A few months ago I listened to a sermon called “The Principle of Reception” by Jack Taylor. The perspective he took was that when “life happens”, we can either reject the circumstances that are frustrating us or receive them as a part of God’s conforming us more to the image of Christ. Taylor’s example was husbands or wives who would say something like, “I wish my spouse didn’t talk all the time,” and then reject them, instead of receiving that spouse as God’s gift, perhaps to teach them how to listen. Surrendering our lives to God means that we receive the circumstances of each day, good and bad, trusting that these are what God has for us. John Piper has an excellent post on his web site after he was diagnosed with cancer which illustrates this concept of receiving.
In the Dominican, we felt pretty useless, and the temptation arose to wonder why we were there and if we had missed hearing God. We were tempted to think that if we weren’t producing, surely it was our fault, not God’s design. And so we could choose – reject feeling useless, rage against our lack of productivity, or receive this trip as God had planned it, entrusting ourselves to His sovereign care and working in our lives. Receiving this type of mission trip meant we had to receive a lot of other things, too. Like translation help during church services. Or translation help during small groups. Or translation help to talk with kids. Or being served our meals and not being able to help with much of anything. Or the gift of feeling useless.
In one of our last devotionals with the kids, the topic was serving others, and the question was, “Which is easier, to give or to receive?” The theme of the lesson was that it is easier for us to receive and harder to serve, but for me it is often the opposite. It’s much easier to give and serve than to be served and receive (ironic that I make my living based on others giving towards my support). As I talked with our group leader afterwards, he told me that God was teaching me on this trip how to receive, which will make me more able to lead and to give later.
This lesson was hammered home near the end of our time. One of the YWAM leaders had on a leather bracelet that some of my team members noticed, wondering where they might get one. Later, another YWAM leader came up and he had a similar bracelet on, which I pointed out to my friends. He noticed that I pointed, and immediately began to take it off, asking me if I liked it. Everything in me wanted to explain that, actually, I was just pointing it out to my friends, and I didn’t really want it (interestingly I had said earlier that I didn’t think I would right wearing one of those). But God reminded me, “You are here to receive. Take the bracelet.” And so I did, humbled by my friend’s selfless gift, and now I wear it as a reminder to receive.
God has many things planned for me in this life. Some of them are wonderful and easy. Some are hard and not very fun. I can reject the hard and humbling ones, tell the Lord I know better than He does how life should go. Or, while still acknowledging my emotions, I can choose to surrender and to receive. As Job said, “Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?”
This principle of receiving has been such a blessing in my life, because I am realizing that God’s biggest goal for me is not an easy life. It’s not prosperity. It’s not fulfilling the dreams I have for myself. His goal is that I would be more and more dependent on Him as my life, that He might live through me and reveal His life in me more and more.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Sunday, August 06, 2006
A Contagious Rhythm
One of the things I enjoyed the most in the DR was their exuberant worship. We went to church one Sunday evening with the Kings Kids, and worship was in full swing when we arrived. It must have been 90+ degrees in there, and there was dancing and celebration and laughter. It was apparent that the people there loved to celebrate Christ. In that particular service, the pastor preached on how we as Christians have a contagious rhythm (thankfully they provided a translator for us, which was a very gracious thing to do, since it extended his sermon). He said that people who are around us will hear that rhythm and eventually they will begin to dance, to move in time with the love of God.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
The Gift of Feeling Useless
NOTE: This is the first post in a series about our trip to the
We got out of the bus and unloaded our stuff, and there was very little greeting or fanfare, and mostly the kid just looked at us and kept on with what they were doing. We were shown to our living quarters, which were very Spartan, and then we all wandered back to the main meeting area.
And we tried to say, “Hola.”
And we smiled.
And we began to wonder why in the world we were even there.
What were we to DO? What was our PURPOSE? What could we give?
This gift of feeling useless humbled us and led us to do the only work available to us, the work of prayer. I am so glad that we didn’t come in with plans and programs, because we would have been tempted to operate in competence instead of humility, and in the DR, with spiritual warfare rampant, the work of prayer is not to be taken lightly or forgotten.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Glenwood Camp Reflections
I think that it surprised me how hard the Glenwood Camp was on me. I have known most of these kids for years and felt like I understood them to a degree, having lived in their neighborhood and led them in tutoring (and even some of them in Sunday School). And yet being with them all day every day for 10 days revealed a new level of cultural dissonance and differences that I had not experienced. That made me sad in some ways, that it has taken me 5 years in the neighborhood to get to that level of immersion, and I was surprised at how out of place I felt. I had posted on my blog about the kids speaking a different language when it came to words of kindness and love, but there is just a different language altogether when it comes to understanding the world. The way that my world works is very orderly, controlled, managed. It makes sense to me. There are rules to follow, and the rules are there to be obeyed, not one of many options to consider. Their world system is chaotic, parents loving them inconsistently and in ways far different than I would ever love my kids. For them, rules are an enticement to disobedience, boundaries are meant to be tested and pushed. Order is confining in some ways and is not trusted. Authority is not a safe thing. And so placing a controlled (controlling) person with a managed life governed by rules and systems in a position of authority (not trusted) over a group of kids used to chaos and disobedience was really an interesting mix. I found myself spending more time policing than I did enjoying the kids, more time governing than just showing them the love and life of Jesus.
I’ve also been feeling much more “white” after camp than I did before. I felt the difference between me and the kids, the struggles I had with relating to them sometimes, and I am just feeling much more aware of my race than before. And I find my self drifting back into fear and shame again – fear of being rejected or hurt because of my skin color, shame over how much that I have. Last night we did a Bible study on God’s renaming of Jacob, and I am in need again of God’s reminder to me of my new name. He has called me Chosen , not Shame, not Fearful. If I am Chosen, then I can walk my streets as one sent, confident in my Father’s hand on my life. If I am Chosen, I can walk without fear – God has Chosen me, picked me, and He will be with me to accomplish His purposes.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
More Glenwood Camp Reflections
I think that it surprised me how hard the Glenwood Camp was on me. I have known most of these kids for years and felt like I understood them to a degree, having lived in their neighborhood and led them in tutoring (and even some of them in Sunday School). And yet being with them all day every day for 10 days revealed a new level of cultural dissonance and differences that I had not experienced. That made me sad in some ways, that it has taken me 5 years in the neighborhood to get to that level of immersion, and I was surprised at how out of place I felt. I had posted on my blog about the kids speaking a different language when it came to words of kindness and love, but there is just a different language altogether when it comes to understanding the world. The way that my world works is very orderly, controlled, managed. It makes sense to me. There are rules to follow, and the rules are there to be obeyed, not one of many options to consider. Their world system is chaotic, parents loving them inconsistently and in ways far different than I would ever love my kids. For them, rules are an enticement to disobedience, boundaries are meant to be tested and pushed. Order is confining in some ways and is not trusted. Authority is not a safe thing. And so placing a controlled (controlling) person with a managed life governed by rules and systems in a position of authority (not trusted) over a group of kids used to chaos and disobedience was really an interesting mix. I found myself spending more time policing than I did enjoying the kids, more time governing than just showing them the love and life of Jesus.
I’ve also been feeling much more “white” after camp than I did before. I felt the difference between me and the kids, the struggles I had with relating to them sometimes, and I am just feeling much more aware of my race than before. And I find my self drifting back into fear and shame again – fear of being rejected or hurt because of my skin color, shame over how much that I have. Last night we did a Bible study on God’s renaming of Jacob, and I am in need again of God’s reminder to me of my new name. He has called me Chosen , not Shame, not Fearful. If I am Chosen, then I can walk my streets as one sent, confident in my Father’s hand on my life. If I am Chosen, I can walk without fear – God has Chosen me, picked me, and He will be with me to accomplish His purposes.
