eye noise

FYI

2008-02-26T11:50:00.002-05:00

Although it feels a bit odd to write this - mostly because I know of at least 2 people who read my words: me and my wife - but I am moving my blog.

By the end of this week, I will have a new website that will include my writings.

I have not posted a lot of my new thoughts, simply because I've been wanting to refine them and get them just right before I put them out into cyberspace.

Anyway, the website is www.alsergel.com. Again, this new site will not be up until the end of this week, but this will be where I will post my new articles.

I am not closing this blog, it will serve as an archive.

Have a great week, month, year and life.

voluntary

2007-09-28T19:07:00.000-04:00

-Tertullian. in his 2nd century defense of Christians, remarks how Christian love attracted pagan notice: "What marks us in the eyes of our enemies is our loving kindness. 'Only look,' they say, 'look how they love one another'" (Apology 39).

-The Apostle John said in his first letter “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

God is love.

Outside of prayer and meditation on the idea of ‘God is love’, I began to study the depth of this statement as well. While reviewing the definition for the word ‘love’ – agape in the Greek – I wrote down two words in my journal that caught my eye. The first word was unconditional and this word is continually something I am learning about both by definition and experience. The second word I wrote down was voluntary.

Voluntary is defined in a couple of ways:

(1a) done, given, or acting of one's own free will; (1b) law (of a conveyance or disposition) made without return in money or other consideration.
(2) an organ solo played before, during, or after a church service. A piece of music performed extempore, esp. as a prelude to other music, or composed in a free style.

If we combine the definitions for voluntary, it might read something like: the disposition of a person who gives extempore of one’s own free will without return or other consideration not just as a virtue, but as a way of life.

Voluntary is not only a disposition, but it is a musical art form. It is a free style, improvisational piece of music (based on the prepared music) that happens before, during and after a church service. It’s like a spontaneous, extended introduction to a song. It’s based on the prepared song that you are about to perform, but it is a spontaneous expression – a sort of personal touch – that the musician adds because of their deep connection to the prepared song.

Similarly, as ‘voluntary’ is a musical art form, it should be a way of life and living for you and me. Because we are so deeply connected to the Song, the prepare music – that being Jesus – we are continually ready to create a spontaneous piece of music or a spontaneous action of love through our very being and living. Love, as defined by Jesus’ life, is unconditional and voluntary. Love has no agenda, no strings attached and it is an action that is a spontaneous – almost second nature – expression and response to daily living.

born again

2007-09-26T10:15:00.000-04:00

For many in the southern US, the words ‘born again’ have become trite and their meaning is buried along side the epitaphs of other words such as: homecoming, revival and alter call. Yesterday, many others and myself observed 4 people begin or renew their relationship with Jesus at the end of our Sunday morning gathering. At the end of gathering, our pastor mentioned that we had witnessed the miracle of ‘new life’ and he quoted 2 Corinthians 5:17-18. The Apostle Paul writes that we are a ‘new creation’. To be a new creation, means that we not only begin again, but we begin with a new person, a new identity. In a culture where the basic and foundational idea of being ‘born again’ has been abused and or neglected – hence, rendering it lost – there’s no doubt that a new follower of Jesus will be tripped up on the idea of having a new identity.

Because the idea of being ‘born again’ has so many different cultural definitions depending on your denominational slant or where you grew up, I tend to view a new relationship with Jesus like someone who is waking up from having a severe case of amnesia. You don’t really know who you are – in the eyes of God. It’s an identity crisis – and a big one at that.

To be ‘born again’, is to be born into the identity that God had for you before you were in your mother’s womb. Your identity crisis happened upon your physical birth into this world, you were born into a fallen humanity. You were born with amnesia. It’s not your fault, it just is. But now that you’re aware, you have a responsibility to attend to. Regardless of your age, being awakened out this state of amnesia and into this new life (new responsibility) is a paradox. It’s amazing and horrifying, refreshing and overwhelming all at the same time. You’ll find that paradox is an essential element in God’s Kingdom, much like oxygen is to earth.

There probably is a practical way to get reacquainted with both yourself and Jesus, but that’s not my area of expertise. My journey has been one of simply making it up as I go along. There have been times of incredible joy and times of overwhelming depression and yet in all of it, I found peace. More than any of the emotions that I felt, the presence of Truth brought a peace that passes all understanding. To know the Truth is everything, but we must start by knowing ourselves.

Know Thyself. Yes, it is a Greek philosophy, but it begins the process of unraveling how we, as humans, have adapted our personalities to our surroundings. Our surroundings are a fallen humanity. There are two areas of self that Christians – both new and old who are pursuing their new identity - should be aware of: calculating and competitive.

Calculating Self: Each child in a family stakes out her own territory of attention and importance by developing certain aspects of her character into “winning ways”. One child may be sociable and outgoing, another may be quiet and thoughtful, but both are aimed at the same thing: to find a safe and identifiable niche in the family and the community and to position themselves to survive. Anxiety regulates behavior and alerts the child to the dangers of being one-down, unattended to, or at a loss. A child comes to think of himself as the personality he gets recognition for or, in others words, as the set of patterns of action and habits of thought that get him out of childhood in one piece. That set, raised to adulthood, is…the calculating self. (from the book “The Art of Possibilities” by Rosamund Stone Zander)

Competitive Self: “Our whole sense of self is dependent upon the way we compare ourselves with others and upon the differences we can identify. It is upon these positive or negative distinctions that much of our self-esteem depends. It does not take much reflection to realize that in all family problems, ace conflicts, class confrontations, and national or international disputes, these real or imaginary distinctions play a central role. Thus, we define ourselves in ways that require us to maintain distance from one another. Giving up dividing lines and relinquishing difference and distinction would mean losing our identities!” (from the book “Compassion” by Henri Nouwen)

Both of these are products of a progressive society. At the root of both the calculating self and the competitive self is the idea of usefulness. Are you useful? Do you contribute to society? If not, what’s wrong with you? If so, how much? It’s a never-ending spiral of continually trying to prove yourself and to prove your worth. It drives you to create an identity around what you see helps you survive and also, around what you see makes you distinct from others. It is a created and manufactured identity and because you created it, you must sustain it. You can see how by just trying to sustain this type of manufactured identity it leads to the many physical and mental disorders that we see today.

To be awakened from the state of amnesia is to have Jesus call you by name. Those whom Jesus has called He has set free and they are free indeed. But that freedom has a responsibility and that responsibility is a constant quest for the truth. The truth about who we really are in the eyes of our Father, God. The truth about what He has destined us to do with our lives. The truth about how that destiny is to assist in building a new humanity or the kingdom ‘on earth as it is in heaven’.

To be ‘born again’ is to be woken up by Jesus and realize that you have a lot to learn about both Him and yourself. The paradox is that as you learn about Him, you learn about yourself as well. Our identity is His identity. We find ourselves in Jesus and eventually, He finds himself in us. It’s not something we create; it’s something we find through an ongoing quest for our new identity.

Enjoy the journey.

postlude [9.18.07]

2007-09-20T21:30:00.001-04:00

To suffer with…

Compassion is the essential element to real life. Real life and real living involve active friendship and community. For a follower of Jesus, compassion goes beyond virtue. It is much more than a behavior we present to others – it is the Presence that presides within us.

Compassion requires a constant awareness of the ongoing choice.

It is the choice to suffer with our friends or not. It is the choice to enter into real life with others or not. It is the choice to build community around our common humanity or not. It is the choice to suffer with the One whom suffered for all humanity or not. We 'suffer with Christ' or not.

In the human body, all real power and strength come from the 'core'. In that way, compassion is the 'core' of the Body of Christ. It is the source of real power and strength for those who follow Jesus because it reflects Him the most.

To follow Jesus is to live life with compassion.

friendship [a lost art]

2007-09-17T08:25:00.000-04:00

While trying to gain a fresh perspective on what it really means to be in community with other folks, I’ve come to realize a deficiency in my life: friendship. Not so much having friends, but being a friend. Like so many things in life that are meaningful, being a friend involves sacrifice. It is a sacrifice of time, convenience and self.

Simple friendship is a lost art in a world that equates progress with efficiency (the conquering of time) and convenience. It’s quite a paradox to live in a world where we spend countless hours developing ways to make life more convenient – in hopes of creating more time for ourselves – yet, we end up being lonely and isolated. If we are honest with ourselves, you and I cannot conquer or create time. Time is and will always be, whether we are breathing or not. Instead of focusing our attention on what we have control over – that being our actions – we tend to focus our attention on trying to control that which we cannot – that being time. What would happen if we exerted more energy thinking about how to sacrifice time, rather than how to conquer it?

Pure friendship is a lost art in a world defined by agendas or conditions. “Friends…check” is a lyric at the end of John Mayer’s song Something Missing and it might as well be a modern-day mantra for how most of us actually view friendship. It’s just another item on our checklist. We – and I include myself in this – like the idea of having friends, but actually being a friend is quite a different matter. The idea of having friends is an agenda – it serves our ego and personal purposes. To be a friend or to be anything requires of us attention and intention. It demands that our attention be on our neighbor and that our intent is to serve our neighbor. Pure friendship requires sacrifice of self.

Admittedly, friendship is continually on the verge of becoming less of a reality and more of an ideal for me. Like many people, I’m self-centered, yet, my admission does nothing without action to the contrary.

postlude [9.4.07]

2007-09-17T08:10:00.000-04:00

“The calling on my life is…”

For many of us, the word or thought of a ‘calling’ is a bit elusive. At best, confusing. For those of us who live in the southern United States, we’re surround by vocational ministry, or “professional Christians”. Having said that, it’s easy to think that a ‘calling’ is – in some way – vocational.

When Jesus called Peter and Andrew, as well, when He called James and John, the ‘calling’ was more of an invitation into relationship and friendship, rather than a solicitation for employment.

If a ‘calling’ is an invitation into relationship with Jesus, then, is it really connected with how we make a living? Or, is it more the way in which we live our life?

Like the love of Jesus, isn’t His calling to us also unconditional? In some ways, is it possible that vocational ministry simpler, more cut and dry? Maybe; maybe not. For those of us who are not working in the context of vocational ministry, don’t fall prey to the notion that our responsibility to minister in our every day life isn’t less? It reminds me of what my mom used to say “bloom where you are planted”.

We are called to relationship both with God and with each other. This is our calling. This is our life together. This is The Way.

Lord, help us break out of the forms of what we call church, community and relationship with your Son and relationship with one another. Help us, Lord.

glory

2007-08-22T08:55:00.000-04:00

“Al, maybe the word ‘wealth’ actually means ‘wealth’! Sometimes there isn’t a deeper meaning to a word.”
-wisdom from my wife, Naida

Admittedly, I tend to be a definition and etymology freak. My wife, of all people, knows this very well. One night, our small group was studying Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler and I mentioned that maybe the word ‘wealth’ meant something other than ‘wealth’. My wife said plainly, “Al, maybe the word ‘wealth’ actually means ‘wealth’! Sometimes there isn’t a deeper meaning to a word.” Everyone in the group got a laugh and we moved on. Later in the evening, our small group prayed together and in the midst of the prayer, my mind couldn’t stop racing about the word ‘glory’. Here’s why…

Several weeks before this small group meeting, I was in attendance of a Christian conference where one of the main speakers continually used the word ‘glory’. Whether it was ‘the glory of the Lord’, or ‘receiving the glory’, or ‘being in the glory’, this speaker used the word ‘glory’ enough to make me – you guessed it – look up the definition and more than that, the Greek meaning of the word ‘glory’.

The word ‘glory’ comes from the Greek word ‘doxa’ which means opinion, judgment or view. It can also mean: to be of opinion, think, suppose or it could also mean: it seems to me. I wrote this information down in my journal and didn’t think anything of it until this moment of prayer in our Tuesday night small group.

At first, I thought it interesting that we would use the word glory SO much in church, especially with the understanding of it’s real definition. Just try inserting the word judgment or opinion or view in with some of the typical church sayings with the word glory and it makes things a bit interesting. For instance:

“let your glory fall” = “let your opinion fall” or “let your judgment fall”

“To God be the Glory” = “to God be the opinion” or “To God be the view”

Interesting…

During our prayer time, I realized just how much I missed the point. Glory is opinion, it is judgment and it is view. It is God’s opinion, God’s judgment and God’s view. The glory of the Lord would be truly glorious if God’s people actually had His opinion, His judgment and His view of His world. How radical would it be if Christians – those who follow Jesus – actually carried with them at all times a God-view of our surroundings; that our worldview would become a God-view.

Trust me, this is not some hokey try-to-rhyme, trite playoff on the idea of a worldview. How truly glorious would it be if God’s people viewed His world, His creation, His people (regardless of where they stand in their relationship with Jesus or God) as He does. This would be radical love, this would be a truly worldview. It’s a view of a world like no other. It’s a view of humanity like no other. It’s a view of people like no other. This is glory defined.

Glory is not an action toward God for God, and quite frankly, I’m not entirely sure what it is….except that it is an action of God, for God, by God – through us, His people. When we are Christ-like, having the mind of Christ, then we are Christians. Not by words but by deeds. So it is with glory. When God has graced us with the ability to view His world as He views His world, then the words of Jesus come alive. ‘Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.’

