, I traveled back to Raleigh to be videotaped. These tapes got sent straight to the main producers of the show and now it’s a matter of waiting. If they think I have what it takes, they’ll invite me to Nashville in January to compete in the national finals with about 100 others from around the country. If I make it in January I’ll be on the show in March. We don’t know any details, or what’s going on, but it’s surely a matter of prayer. As far as ministry goes, I couldn’t hand pick a better way to be able to share the gospel; potentially hundreds of thousands, even millions could here the gospel if God’s favor allows me to make it on the show (which 6 million tuned into last year). If I when the show, guess who will be the 2006 Nashville Star? You guessed it, King Jesus. There is no doubt that they no where I stand and what my calling is, as I was able to share the gospel on the videotaping to the judges and to the producers of the show. I’ll fill you in as I find out more, but that won’t be for another 4-5 weeks."

Yes, I included the misspelled words. ☺ (when = win)

After I read this, it was hard for me to keep my thoughts to myself. I mean, was this person really asking me to pray for this? Maybe that’s too honest to share with the general Christian public. I don’t know. But you and I know both know you’ve thought that before. The thought of, “why are we praying for this?” or “is this really something I should be praying for?”

I couldn’t help but think of the song “Dying Star” by Jason Upton. It’s a song from a worship leader, to a worship leader (including himself), about a worship leader (including himself). When you read the lyrics, it’s like a reading a poetic, Jerry Maguire-style “mission statement” about the heart’s intent of a Christian musician.

“If the whole wide world is staring straight at you, they can’t see Me.”

Because of our humanity, it’s difficult for us not to see our selfish motives. The way we project our hidden desires onto the ‘calling’ God has on our life. In some ways, we’re simply cloaking our agenda in a spiritual language that seemingly justifies our pursuit (of anything other than God’s heart) and the prayer request.

The main reason that this prayer request and overall mindset has my thoughts stirring is because my personal awareness of God’s relational presence began with my career ending. By letting go of my career, I was able to begin hearing the heavenly Father’s voice calling my name.

Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, “when it says, ‘He went up,’ what does it mean? It means that He first came down to earth. So Jesus came down, and He is the same One who went above the heaven. Christ did that to fill everything with His presence.” (Eph. 4: 9-10 NLT)

He, Jesus, came down, before going up.

It’s the concept of downward mobility. The deepening of our relationship with the Father comes from our ability to step down. It’s not a religious act of humility or submission; it’s an honest response to the life and model that both Jesus and Paul left us through the scriptures.

Consider what Paul wrote to the church in Philipi:
“Christ himself was like God in everything. But He did not think that being equal with God was something to be used for His own benefit. But He gave up His place with God and made Himself nothing. He was born a man and became like a servant. And when He was living as a man, He humbled Himself and was fully obedient to God, even when that caused His death – death on a cross. So God raised Him to the highest place. God made His name greater than every other name so that every knee shall bow to the name of Jesus – everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. (Philippians 2: 6-10 NLT)

We must be dying stars in order that our Father may glorify Himself through our lives. We must be willing to step down in order to go to the next level in our relationship with the Father.

The next level, better said, a deeper relationship with the Father, enables a conversational life, hearing from the Him and responding to His voice and His calling in our life and of our life.

Stepping down is tough. The toughest part about stepping down or letting go is that we give up control of the outcome. When we relinquish control of the outcome there is a possibility that what you desire for your life is not what God intended. Your aspirations, your dreams, your career may not be God’s aspiration, dream or career for you. That’s a tough pill to swallow, but it is reality. The reality of following Jesus and placing our faith in Him for our entire lives, not just the parts we want to give Him.

“To live is Christ, to die is gain.”

In losing yourself, you position your heart for the fullness of the God’s love for you. Let go of your identity and allow God to find His identity in you. Allow God to show you His aspirations and dreams for your life. Then, after stepping down, God will move you to the next level. It will be less of what you know and more of what you need.

Maybe my newsletter friend has stepped down and maybe God will move his life in the direction sharing the gospel through his musical talent. I don’t know. Things like this newsletter just get me thinking, that’s all.

If all we know is all we see, then our finite perspective (our humanness) has put limitations on how our lives can be used to share the heart of the Father to those around us. We trade the eternal for the temporal.