Monday, July 17, 2006
More GUPY Blogs to check out
In lieu of a plethora of posts from me, check out two more GUPY blogs - these students are really taking in a lot and being changed. It is amazing - God shows up and works His ways every year on this thing, despite my worries that He might now.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Check Out a GUPY's Blog
A few of the GUPY's have blogs, and one of them posts fairly regularly. THis week during our Bible study on racial reconciliation, she had an "ah-ha" moment, which she blogged about on this link: http://knlgupy.blogspot.com/2006/07/light-bulb-is-not-only-lit-up-but-on.html
Her blog site for future reference is http://knlgupy.blogspot.com As I get the blog addresses of the other GUPY's, I will post them.
We head to the beach with the Glenwood Campers in about 8 hours - please pray for our time there!
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Kids Getting to Be Kids
We took the Glenwood Campers to Stone Mountain, NC for a one-night camping trip last weekend, and we had a really great time. My brother-in-law had given me and Diane a 10-person tent, which easily housed all of the boys, and the girls had several tents for their campsite. After setting up camp, we hiked down to the waterfall (think really big rock with water sliding down it rather than cascading over it), and for an hour it was a joy to watch the campers get to just be kids for a while. They smiled and laughed. They found crayfish and snails in the water. They splashed in the water, climbed from rock to rock, explored downstream. They had their pictures made standing in the water, swimming in the water, posing on the rocks. The cares of their families seemed to melt away, and even the hardest kids began to soften. I think that for many of them, carefree moments are rare, chances to just do the things that kids do, things that I had the chance to do hundreds of times growing up. Who knows how the Lord was able to heal broken places in their hearts by revealing His love for them in the beauty of that place?
My favorite time was taking a trail downstream with two of the guys who wanted to just explore, and to see them delight in the creek, the rocks, the water and the dense trees. I love the mountains and walking beside streams, and to share that with them and see them captured by that beauty was such a great connection. It makes me want to create more spaces for them to shrug off the burdens of growing up fast and just be kids.
One of my pastors says that a huge gap between our Glenwood kids and other kids is the gap of experiences – they’ve not been to college campuses for a football game or to a musical at the theatre. They’ve not camped in the mountains or spent weeks at the beach. Teaching them academics is important, but it’s just as important to broaden their experiences in the world.
My favorite time was taking a trail downstream with two of the guys who wanted to just explore, and to see them delight in the creek, the rocks, the water and the dense trees. I love the mountains and walking beside streams, and to share that with them and see them captured by that beauty was such a great connection. It makes me want to create more spaces for them to shrug off the burdens of growing up fast and just be kids.
One of my pastors says that a huge gap between our Glenwood kids and other kids is the gap of experiences – they’ve not been to college campuses for a football game or to a musical at the theatre. They’ve not camped in the mountains or spent weeks at the beach. Teaching them academics is important, but it’s just as important to broaden their experiences in the world.
Monday, July 10, 2006
A Foreign Language
One of the hardest things for me in taking part in the Glenwood Camp has been listening to the kids tear one another down with hurtful, hard words. It seems that five minutes can’t pass without someone calling another a name or making a comment about their hair or clothes. It’s especially hard to see two older brothers mock and degrade their younger brothers. We tried to address the issue with a devotional one day on a hike, but within minutes of ending, the biting words began again.
A light clicked on for me during small group, though, later that day. One of the passages we were looking at was Galatians 5:21-23, the fruits of the Spirit. I asked the boys in my group of they would rather be around someone who was loving, joyful, kind, etc. or someone who was hurtful and negative. One of them spoke up and said, “I’m always around mean, negative people, so that’s who I end up wanting to be around.” He went on to say, “When someone is nice and kind, I don’t really know what to do. I don’t really like it. It’s not natural for me, and I don’t trust them. It’s just weird, and I don’t want to be around them as much.”
I realized that for many of our campers, words of affirmation, hope, love, and kindness are so rare that they almost literally don’t understand them. It is almost as though we are speaking two different languages. Theirs is a language where status is maintained or achieved by tearing others down, a language where teasing and mean words are the norm, the way of relating, and where words of kindness are a sign of weakness. To expect kind words from mouths that are so unfamiliar with speaking them and ears that are so unfamiliar with hearing them doesn’t make a lot of sense, like plunking me down in the middle of China and expecting me to speak Mandarin with ease in just a few minutes time.
But my attitude at camp has been, “Quit saying these things. Quit hurting each other. Stop doing bad things.” This approach won’t work. An external solution to an internal problem is, in the words of Jesus, putting a new patch on an old garment. And so my role now, perhaps, is to speak my native tongue, the language of love, and see if immersion in that will begin to teach the kids a new way of speaking. I have hope that one day these kids will receive a new way of speaking as their hearts are captured by Jesus Christ.
A light clicked on for me during small group, though, later that day. One of the passages we were looking at was Galatians 5:21-23, the fruits of the Spirit. I asked the boys in my group of they would rather be around someone who was loving, joyful, kind, etc. or someone who was hurtful and negative. One of them spoke up and said, “I’m always around mean, negative people, so that’s who I end up wanting to be around.” He went on to say, “When someone is nice and kind, I don’t really know what to do. I don’t really like it. It’s not natural for me, and I don’t trust them. It’s just weird, and I don’t want to be around them as much.”
I realized that for many of our campers, words of affirmation, hope, love, and kindness are so rare that they almost literally don’t understand them. It is almost as though we are speaking two different languages. Theirs is a language where status is maintained or achieved by tearing others down, a language where teasing and mean words are the norm, the way of relating, and where words of kindness are a sign of weakness. To expect kind words from mouths that are so unfamiliar with speaking them and ears that are so unfamiliar with hearing them doesn’t make a lot of sense, like plunking me down in the middle of China and expecting me to speak Mandarin with ease in just a few minutes time.
But my attitude at camp has been, “Quit saying these things. Quit hurting each other. Stop doing bad things.” This approach won’t work. An external solution to an internal problem is, in the words of Jesus, putting a new patch on an old garment. And so my role now, perhaps, is to speak my native tongue, the language of love, and see if immersion in that will begin to teach the kids a new way of speaking. I have hope that one day these kids will receive a new way of speaking as their hearts are captured by Jesus Christ.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
GUPY Update, Two Weeks In
So the four interns have been here for two weeks today, and I think that they have had a good experience so far. For me and Diane, having all the GUPY’s living here in the house has been a real blessing and has really made us appreciate that Eliza and Psalter get to have such wonderful people around them for a whole summer.
The feel of this GUPY is very different from the other two. I am with the students most every day all day because we are serving mostly with kids in the community through things that my church is doing, thus they are not at their internships all day and then with me at night, as in year’s past. Also, riding the bus is less of a necessity and less practical since we are shuttling kids around a lot, so that part of the experience is not happening. Overall, I think that I have chilled out a good bit and am enjoying the students being here more. Also, I sense a change in my heart in terms of what I hope they will take from the project. While I don’t think they can escape learning about justice and the 3 R’s and having a heart for the poor, my hope is that they discover that those things must be under girded by a growing intimacy with Jesus. The students are each in a different place in this regard, and each has been eager to learn, both about Jesus and about the community here. Last week and this week we have been serving as counselors for a camp for Glenwood teens, and are really learning to cross cultures with the kids! After a few days of rest, we head to the Dominican Republic on July 21 for a 10-day missions trip with YWAM.