God receives glory from those who view His world the same way He views His world – with genuine compassion and relational love. This ‘glory’ enables us to engage life through serving humanity the same way He served. This ‘glory’ enables us to lose our life for the sake of finding it.

I don’t want to live my life accepting the cultural definition of words – regardless of the context. Only in an honest quest for truth will we grow into the calling placed on our lives.

sticks and stones

2007-07-29T20:27:00.001-04:00

It’s funny how what seems like a random event to us is so intentional for God’s working in our lives. For instance, I recently got back in touch with a friend from high school and although I can’t say that I had even the remotest desire to rekindle any acquaintances from that time in my life, it happened.

Out of the blue, I received an email from a friend from high school, who honestly, I actually tracked with. When I moved away for college, we tried to stay in touch, but the more time passed (and I moved more), we just didn’t correspond any. As we began to email back and forth – just catching up on our lives, family, kids, etc. – I began to recount a lot of things from that time in my life. One thing in particular has really stuck out. Now that I’ve remembered it, I’ll never forget it.

It happened when I was in 7th or 8th grade (aka 1985 or 1986). I wasn’t one of the popular kids, but I also wasn’t unpopular. This always created tension for me, because, as with most kids in middle school, popularity is EVERYTHING. In the Midwestern small town that I grew up in, there were a limited amount of things that a middle school kid could do. Fortunately, the Presbyterian Church had a basement that they would convert into a social club for middle schoolers. They had ping-pong, fuse ball, movies, dancing, and a host of other things. It was THE place to be. Any social life at all for my middle school, took place in this basement. The church called this place “The Cove”.

It’s amazing the amount of memories that resurfaced for me while emailing back and forth with this friend. It’s important to note that our emails had nothing to do with these particular memories. I think the emails just got me thinking deeply about a part of my past that I worked very hard to leave in the past. I didn’t run from my past in this small town, it was more like sprint.

There was one particular scene that happened at The Cove that has been replaying over and over again my mind. Although I don’t remember the details as to why this happened, it happened and it’s probably one of many things I regret doing in my life.

There was a very pretty girl named Lisa Woods. It’s safe to say that I had a crush on her, but I would only admit this now after 20-plus years. I’m not sure if she ever did anything to me to hurt my feelings or not and honestly, that wouldn’t have warranted what I said to her. All I remember is saying to her “well, at least my parents aren’t divorced.” It’s crazy to think about, but I not only remember saying those words, I remember the desire I had to hurt her with those words. It creates such an ache in my heart that I can barely think about it for too long before I get sick to my stomach and tears in my eyes.

She will probably never read this, but if she ever does, I want her to know that I am so sorry for saying those words. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding that event, what I said was hurtful and any words I could muster up now could never express my regret for allowing those words to leave my mouth.

The irony of it all is that my parents are now divorced.

This recount has brought a lot of thoughts to mind. One of which is the incredible power of words and how careless we, as humanity, are with them. Why do we teach children the trite saying that “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me”? It’s just not true. Sticks and stones scar the flesh and words can scar the soul.

My wife has a little scar on one of her eyelids and it is barely noticeable. When she was a little girl, she accidentally took her tricycle into the brick steps that led to the front door of her house. When she hit the brick steps, she got a cut above her eye. That physical scar is a reminder of that event and she only remembers it when she is asked about that scar.

On the flip side, my wife grew up in a Muslim home. Her father was a brilliant man and had high expectations of his children. My wife is very smart and at one point in grade school, she brought a grade card home with all A’s. Like any child looking for parental approval, she took her grade card to her father. Her father’s response was, “you may be getting A’s in school, but you are not getting A’s with god”. Apparently, she wasn’t praying enough to Allah. That is a psychological scar that has affected my wife’s entire way of living life.

Words are stealth, powerful and have both an immediate and delayed reaction. Think about it. Initially, words are heard not seen. But, they ARE seen over time in how they shape our being, our personality, and our worldview.

Imagine that two students are in an art class and working on paintings. They both have a paintbrush, a palette of colored paints to work from and a canvas with the beginnings of a painting on it. At some point during the class, one of the students walks over to the other student’s painting and makes some random strokes on their canvas without asking them. Those random strokes would stick out and seem out of place with the picture already on the canvas. That’s what words like “at least my parents aren’t divorced” and “you are not getting A’s with god” does to the soul of a person. They paint ugliness on a canvas of beauty. They pronounce judgment on a soul full of possibility and potential.

If a person continually receives this kind of verbal abuse from people, it makes sense that between their own brush strokes and all the unasked for colors that have been brushed on their soul’s canvas will, over time, mix together and either create a very dysfunctional picture or a black canvas.

The only way a black canvas can be white again is from the shine that is created when light hits it and is reflected off of it. Direct light on a black canvas will eventually fade all the black away. But it takes time and a lot of direct light.

In the same way that hurtful words brush random colors on the soul of a person, I think kind words; pure words – words without any agenda but love – brush white onto the canvas of one’s soul. It allows for a person to start a new painting, a new life.

Sticks and stones do break our bones and hurt our outside - but only temporarily when compared to how words hurt our inside, our soul. Maybe an appropriate childhood proverb to promote, as a mantra should be: if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all? Of all the things I wish I had instilled early in my life as a value, this is one of them.

To all those I hurt through my words layered with arrogance, pride, insecurity, fear of rejection and hate – I am so sorry. Please forgive me and know that I hope that this letter is one loving and white brush stroke on the canvas of your soul.

Child of the 80’s or the Kingdom?

2007-06-27T09:13:00.000-04:00

Similar to everyone in life, I’m embracing my age on an annual basis. It’s an interesting facet of life, isn’t it? One year is hardly enough time to really, truly realize your age and more so, to fully realize the experiences that you have while you are that age. Maybe this recent encounter – flashback would be more like it – will help connect the dots.

My newest interest has been making playlists on my iPod. I know, I know…you wondering just how slow I am? Well, I am a slow learner, but that’s not the point. The point is, as ‘mix tapes’ were to me in the 80’s – so goes the playlists on my iPod now! Seriously, there IS an art to a quality mix-tape and the same goes for an iPod playlist. It’s obvious by now: I’m a child of the 80’s.

On a recent trip home, I was sitting in the Phoenix airport waiting for my connection and I felt this real sense of urgency to make an 80’s playlist. Everything song you can think of – within reason (and budget). So, I got onto iTunes music store and began selecting songs and downloading. First song, “Against All Odds” by Phil Collins. Second song, “Don’t You Forget About Me” by Simple Minds (classic drum fill – a must have). Third song, “Things Can Only Get Better” by Howard Jones. And the list went on and on. The verdict is still not in on my 80s jams playlist, which basically means my wife hasn’t heard it yet. ;)

Once the plane was in the air, I got out my iPod and decided to take a listen to my new playlist. Every song took me back in time to places that I hadn’t been in a while. Good times and bad times. When the song “Things Can Only Get Better” came on, I started remembering back to a trip my family took to Florida. We were visiting my grandparents. I had a mix tape that I was listening to on my Sony Walkman and it was made up of songs that I had recorded off the radio. One of those songs was “Things Can Only Get Better”. The song just put me in a good mood then…and as I began to realize on this plane, it was doing it now as well.

In the middle of passive listening, I became active when I heard Howard Jones sing, “And do you feel scared? I do, but I won’t stop and falter. And if we throw it all away, things can only get better.”

I immediately paused my iPod and felt like I REALLY needed to listen to these words.

I started the song over and started listening very closely to the words. This was something I had not done in 1985, probably because I was in seventh grade at the time. Whatever the case, this song was stirring my thought process.

Is it possible that my attraction to this song in 1985, even without really knowing the words was something God knew I would revisit in order to confirm a Kingdom principle I’m dealing with in 2007?

While listening closely to the words of this song, all I could hear is another ‘hit song’ (the Gospel…if you will). “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39 TNIV) Howard Jones’ song is about surrender. It’s about the theology of weakness. It’s about the one of the things that we share as humanity: brokenness. It’s about the path to wholeness and initiating the Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. It’s about surrender.

Check out the lyrics:

Were not scared to lose it all, security throw through the wall.
Future dreams we have to realize.
A thousand skeptic hands won’t keep us from the things we plan,
unless were clinging to the things we prize

And do you feel scared? I do, but I wont stop and falter.
And if we threw it all away, things can only get better.

Treating today as though it was the last, the final show.
Get to sixty and feel no regret.
It may take a little time, a lonely path, an uphill climb.
Success or failure will not alter it.

And do you feel scared? I do, but I wont stop and falter.
And if we threw it all away, things can only get better.

The words create tension by challenging us to face our fears and at the same time encourage us to unify and build community around that same fear. The words are convicting and yet the music feels like a celebration. It’s a beautiful paradox. Remind you of something? Better yet, remind you of Someone?

Henri Nouwen wrote these words when reflecting on Jesus: “We are living in this short time. We can live in it creatively when we live it…detached from the results of our work. And when we live it…crying with those who weep and wail. But it is the expectation of his return which molds our solitude and care into a preparation for the day of great joy.”

It is in surrender that we find security.
It is in fear that we find courage.
It is in weakness and vulnerability that we find strength.
It is in dying that we are born.

If you and I can throw it all away for the sake of showing this world a new community - a new humanity, things can only get better.

We WILL be the salt.
We WILL be the light.
We WILL be the makers of peace.
We WILL be the very thing that creation longs for.

Our calling is invigorating and altogether frightening. Do you feel scared? I do. But I won’t stop and falter.

So, what about this encounter connects the dots?

I find it really interesting that a song that I loved when I was 14-years-old (and wasn’t really paying attention to any of the words, I just loved the groove) is NOW speaking volumes to me 21 years later. It’s just another reminder that even though I really didn’t know Jesus in 1985, He knew me. Even though I consider myself a child of the 80’s, He cleared the way for me to be a child of God – a citizen of His Kingdom and a son of God.

Coincidence and the Prodigal Son

2007-06-26T08:47:00.000-04:00

“The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.” (the words of Paul)

Often, when things don’t go as planned, I’ve begun asking myself what I’m supposed to glean from a particular situation. It could be the hope of greater enlightenment, or just to keep myself from losing my mind. Either way, it’s been helpful. So, whether it’s an argument with my wife…wait a second, WE don’t argue, we discuss…so, whether it’s a discussion with my wife, trying to be a better parent or dealing with every day life, the simple question of “God, what am I supposed to learn from this?” has helped me receive life as an opportunity from God rather than coincidence.

Memorial Day weekend I was scheduled to play drums in Canada for some events: Friday night I would be in Ottawa and then off to New Brunswick for Saturday and Sunday. Asking this question was probably the only thing that kept me sane. My flight on Friday morning was scheduled to depart at 6:45am so, in order to arrive at the airport an hour ahead of time my alarm clock was set for 4:30am. Upon checking in, going through security and grabbing a Starbucks I ventured down to my gate only to see that my flight was delayed until 9:00am. This meant two things: first, I would be sitting at the airport for 3 hours and I would be missing my connecting flight through Philadelphia that would get me to Ottawa in time for the 7:30pm concert. Because it was so early, I could not call my travel agent, so I stood in the customer service line for help and also called the airline directly only to find out all the other flights to Philly were oversold. The only hope of making my connecting flight was to fly standby – which has no guarantees.

As soon as I got off the phone and out of the customer service line, I went back down to my gate and as I was going up the check-in counter, the gate agent announced that my flight was now canceled. This means one thing: I’m toast.

As I walked back down to customer service, I thought, “God, what am I supposed to learn from this?” I heard nothing and thought again: I’m toast. I called the airline again and got on a flight 9:20am to Raleigh-Durham that would connect with a flight to Philly. In Philly, I would connect onto a flight that would get me to Ottawa at 5:15pm – I could make the concert in time, if everything went as scheduled. If.

Once I got my flight situation worked out, I made a few phone calls and realized I had quite a bit of extra time on my hands. I had recently gotten the book “Return of the Prodigal Son” by Henri Nouwen and felt compelled to read it. While reading the book, I felt like Henri Nouwen was my travel companion. More than reading a book, it seemed like a conversation with a friend.

I arrived in Raleigh, then Philly. My flight from Philly to Ottawa was delayed which changed my arrival time to 6:30pm. Upon arriving in Ottawa, my suitcase did not arrive and I also got sent to immigration (the customs agent was not in a good mood). Long story short, I arrived at 7:30pm for the 7:30pm concert. I literally walked through the back door, greeted my fellow band mates and walked on stage. Most of the evening, all I kept thinking about was “God, what am I supposed to learn from this?” and still, nothing. However, I did read Nouwen’s book in its entirety.

Surprisingly enough Sunday morning in New Brunswick was when I began to put some things together. That’s pretty fast for me. On Sunday morning, we were playing music for a church service with a guest speaker. When we finished, the speaker came up to give his message and he said, “turn in your Bible to Luke 15”. His talk was on the depth of Jesus’ parable about the prodigal son. As soon as he began speaking, I realized I was receiving the answer to my question. Something within me locked onto the idea of coincidence and not just the word ‘coincidence’, but also my belief that there is no such thing as coincidence.