Static

[archive: confessions of an ex-smoker May 19, 2005]

“a few things in the way, keeping you from me and me from you.” –Matthew Donovan

Lately, I can’t get the word ‘static’ out of my head. It’s as though, if I don’t write down some thoughts, I will continue to think about the word “static”.

Coincidentally (yeah right), I saw a preview trailer for the movie “White Noise” and it got my mind racing. Not about seeing or talking to dead people through the television, but a curiosity about the definition of the word and how it plays out in the life of someone who is a follower of Jesus.

The next day (still having ‘static’ on the brain) I was driving down the interstate and I was listening to a CD entitled “Orbit” by an artist friend of mine, Matthew Donovan. While listening (and driving) I heard him sing the lyric “a few things in the way, keeping you from me and me from you”. In an effort to try and rewind the CD and hear the lyric again, I accidentally hit the FM button on my stereo. I didn’t have any radio station tuned in, so, you guessed…all I heard was REALLY LOUD radio static. I quickly adjusted, pushed the CD button on my stereo and found the part in the song where Matthew sings the lyric that caught my interest. Between the song lyric, the radio static and the entire one minute of bad car stereo operation was the beginning of this musing of thoughts.

God is the soundtrack of our life. He is the song for every circumstance; He is the rhythm for every moment; He is the music of all our lives. Are we listening? Are we tuning into THE music…His music? Are we just listening to static? Are there a few things in the way?

Take a minute and do some personal inventory. Catalog your typical day and determine where God fits into your mix.

Maybe you’re like a friend of mine who during the week listened to any and every kind of music you can think of – and I’m like that – however, on Sunday morning, he would listen to urban gospel music (I’m not like that).

Why did he do that on Sunday? Why not any other time during the week?

Please don’t miss the point with this example: this is NOT about listening to music that is Christian or non-Christian. It’s my way of asking the question: are you only tuning in God on Sunday? Is that “His day”? Is it your way of keeping the Sabbath for the “big man upstairs” (that phrase always cracks me up – I guess you could say it’s my personal hang up with omnipresence).

Before I write anymore, I want to set the record straight…this is NOT an article about scheduling a “quiet time” in your life. My generation doesn’t understand quiet. My generation doesn’t understand silence. People have bigger sound systems in their cars than the average garage band…including a sub woofer. Yeah, it’s safe to say that we either don’t understand silence, or simply don’t want silence in our lives.

Why is that?

Why do people fall a sleep to the television? I remember my Dad preparing to conduct his collegiate symphonic band; it was a total trip to watch. The television was on (usually a baseball game), he was sitting on the couch with musical scores strewn everywhere and if that weren’t enough, he had headphones on listening to the music WHILE he conducted the ‘air’ symphony in front of him. Did I mention the T.V. was on? ☺

Maybe the uprising of A.D.D. is not generational; maybe it’s just plain human. Is that why Adam chose to eat the forbidden fruit? He was bored. Think about it. He didn’t have Y-Fi, he didn’t have an iPod – what the heck do you do in paradise without a Mac? I’d be clueless…

Human nature at its very core is about personal consumption or better said “what’s in it for me". Does the white noise in our lives actually feed our underlying motive…selfishness?

Have we conditioned ourselves to have to HAVE static or white noise? Is it possible that all our efforts to make life more fun and convenient have simultaneously made God obsolete?

One of the definitions for the word static is ‘showing little change’. Regardless of technology, work and the busyness of our lives, we have shown little change. More often than not, I am astounded at how the cultures before us have struggled with the same things we still struggle with today. Hearing God and allowing time for Him to speak into our lives has always been mysterious and challenging.

Again, why is that?

What static is in your life? What music are you tuning in? In other words, where are you spending your time and your personal energy? Take some time to figure it out. THEN, it’s time to be creative.

When have you felt that you are clearly tuning into God? Again, take some time to answer this question.

For me, it’s reading. And the majority of the time, it’s NOT the Bible. Initially, that sounds horrible, so PLEASE forgive me and keep reading this article. My favorite books are books that point to and refer to the Bible. In all honesty, the times when I am reading consistently are when I am the healthiest in my following of Christ. My experience has been that when I’m not reading (or learning), I’m not tuning into God at all.

Maybe conversation is how you tune into God? Find some folks to hang out with and talk about life with. Maybe music is your thing? Just like you have a favorite radio station or a favorite CD – you need to find your niche for tuning in to God. It’s not enough to make the excuse that ‘life is too busy’. Trust me, that won’t change. The older you get, the more complicated and busy your life will become…the more things that will be in the way.