I also feel that I am entering a wait-and-see phase for the GUPY aspect of our ministry with IV. Glenwood is changing rapidly as drug dealers are being pushed out (or locked up) and prostitution is moving to other parts of the city. I only know of one place to buy drugs on my street right now (as compared to 5-plus in years past), and the bad elements of our neighborhood are being funneled and concentrated into one ever-shrinking area. This leads me to wonder what my family’s role is here for the future, and what GUPY will look like as the neighborhood continues to improve in terms of crime, yet remain diverse. More and more my heart seems to lean towards a project that is less about urban ministry and more about discipleship in an urban context, where the goal is closer communion with Jesus and where we are made aware of our need and of His presence as we serve. I have tossed this idea around before, but this time feels more peaceful and less generated by my fears and flesh.
The feel of this GUPY is very different from the other two. I am with the students most every day all day because we are serving mostly with kids in the community through things that my church is doing, thus they are not at their internships all day and then with me at night, as in year’s past. Also, riding the bus is less of a necessity and less practical since we are shuttling kids around a lot, so that part of the experience is not happening. Overall, I think that I have chilled out a good bit and am enjoying the students being here more. Also, I sense a change in my heart in terms of what I hope they will take from the project. While I don’t think they can escape learning about justice and the 3 R’s and having a heart for the poor, my hope is that they discover that those things must be under girded by a growing intimacy with Jesus. The students are each in a different place in this regard, and each has been eager to learn, both about Jesus and about the community here. Last week and this week we have been serving as counselors for a camp for Glenwood teens, and are really learning to cross cultures with the kids! After a few days of rest, we head to the Dominican Republic on July 21 for a 10-day missions trip with YWAM.
I also feel that I am entering a wait-and-see phase for the GUPY aspect of our ministry with IV. Glenwood is changing rapidly as drug dealers are being pushed out (or locked up) and prostitution is moving to other parts of the city. I only know of one place to buy drugs on my street right now (as compared to 5-plus in years past), and the bad elements of our neighborhood are being funneled and concentrated into one ever-shrinking area. This leads me to wonder what my family’s role is here for the future, and what GUPY will look like as the neighborhood continues to improve in terms of crime, yet remain diverse. More and more my heart seems to lean towards a project that is less about urban ministry and more about discipleship in an urban context, where the goal is closer communion with Jesus and where we are made aware of our need and of His presence as we serve. I have tossed this idea around before, but this time feels more peaceful and less generated by my fears and flesh.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Beginning to Understand
Some say you're not supposed to have favorites when you are doing things like teaching school or leading a group, but I just can't help the way my heart goes out to different kids in tutoring. One young man in particular is someone that I long to see freed to become all that he can be, and I wish that I could establish a good relationship with him. He likes me OK, but when I try to invest in him more intentionally, he pushes me away by not showing up and acting indifferent. Yesterday I got a glimpse of why.
I was picking his sister up for Bible School and giving their mom a ride home, and I met this young man's father. He was on a bike, talking with D's mom and sister, and then he rode off as we left. I thought he acted a little strange when I complimented him on what a fine young man his son was, and as we drove off, D's mom told me that his father had not seen him since he was four years old. We were not three miles from D's house, and obviously the father still had some contact with D's mother, and yet for almost 10 years he has been gone from D's life for no good reason.
I know the statistics and I know the realities of kids without dads. But to meet one of the dads, to see how close he lived yet for all intensive purposes was across the country, and to realize that D must know that his dad is close by but doesn't want to see him - this gave life and flesh to the statistics.
No wonder D doesn't trust me when I try to build a relationship with him. Yet all the more reason to keep trying.
I was picking his sister up for Bible School and giving their mom a ride home, and I met this young man's father. He was on a bike, talking with D's mom and sister, and then he rode off as we left. I thought he acted a little strange when I complimented him on what a fine young man his son was, and as we drove off, D's mom told me that his father had not seen him since he was four years old. We were not three miles from D's house, and obviously the father still had some contact with D's mother, and yet for almost 10 years he has been gone from D's life for no good reason.
I know the statistics and I know the realities of kids without dads. But to meet one of the dads, to see how close he lived yet for all intensive purposes was across the country, and to realize that D must know that his dad is close by but doesn't want to see him - this gave life and flesh to the statistics.
No wonder D doesn't trust me when I try to build a relationship with him. Yet all the more reason to keep trying.
The Third Year Swimmin' With the GUPY's
My summer interns arrived on Sunday night, and have already blessed me and Diane with their love and their enthusiasm to be here. I think that each of them feels called by the Lord to be here this summer, though they may not know why they’ve been called. They are asking excellent questions, and seem to really want to know the in’s and out’s of the city, and are eager to engage one another as well. One of the students is from Greensboro (well, the past 6 years) and it is really surprising her to discover a side of the city that she has never seen before. Another student attends our church when in school, and is noticing things that she hadn’t before in her drives into town.
This week in our devotionals and group Bible study time, we are looking at our identity in Christ. Not surprising, given my last 8 months of study on the subject, and it is great to watch the different responses and struggles with the materials. God is really at work in their hearts, and I believe is laying the only sure foundation for ministry – Christ in us, the hope of Glory.
During the morning we are helping with Vacation Bible School at my church, as over 1/3 of the 180 kids attending are from Glenwood. As I have reconnected with the kids from my neighborhood, I am reminded of how much I love them, how much I miss some who have moved to another part of the city, and how chaotic some of their lives are when they go home. It’s easy to go through the motions of VBS and just get them through the week, but today the Lord gave me a gift of being able to sit down with a Brother from church and pray in the sanctuary for the kids. Going through the motions is self-protective; it keeps me from being disappointed because I don’t hope and I don’t give my heart too deeply. But most of all it leads me to believe the lie that this is merely a week of VBS, a four-hour distraction, and God can’t do anything in these rough home-life situations.
But prayer is a sounding of hope’s trumpet, a declaration of faith that says there are seeds being sown, the Word is going forth, and the destiny of these kids is not settled. There IS a God who loves Him – my church is proof of that as we, His body, go out and pick kids up each morning, and as we, His body, teach them that Jesus is our friend and Jesus is life. Prayer is a reminder to me that God IS at work, even when we go through the motions, and that we always have hope because we always have the Lord.
This week in our devotionals and group Bible study time, we are looking at our identity in Christ. Not surprising, given my last 8 months of study on the subject, and it is great to watch the different responses and struggles with the materials. God is really at work in their hearts, and I believe is laying the only sure foundation for ministry – Christ in us, the hope of Glory.
During the morning we are helping with Vacation Bible School at my church, as over 1/3 of the 180 kids attending are from Glenwood. As I have reconnected with the kids from my neighborhood, I am reminded of how much I love them, how much I miss some who have moved to another part of the city, and how chaotic some of their lives are when they go home. It’s easy to go through the motions of VBS and just get them through the week, but today the Lord gave me a gift of being able to sit down with a Brother from church and pray in the sanctuary for the kids. Going through the motions is self-protective; it keeps me from being disappointed because I don’t hope and I don’t give my heart too deeply. But most of all it leads me to believe the lie that this is merely a week of VBS, a four-hour distraction, and God can’t do anything in these rough home-life situations.
But prayer is a sounding of hope’s trumpet, a declaration of faith that says there are seeds being sown, the Word is going forth, and the destiny of these kids is not settled. There IS a God who loves Him – my church is proof of that as we, His body, go out and pick kids up each morning, and as we, His body, teach them that Jesus is our friend and Jesus is life. Prayer is a reminder to me that God IS at work, even when we go through the motions, and that we always have hope because we always have the Lord.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Just Another Punk On The Street
My time with my young friend yesterday underscored my conviction about the importance and blessing of relocation as a strategy to reach the people that you feel called to minister to. Had I not lived in Glenwood and I had seen Sherman on the corner, he would have been just another punk on the street, a small-time dealer that I wish would get lost. But knowing him, having some semblance of relationship with him, changed that. It led me to talk to him, to have lunch with him, and by doing that, I got to know his friend as well, moving him from “punk” to “person” in my categorizing mind. Also, I keep thinking about the other guys on that strip, their life consisting of dealing and getting by, and I am so sad. I know, now, that they use to be little kids. They have moms and dads and grandmas. They want a better life than what they have. They are not faceless dealers, problems to be erased.