When I encountered God - when Jesus met me on my ‘road to Damascus’ – I stopped viewing life as a series of coincidental events. I wish I could say that I thought this through thoroughly before committing to this belief, but it was more or less a natural response after my experience. Coincidence - in light of God’s willingness to meet with me and have relationship with me – made no sense.

Was it just coincidental that my flights were delayed so much that I had the time to read Nouwen’s book about the prodigal son: the book based on the very parable that was the subject of a speaker’s message that I was working along side?

It is interesting that the etymology of the word ‘coincidence’ is dated in the 17th century. That’s the same time period as the Enlightenment Era. Is it possible that the term ‘coincidence’ is a more or less a product of the Enlightenment Era? Is it possible that is an ideological system that we use to explain away the activity of God in our lives? Is coincidence another way that we excuse God in our lives and in order to give ourselves a sense of control?

Is it possible that we – like the younger son in Jesus’ parable – squander the gift of God’s activity in our lives by using the idea of coincidence? Or are we like the father who embraces the oddities, the struggles and the ‘bad days’ of life with expectation that God is speaking? Does God have something for us to learn through the normal, sometimes painful, seemingly un-spiritual, every day events?

Thomas Merton says that “even our capacity to recognize our condition before God is itself grace.” Awareness is one aspect of God’s grace. Awareness – the capacity to recognize the working of God - takes faith and reason takes intellect. When we reason things out of our minds by the use of ‘coincidence’ we voluntarily put ourselves in the position to jeopardize our faith and our ability to hear from God.

Jesus said, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, “It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret the times?” (Luke 12:54-56 TNIV)

We’re so wise to explain our own lives. It’s another form of control. And yes, it’s subtle – but so is the Kingdom of God. Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed. Our desire to explain our life’s activity with coincidence is like blinking when you drive through a small town – you miss it.

Henri Nouwen put it this way in his book Here and Now: “Here lies the challenge. Jesus did not look at our times as a series of incidents and accidents that have little to do with us. Jesus sees the political, economic and social events of our life as signs that call for a spiritual interpretation. They need to be read spiritually!”

Whether it was my canceled flights or losing my luggage (for the entire weekend), it was all used by God to create space for me to read a book that was the exact topic of the speaker I would be working alongside for a worship service. The ordinary chaos of traveling, the reading of a book, the hearing of a speaker’s talk and the Spirit of God helped me to see through the illusion of coincidence. It was yet another reminder that the ordinary is extraordinary if we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear; if we choose faith over reason. Truly, “the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:25)

In not Of [flip-flop factor]

2007-06-21T11:04:00.000-04:00

“When we start being too impressed by the results of our work, we slowly come to the erroneous conviction that life is one large scoreboard where someone is listing the points to measure our worth. That means we are not only in the world, but also of the world.”
-Henri Nouwen

“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”
-Jesus

My struggle in life has always been related to my career or my vocation. Better said, my ability to make money with my career or vocation. I’m a jazz drummer at heart. I love the freedom of expression in jazz music primarily because it requires knowing your instrument inside-and-out AND at the same time, forgetting everything you know so that you can actually be creative, spontaneous and improvise music with other musicians. It’s a paradox and making music like this is extremely invigorating to me. This is a passion of mine or a calling of sorts.

Most of my drumming career, I’ve had to make money by working odd jobs. One could say that I supported my ‘drumming habit’ by working a day job. They didn’t tell me about this reality when I was doing my undergraduate degree AND my masters degree in music. This lack of information created an illusion for me. The illusion that I should be paid for making music and being creative and worse, it created in me a thought process that the world owed me something. That is not a healthy disposition for being creative.

After encountering Jesus, I had a complete identity crisis. Things changed and it has taken little bit of time to fully understand how they changed. When I encountered Jesus, I felt a different calling: a calling to serve Him in some capacity. I still loved to play drums, but I enjoy talking with people about Jesus more. Without any initiative on my part, I ended up spending 6 years of my life on staff at two different churches as a worship leader. My calling (or passion) was now my vocation.

At first it seemed to be the ideal situation, combining my love for Jesus and my love for music – it made sense. But, what makes sense in this world is often not the Kingdom of God. My last staff position, I found that I was more passionate about teaching a small group and spending time with people one-on-one than I was about actually leading people in worship. My passion (or calling) was changing, but my vocation remained the same. But, that wasn’t the end.

While on staff at the second church, I was offered the job of playing drums with a Christian singer/songwriter. This would involved traveling and not being on staff at the church. Over the course of a year, I transitioned off of staff at the church and eventually began working full-time for this singer/songwriter. I play drums and then handle all the logistics for the band as the acting road manager.

I call this the flip-flop factor because things really did flip around in my life. Now, I make my money playing drums and although I’m passionate about it, I’m not nearly as passionate about this part of my life as I am about teaching and mentoring people in their walk with Jesus.

My vocation is playing drums and making music. This is my career and I get paid for doing this. Although it was once my primary passion it is now ancillary when compared to my calling. In this way, I am IN this world. However, my calling is to be a teacher and pastor. This is my passion and I do not expect to make money doing this. I don’t want to. In this way, I am not OF this world.

How do you balance these two areas of your life?

You don’t.

Balance is to those of this world, what integrate is to those NOT of this world. Balance implies that there is something practical about following Jesus and that seems to have an ‘either-or’ scenario. However, to integrate, that would be the beginning of synthesizing these two areas of life. It would be a ‘both-and’ scenario.

So we are IN the world, but not OF the world. We are called to be 100% in both our vocation and our calling. This freedom is available to us so that we can find satisfaction in productivity and yet not be consumed by it. So that we can contribute without feeling something is owed to us – because freely we have received and freely we give.

Right?

groves of Cedar

2007-06-18T11:58:00.000-04:00

In Psalm 29, it says that "the voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon".

So, what was the significance for David writing this? Lebanon cedar trees must have some significance, right?

From Wikipedia:

History, symbolism and uses
The importance of the Cedar of Lebanon to the various civilizations is conveyed through its uses. The trees were used in ancient times by the Phoenicians to build their trade and military ships, as well as their houses and temples. The Egyptians used its resin for mummification, and its sawdust was found in the pharaoh's tombs. The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh designates the cedar groves of Lebanon as the dwelling of the gods to where Gilgamesh ventured. They also used to burn cedar in their ceremonies. Jewish priests were ordered by Moses to use the bark of the Lebanon Cedar in circumcision and treatment of leprosy. According to the Talmud, Jews used to burn Lebanese cedar wood on the Mount of Olives to announce the beginning of the new year. Kings of neighboring and distant countries asked for this wood to build their religious and civil constructs, the most famous of which are King Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem and David's and Solomon's Palaces. In addition it was used by Romans, Greeks, Persians, Assyrians and Babylonians.

Cedars of God
Once Lebanon was shaded by thick cedar forests, so it is no coincidence that the tree is the symbol of the entire country. Today, after centuries of persistent deforestation, the extent of this forest heritage has been markedly reduced. The trees however, do survive in mountains areas and there they seem to reign supreme. This is the case of the slopes of Mount Makmel that tower over the Kadisha Valley where, at an altitude of more than 2000 meters, rest the Cedars of God. There are 12 trees that are over one thousand years old, and about 400 that are more than one hundred. Four of them have reached a height of 35 meters and their trunks are between 12 and 14 meters around.[2] Concern for the Biblical Cedars of God goes back to 1876 when the 102-hectare grove was surrounded by a high stone wall, which was financed by Great Britain's Queen Victoria. The wall protects against goats who enjoy feasting on young saplings.[3]

So, Lebanon Cedar trees represented everything associated with military ships, other gods and even other powers of this world (religious practices, buildings/palaces).

More from Wikipedia, Lebanon Cedar trees represent politics:

Regional significance
The Lebanon Cedar has always been the national emblem of Lebanon, and it is seen on the Lebanese Flag. It is also the main symbol of the Cedar Revolution, along with many political parties in Lebanon. As a result of long exploitation, very few old trees now remain in Lebanon, but there is now an active program to conserve and regenerate the forests. The forest of the Cedars of God in Bsharri and the Barouk forest are national reserves in Lebanon. Extensive replanting is also taking place in Turkey, where about 30,000 hectares of cedar are planted annually.

Now, very few trees remain. Isn't that interesting. Lebanon now has a program in place to regenerate the (Lebanon) Cedar groves.

"The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon."

What do you think David meant in this Psalm - what do you think it means today?

unconditional creativity [part 2]

2007-06-14T12:19:00.000-04:00

“Creativity is intentional but not conventional.”

I was driving back from dropping my girls off to school and these words popped in my head.

Creativity is intentional. Intent on what? God's creation or God's constant creativity is extremely intentional. Psalm 19 says that the skies proclaim the work of His hands and they pour forth speech. They display knowledge – and yet – they use no words.

Is it possible to be so intentional in the Spirit that it looks absolutely and totally motionless to the world? That it looks almost uncreative?

What is the difference between “Spirit” intention as opposed to “physical/flesh” intention?

Is it similar to the difference between being and acting (or doing)?

To think that “being intentional” is getting something accomplished is a bit conventional. It sounds more like striving to me than being creative. It has the sound of conditional creativity rather than unconditional creativity.

What is our intent in creativity? This is important.

Creation (or God’s creativity) is intent on creating and sustaining life. Our ecosystem exists and is ‘being’ in order that we humans can live. “They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalm 19 TNIV)

Creation is being creation by sustaining life for us. Quiet, consistent, ever changing, yet ever the same. This is probably a paradox to the world, but not to the Kingdom of God. I wonder whether if this is just one of God’s examples for what it means to be people of the Spirit, people of the Wind, people of the Kingdom of God.

We have no speech yet our voice (our being) goes out into all the earth (humanity). Our being is our spirit – THE creative presence placed within us by God. It is intent by its very nature and design when connected to the Spirit of Jesus. Every aspect of Jesus life was intentional. It wasn’t something He had to set as a goal. It was a natural response to the deep union He had with His Father. We are called to do very little but be the creative presence of God’s action in the world around us. If we seek first being His Kingdom people: people of Spirit and Truth – all of this will be added to us, right?

There is favor in being.
There are results in acting or doing.

Which do we want? To whose glory is our creativity and our intentionality?

I imagine it would require a deep union between us and God in order to be intentional in what Dallas Willard calls the “art of doing nothing”. Our intentionality is focused on being, not doing. It’s not a plea for the pacifists or the activists. It’s a plea for those in the gray area….it’s a plea for the people of God’s Kingdom – those born of Spirit.

My hope is that God would create in us a voice (a creative spirit) so strong that our being not our words or actions speak in such a way that it “goes out into all the earth, to the ends of the world.”

That we may say more in our loving silence and being than either our actions or words could ever say.

unconditional creativity [part 1]

2007-06-13T14:48:00.000-04:00

I read a couple different blogs lately that spoke about being disciplined in creativity or the creative process. Below is a comment I left on one of the blogs.

Tomorrow, I'll follow up with a recent journal entry on creativity - I allude to one part of it in the beginning of this comment.

my comment

“creativity is intentional but not conventional.” i wrote that in my journal on June 7th.

God’s creation (or constant creativity) sustains all of us. Quietly, consistently…and half the time with no recognition by humanity at large. My only fear is that our consistency or discipline with our creativity is meant for something other than the creative process…maybe recognition, fame, popularity or worse…that we create something before someone else - which that is rooted in competition. These are agendas - and that is conditional creativity.

God’s creation or creativity is intentional and unconditional, much like His love. It sustains our every breath (creating new life constantly) with little or no thought by humanity. Are we willing to be that creative?

Most of the forerunners and truly creative people throughout time were creative because of passion not vocation; never being known until they were dead.

Are we willing to be that disciplined in our creativity?

Are we willing to be dead to be truly alive in creativity?

That is intentional and unconditional creativity...or at least the beginning of it.

since you asked....

2007-06-12T12:19:00.000-04:00

A few days ago, I received an email about a prayer that I prayed which happened to be at the end of one of the tracks of "Beautiful People" - a recently released CD by Jason Upton that I played drums on.

Below is the email from a friend and then my response.

Date: Jun 8, 2007 11:42 PM
Could you explain a little bit more about your beautiful people prayer at the end of "Never Alone Martin"? Even just in a nut-shell.

my response:

The night we captured that track, it was Jason, Bryan, me and two prayer intercessors. To be honest, we were all interceding that night. I can only say that now, after the fact. It was a night i will never forget.

That night had some very powerful spiritual moments - with music as our medium.

The same night we captured "Never Alone Martin" we also spontaneously played "You Decide What's Beautiful"...it was a spontaneous song that we flowed into...

That prayer came between songs....we had played 'never alone martin' and it was so powerful that I actually felt like I was sitting at the dinner table with Martin Luther King, Jr. when he received yet another phone call that was a death threat. After that prayer, we played "Never Alone Martin" again...and that is the take you actually hear on the CD.

That prayer was my response to that experience...to the experience of interceding for the sons and daughters of God; for those called to be peacemakers; the beloved of God; for followers of Jesus who are called "Christians" by others, not by self-proclamation; for those content to be known by their lives more than their words --- those who are called to die for the sake of the Kingdom to be 'on earth as it is in Heaven'.