You must be creative and intentional. Find creative ways to weave God into your daily mix. Be creative in tuning into His soundtrack for your life. Be intentional and make it happen. If being relevant is finding a timely way to convey a timeless message, then let’s be creative in finding timely ways to tune into the timeless soundtrack of God.

For some it may be eliminating the static from your life. For others, you may find it best to use the static and white noise of your life to actually tune in to God. The process may be as much about eliminating the static in your life as it is extracting God from the static in our life. Either way, tune into God. Hear the soundtrack that He is playing for your life. Hear THE music. Hear HIS music.

Flight 1569

[archive from: February 13, 2006]
I woke this morning and like most days I’m never sure what encounters I might have that will stir my thought process. After having a great night of sleep at a great hotel, then taking a custom motor coach to the airport, the day had already started really well. The motor coach dropped me off right at the check-in counter at the Birmingham airport and I had a really smooth check-in process.

The group I was with had enough time to grab breakfast and hang out before we went to our various gates. It was a good morning. Well paced.

When I got to my gate to board the plane, I noticed a couple of men in camouflage clothing. Looking closer I noticed that they were in the Army. One of the men looked to be in his early 20’s and engaged to be married. His fiancé was with him and they were in a constant embrace. The other officer looked to be in his mid-30’s and he was married, with two sons; his sons were probably 6 years old and 3 years old.

The gate attendant was beginning the boarding process (by zones, of course) and with most unspoken airport rituals, everyone began congregating at the end of the gate entrance…me included. I was standing in the middle of the general walkway. Within moments after the airport employee announced the beginning of the boarding zone 1, the 6-year-old son of the married soldier, began crying and cried out, “please don’t leave Daddy!” In the hustle and bustle of the airport gate, all eyes and attention was now directed toward this family. Some (like me) watched with sympathy and others would look occasionally, either way, you could feel the sympathy in this group. In my mind, I felt like in that moment of watching the reality of war, the reality of service, and this random group of people had become a community.

The young boy continued to cry out to his Daddy. With every cry, you could feel the weight of our sympathy. I began to get tears in my eyes and as I looked around me I caught the eyes of an older woman and she was in tears. With each cry of this young boy to his Daddy, businessmen, businesswomen, vacationers and people from foreign countries observed and internalized the pain that this family was going through.

The gate attendant then announced “Zone 5”. Both of the soldiers had seats in this zone and it was time for them to board the plane. The younger soldier and his fiancé embraced and both were crying. It was hard to watch and even harder to write about. The married soldier picked up his older son and began to console him as he cried loudly and continued to plea with his daddy to “not go”. His wife gave her husband one last hug and kiss; his younger son gave him one last hug and kiss. It was heart wrenching to watch, but it wasn’t over when they boarded the plane.

After the soldiers waved good-bye and walked down the ramp to board the plane, the fiancé of the younger soldier began crying, sobbing. She was no more than 6 feet away from me. She put her face into a pillar in the walkway of the airport and all you could see was the back of her head shaking from the tears. I caught the eye of older businessmen and both of us were crying. The older son of the married soldier ran to the window and went into a tirade of crying and screaming for his daddy.

“Daddy, please don’t go!”

“Daddy, I love you! Please Daddy, please don’t go!”

You could feel the awkwardness in the moment. Primarily because there was nothing we could do. Nothing we could say. Nothing. We were powerless. I was speechless.

Everyone observing wanted to reach out and say something; but what can you really say? Most of us had tears coming from our eyes or we were welled up with tears, but those tears weren’t going to bring those soldiers back to these people.

The gate attendant then announced “zone 7” and it was time for me to board the plane.

When I got on the plane I decided to read 1 John 1. It reads:

“We write you now about what has always existed, which we have heard, we have seen with our own eyes, we have looked and we have touched with our hands.” (NCV)

I know that this scripture is written about Jesus, but in that moment, the scriptures came alive in a new context. The war has been going on for years now and although I’ve been aware of it, it wasn’t personal to me. It was something that I heard on the nightly news. And occasionally, you hear about some soldiers being killed in the war. It’s a blip on our radar for us, but not for these people. Not for this 6 year old boy. It is very real.

For me the war wasn’t real or personal up to this point. It is now. And if it wasn’t for those around me that were observing at the gate for flight 1569, it is now.