And it’s interesting how these guys who are dealing, supposedly to get paid and make money, don’t seem to have the best living situations. It’s not like their business is moving them out of the projects, into nice houses or better cars. The guys on the street level persist in the same circumstances while those over them, I imagine, prosper.
And it’s interesting how these guys who are dealing, supposedly to get paid and make money, don’t seem to have the best living situations. It’s not like their business is moving them out of the projects, into nice houses or better cars. The guys on the street level persist in the same circumstances while those over them, I imagine, prosper.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Culture Shock in the Post Office
Today was another unusual day for me in the neighborhood (funny how those things happen after Diane and I pray together for ministry there). As I was out and about near the house, I saw a group of guys on the corner, most likely doing what guys in my part of town do on the corner. But as I looked, I recognized a guy who used to live on my block, and so I pulled up to talk with him, and later, just felt led by God to back and invite him to lunch. He accepted and so a couple hours later I picked him up, and he wanted to bring a friend with him. Now this particular kid was a bit disconcerting when he was 12 years old, and now as a 17-year-old with a fellow street guy in the backseat, he made me pretty nervous. I’m driving down the street with these two, and my fears begin to get the best of me, so upon arrival at the restaurant, I phoned in for backup (my pastor, Will Dungee), who rode on out there and sat with us.
Our lunch went as well as one could expect. Worlds were colliding on all sorts of levels from race to class to religion, and I am sure the new guy was wondering what in the heck he’d gotten himself into sitting with me and Will. After lunch, my friend was asking me for $25 for court costs, as though I owed to him which really annoys me. But eventually he offered to work for it at the house, so he came home with me and cut my grass, and did a great job. (Incidentally, it was really interesting to see how he treated Diane when she came home – very respectful, lots of yes ma’ams and a genuine smile. Shows that he may have involvement in his life from mother figures). I paid him and took him home (about a mile up the road) and as I waited at the light with my window down, a guy on the corner said, “You need anything or did Sherman get you straight,” and I assured him that I was good to go before heading out.
Ten minutes later I was in the post office on a trendier side of town, talking with a friend from church who works for a multi-million dollar home builder, and we were surrounded by well-off people who I was very comfortable around. And it hit me – what just happened? I’ve gone from hanging out with two poor drug-dealing teenagers to being in a place that feels very safe and a million miles away. As I drove off, I saw a couple of young kids walking, and I wondered if they even knew that the world on the other side of town existed, and could not help but be struck by how far apart two neighborhoods separated by four miles can be.
Our lunch went as well as one could expect. Worlds were colliding on all sorts of levels from race to class to religion, and I am sure the new guy was wondering what in the heck he’d gotten himself into sitting with me and Will. After lunch, my friend was asking me for $25 for court costs, as though I owed to him which really annoys me. But eventually he offered to work for it at the house, so he came home with me and cut my grass, and did a great job. (Incidentally, it was really interesting to see how he treated Diane when she came home – very respectful, lots of yes ma’ams and a genuine smile. Shows that he may have involvement in his life from mother figures). I paid him and took him home (about a mile up the road) and as I waited at the light with my window down, a guy on the corner said, “You need anything or did Sherman get you straight,” and I assured him that I was good to go before heading out.
Ten minutes later I was in the post office on a trendier side of town, talking with a friend from church who works for a multi-million dollar home builder, and we were surrounded by well-off people who I was very comfortable around. And it hit me – what just happened? I’ve gone from hanging out with two poor drug-dealing teenagers to being in a place that feels very safe and a million miles away. As I drove off, I saw a couple of young kids walking, and I wondered if they even knew that the world on the other side of town existed, and could not help but be struck by how far apart two neighborhoods separated by four miles can be.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places
Well, I want to get back on the bloggin’ horse with a post about a man that more people should get familiar with. Eugene Peterson has been a mentor and pastor to me for years now through his books and his translation of the Bible (The Message), and I have GOT to commend one of his newest books to anyone who will listen to me.
Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places is the first in a five-book opus for Eugene, with which I believe he is seeking to leave a legacy for the church after he has gone. In this first book, he divides it into three parts – Christ plays in creation, in history, and in community. I have only read the creation and half of the history parts and it has floored me.
For those of you unfamiliar with Eugene, one of the best things that I think he brings to the table is an awareness of the presence and activity of God in the ordinary, everyday events of life. Making a sandwich in the kitchen can be on par with reading your Bible if it is done in a spirit of knowing that God is alive and active in that moment. For a culture (even a Church culture) that lives for experiences and feelings and moments, this is a clarion call to remember that God is not a magician or a circus monkey, here to poof away our troubles or entertain us until we get to Heaven. He is God and He is always actively pursuing His creation.
Two of the things that have affected me most in this book are his thoughts on the Sabbath and a seemingly obscure sentence in the history section. For the Sabbath, Eugene makes a winsome and convincing case of the need for a rest to be built into the rhythm of our weeks. Rest frees us from the idolatry of work; it is good for our mind, heart, and soul; it is a gift from God and commanded by God; and it helps frame our weeks. A Sabbath gives us a chance to celebrate and reflect on God’s presence with us in the past week, and reorients us to have Christ-healed eyes through which to see the coming week. This weekend I took a 24-hour Sabbath from checking email and working around the house, and to know that I had made that decision almost made me feel like I was on a mini-vacation. I want to establish this as part of life’s rhythm for me and my family, and I very testing season of life is upon us with GUPY beginning next Sunday.
As for the obscure sentence that seemed to scream at me, Eugene was talking about reading the Old Testament accounts and stories before Exodus, and he describes different people that we have read about. Then he says, “We are getting a feel for the ways of God among us.” Now I know you might be saying, “Whoo, that is sooooo amazing.” But don’t lay on your sarcasm too thick just yet. What I realized through this (and through his teaching in general) is that I read Scripture to get a feel for the ways of God for my life. I read Scripture in good ol’ inductive Bible study mode and I emphasize that APPLY part, or “What does it mean for me?” But is Scripture about me? Or is it about God? And if I get a feel for the ways of God, will I not better understand myself? Because God is life. God is the source and author of faith and of love and of all things. To get a feel for the ways of God is to see myself correctly. The ways of God in calling obscure shepherds to leadership and fatherhood; the ways of God in using a talking donkey; the ways of God in somehow using my feeble efforts to love Him and love my neighbors; the ways of God in playing with my daughters or driving down a busy street. I need to recover a feel for the ways of God in Scripture and in life.
I urge you friend to check this book out. If you are in vocational ministry, Eugene will teach you to be a better pastor, and if you are in the ministry that comes from being a disciple, Eugene will remind you of the wonder and the presence of God in the things of your life that you find the most ordinary and most un-God-filled.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
The Final Roar = "MEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Sorry to my legions of fans who have breathlessly awaited my next post. I have been on vacation for a few days in Boone, and it has reinforced my desire to move the city of Greensboro up 421 North.
My last post was kind of a downer, and I think that God has shown me some things about that load roar. As you can see in the title, the roar I was hearing was "ME!" After two weeks of intense pouring out at Rockbridge (and drained, I think, from the amount of prayer we did in our track) and then moving right into a week of intense class work for my Grace Life training, I was zapped. Zapped, plus spiritually spent, plus physically spent means that I was trying to find life anywhere I could, and that made life all about.... ME. MY needs. MY wants. MY feelings. MY tiredness. And the harder I looked inward for satisfaction, the more I lost the life I craved. I didn't want to admit it. I put the blame on everyone else, judging, finding fault. But it was ME that was the problem.