I felt like I was interceding for ALL the beautiful people that have walked this earth throughout time....the "cloud of witnesses"....they wait along with creation for the children of God to be revealed.

I hope that helps.

blessings,
al

true creativity [love and risk]

2007-05-29T09:16:00.000-04:00

Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.
(Psalm 16: 5-6 TNIV)

It makes total sense that God would create human beings. God is the Creator and so I would imagine that He wants to be in a continual, eternal state of creating. How better to do that, than to create human beings.

For God to create another being (human being) that also has the capacity to create every hour of every day and also has the choice to not create – that’s beyond my knowledge of creativity. It’s also beyond my knowledge of risk, because this is unconditional love. True creativity, like true love, involves great risk and God knows that.

We have an inheritance that is totally personal – it’s our unique contribution that only we can bring to this world. God himself has set aside for you a task that only you can accomplish. As it was for Jesus, so it is for us – His friends. To think that every day we have the directional choice: to build for His kingdom or for our kingdom(s). One can hardly imagine the world we could live in, if every single human being not only new God’s intention for their life – their task, but also took upon themselves that responsibility. This responsibility is both personal and communal. It is suffering and joy. It’s a yoke that is easy and a burden that is light.

There are billions of people in this world. This means that there is the potential of billions of new, creative ideas every day! Doesn’t it make perfect sense that God would create us so that we could create as He does? Every day for us brings a new adventure. How can I contribute today with my unique calling? Every day brings with it a billion sparks of creativity that God longs to interact with and covenant with to build His kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven.

You were designed to contribute.
You were designed to create.

In and through our creative contribution, God’s unconditional love is expressed in our lives and the lives of those around us.

pure at heart [reconcile]

2007-05-16T09:04:00.000-04:00

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to that person; then come and offer your gift.

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

-the words of Jesus

pure @ heart [reconcile]

After dropping off my girls to school this morning, I decided to recount as much of Jesus’ words in Matthew 5 as I could. Around verse 19 it started to get more and more paraphrased, fuzzy to be more exact. While sitting at a long red light in morning rush hour, I saw that my wife’s bible was in the car, so I opened it up and continued to read. When I read verses 23-24, I heard myself say out loud: “So, that’s what He meant.”

Dots connected.

My mind drifted to Jesus’ words to the Samaritan women where He explained, “true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth”. Just as soon as I had my mind around those words a question formed.

IS this what Jesus meant by worshipping in Spirit and in truth?

When we come to the altar or enter into a spiritual gathering with our minds on something other than meeting with God, then we have something that we need to “leave…in front of the altar” and “be reconciled to” that person. This is making sure that our Spirit is pure and that we are truthfully coming with the desire to meet with (worship) our Lord, Jesus. This is purity of the heart. Those with a pure heart shall see God.

How many times have I gone to a spiritual gathering with baggage, knowingly entering a service and completely aware of a relational schism in my life?

We can enter a spiritual gathering and have a spiritual experience. But let’s not confuse that spiritual experience with actually meeting with God. It’s more likely to be a self-made escape from reality. We must be very careful not to confuse a spiritual experience – or emotional experience – with worshipping and meeting with God. Especially when you come with an agenda other than a pure desire to meet with Him.

Jesus is pure at heart and He sees God. He is genuine, perfected worship. His words are not some lofty ideal. They are the way of Kingdom worship: meeting with and seeing God.

We must make every effort to prayerfully consider what relational areas of our lives need to be reconciled before we enter into a spiritual gathering. By asking God for the grace to see these dysfunctions in our lives, we will enable ourselves to meet with God and have a pure agenda – a pure heart.

To worship in Spirit and truth is to be pure at heart so that our spiritual gathering is a meeting with our Lord, Jesus – not just a meeting with a spiritual experience.

[invite] jazz, sushi and Jesus

2007-04-25T10:20:00.000-04:00

The month of April is ‘Jazz Appreciation Month’. You may find this hard to believe, but even though it does not have any greeting cards associated with it, jazz music is still an important aspect of American culture. Jazz music is an American art form. Truly American. Unlike classical music, which is from Europe, most music that is considered American finds its roots in jazz music. Blues and rock especially. I must admit, however, jazz music is an acquired taste. In some ways, I think it’s difficult to understand or appreciate jazz music without being invited to experience it. You almost have to go a jazz club to truly appreciate what is the ‘experience’ of jazz music. It’s hard to appreciate when you have not experienced; it’s hard to understand when you have not experienced. Thinking about it more, eating Sushi and befriending Jesus are much the same.

I remember my first time trying Sushi. I was on a break from playing drums with a wedding reception band at a golf club on the south side of Charlotte, NC (where I live). Without asking anybody, I heard that the wedding buffet had sushi on it. Being curious and having always wanted to try sushi, I ate some. Within about an hour, I was using my next break to relieve my stomach from the faux-sushi. Later that night, I told one of the other musicians about my experience. They laughed. That was my first sushi experience. Alone and hugging the porcelain god, it was not a fond memory.

My second time trying sushi was different. I was in Okinawa, Japan to play a concert with a jazz trio. The two other guys in the band are good friends of mine. The first thing they wanted to do after sleeping off the jet lag was to eat some ‘real’ Japanese sushi. I was a bit hesitant, but only because of my history with the wedding reception replica of a California roll (aka: faux-sushi). My friends laughed when I told them about my introduction to this raw delicacy and insured me that the ‘second time will be a charm’.

As we sat around the Sushi bar, the little plates of various Sushi paraded by us and with every passing dish my friends told me the name of it and what was in it. After asking me what I liked to eat, they suggested what they thought would be a good piece of Sushi to start with. Then they taught me about Wasabi, Soy Sauce and Ginger Root. They described what they tasted like; how to combine them and what they preferred. In short, they personally walked me through this meal, this experience. I asked questions, they answered – if they could. I tried some Sushi I didn’t like and I gagged – they laughed and so did I. It was fun. Not to gag, but experience something new with friends. I’m now a Sushi lover, and I like inviting other people to try it because of this experience.

Meeting Jesus is the same way. People need to be invited into the experience, the friendship. Jesus invited Simon to be His friend – to follow Him. In response, Simon invited a few of his closest friends to party with him and his new friend, Jesus.

In a post-Christian culture, it’s not healthy to work off of assumptions anymore. We can’t live our lives assuming that people know about Jesus – the Jesus that you’ve experienced. Just like faux-sushi, there are plenty of faux-Jesus’s out there. As well, living a life of assumptions does not create change it only maintains those assumptions. Saying nothing changes nothing.

While I was on staff at a church a few years ago, I had a guitar player that played in one the worship bands. Because a jazz musician friend of mine was in town for a few days, I had planned on meeting him and hanging out at a local jazz club after our worship band rehearsal. I invited this guitar player to join us. He had some things on his mind and I thought we could continue our discussion at the club.

When we got to the club, it was packed and my friend already had a table and a beer for both of us. Not knowing I had invited someone to join us, we quickly ordered another beer and began to watch the jazz trio (piano, bass and drums) play a song. As they started the song, I leaned over to my guitar player friend and gave him a ‘play-by-play’ of what was happening musically. As we sat in the smoky club, the guitar player felt free to ask both my friend and I questions about what was musically happening with the trio and about jazz music in general. There were no bad or ‘dumb’ questions. Nothing was taboo. We watched, we talked, we learned. We laughed a bunch, too!

So…jazz, sushi and Jesus – how do we connect the dots?

It all starts with an invitation. Take a moment to look back at early grade school. Remember how you felt when you did or didn’t get invited to a birthday or a sleepover? Although those feelings may age, they do not mature, we do. Maturity is how we hide and bury our feelings. Right? Invitations are powerful and the beginning.

By invitation I don’t mean an invitation to salvation, but an invitation to friendship. For those of us who follow Jesus we have this as a responsibility. This is two fold (or more). First, it is natural. We need to live our lives in such a way that who we are is naturally inviting to others. Not what we do, but who we are. Not our words but our actions. Second, it is intentional. We need to be very intentional in our personal and communal relationship with Jesus. As well, we need to be intentional about our activity in the community in which we live. This could be involvement in civic organizations or this could be something simple like using the public library instead of buying your books online. Make an effort to be around people.

Along with an invitation to friendship, we must extend an invitation to experience. We must be willing to participate in the experience with those whom we have invited. If I invite someone to eat Sushi and then don’t eat, that doesn’t make much sense does it? The invitation should lead to a friendship, which allows for a common experience. This experience creates conversation, ensues education and builds stronger friendship and healthier community. All the while, we are building trust.

The beauty of the common experience is that it doesn’t matter whether it’s good or bad because we’re together. It’s not whether you like sushi or appreciate jazz, it’s about inviting others to experience Life, to be together. There are no ‘dumb’ questions and sometimes there aren’t any real answers, but one thing is clear, we’re together. The freeing thing to know is that you won’t find out until you try. Be free to know you are not the source, just the conduit. It’s overwhelming for all of us to live in and think about the complex issues of our post-Christian world - we share this as humanity. And yet it is amazing the hope that can be found when we are intentional about focusing our attention on one simple part of our responsibility in following Jesus: to invite and to experience Life.

supply & demand [thoughts on being relevant]

2007-04-24T14:49:00.000-04:00

“And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power."

We face the same challenging decision that Paul did when he entered the city of Corinth. To be simple: so that ‘your faith might not rest on human wisdom but on God’s power’. Or, to be wise: ‘with eloquence and human wisdom’.

The culture of this world demands of us that we be ‘in the know’. It’s not socially acceptable or fashionable to be simple or to even admit personal ignorance. In turn, this creates a barrier for real friendship and real vulnerability – real community. It forces you and I to NOT be ourselves.

Our innate understanding of ‘supply and demand’ has us, as the body of Christ, naturally feeling an urgency to meet this cultural demand by supplying not necessarily answers but socially acceptable and fashionable messages that meet this cultural demand. In turn, this enables us to control whether or not people are ‘getting it’ or ‘receiving Christ’. We call this relevant, but is it really? Have we fooled ourselves into thinking that relevancy will meet the deep spiritual longing of our present culture?

By definition, to be relevant is to be closely connected or appropriate to the matter at hand. How can we be closely connected or even appropriate with anyone without the Spirit of God? His Spirit is the only thing that can truly connect not just your spirit and my spirit, but more importantly, His spirit to my spirit and His Spirit to your spirit. This creates a closely connected spiritual community; a truly appropriate and relevant people.

Paul came ‘in weakness with fear and trembling’ with the simple intent to demonstrate the power of God through God’s spirit, not his own. Have we confused what is true relevancy by without know that we have infused it with a cultural doctrine of supply and demand?

Relevancy is connecting people to the matter at hand, which is Jesus – Christ crucified and His Spirit thereof. Relevancy meets the needs of the present by infusing it with the future, God’s Kingdom-at-hand; lest our faith – and the church – ‘rest on human wisdom’. Better said, what WE think relevancy is.

Father, help us to understand what it truly means to be relevant.

2:1 [prayer]

2007-04-22T23:51:00.000-04:00

two thoughts:
“The inner life is always a life for others.” -Henri Nouwen
“Jesus taught us how to be in prayer what we are in life and how to be in life what we are in prayer.” -Dallas Willard

one point:
Just as we are able to build relationships with people through physical proximity, we are able to build relationships through prayer or an ‘inner life’. As physical proximity is to our flesh, so prayer is to our spirit - by and through the Spirit of Jesus.

Our proclamation of citizenship to the Kingdom of God enables us and empowers us to build relationships and community that the world around has never seen before.

Pray for others through words, but more than that, visualize them. Ask God to place yourself in their life in the Spirit and see how this ‘inner life’ will not only be your prayer for that person, but your life with that person and the community you build together.

2:1 [pure @ heart]

2007-04-10T08:58:00.000-04:00

two thoughts:
“Blessed are the pure at heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8 TNIV
“He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30 NSRV

one point:
Blessed are those who are free from their own will for they allow themselves – their true selves – to be seen, to be exposed to, God.

Purity is freedom. Freedom from the rule of others and from self-rule – truly, a free will. No agenda, whether of yourself or from others. In this state of being, you truly believe, because you are truly free.

Purity is belief. Truly believing that God’s sovereign will for your life is taking place. That you are actively involved in it – regardless of what you may be doing.

Believing is being seen. It’s not so much that we will see God, as if to say God will appear to us. It’s more that we will appear to God. God is already present. He – just like the encounter with Adam in the garden – has been waiting for us. We must reveal ourselves. We must become present to Him. God accomplished His part through Jesus – He is alive. Now, as Jesus states, we must present ourselves or be fully present (exposed) to be – as well – alive.

Transparency makes us visible to God. Happy (or relieved) are those who are free enough from their own agenda (and the agenda of others) to actually reveal themselves to God – for they will be seen by God.

Spirit sees spirit. As we become more transparent and shed our humanity, more of our spirit can be seen by God’s Spirit. Our ability to decrease our old flesh (our old self) - and increase our spirit (our real, spiritual self) – will bring us into an increased awareness and deeper relationship with God and His Spirit.

commitment

2007-03-29T14:45:00.001-04:00

Somewhere I read that it doesn’t matter what kind of church we think is effective, whether it is mega-church or a home church, it does not matter. It’s not about style. It’s more that, by and large people today just do not want to commit to anything.

The current state of American Christianity is a lack of the substance – a lack of commitment, not the style of church.

At first, I wondered how I could help people raise their commitment level. Mostly with regards to being involved in real community. What would attract someone to commit to community?

It was in this series of thoughts and questions that I realized that although I am committed to many things, I am also very inconsistent with my commitments. I realized that I am not very committed to building new relationships.

I have friends but I am very introverted and tend to avoid opportunities to make new friends - even my next-door neighbor. I’m not sure why. Probably fear…but, fear of what? Whether it is not talking with my new next-door neighbor or the neighbor across the street, I tend to avoid these opportunities. Avoiding is much different than being oblivious. To avoid is intentional. To be oblivious, is well…oblivious.

So, I too, have a problem with commitment. The very thing I want to assist others with, I have as a problem of my own. How fun!

Starting now, I want to commit to building new relationships and not missing the opportunity to do so. “Good fruit” is shown through interacting with others. Love for God is reflected in our love for others. My desire to love God should create a strong desire for relationship with others. If not, then I’m still in-love with myself more than I’m in love with God.

Today, I’m going to commit to step into, be more aware of and more intentional about fostering new friendships. I take this part of my life for granted and in that, I’m probably missing one of the biggest blessings.

Who am I to decide which or what relationships I have? That’s still me in control, right?

Wisdom will guide through discernment, however faith must give me the confidence to engage and initiate new relationships. I’d rather burn my mental energy caring for other people than trying to figure out ways to avoid them. How about you?

I hope we all have more faith to receive new friendships rather than avoid them.

Life brings life – let’s not avoid the opportunity to give or receive it.

interesting email

2007-03-21T12:14:00.000-04:00

Last night, I got an email from a friend. Below is the original email and my reply. Just thought I'd share in hopes of starting more dialogue online.

Original email:
Hey Al,
What do you think this passage is referring to and how do you think it applies today?
Matthew 23:15 (New International Version) 15"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are."

My response:
Wow. Okay, I'll try. Here it goes....

Jesus, at this point is in a heated conversation with the Sadducees and Pharisees. Just reading Matthew 22-23, I realize more and more that Jesus brought what we needed and not what we necessarily wanted. Although He was more than capable of having a theological conversation, He knew that the study of God wasn't going to assist in bringing Life to the dead. In other words, we humans love to get focused on the MEANS to the end or even the BENEFITS of the end itself; meaning: we love studying Jesus or even the benefits (some may say 'blessings') of Jesus - but, often negate the actual relationship with Jesus. Most churches are built around either means (style, method, etc.) or benefits (blessings, etc.) - not simply: Jesus is Lord.

The Pharisees were teaching others how to be good Pharissees, not how to be the children of God. In other words, they were teaching people how to be a good 'church-goers' instead of modeling and instructing them on how to continually integrate their life in a relationship with Jesus. An active, continual friendship with Jesus. Living a life that says, He is Lord (over my life).

Lately, I've started to think that the thing that irritated the religious leaders most about Jesus, was how practical He was - and still is. We, as humans, can't handle this kind of practicality. He did not get hung up on temporal methods or benefits of His relationship with God. He got hung up with things that got in the way of having a lasting relationship with the Father. Better said, Jesus got hung up on things that caused unbelief.

Jesus was deeply concerned with things eternal and we (humans) tend to concern ourselves with things temporal. We love control. It's just part of our nature - our flesh.

Jesus was open about His NOT being in control and that is what gave Him the authority to act, speak and love on the Father's behalf. It baffled them then, it baffles us now.

Jesus was not about building churches - although community is VITAL- He was about building people. In other words, He empowered and encouraged people in such a way as to raise them up to their potential that He knew was inside of them. This is the resurrection life - this is the incarnation. This is how the Future (the Kingdom of God) is ushered into the present.

To be the creative people of God, we must be free enough to see the contribution inside of everyone. This is a gift of God's grace, brought forth by our taking responsibility for our relationship with Jesus - nothing more, nothing less. More often than not, we've defined freedom as homogeny and didn't even know it. Rather than freeing people into their God-designed destiny, we've just put another set of shackles on them: we've made them "twice as much a son of hell".

My prayer:
Lord, take the veil off of Charlotte. Lord, give me a deeper sense of Your heart for this, my city.
Lord, help us today to understand on a deeper level what the resurrection means.
Lord, open our eyes, our ears and our hearts to fresh ways of seeking YOU first and not a new method, style or form to get there. Just You, that's what we want.
Lord, help us to know when we are receiving a benefit from our relationship with You, but only so much as it refocuses us back to You and not that benefit.
Lord, open our minds to what it truly means to be free.
Lord, helps us see the beauty in every life and rather than killing it - help us bring them back to Life.

Thank you for this question - it brought great joy to me this morning to write these words. At some points, I was in tears. I hope this helps.

an apple a day

2007-03-01T14:55:00.000-05:00

[reflections on Romans 7: 1-13]

Isn’t it interesting that the ‘law’ was intended, more or less, to draw us closer to God and ended up - just like the fruit in the Garden – being a temptation for us to become like God?

“For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me…” (Romans 7:11 TNIV)

How often do we take what was intended by God to draw us closer to Him and make it into something that we can control? In turn, this control we have winds up creating distance from God, not closeness to God.

The Message Remix says this about sin: “sin simply did what sin is so famous for doing: using the good as a cover to tempt me to do what would finally destroy me.”

So, in this case, sin – our desire to be like God – made the law look like an apple. Although it was initially created for our benefit and our intimacy with the Creator it ended up creating distance. Not because of God, but because of sin (our desire to control the outcome and be like God). Maybe an apple a day keeps God away? Hmm…

For me, I’ve come to realize that those areas in my life that I strive in or try take control of – without God’s counsel - often are the very things that destroy me. How about you?

So, we give control over to God – what then? Are we finally free? It seems to me, according to Paul’s letter to the followers in Rome, that Paul continued to struggle with sin.

Is it possible that…at a certain point in our Christianity, sin is not so much NOT doing what is wrong and doing what is right but being increasingly (and sometimes painfully) aware of our hearts motivation for doing what is right?

“Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 5:20 TNIV)

new framework

2007-02-28T08:20:00.000-05:00

N.T. Wright in his study book "Paul for Everyone: Romans Part One" wrote these words in reference to Romans 6.15-19:

"The early Christians developed certain basic traditions, about the gospel itself (1 Corinthians 15: 3-8), about the eucharist (1 Corinthians 11: 23-26), about behaviour (1 Thessalonians 4:1), and probably about several other things as well. These rules of thumb set out a framework for belief and behaviour, a family code of practice. As a pastor, Paul had no doubt often observed that when people became members of the family something happened to them, deep down inside, which made them want to live in line with this community to which they now belonged. Of course it would take teaching and moral effort. But the will was there, and Paul thanks God for it. It is sobering to imagine what Paul might say if he were to look up for a moment from writing this letter and glance round the church at the start of the twenty-first century."

So, what does this mean for you and I?

Within my Americanized worldview - inundated and saturated with style-focused church - it's challenging to ask the question: are we continuing the Christian family tradition? More so, do we have a framework about the gospel, about communion, about behavior and other things? And I mean 'framework' not as a doctrine, but as a lifestyle. Are we willing to live this out with the trust that God will use our lives, not just our good intentions, ideals (or morals)?

Is this framework lived out in such a way that it is attractive to others? Not in and of itself, but by the Spirit of God which is engaging these people who are actively living out this framework.

While talking with a friend about this, she said to me that "when you walk into a room with people who are engaging in an informed, Spirit-led relationship both with each other and with Jesus - it's attractive because it's comfortable. Not because of any intention on their part, but their very lives."

So, why do we (American churches) seem to have to work so hard to create comfortable atmospheres for 'seekers' when those who are truly seeking (or better said - spiritually curious) are not looking for something that looks comfortable but IS comfortable?

Is a matter of focus? Meaning: do we focus on the inside and the outside will naturally come together?

"You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean." (Matthew 23: 25-26 TNIV)

What made Jesus attractive to those who followed? Was it the free coffee before He delivered the Sermon on the Mount? (Which was not really a sermon...thank God.)

In hopes of making attractive churches, have we become less attractive as Christians?

What does the community N.T Wright is describing - via the words of Paul - look like in this century? My hope is that God - through His Spirit - will help us reframe our daily lives in such a way that neither methodology, nor style, nor denomination or anything superfluous will stand in the way of God's destiny for you and I to BE the community of change - the children of God. That our lives will speak volumes more than our words ever could. That our insides will shine and create a community of Light that creates a beacon for those who are in the distance.

Community: not attractive because of "how, what, where, or when" but "who". Who we are and who we are becoming.

Nouwen on "Theology"

2007-02-22T20:30:00.000-05:00

Almost a year ago, I read Henri Nouwen's book on Christian leadership. The book is entitled "In The Name of Jesus". This morning while talking with a friend on the phone, I was reminded of how Nouwen reflected on the original meaning of theology. I hope Nouwen's words benefit you as they did me.

From the book "In the Name of Jesus" by Henri Nouwen:

The original meaning of the word "theology" was "union with God in prayer". Today theology has become one academic discipline alongside many others, and often theologians are finding it hard to pray. But for the future of Christian leadership, it is of vital importance to reclaim the mystical aspects of theology so that every word spoken, every word given, and every strategy developed can come from a heart that knows God intimately.

ordinary is extraordinary [go]

2007-02-21T14:54:00.000-05:00

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
(Paul’s 2nd letter to the church in Corinth)

“Go until you get a no.”

I could hear the words resonating in my head as I stood in my kitchen trying to make a crucial decision. Do I take my 7-year-old daughter’s school I.D. badge to her or do I go and pick up my friend so we can make our 9:45am flight to Orlando, FL? It was 7:30am and I was on schedule up to this point. Let me backtrack and tell you how we got to this point and to this crucial decision.

During the week, the normal routine at my house is to get up around 6:00am, get my 2 school age daughters out of bed, dressed, fed and out the door by 7:00am. After I drop them off at their school, I usually get back to my house around 7:30am. Today was no different with the exception that right at the moment my daughters were to jump out of the car and go to school, my oldest daughter informed me that she did not have her I.D. badge. She informed me of this while crying – actually, she was having a melt down. I calmed her down; she got out of the car and walked in the door of the school.

On my way home I made the decision to have my wife take the I.D. badge later in the morning. However, when I got home, my wife was still in bed – it was her day off. When I woke her to say good-bye (remember I’m flying out at 9:45am) I told her about the I.D. badge. My wife casually mentioned that she hoped my daughter would not be penalized by her teacher for not having her badge. I said good-bye to my wife and went into the kitchen.

At that moment, many thoughts were swirling in my head. First, I needed to be at my friends’ house at 8:00am to take him with me to the airport. Second, we have to make this 9:45am flight. Third, my daughter was one day shy of having a perfect ‘behavior report’ at school and I knew she was really excited about getting her reward. Her reward was getting to rent and watch the Cinderella 3 movie. Thus, I did not want her to be penalized for something that I should have remembered. Fourth, it was Friday and that is my wife’s day off to recoup and relax – I did not want anything to interrupt that. For most (including myself up to this point) people this would be trivial. But is it? Is it really trivial?

Just so you understand how I am wired and why this was so important to me, know this: I strongly believe that our decisions affect everyone around us regardless of whether we are aware of it or not. Some of these decisions impact the world and some of these just impact ‘our’ world – our friends and family.

For a moment in my kitchen, I was paralyzed with indecision. In that moment, I realized my indecision was because I knew that I could take the I.D. badge to the school and still make it to pick up my friend and head to the airport. Again, my paralysis of indecision was because I knew it was possible, not because I thought it was impossible.

I immediately jumped in my other car (I drop the girls off at school in the mini-van and I take my Honda CRV to the airport). I arrived at the school and ran into the office and gave the I.D. badge to the administrative assistant. She said she would take the badge to my daughter for me. Having taken care of that, I ran back to my car, put the key in the ignition and my car is dead. I checked to make sure it was in park. I checked if my lights were on. I checked if ANYTHING was on. Nothing. I popped the hood and realized either my battery was dead or my alternator was shot.

At this point, with the hood up on my car, I laid hands on my car engine and began to pray over my car in the name of Jesus. Guess what? Nothing happened. I tried again – something in my head was reminded of ‘perseverance’ – nothing happened. This is about the point when I started to unravel a bit. I ran inside the school and asked the first man I saw if he could help me jumpstart my car. Fortunately, I had jumper cables and I had already hooked them up. All I need was a battery juice donor!

The man looked at me and said, “Well, all I’ve got is a mini-cooper. Hopefully that’ll work.”

After a few moments of trying to fix the battery cable connections, we finally jump started my car and I was on my way to the airport. I called my friend and told him to drive separate and meet me at the airport.

Even though Friday morning rush hour was slow, I made to the airport in time to make my flight. Quick side note, on the drive to the airport, I noticed a small company’s billboard which read “Success is dependent on effort.”

I was feeling confirmed…sort of.

When I arrived to my destination, I called my wife and told her all about what happened. She was very thankful that I let her sleep and took care of delivering the I.D. badge to our daughter. We laughed about the situation and then got off the phone.