Thankfully God broke through, as He usually does, and revealed the backwardness and brokenness of my heart. And when I saw it, I was surprised (though I shouldn't have been) and saddened. Of course there is always grace and mercy when sin and self are revealed, and my Heavenly Father was good to me in His revelation.
So many lies to fall for. Such a crafty teller of lies that wages war against us. Sometimes with bold and obvious lies that we just buy into anyway. Other times with subtle, smoother lies that we fall for bit by bit. But he's so good at it because it's his native language. The father of lies knows how to communicate.
Thank God for the truth and the freedom that comes from realizing that the way out is to consider ME dead and to live in the reality of Christ as life. The more I try to save and find my life, I lose it. The more I lose my life, I find it. Crazy.
My last post was kind of a downer, and I think that God has shown me some things about that load roar. As you can see in the title, the roar I was hearing was "ME!" After two weeks of intense pouring out at Rockbridge (and drained, I think, from the amount of prayer we did in our track) and then moving right into a week of intense class work for my Grace Life training, I was zapped. Zapped, plus spiritually spent, plus physically spent means that I was trying to find life anywhere I could, and that made life all about.... ME. MY needs. MY wants. MY feelings. MY tiredness. And the harder I looked inward for satisfaction, the more I lost the life I craved. I didn't want to admit it. I put the blame on everyone else, judging, finding fault. But it was ME that was the problem.
Thankfully God broke through, as He usually does, and revealed the backwardness and brokenness of my heart. And when I saw it, I was surprised (though I shouldn't have been) and saddened. Of course there is always grace and mercy when sin and self are revealed, and my Heavenly Father was good to me in His revelation.
So many lies to fall for. Such a crafty teller of lies that wages war against us. Sometimes with bold and obvious lies that we just buy into anyway. Other times with subtle, smoother lies that we fall for bit by bit. But he's so good at it because it's his native language. The father of lies knows how to communicate.
Thank God for the truth and the freedom that comes from realizing that the way out is to consider ME dead and to live in the reality of Christ as life. The more I try to save and find my life, I lose it. The more I lose my life, I find it. Crazy.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
A final roar
In The Two Towers there is a scene in which Gandalf frees King Theodin from being controlled by the evil wizard Saruman. Saruman fights letting go of his prisoner, and with a tremendous snarl, lunges one last time at Gandalf before being silenced and forced to release Theodin. That makes me think of how satan works in the world in the life of Christians sometimes. Through different ways and means, he gets hold of us and ties us in knots, either in our heart or minds or in the consequences of our sin, and as we try to fight out of our own resources (or not fight), it becomes apparent that we need someone bigger than ourselves to save us. As the Lord works that salvation out, our foe does not always go quietly.
For the past couple weeks I have felt like I am in the midst of that final lunge, final roar. I have seen the Lord offer me great freedom and truth, but my sin and flesh and the evil one have dug in their heels for a “last stand” and the struggle is not ending as quickly as Theodin’s did. There are days when that roar has been more intense and pronounced, and I think, “That was the end of it,” only to find that not to be the case.
Now, I know that this side of heaven we will always struggle, and I am not speaking of a once-for-all lunge, after which I will be free from trial forever. Rather this roar is at a certain season, and I am ready to move into the next one. At this point, there is not much "joy in the margins" for me. I’m not very excited about our summer project coming up in three weeks, I don’t really want to live in my house or on my street. I feel overwhelmed by financial worries and by the prospect of wading into some very murky waters at my church as I come on the elder board. I feel very sad to not be in my Grace Life Training class, losing the community I had with my classmates. And I am still tired from camp because I have not taken any time off yet. All of that combines to make a bigger fight than I can handle and a louder roar than I can silence.
And yet the hymn “In Christ Alone” continues to call me to hope. His love and life are firm through the fiercest drought and storm. He has won victory and freed me from the grasp of sins curse. And as the places that I seek to find life and hope fail to bring me those, I am reminded and encouraged that I am to find those things in Christ alone. He knows my weakness and does not despise me for it, but accepts and loves me in it and is working to redeem it for His glory and purposes.
In some ways, this post feels like a Psalm. Often the Psalmist will spend a bunch of verses crying out, struggling, but usually in the middle or by the end, he orients himself to what is true about God and God’s character. Praise God that He and His truth are unchanging!
For the past couple weeks I have felt like I am in the midst of that final lunge, final roar. I have seen the Lord offer me great freedom and truth, but my sin and flesh and the evil one have dug in their heels for a “last stand” and the struggle is not ending as quickly as Theodin’s did. There are days when that roar has been more intense and pronounced, and I think, “That was the end of it,” only to find that not to be the case.
Now, I know that this side of heaven we will always struggle, and I am not speaking of a once-for-all lunge, after which I will be free from trial forever. Rather this roar is at a certain season, and I am ready to move into the next one. At this point, there is not much "joy in the margins" for me. I’m not very excited about our summer project coming up in three weeks, I don’t really want to live in my house or on my street. I feel overwhelmed by financial worries and by the prospect of wading into some very murky waters at my church as I come on the elder board. I feel very sad to not be in my Grace Life Training class, losing the community I had with my classmates. And I am still tired from camp because I have not taken any time off yet. All of that combines to make a bigger fight than I can handle and a louder roar than I can silence.
And yet the hymn “In Christ Alone” continues to call me to hope. His love and life are firm through the fiercest drought and storm. He has won victory and freed me from the grasp of sins curse. And as the places that I seek to find life and hope fail to bring me those, I am reminded and encouraged that I am to find those things in Christ alone. He knows my weakness and does not despise me for it, but accepts and loves me in it and is working to redeem it for His glory and purposes.
In some ways, this post feels like a Psalm. Often the Psalmist will spend a bunch of verses crying out, struggling, but usually in the middle or by the end, he orients himself to what is true about God and God’s character. Praise God that He and His truth are unchanging!
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
New blog for your perusal
One of the reasons I began JITM was to talk some about what's going on here in Glenwood. Some of my neighbors here who go to my church have some wonderful thoughts on life and ministry here, and so there is now a Glenwood community blog which we can all post on. It is a little more focused on life here and the questions and problems that arise. You can check it out at http://g-wood.blogspot.com/.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Obedient? It's who you are
Note: My good friends Alex and Macon and I have been talking about what is the proper motivation for obedience. Before reading my response, it might be helpful to read their thoughts. Alex's can be found at http://piebaldlife.blogspot.com/ (look for the four posts on obedience), and Macon's can be found at http://paulstokes.blogspot.com/ on the Wed., May 31 post "Whither Gratitude?")
What is the proper motivation for obedience? Is it gratitude? Faith in future grace? Both? Or are we asking the wrong question?
As I hear us talking about a motivator for obedience, it sounds like we are giving ourselves a lot of credit and lot of responsibility. I believe that obedience as it is being discussed here is a secondary choice that can be accomplished in the flesh, and it is not the primary choice. (*Note: When I say “accomplished in the flesh” I am defining flesh as any way that we meet our needs or live our lives apart from God. Our obedience from God can be accomplished on our own effort, not in dependence on Christ, and all that we do of our own strength will be judged and revealed for what it is. See 1 Cor. 3:10-15. A non-Christian can be obedient and follow Godly principles.)