As soon as I got off the phone, I realized something. As a man, and as an introverted creative-type of person, I am not very prone to asking for help. Maybe it’s because I’m big on personal responsibility and on top of that I’m a bit O.C.D. With that combination I really do NOT like bothering people with my problems. It’s like a nightmare for me.

In this moment of reflection, I realized that God knew that when my car broke down my immediate response would be to pray. For me, praying is comfortable. However, what is uncomfortable for me is asking someone to help me. It’s tough to be dependent on another person, isn’t it?

Not only is it out of my comfort zone to act on impulse and risk not being on time for something (being punctual is a major thing for me). It’s also out of my comfort zone to bother someone with my problem by asking for help. It’s shameful for me. It hurts my pride and ego.

This impulsive decision to ‘save the day’ for my family was on the level of super hero status in my mind, and yet no one else viewed it this way. For those around me it was a mundane occurrence, for me it was a tiny miracle. Believe it or not, I felt ‘called’ to take that I.D. badge to my daughter and still make it to my flight on time. It had significance to me and at first it freaked me out when something went wrong. My initial thought when my car wouldn’t start was “God, I thought you were in this?”

It wasn’t until I arrived at the Orlando airport that I realized God had been in this crazy morning the entire time. I had written down the words from the billboard and remembered Dallas Willard writing something similar when he said “grace is not opposed to effort.”

It’s not healthy to think that God’s intent for your life – or your ‘calling’- will not come without some type of change, discomfort or stretching for you. God’s intent for your life will not have the strength or the capacity for change in the world around us until it changes you first. That’s what I learned by deciding to take my daughter her I.D. badge on an ordinary Friday morning. The ordinary can be extraordinary if we are paying attention.

Idiom Killed American Art

2007-02-15T21:39:00.000-05:00

Remember back to your Kindergarten days when you’d learn a new song based on the melody or tune of an old song? Well, 1981 gave us “Video Killed the Radio Star” and it was not only the first music video to air on MTV, but the chorus melody works well with the title of this muse on culture. Idiom killed American art. Try it, you’ll see.

Like most years, I watched the 49th Annual Grammy Awards this year on television with hopes of getting to see some of my favorite artists perform live. And that did happen a few times. Other times it felt like the Grammy’s had become a parody of itself. More often than not, it seemed a little surreal to me.

At a certain point during the television broadcast, vocalist Natalie Cole and jazz artist Ornette Coleman came up to the stage. Natalie Cole was giving Ornette Coleman a Lifetime Achievement Award for is impact and contribution to jazz music. Ornette Coleman is the father of free jazz – it’s a major part of jazz history. Now please keep in the back of your mind that jazz music is an American art form. Rock and roll and most other forms of American music find their roots in jazz music – it is truly American. During the presentation of this award to Ornette, you could see the show producers scooting vocalist Carrie Underwood to her seat for her camera shot when her name was to be announced as a nominee for the upcoming award. After Ornette got his ‘15 seconds of fame’, he and Natalie Cole proceeded to announce the nominees for the Best New Artist category. The award for Best New Artist went to Carrie Underwood. At this point, Carrie Underwood comes up to the stage and right when you think she was going to say something to either Natalie Cole or Ornette Coleman, she blazes a trail right past them, takes her award and begins her acceptance speech.

Now I totally understand that Ms. Underwood was under a time constraint for her acceptance speech, but most of the time, the award recipient does say something to the folks announcing the award category. It’s almost a given, right?

At that moment, I heard in my head “American Idol does not recognize an American artist”. I kept thinking about it. America’s idols are not able to recognize American artists. I continued to ponder and watch.

Ornette Coleman received a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to the American art form of jazz music. But, somehow in that moment, I felt like I was watching a mock-umentary when Ms. Underwood received her Grammy from Ornette and said NOTHING to him. She went straight to her acceptance speech.....

Ignorance is bliss, right? Or is it just ignorance.

A few weeks ago, I was watching PBS and they were showing the Ken Burns special about the history of jazz music. While talking about Louis Armstrong (the great jazz trumpeter and vocalist), they told the story about how Louis did all that he could to show his disgust with the racial tension in the South during the 1960’s. His public display of disagreement got to the point where promoters were canceling Louis’ performances and his wife was even questioning him. The narrator mentioned that it was because Louis saw that jazz music represented the ultimate of freedom available in America that he felt it necessary to take a stand against racism.

The combination of this Grammy encounter and the thoughts about Louis Armstrong brought about these questions:

First, if jazz music represents the ultimate of freedom available to us as Americans, what does pop music (or culture) represent? And secondly, if jazz music represents the ultimate of freedom available to us as Americans, what is being passed along to the next generation?

Is ignorance is bliss. Or is it just ignorance?

My friends, who know me well, know that I'm not a ‘jazz nazi’ or a jazz purist. I have a very broad taste in music, so don’t let the musical genre’s represented in this story or the artists mentioned get in the way of my larger concern. My concern is for our general lack of appreciating what is truly beautiful in life. Whether it is jazz music, art, nature, different cultures and peoples…the list could go on and on.

Has idiom killed America’s ability to appreciate art or things that are truly beautiful?

Has the American market place educated us to such a degree that we are in fact ignorant of real beauty?

What will keep you and I level headed and passionate about life when and if what we thought was real beauty was only a parody of the real thing?

More importantly, what are you and I passing on to the next generation of Americans?

Us or Them

2007-01-24T10:22:00.000-05:00

“Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” Romans 1:32 TNIV

Have you ever thought to yourself “they deserve it” or better yet, “they had it coming to them”? That kind of thinking is the opposite of compassion and praying for those who persecute you. It falls right in line with what Paul was writing in his letter to the Christians in Rome.

For us to know the words of Jesus and yet NOT do them and on top of that “approve of those who” do not do them or worse yet, condemn those who do not do them, Paul’s words should spin us in a dance of conviction. Are Paul’s words not for you and I? Or were they only for those silly Roman Christians in the First Century? To those who have ears…

Truth be known, we don’t deserve anything. Whether it is the grace of God or the consequences of our poor decisions. Albeit they are on opposite ends of the spectrum, when we drift toward believing in either one of these thought processes we need to know that God will let us drift – “God gave them up…” We, humans, create an “us or them” mentality.

It’s like a twisted version of turning the other cheek. This “us or them” mentality feeds a thought process that is impervious or cold about someone’s pain or failing. When we begin to think “they deserve it”, we end up running from a person and their suffering rather than, like Jesus, meeting them in their pain, failing and/or suffering.

As soon as we create an “us or them” mentality, we should immediately begin praying for the “them”. Practice this. If you begin to think negatively about someone (or “them”), begin to pray that God would bless “them”. Create “us” rather than “them”. Build Kingdom, build community in the Spirit, not death. Division is death. Unity or community is Life (Kingdom). God through His Son Jesus has given us His Spirit that can build community just as much in the physical life as in the Spiritual life. Embrace this as a reality in your prayer life.

Bitter, negative, behind-the-scenes thinking about a person builds walls for a kingdom other than God’s. These false walls – the “us or them” mentality - are more difficult to tear down once they are constructed. However, when we choose compassion and prayer for one another in the Spirit, we are assisting (or co-laboring with) God in the building of His Kingdom; building an “us” mentality.

So, when you detect your mind thinking “ they deserve it” or “they had it coming to them” add on to those statements “and so do I”. For when we begin to intentionally enter into another person’s pain or failing with compassion and prayer – our life (with the assistance of the Spirit) brings Life. It creates unity in “us”. In turn, building Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven for all of “us”.

the queen city epistle

2006-12-06T22:51:00.000-05:00

Several weeks ago, I began praying for the city of Charlotte. Yes, in my ten years of living in the Queen City, this is actually the first time I’ve specifically prayed for the city of Charlotte. It started one morning when I read these words:

“Jesus pursued truth regardless of the implications or the consequences. He calls us to nothing less. He would have it no other way. It means to be true to the way of Jesus, you cannot follow with blind allegiance. You can never justify any belief or action where you consciously deny what is true, even if called to do so in the name of God.”

I’m embarrassed to write this - considering that I had been on staff part-time for 3 years with St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church, 3 years on staff full-time with Charlotte North Fellowship and now 1 year on staff with Key of David Ministries. It still astonishes me that this is the first time I have ever interceded in prayer specifically for the city of Charlotte. Through these times of prayer, I have come to realize I love this city – all of it. So, some thoughts…

In a city full of new church plants, established churches and much religious activity, my wife, Naida, and I still aren’t convinced that more churches will bring about the character transformation that must happen in Charlotte. The language utilized to communicate and convey the aspirations of the majority of churches in Charlotte seems to me to speak of quantitative growth and not qualitative growth. Whether they are meeting in a sanctuary, worship center, community center, school, movie theatrer or coffee house, etc. it really doesn’t matter if people aren’t following Jesus. In Charlotte, there are plenty of attractive churches that fill the seats of established sanctuaries, schools and movies theaters with relevant talks, up-beat music and a casual atmosphere but what I’m finding less-and-less is followers of Jesus. The term “followers of Jesus” in and of itself creates tension more so with Christians than with non-Christians. Why is that?

Today, many of our so-called leaders and pastors lead our churches not like fathers and/or mothers, but like C.E.O’s. We’ve exchanged wisdom for charisma. We’ve exchanged truth for relevancy. We’ve exchanged character for talent.

Has style blinded the men and women of vocational ministry from the substance of truly following Jesus?

My heart yearns for a community that is satisfied in the simple, daily choice of learning how to be comfortable in their own skin; truly knowing who they are and who they are becoming; truly knowing who God intended for them to be. It reminds me of a magazine ad I recently saw for Hennessy Cognac. They quoted actor John Leguizamo when he said: “Great character is being able to be yourself.”

How many more churches will start that use the byline of being a ‘different kind of church’ when in reality they are simply more of the same. Real difference isn’t in style or structure, it’s in the small, substantive transformation of people who come in contact with Jesus. We are called to demonstrate and announce the changing power of Jesus in our lives. So easily can our attention get pulled away to other important things when we lose our focus on the only thing that is worth focusing on – Jesus.

Naida and I learned the change that is created when a group of people center their lives on Jesus. That’s the irony of this letter to you all. We love the communities we have been a part of but not as much as we love Jesus. We’ve realized that we have a calling and yearning for community, but not in the forms and formula’s that we are currently witnessing all around us in Charlotte.

Neither Naida nor I really grew up in church, so we only know what we know. I wish I could write you and tell you specifically what we feel called to other than following Jesus, spending time with friends and inviting others into that, but I can’t.

It’s time for real transformation. Not only in our own lives, but in our thoughts and prayers for our city, Charlotte. As God creates our new life, we begin to get fresh visions for not only our own lives, but fresh visions for meeting the subjective needs of our city. That’s true creativity. Creating new opportunities for creating new lives. In my mind, that’s the creativity on earth as it is in heaven. New life begets new life.

I love my city. Father show us your heart for Charlotte. Make us a new people to meet the new and ever changing needs of this city.

Amen.

2:1 [10.19.2006]

2006-10-19T15:50:00.000-04:00

two thoughts: one point
Thomas Fuller said that “seeing is believing”

Jesus said that, “the coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed."

Whether it is Thomas Fuller or pop culture, the premise that “seeing is believing” is prevalent in our world. It’s the driving force behind any kind of marketing – whether it be TV commercials, newspaper ads, you name it – and because of that, it pretty much tells us what we think we need.

To believe, according to Merriam-Webster online, is to: accept as true; to have a conviction about; or to hold an opinion, to think. We believe (we think) we need this and so it goes that: we see it, we think (or believe) we need it and we buy it. No faith required, just your credit card number. ☺

It sounds so shallow and honestly, I don’t really enjoy writing it, but we are all susceptible to this belief system. And yes, it is a belief system. If an idea is able to permeate our economy as this has, then, we need to understand that it is a belief system. It’s a belief system that runs contrary to the belief system of ‘faith’ being certain of what we do not see. (Hebrew 11:1 PAR) If a precursor to believing (or putting your faith in something) is that we must see it or be sold on it to believe it, then it requires no faith. As followers of Jesus, we are professing allegiance to unseen Savior, who is the King of an unseen Kingdom. Haven’t we all heard it said that the best source of advertising is word-of-mouth? Why shouldn’t that apply to following Jesus?

Jesus didn’t need a marketing plan when He walked the earth and I’d venture to say He doesn’t need one now either. In a society that has to see results, see the figures, see progress and so on and so on – it’s no wonder that we plague Christianity with the same disease of needing to see results.

How many people got saved?
How many baptisms did we have?
How big is our building?
How many programs do we have?

Paul wrote that, “creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.” (Romans 8:19 TNIV) We, the children of God, are the marketing plan – a word-of-mouth, grassroots, ‘tell all your friends’ plan – that will initiate God’s kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven”. However, not in what we say, but who we are. Maybe that’s what Jesus meant when he said, “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pig." I don't know. But what I do know is that I want the truth.

2:1 [10.4.2006]

2006-10-04T17:13:00.000-04:00

2 thoughts 1 point:
Oswald Chambers said, "Thank God for being able to see all that you have not yet been. You have had the vision, but you are not yet to the reality of it by any means."

Oswald Chambers scored those words many years ago and like many of the fathers of our faith, they thought deeply about their reality - their human condition. The human condition is one thing, but your human condition is another layer to the equation. Right?

Shakespeare said, "This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man."

Was Shakespeare a prophet or just a creative person who had eyes that could see the human soul? It makes sense that the more truthful we are with ourselves and who we really are, that we will be more truthful with others. Truth beget trust, trust beget love. Love is eternal. Eternal is the treasure, Jesus.

point: God sees more in you than you see in yourself and He desperately wants you to see that reality of who you really are. Embrace the reality, that you (and your life in God) is the answer to someone's question. Pray that God will show you this reality. "The creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed." (from Paul's letter to the Romans - TNIV)

my precious

2006-09-15T09:47:00.000-04:00

“Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” – Jesus

The more I read the words of Jesus, the more I realize He just calls us out – that is, He forces all our ‘human’ cards on the table. His desire to invade every known space in our life is evident by His words that speak directly into the very problems we have - that for the most part we are unaware of whether intentionally or unintentionally.

To worry is to be anxious, troubled with cares AND to seek to promote one’s (own) interests or self-interests. So, Jesus is not saying for you and I to be carefree – no, that’s what we want to hear – He is saying that we should not allow ourselves to be consumed with our own self-interests. To be consumed by our own self-interests is to invite worry, anxiety and trouble into our lives. Any type of worry or anxiety is rooted in the fear of losing hold of something we deem as important or necessary for life (existence). Anthony De Mello called these “attachments”. Most of the worry, anxiety and angst in our lives stems from our fear of these attachments (self-interests) being threatened in some way.

“Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

To have trouble is to have malice, ill-will and a desire to injure. The less we are aware of how we have placed our attachments on a pedestal – similar to the way Gollum considered the Ring “my precious” – the more that “trouble” will be available every day. Without any assistance on our part, “trouble” will be there. To realize this, is to realize that many of the problems of this world are rooted in protecting some type of attachment that we humans have falsely made precious or necessary for life. The veil should be pulled back for us to see the responsibility each of us has to become more and more aware of this pitfall. Trouble comes from worry and worry comes from trying to protect or not getting what we have been programmed to think is necessary (or what we deserve) in life.

As we draw closer to Jesus, we will learn what is truly necessary for life – not of this world, but of the “kingdom at hand”. For you and I to truly be the Beloved of God we must be made more and more aware of our human tendencies to want a king (attachments) more than a Savior (Jesus).

Below is a paraphrased text from Anthony De Mello’s book “The Way to Love”. I’ve taken the words of De Mello and created an outline of his thoughts concerning attachments and their toxicity to the soul.

The words of Anthony De Mello:

• Your society and your culture taught you to believe that you would not be happy without certain persons and certain things.
• You develop an attachment to this person or thing that you are convinced you could not be happy without.
• You make efforts to acquire your precious thing or person.
• You cling to it once it has been acquired.
• You fight off every possibility of losing it.
• You abject (sink to) emotional dependence so that the object of your attachment has the power to thrill you when you attain it; to make you anxious lest you be deprived of it and miserable when you lose it.
• Finally, once your attachment has you in its grip you begin to strive every waking minute of your life, to rearrange the world around you so that you can attain and maintain the objects of your attachment. This is an exhausting task that leaves you little energy for the business of living and enjoying life fully. So instead of a life full of serenity and fulfillment you are doomed to a life of:
FRUSTRATION
ANXIETY
WORRY
INSECURITY
SUSPENSE
TENSION

Although De Mello is only restating the words of Jesus, it’s amazing how much we can hear the same thing over and over again and not begin actually doing it.

Jesus said to be “perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”. To be perfect is to be the consummate of human integrity and virtue – it is to be fully alive in the reality of Jesus and His kingdom at hand.

Today, make less room for worry and more room for living life fully alive.

To obey or not to obey

2006-09-10T01:38:00.000-04:00

wisdom of oz (no. 1)

To obey or not to obey

Reading the thoughts of Oswald Chambers today I realized there a difference between discipline and obedience.

To obey is to “do nothing of himself…do only what He sees His Father doing.” (John 5:19)

It’s an issue of the heart; to obey, to listen.

Discipline without obedience is to not have ‘righteousness that surpasses that of the Pharisees’. Obedience without discipline is to abdicate our responsibility in “capturing every thought into captivity.” (2 Corinthians 10:5 PAR)

Obedience with discipline is when we love God with all of our “heart, soul, mind and strength.” (Mark 12:30 PAR)

keep it simple

2006-09-07T09:23:00.000-04:00

“All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No;’ anything beyond this comes from the evil one. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” -the words of Jesus

Believe it or not, I used to be a sales person. I’ve sold courier services blue jeans, insurance, musical instruments, etc. From all of the various training involved with educating myself to be a good sales person, I remember the old acrostic K.I.S.S. No, not the rock band, but the adage “keep it simple stupid”.

Humans, I believe, have a real problem with keeping things simple. We just seem to love a little bit of drama in our lives. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because it gives us something to talk about with others in the break room at work or maybe it’s because we know deep within us that we have nothing else really going on in our lives. Either way, it’s sort of sad. Isn’t it?

Jesus, I believe, knew this about us - the fact that we humans have a real problem with keeping things simple. So, not only did he personify ‘simple’ with His entire life, He also brought it to our attention when he interacted with the people and spoke with them.

“…simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No;’ anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” In other translations it says that is comes ‘from evil’ rather than ‘the evil one’. When translated from the Greek, that word ‘evil’ means: full of labors, annoyances and hardship. Bottom line, you (and I) complicate our lives when we are wishy-washy. For whatever reason, we make our lives NOT easy and NOT simple.

Because we naturally tend to complicate our lives, this makes it difficult for you and I to truly understand why Jesus says “my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” We’re so wrapped up in the managing the drama of our lives (which has accumulated over time from the many wishy-washy responses we have made) that we are far removed from the mindset we really need to comprehend what Jesus said and IS saying. Let me paraphrase the words of Jesus: my way of living Life (the kingdom of heaven here on earth) is easy, natural and the way God originally intended it (the way of the Kingdom).

We are only human and fortunately Jesus knew that then and He definitely knows it now. The fact that we like to complicate our lives rather than live them simple is more a product of our humanity (our human condition) than any else. If we call ourselves followers of Jesus, then being aware of our tendency to complicate our lives should be a source of freedom not of guilt or shame (better to know than not to know). The more we learn and are aware of who we truly are, the better followers we become. And through that following, we become more like the One that we follow.

better to know

2006-09-06T10:00:00.000-04:00

Talking with a friend yesterday I learned a valuable lesson. He said to me “it’s better to know”. Although it is a short phrase, it really makes sense when you use it in context.

For instance:
It’s better to know if…someone is angry with you.
It’s better to know if…you have a heart condition.
It’s better to know if…you are going to fail a class.
It’s better to know if…you’re license is going to expire.

The point being that it’s better to know, than not to know. Why is it better to know? Simply this: it gets to the heart of the matter. And only when we get to the heart of the matter will we actually be able to move forward with our lives and that of building the Kingdom (on earth as it is in Heaven).

This morning I read the words of Jesus:

“Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.” (Matthew 5: 25-26)

It dawned on me that Jesus was in so many words, saying the same thing. “Settle matters quickly…or you will not get out…” How often do I trap myself in the mire of life’s confusion by trying to please people or be non-confrontational? It’s as if for the sake of being nice, I’m not being truthful. Because of that, I not only hurt myself but others around me. Now, I’m not saying that we should be mean or be jerks to one another, but we should be honest – truly be honest. Because honesty leads to the truth and the truth will set you and I free.

Is the baggage we carry in life from not knowing? Probably not. I'd venture to say is it from not settling the matters we know about and not settling them quickly?

It’s better to know, than not to know.

as to the Lord [drive time journal no. 1]

2006-09-04T17:03:00.000-04:00

I fly on a lot of airplanes and that means I have quite a few trips to the airport. Those trips to the airport are about 30 minutes and that is a significant amount drive time. Sometimes I listen to my iPod; sometimes I listen to talk radio; sometimes I just keep it quiet; but today on my way home from the airport, I had a little talk with God (that’s a Stevie Wonder quote, not me being trite). Seriously, I prayed and here’s what transpired….

drive journal no. 1 [9.4.06]

Thinking about Labor Day (that’s today) got me thinking about working, which triggered a thought about NOT working today; which got me visualizing ways to spend time with my family and that triggered ideas about how to love and serve my family which made me think of Brother Lawrence which brought me to a modified version of Paul’s words to the people of Colossae. “As unto the Lord” (Colossians 3: 23 PAR) or “As to the Lord” (Colossians 3: 23 TNIV)

And yes…I’m in denial of my O.C.D. ☺

As I thought about what I was going to do on my day off, I thought and prayed out loud about ways to serve my wife and my daughters – as to the Lord.

Washing the dishes…as to the Lord.
Taking out the trash…as to the Lord.
Changing diapers…as to the Lord.

And then I felt a bit awkward saying “Lord” so many times. I’m not sure why I felt awkward, but as I questioned myself I realized it’s just another sign of my humanity. Think about it…

We humans are total control freaks. The sooner we admit that fact the better off we will be. We naturally want to be in the driver’s seat of our life. That way we can ask Jesus for guidance but, when it all comes down to it, we’re the one driving so ultimately ANY direction will be controlled by us. Whereas, if Jesus is driving the car, then He is in complete control of where we are going. That means He is Lord. Lord of our life and completely in the driver’s seat. We (humans) do not naturally give up control of our lives, thus, our (and my) small discomfort with saying Lord so many times. I’m human and as I realized my humanity on the drive home, I was thankful that God (in His Spirit) made me aware this. It triggered more tasks and things in my life that I could do “as to the Lord”.

Just as Brother Lawrence practiced the presence of God at all times, my hope is that each and every one of us would do the same at all times in our lives….you guessed it – “as to the Lord”.

now that's funny

2006-06-14T09:59:00.000-04:00

I recently got an email from a friend. At one point in the email, my friend wrote "I'm not big on celebrity Christian worship". And I thought to myself, 'now that's funny'.

My reply to the email brought about a stream of thoughts that I felt like sharing via blog. Read below:

"christian celebrity worship" -- now that's funny.

It's not my personality. I'm a jazz musician and an a pastor -- which means a couple of things:

1) I enjoy the creative process of making music with friends
2) I enjoy inviting and guiding people into the process of hearing the voice of God and living a life as people of Spirit and Truth.

Neither is about quantity of life, but quality of life.

The words 'christian celebrity worship' got me thinking...

It's unfortunate for Christians and Christian music - because of our lack of creativity and desire to run from culture (and creating subculture) rather than run into it - we've allowed the marketing and business practices of modern rock bands to infiltrate the art of worship through music.

Moreso, we've created a musical genre out of worship, when in fact, worship is a way of life. Music is one form of connecting to our Father - as is working a job (Brother Lawrence), studying (Thomas Merton) or caring for others (Henri Nouwen, Mother Theresa) or simply loving God (A.W. Tozer).

I love Jesus way too much - and I value the creative Spirit within me way too much - to box my relationship with Him and my response to that relationship with Him (which is my worship) into only music.

When Christianity begins to base the quality of worship on Character rather than talent - we will begin to create culture in the midst of running into it.

All that to say...I'm not big on 'celebrity Christian worship' either.

travelin' man...

2006-05-27T21:17:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy 4 weeks....

I've been in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Alaska and California. As I write, I'm in LA finishing a jazz recording with a good friend of mine, Dave Goldberg. It's going to be a really good CD! Either way, my travels have given me the opportunity to read a lot of really good books....however, I haven't written any new articles...

Here's a catch phrase from my trip to LA with my wife Naida (and personal assistant, Adam) :)

"Polly want a latte'?"

All I can say is...ONLY in LA would you see a person bring a pet bird into a Starbucks...it was pretty crazy to see!

In the Starbucks, we all looked at each other and Naida (my wife) said..."Polly want a latte'?" It was one of many hilarious moments on the trip to LA. Good times!

I've got some new articles in the hopper, so...be on the look out!

cheers, al

my space

2006-04-19T13:24:00.000-04:00

[postlude: April 18, 2006]

Recently, I received an “information” letter from my 6-year-old daughter’s school concerning myspace.com. It was a very informative letter and maybe I’m a little twisted, but I found the letter very humorous. Not because there was anything actually funny about the letter itself, but there was something funny about me (the parent and an ordained pastor) reading the letter while I’m adding a friend to MY myspace.com account.

Life is a sitcom sometimes, isn’t it?

As “personal space” was to the 1990’s, so is myspace.com for this decade of the new millennium. Sort of…

MY space is just that: it’s MY space. If YOU want to be part of MY space (better said my little, online kingdom), then you have to issue an “add to friends” request in order to be MY friend on MY space. It’s an incredible sense of control and power…if you have a myspace account, then you know exactly what I’m saying.

Admittedly, I’ve searched for many musical artists and long-lost friends to see if they have myspace accounts, but I have yet to search to see if God has a myspace account. Just the thought of it, without doing any research, got me thinking: what if God sent me an “add to friends” request? Would I approve or deny the request?