When presented with a problem/temptation, we tend to see it as, “Hmm, should I take my kid’s last piece of candy while they sleep and hope they forget about it in the morning or should I not?” In this discussion, our current options for obedience would be to leave the candy for our child, and we would use our chosen motivators to obey. On one hand, we could say, “Jesus, thank you so much for loving me before I even knew you. Thank you for your love for me, and now I respond to that love in obedience.” On another hand we could say, “Jesus, thank you so much for the hope that I have in you. I believe that by dying to my desire for candy, there will be a provision of future grace in some way for me as a result of that choice, and now I obey in that hope.” Or we could combine the two and say, "Lord, thank you for loving me and saving me from sin. Because of that love you showed me, I trust that you will continue to be good to me as I obey you now and in the future."
But the ultimate issue at that point is not whether or not I choose to obey. It is whether or not I choose to abide and trust Christ as my life. If I am abiding in Christ, believing Him to be my life, then I will obey. Every time. Without fail. Period.
Now, before you think I have gone Gary Birdsong on you and am preaching sinless perfection, let me assure you that I am not. I do not obey perfectly; I certainly sin. But my sin has very little to do with whether I make the right choice or whether I had a good enough motivator, and has everything to do with what I believe about my identity in Christ and how seriously I take verses like Galatians 2:20 (I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. This life I live in the body I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me) and 2 Corinthians 5:17 (if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come). To choose sin is to act inconsistently with my nature in Christ and is to choose to believe a lie that there is something in this world that can give me the life that only Jesus has. And I already possess that life of Christ in me. (Note: These are only two of the verse that I could cite about the Believers identity in Christ and participation in His life now; see also Romans 6:1-13, which speaks of our death, burial and resurrection with Christ; 2 Cor 4:10-12; Colissians 3:1-14).
Alex referenced my love for 2 Corinthians 5:14, which begins, “For Christ’s love compels us.” I certainly love hearing and teaching that verse from a gratitude perspective, remembering the love of Jesus and letting that lead me to respond in loving obedience. But perhaps we could read that verse even more literally, remembering that the very life of Christ is in us. Christ’s love literally does compel us, because He is in me and I am in Him. His love is now my love. I am loving because Christ in me is loving.
The book of Ephesians is a wonderful presentation of the Gospel and all that we have in Christ, and Paul spends the first three chapters reminding us of the Good News, the love of the Father through the Son. And then in chapter four he begins calling Believers to live in response to that good news, aka obedience. This could seem a lot like a motivation of gratitude, but in chapter 5, verses 8 and 9 he says, “For you once were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord – live as children of light.” Paul calls us to obedience from our identity – light should not behave as darkness. It is hypocritical and inconsistent with our nature. We are light in the Lord, so live that way.
For years the verse “Be holy as I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15) motivated me to seek holiness because I needed to measure up to God’s standard (who ever could do that?). But in Christ, it is no longer a command to be followed but a reality to be expressed. Jesus is Holy. Jesus is in me. Therefore, I can BE/LIVE holy, as He in me is holy. (Many thanks to Shawn Morrison for showing me this a couple years ago)
So if we are new in Christ and holy in Christ, why do we still sin as Believers? The reason is that for years we have learned to meet our own needs in independence from God’s life, even when we have known Christ. We have not realized and believed that Christ is our life and that He will supply all of our needs, according to His riches in glory. And so we think that obedience is up to us, just like the rest of our lives, and this is a form of independence from Christ, not trusting in Him and abiding in Him as life. We, in a sense, have daily the same choice that Adam and Eve had way back in the garden – we can eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and try to motivate ourselves to obedience, or we can eat from the tree of life, Jesus Christ, and allow His life to be ours which will lead us to obey.
Alex cited Galatians 5:19-21, a long list of sins that could keep us from the kingdom. Paul has a similar list in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, listing sins that keep the wicked from inheriting the kingdom. But then in verse 11 he says, “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. " Their identity had changed.
Obedience flows from identity and exposing lies with truth. I don’t have to live like the wicked anymore because that is no longer who I am. So, going back to the candy analogy, the Believer’s response is, “Lord Jesus, I know that your life is in me, and I trust you to live through me as I yield my will to yours. I trust that you alone have the life that I long for, and so I ask that your obedience be mine as I depend on you for all things.”
There was only One who was obedient, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was obedient on our behalf so that we could have access to His perfect obedience at any time, if we would but ask and believe.
What is the proper motivation for obedience? Is it gratitude? Faith in future grace? Both? Or are we asking the wrong question?
As I hear us talking about a motivator for obedience, it sounds like we are giving ourselves a lot of credit and lot of responsibility. I believe that obedience as it is being discussed here is a secondary choice that can be accomplished in the flesh, and it is not the primary choice. (*Note: When I say “accomplished in the flesh” I am defining flesh as any way that we meet our needs or live our lives apart from God. Our obedience from God can be accomplished on our own effort, not in dependence on Christ, and all that we do of our own strength will be judged and revealed for what it is. See 1 Cor. 3:10-15. A non-Christian can be obedient and follow Godly principles.)
When presented with a problem/temptation, we tend to see it as, “Hmm, should I take my kid’s last piece of candy while they sleep and hope they forget about it in the morning or should I not?” In this discussion, our current options for obedience would be to leave the candy for our child, and we would use our chosen motivators to obey. On one hand, we could say, “Jesus, thank you so much for loving me before I even knew you. Thank you for your love for me, and now I respond to that love in obedience.” On another hand we could say, “Jesus, thank you so much for the hope that I have in you. I believe that by dying to my desire for candy, there will be a provision of future grace in some way for me as a result of that choice, and now I obey in that hope.” Or we could combine the two and say, "Lord, thank you for loving me and saving me from sin. Because of that love you showed me, I trust that you will continue to be good to me as I obey you now and in the future."
But the ultimate issue at that point is not whether or not I choose to obey. It is whether or not I choose to abide and trust Christ as my life. If I am abiding in Christ, believing Him to be my life, then I will obey. Every time. Without fail. Period.
Now, before you think I have gone Gary Birdsong on you and am preaching sinless perfection, let me assure you that I am not. I do not obey perfectly; I certainly sin. But my sin has very little to do with whether I make the right choice or whether I had a good enough motivator, and has everything to do with what I believe about my identity in Christ and how seriously I take verses like Galatians 2:20 (I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. This life I live in the body I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me) and 2 Corinthians 5:17 (if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come). To choose sin is to act inconsistently with my nature in Christ and is to choose to believe a lie that there is something in this world that can give me the life that only Jesus has. And I already possess that life of Christ in me. (Note: These are only two of the verse that I could cite about the Believers identity in Christ and participation in His life now; see also Romans 6:1-13, which speaks of our death, burial and resurrection with Christ; 2 Cor 4:10-12; Colissians 3:1-14).
Alex referenced my love for 2 Corinthians 5:14, which begins, “For Christ’s love compels us.” I certainly love hearing and teaching that verse from a gratitude perspective, remembering the love of Jesus and letting that lead me to respond in loving obedience. But perhaps we could read that verse even more literally, remembering that the very life of Christ is in us. Christ’s love literally does compel us, because He is in me and I am in Him. His love is now my love. I am loving because Christ in me is loving.
The book of Ephesians is a wonderful presentation of the Gospel and all that we have in Christ, and Paul spends the first three chapters reminding us of the Good News, the love of the Father through the Son. And then in chapter four he begins calling Believers to live in response to that good news, aka obedience. This could seem a lot like a motivation of gratitude, but in chapter 5, verses 8 and 9 he says, “For you once were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord – live as children of light.” Paul calls us to obedience from our identity – light should not behave as darkness. It is hypocritical and inconsistent with our nature. We are light in the Lord, so live that way.
For years the verse “Be holy as I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15) motivated me to seek holiness because I needed to measure up to God’s standard (who ever could do that?). But in Christ, it is no longer a command to be followed but a reality to be expressed. Jesus is Holy. Jesus is in me. Therefore, I can BE/LIVE holy, as He in me is holy. (Many thanks to Shawn Morrison for showing me this a couple years ago)
So if we are new in Christ and holy in Christ, why do we still sin as Believers? The reason is that for years we have learned to meet our own needs in independence from God’s life, even when we have known Christ. We have not realized and believed that Christ is our life and that He will supply all of our needs, according to His riches in glory. And so we think that obedience is up to us, just like the rest of our lives, and this is a form of independence from Christ, not trusting in Him and abiding in Him as life. We, in a sense, have daily the same choice that Adam and Eve had way back in the garden – we can eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and try to motivate ourselves to obedience, or we can eat from the tree of life, Jesus Christ, and allow His life to be ours which will lead us to obey.
Alex cited Galatians 5:19-21, a long list of sins that could keep us from the kingdom. Paul has a similar list in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, listing sins that keep the wicked from inheriting the kingdom. But then in verse 11 he says, “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. " Their identity had changed.
Obedience flows from identity and exposing lies with truth. I don’t have to live like the wicked anymore because that is no longer who I am. So, going back to the candy analogy, the Believer’s response is, “Lord Jesus, I know that your life is in me, and I trust you to live through me as I yield my will to yours. I trust that you alone have the life that I long for, and so I ask that your obedience be mine as I depend on you for all things.”
There was only One who was obedient, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was obedient on our behalf so that we could have access to His perfect obedience at any time, if we would but ask and believe.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
I read The Prayer of Jabez
So on a friend’s blog there has been some conversation about how we can best be critical of the Christian subculture (calling out bad teaching/practices, etc) without condemning those who are learning from and seeking the Lord through those. One of the comment-ers has a great word – snarky – for comments that are kind of cutting or humorous, and I have found that over the years I have certainly made my share of snarky comments. One of the Christian subculture items that has received more than its fair share of snarks from me is the book The Prayer of Jabez. Not surprisingly, I had never read this book that I was criticizing, but mainly I was just railing on the idea that people were believing that a magic prayer from the Bible could unlock heaven’s blessing. I had heard how people were using the book to try and get blessings from God that didn’t seem to flow to others, and so I dismissed it (and I also had great fun mocking all of the Prayer of Jabez merchandise that was available, from neckties to a version for teens to a cross plaque with the prayer on it to a DVD to a prayer guide to a journal to a Bible cover… but I digress).
So something to effect of, “let he who is without snark snub the first book” came to mind, and so I decided I would read the copy of The Prayer of Jabez sitting on my shelf (sent to me by a church that supports me in ministry). It didn’t take an hour to speed read it, and as I did, I was really encouraged by what it was teaching me. I didn’t find a call to grab blessings for selfish gain. I found a call to pray big prayers, to ask our Father for good things so that we might bless others. I found a call to surrender our hopes and ideas of blessing to what He would choose to give us. I found a call to desire greater things of God through my life and ministry and the call to surrender my time and my talents for the kingdom. I was called to trust God and to find joy in being in over my head, as that would lead me to a place of needing Him. I was called to trust God to keep me from evil and to ask Him to protect me and my character and walk with Him.
Sure, there were a coupe places where I was tempted to get snarky, but mostly those were from thoughts that said, “Someone could read this and think that the author means ______.” But I am convinced that the author’s heart is for God to be glorified and magnified in his life. In short, I am glad that I read it. I know that all the things I have mocked in the past will not be that good, but I also now know not to reject every “it” thing in the Christian subculture before giving it a look.
So something to effect of, “let he who is without snark snub the first book” came to mind, and so I decided I would read the copy of The Prayer of Jabez sitting on my shelf (sent to me by a church that supports me in ministry). It didn’t take an hour to speed read it, and as I did, I was really encouraged by what it was teaching me. I didn’t find a call to grab blessings for selfish gain. I found a call to pray big prayers, to ask our Father for good things so that we might bless others. I found a call to surrender our hopes and ideas of blessing to what He would choose to give us. I found a call to desire greater things of God through my life and ministry and the call to surrender my time and my talents for the kingdom. I was called to trust God and to find joy in being in over my head, as that would lead me to a place of needing Him. I was called to trust God to keep me from evil and to ask Him to protect me and my character and walk with Him.
Sure, there were a coupe places where I was tempted to get snarky, but mostly those were from thoughts that said, “Someone could read this and think that the author means ______.” But I am convinced that the author’s heart is for God to be glorified and magnified in his life. In short, I am glad that I read it. I know that all the things I have mocked in the past will not be that good, but I also now know not to reject every “it” thing in the Christian subculture before giving it a look.
Monday, May 29, 2006
Corner Living 2
As I have thought about living on the corner here in Glenwood, I wondered how this might translate to other ministries as well. For example, are there “high traffic” areas in dorms or on campus that might enable us to have more frequent contact with students who might not ordinarily come to our events?
When I was a campus staff worker, I always advocated for student small groups to meet in the dorms versus the student center or an off-campus apartment. There is usually constant activity in the dorms and there is a greater chance of someone stumbling upon your SG community that's meeting a in dorm parlor than if it is behind an apartment door. Meeting in a dorm also gives a ready-made strategic mission field for your group. As for where to live in that dorm, if you are on a hall, then maybe by the stairs or nearest the bathroom, provided you leave your door open and are active in engaging the flow of traffic that will come past. In my old dorm, Ehringhaus, I would have chosen a suite that is nearest the stairs/elevators and a room that has a window looking out onto the balcony.
As for meeting spaces, some of where we meet is dicatated by the whims and space limitations of our universities, but at UNCG there was great benefit in moving our LG meetings into the student center and out of a distant auditorium-style classroom on campus. Again, putting ourselves in higher-traffic areas to increase our opportunities of interacting with others and being seen by them.
I think about the trend with many churches today as they grow - the plan is usually to buy a big plot of land way out and have people drive to you. This does not seem much like a corner strategy to me, and I am being more and more drawn to planting smaller churches in close proximity to people (especially in the city).
Some of the costs of these kinds of moves are that we are likely to get interrupted, whether that's in the dorm SG when things on the hall get loud; or in the LG meetings where be occassionally get double-booked and lose our room for the evening in the students center; or in church, where different types of people that we are not necessarily eager to deal with can stumble into service on a Sunday. But interruptions are not always bad things, and they can provide us with some great moments of being out of control but being in step with the Holy Spirit (see the feeding of the 5,000 in Mark).
When I was a campus staff worker, I always advocated for student small groups to meet in the dorms versus the student center or an off-campus apartment. There is usually constant activity in the dorms and there is a greater chance of someone stumbling upon your SG community that's meeting a in dorm parlor than if it is behind an apartment door. Meeting in a dorm also gives a ready-made strategic mission field for your group. As for where to live in that dorm, if you are on a hall, then maybe by the stairs or nearest the bathroom, provided you leave your door open and are active in engaging the flow of traffic that will come past. In my old dorm, Ehringhaus, I would have chosen a suite that is nearest the stairs/elevators and a room that has a window looking out onto the balcony.
As for meeting spaces, some of where we meet is dicatated by the whims and space limitations of our universities, but at UNCG there was great benefit in moving our LG meetings into the student center and out of a distant auditorium-style classroom on campus. Again, putting ourselves in higher-traffic areas to increase our opportunities of interacting with others and being seen by them.
I think about the trend with many churches today as they grow - the plan is usually to buy a big plot of land way out and have people drive to you. This does not seem much like a corner strategy to me, and I am being more and more drawn to planting smaller churches in close proximity to people (especially in the city).