Bottom line, am I inviting God into MY space? More so, in my life and in your life, are there times when God’s space and MY space meet or overlap?

Before we go any further, let me stress that this is not a ‘pot calling the kettle black’ conversation, I have a myspace.com page and I check it just about every day, so my thoughts come from curiosity rather than condemnation. So, in the words of N.T. Wright: “I invite you (this week) to take the risk of thinking new thoughts in order that you may understand the old ones better.” *

What really happens when we approve an “add to friends” request”? In my mind, we’re not only allowing them into our space – whether that be adding a friend or networking with someone – we are allowing them into our little kingdom. It’s a power play and it’s about control. That might not be something we are willing to admit, but once we strip away all of our ‘good’ intentions, that is what it’s really all about. Not only can we control who people think we are, but we can control who our friends are and every aspect of how they interact with us. It’s an online utopia. It’s the ‘best-case’ scenario of having friends and community - no complications and totally at a distance. Who wouldn’t want that? However, this utopia or little kingdom we have control over is bitter sweet because for you and I the very thing that is attractive to us is often times the very illusion that distracts us from real beauty – real beauty being truth.

Let’s break this down a bit. First, my space and your space – our space – is the earth. Second, God’s space is in heaven. Throughout our Judeo-Christian history, God’s intent has been for our space and his space to connect and overlap. “Abraham keeps meeting God. Jacob sees a ladder between heaven and earth, with angels going to and fro. Moses discovers that he’s standing on holy ground – a place, in other words, where (for the moment at least) heaven and earth intersect – as he watched the burning bush.”**

More specifically, we can learn about God’s desire to dwell or to be added into our space in the book of Exodus. It is called “the Tent of Meeting”. It was a portable sanctuary or shrine where God would dwell with his people (the Israelites). It was God’s space intersecting with our space – heaven and earth coming together and overlapping. “The main focus of ancient Israelite belief in the overlap of heaven and earth was the Temple of Jerusalem.”** So whether it was “the Tent of Meeting” or the Temple of Jerusalem in the Old Testament, the question we must embrace in our new covenant (or friendship) with God is “don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” (1Corinthians 3:16 TNIV)

Because of Jesus and His Spirit, WE are “the Tent of Meeting” or the temple. WE are the place where God’s space and our space meet – the place where heaven meets earth – or in the words of Jesus, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” (Luke 10:9 TNIV)

Jesus and His Spirit is (has been and will be forever) God’s “add to friends” request for your space, my space – our space. Our ‘new life’ begins when we embrace this with our entire being. When we allow The Kingdom Life to overtake (not just overlap) our little kingdoms in life, we begin to love intimacy rather than loving distance and we will find ourselves naturally drawn toward and attracted to real beauty – truth.

So the question isn’t really “is myspace.com bad?” It’s deeper than that. Our love for myspace.com is just a cultural reflection of a deeper spiritual need. It is our need to begin living and embracing who God has been continually calling His sons and daughters to be – the place where God’s space and our space meet, the place where heaven meets earth – His Kingdom here on earth. As with myspace.com, you and I have the choice to “approve” or “deny” God’s “add to friends” request – see you online!

reference notes:
*a quote from N.T. Wright’s message “Jesus and the Kingdom”
**from the book “Simply Christian” by N.T. Wright

BLOG readers only:
Oh..just in case – there is no myspace.com/god account. Don't get any ideas...

Christianity and the Karate Kid

2006-04-17T22:21:00.000-04:00

Postlude [April 11, 2006]

If being a Christian is nothing more than conforming to a certain way of being human, then count me out. If it’s just another “quick-and-easy” approach to making life continually happy, I’d rather take Prozac. Bottom line, if it’s about being assimilated like some Borg on Star Trek, then I’m going to spend my life and my time doing anything BUT being a Christian.

Have you ever felt this way?

Have you ever tried to answer the question: WHY, you feel this way?
Why is there some sort of natural aversion to quick-and-easy Christianity?

In order to have you tracking with me, add some of these other (slightly random) questions to your mental arsenal...

• Why did most of us enjoy the first Karate Kid movie and not the sequels?
• For that matter, why is it that we (generally speaking) don’t enjoy sequels to ANY movie?
• Lastly, are you NOT thankful that they didn’t make a “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 2”? I am. ☺

If you have no connection with the 80’s, I apologize for losing you in that last wave of nostalgic questions. Seriously…past any joking, why, do we feel this natural aversion to a quick-and-easy, conforming, homogenous, sequel-esque, Christianity?

It’s simple. It’s all in the difference between formula and story.

Each one of us could relate and connect with one or more of the characters in the movie Karate Kid – whether it was Daniel, Mr. Miyagi or Ali – and we found ourselves excited about the idea that someone could achieve their dreams. Karate Kid and its story, like many others, connected with our soul and thus became a hit movie. Hollywood film companies know this formula all to well and capitalize on it. Thus, they created the sequels Karate Kid II and Karate Kid III.

Most of us probably went to see Karate Kid II because the story of the original movie left us wanting to know more; more about Daniel, Ali, Mr. Miyagi and even some of the guys in the Cobra Kai. Whether the movie did well at the box office or not isn’t the true litmus test, that comes with Karate Kid III. It’s as if we had never heard the age-old rule “once bitten, twice shy”. Somehow we know better and yet we fall for the movie sequel time and time again – unfortunately, many of us also fall for this same sequel-esque, formulized Christianity. We end up buying the formula and by default, not buying into the story.

“Formula” Christianity can sound like this:
• Read “my” book and get your life together.
• Listen to “my” CD and it will change your life.
• Buy “my” package for 3 monthly payments and watch the transformation happen!

Trust me, the only reason I can write this, is because at one point in my life I bought this stuff, read it and I actually tried to implement the techniques into my life. It only made me more frustrated. Beyond that, I felt more and more guilty because I didn’t think I would ever really “conform to the image of Christ”.

I was more concerned with doing the formula for success in my faith than learning more about being a part of God’s story of redemption or for that matter, learn about MY story. Christianity had become a religion and not a relationship. I had inadvertently traded a unique relationship with Jesus, for a checklist of right and wrong things to do.

It wasn’t until I began reading ‘other’ books that I realized what I had been missing. These ‘other’ books were less about what to do, and more about who God had always intended for me to become. The idea that God valued ME – not for who I could make myself into through religious regiment, but as the person He had already designed me to be in Heaven – and as He was writing my story, He was revealing my part in His story.

Christianity moved from a formula on how to be a better human, to an active and daily story about being a new human. I’ve heard some say that being a Christian is to embrace the ultimate of being human. Even while writing this, I get a rush of adrenaline similar to when Daniel pulled out the ‘crane’ position to defeat Johnny from the Cobra Kai (in the original Karate Kid). ☺

As we ask God to reveal to us our story, we will begin to see His activity in our lives all along: whether near or far away from Him. We will see a Father who has been longing for the return of His son or daughter. As the story unfolds, we will find hope in our past, not shame – and THAT hope will give us wisdom to begin the walking in our future, now. All that you and I have to share with others in this life is our story and in affect, that’s God’s story. I challenge you to begin living a life of story rather than formula.

"Can You Hear Me Now?"

2006-04-05T12:41:00.000-04:00

[postlude March, 28, 2006]

Philippians 4: 2-9

Imagine if the apostle Paul were the Verizon wireless guy. I know it’s a stretch, but if you know me then you know I constantly think in terms of stretching our perception or broadening our worldview (in hopes of aligning our lives more with the ‘Kingdom at hand’).

So, Paul is saying to us “can you hear me now – church?”

As often I as I read Paul’s letter (also known as ‘epistles’) I’m blown away by his attention to detail. But, as a writer, I pay close to attention to words; really close attention to words. Not only, words written in the bible and other books, but also in emails and in the conversations that I have with people. We’re probably all guilty of not paying close attention to what we read or what people are actually saying to us, but Paul was very aware of why, what, where and how he was communicating with the communities he had initiated. Looking closer at the words that Paul utilizes in his final thoughts in Philippians 4, hopefully we can all answer YES to the question of “can you hear me now?”

In the latter part the letter to his friends in Philippi (the book of Philippians), Paul directly addresses a conflict between two women within the community, Euodia and Syntyche. He pleads with them to “be of the same mind in the Lord”. But he didn’t leave it for just those women to deal with resolving this conflict. Paul then says, “Yes, and I ask you, my true companions, help these women…”(vs.2) The word ‘companion’ in the original Greek text means: yoked together and those united by the bond of marriage. He asking those who are united in Christ – the bride – in Philippi to get their hands dirty and work through this conflict as a community. Paul knows that true community and friendship is built through sharing the good times and the bad times; those who learn together, grow together.

Can you hear me now?

However Paul, knowing us humans and our natural inclination to condemn people, hedges for this a couple of ways. First, he tells his friends in Philippi to “not be anxious about anything.” (vs. 6) The word ‘anxious’ in the original Greek text means: to seek to promote one’s interests. He’s telling them to NOT be selfish in resolving this conflict and in telling them that, he is also giving them insight into real conflict resolution and in essence true communal intercession for people. As Oswald Chambers says, “intercession means raising ourselves up to the point of getting the mind of Christ regarding the person for whom we are praying”. And I add, for whom we are helping through a conflict. If we bring any other agenda into helping a friend(s) through a conflict other than the mind of Christ (or the heart of the Father) then we are by default going to be anxious because of that selfish, hidden agenda.

Can you hear me now?

Second, Paul lays out a simple checklist that will insure for his friends in Philippi (and you and I) that “will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (vs. 7). It’s as if Paul is saying to us (and them) “before you go and get holier than thou, let’s have a check-up from the neck-up – let’s make sure that we are in the right mindset for this conversation or conflict resolution”. In verses 8 and 9 Paul writes the following:

“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”

The word ‘true’ in the original Greek text means: living in the truth and speaking in truth. As Mark Twain once said, “if you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” If we, as friends, live in and speak in truth we have a better chance of creating a healthy future rather than having to live in the past (by trying to remember what we said).

‘Noble’ in the original Greek text means: to be honorable or to be venerated by character - and venerated means to make sacred or have a degree of sanctification. Character is the root of how we make decisions to act in life and if our actions speak louder than our words, then our actions are a direct reflection of our inner character. Is our character becoming honorable or noble?

‘Right’ in the original Greek text means: virtuous or innocent - and virtue means that something is of particular moral excellence. Children, in their beginning years, are innocent. They don’t know what is right or wrong. Fortunately or unfortunately, we adults train the children around us in the paradigms of this world. We, in fact, make them less innocent – both intentionally and unintentionally. Maybe Paul was hinting at the words of Jesus “…unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 18:3 TNIV)

‘Pure’ in the original Greek text means: pure from carnality, chaste and modest. Again, Paul is calling us to be innocent but more specifically innocent in our sexual relations.

‘Lovely’ in the original Greek text means: to be acceptable or pleasing. Maybe Paul is drawing from the words of Jesus, when He said, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40 TNIV).

Can you hear me now?

‘Admirable’ in the original Greek text means: speaking auspiciously – and auspiciously means intending good or kindly patronage. It’s along the lines of the old adage “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” But it’s not about being fake or superficial. It’s ALL about encouraging and edifying our friends. It’s about seeing what God sees in your friends, or in the words of Oswald Chambers it’s “a practical help in keeping your personal purity unblemished in your relations to other people is to begin to see them as God does.”

‘Excellent’ and ‘praiseworthy’ in the original Greek text mean: a virtuous course of thought, feeling and action that is worthy of praise. Not the praise of others but the praise of your Father and not for the action itself but the change in your character that happens through the continued pursuit of this course of thought and action.

“Think about such things.”

‘Think’ in the original Greek text means: to determine, to purpose and to meditate on. Another way of saying this could read like: “be intentional and determined to absorb these character qualities into your God given personality”.

Two verses (verses 8 and 9) on the first reading might seem like a simple checklist, but in fact, have a lot of depth. But honestly, should that really surprise us? If you spend just a little time understanding Paul’s past and then reading his writings in the New Testament, you’ll notice rather quickly that he doesn’t mince words. Actually, Paul gets a whole lot (and I mean a WHOLE LOT) of information conveyed by utilizing few words.

Paul not only wrote the letters to his friends he lived the very words he wrote. He was determined, thoughtful and intentional with the why, what, where and how he was communicating. For Paul, passing on the liberating message of Jesus to His followers and instructing them on how they should interact with each other and the community around them was a matter of life or death - it would yield life or death to both the individual and the community.

Did Paul’s timeless words land on deaf ears? Or do you hear him asking you: “Can you hear me now?”

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

2006-03-19T21:26:00.000-05:00

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)

2006-03-17T07:01:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-15T12:34:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-15T12:25:00.000-05:00

[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

2006-03-13T13:58:00.000-05:00

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?

2006-03-13T13:55:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-13T13:50:00.000-05:00

[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

2006-03-13T13:48:00.000-05:00

[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

2006-03-13T13:45:00.000-05:00

“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

2006-03-13T13:34:00.000-05:00

[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)

2006-03-13T13:32:00.000-05:00

“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

2006-03-13T13:31:00.000-05:00

[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

2006-03-13T13:26:00.000-05:00

[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.