Some of the costs of these kinds of moves are that we are likely to get interrupted, whether that's in the dorm SG when things on the hall get loud; or in the LG meetings where be occassionally get double-booked and lose our room for the evening in the students center; or in church, where different types of people that we are not necessarily eager to deal with can stumble into service on a Sunday. But interruptions are not always bad things, and they can provide us with some great moments of being out of control but being in step with the Holy Spirit (see the feeding of the 5,000 in Mark).
SO the Bible tells me so
Every night I sing “Jesus Loves Me” to Psalter and Eliza before bed, and as I sang last night, I remembered a comment from one of my Systematic Theology classes. The gist of it is that the truth (or real-ness) of God’s character pre-exist our understanding of it or hearing about it. Jesus’ love for me was active and in existence before the foundations of the world. It is not something I jumpstart when I believe in Him. Thus when we sing, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so,” it is implied that Jesus’ love for me was not real before it was written about in the Bible and actualized by my reading of it. But Jesus’ love for me is an unchanging fact, and the Bible merely clues me in on this reality. Gary Deddo suggested a more faithful way to sing this would be, “Jesus loves me, this I know, so the Bible tells me so.” The Bible is a means by which Jesus communicates His eternal love for us, and even if the Bible did not tell me so, that would not change or nullify His love.
Friday, May 26, 2006
Nuisance and waste become blessing
Yesterday evening one of the guys in our neighborhood trimmed our huge row of bushes in the front yard. Near the end, a branch got caught in the trimmers and threw them off track, rendering them useless. Normally, I would have most likely said, “It’s a $30 set of trimmers – I’ll just get a new one.” But God gave me a gift in that Bo wanted to try and get to the bottom of the problem. And so we began removing screws, testing one part at a time, getting deeper and deeper into the workings of the trimmer until it was completely disassembled. Completely (except for the motor). Lo and behold, we were able to figure out what the problem was, actually got the blades back on track, and then began to reassemble the trimmer in the gathering dusk. Most who know me understand that I am not a very handy person, and I must admit I contributed very little to the repair job. But when we finished, as I thanked Bo and said, “You did it,” he insisted that, no, we did it.
He had commented as we were putting it back together that he didn’t mind taking extra time to do this – the way he saw it, God had a plan for the two of us to spend some extra time together. And so what could have been a nuisance, thrown away as waste, became a gift of fellowship and learning. It’s not often that I put myself in a position to learn from and receive from my neighbors, and I could stand to do that more often. Bo had such a knack for figuring things out, and in a very kind way, he brought me into that work with him and made me feel like I was helping.
It reminded me of a story that my teacher, Gary Deddo, told about his dad who was a carpenter. Little Gary had nailed together a couple pieces of wood as his dad was building cabinets, and he brought it to dad saying, “Look, I’m helping.” And that wonderful father said, “That’s great. I know just where I will put that.” And he built it into the back of the cabinets, using what his son had offered. Gary went on to say that our efforts for God are much like that story – we offer our best, which compared to the master are but crude and elementary, and He takes that and works it into His awesome creative work that He is completing with skill and beauty.
God used a homeless man, almost twice my age, who really doesn’t follow Him very closely, to reveal His heart and give me a gift of patience, persistence, and fellowship. Nuisance and waste became blessing.
He had commented as we were putting it back together that he didn’t mind taking extra time to do this – the way he saw it, God had a plan for the two of us to spend some extra time together. And so what could have been a nuisance, thrown away as waste, became a gift of fellowship and learning. It’s not often that I put myself in a position to learn from and receive from my neighbors, and I could stand to do that more often. Bo had such a knack for figuring things out, and in a very kind way, he brought me into that work with him and made me feel like I was helping.
It reminded me of a story that my teacher, Gary Deddo, told about his dad who was a carpenter. Little Gary had nailed together a couple pieces of wood as his dad was building cabinets, and he brought it to dad saying, “Look, I’m helping.” And that wonderful father said, “That’s great. I know just where I will put that.” And he built it into the back of the cabinets, using what his son had offered. Gary went on to say that our efforts for God are much like that story – we offer our best, which compared to the master are but crude and elementary, and He takes that and works it into His awesome creative work that He is completing with skill and beauty.
God used a homeless man, almost twice my age, who really doesn’t follow Him very closely, to reveal His heart and give me a gift of patience, persistence, and fellowship. Nuisance and waste became blessing.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Corner Living
It’s taken me a while to put it into words, but I am realizing that being on the corner is a strategic place to live. Now, that’s not why we bought the house (it had more to do with our vision for the basement becoming an apartment), but I can see God’s providence in placing us here. The corner is always jumping in my neighborhood – there is foot traffic most of the time with people on their way to the store or the park. This foot traffic is on the sidewalk in front of our house, the street beside, and even through our backyard, which helped make our picnic table a popular resting spot last summer. This can lead to plenty of conversations with old friends and the chance to get to know new folks as we hang out in the yard or on the porch, and we can talk with people even as we are in the backyard.
Of course there’s regular traffic as well (most of the time people stop at our stop sign), which keeps us up to date on the latest in hip hop and Spanish language radio, and it also provides the occasional free massage as our furniture and floors vibrate to the beat.
Being on the corner gives us more ownership and vision for our street(s) (and that vision is both literal and figurative). We can keep an eye on things in several directions, and have a great feel for what is happening on several blocks at once.
And for our own peace (and peace of mind), being on the corner ensures that we would only have up close neighbors on one side (and having a vacant lot next door gives even more space). We have friends who live in the middle of a block and have recently had some dealers move in next door, leaving very little room to feel comfortable and leading them to consider moving.
We had thought about moving up the street to a house in the middle of our block, but I can’t even see its front door from here, and if we played in the backyard, we wouldn’t be able to see folks as walked by. No, corner living suits us just fine.
Of course there’s regular traffic as well (most of the time people stop at our stop sign), which keeps us up to date on the latest in hip hop and Spanish language radio, and it also provides the occasional free massage as our furniture and floors vibrate to the beat.
Being on the corner gives us more ownership and vision for our street(s) (and that vision is both literal and figurative). We can keep an eye on things in several directions, and have a great feel for what is happening on several blocks at once.
And for our own peace (and peace of mind), being on the corner ensures that we would only have up close neighbors on one side (and having a vacant lot next door gives even more space). We have friends who live in the middle of a block and have recently had some dealers move in next door, leaving very little room to feel comfortable and leading them to consider moving.
We had thought about moving up the street to a house in the middle of our block, but I can’t even see its front door from here, and if we played in the backyard, we wouldn’t be able to see folks as walked by. No, corner living suits us just fine.
Do yourself a favor
Now I now that everyone likes "24" and Jack Bauer (although I think that Jack Bristow would take him out in a heartbeat), and I know that every week all my friends go and get "Lost." But I am here to give you a summer viewing option that you need to check out.
Prison Break is an amazing show (I can't compare it to "24" and "Lost" since I don't watch them), and I can't believe people don't watch it. It's like an amazing movie that you don't want to end, and, at least for one season, it hasn't. The premise is that Michael Scofield gets himself put into prison to bust out his brother who is on death row for a murder he didn't commit. Michael doesn't come in without a plan - in fact he has the blueprints for the prison tattooed on his body. Every week you never know what will happen and his ingenuity rivals MacGyver, and you are almost always on the edge of your seat for the whole hour.
I am not sure if this season is out on DVD, but I know you can buy it on iTunes. If not to be entertained, someone please do this for me and Diane so that we can have people to talk about the show with!
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Now you can keep the "Joy" fresh!
Hey friends - if you notice on my sidebar there is a new feature called blogarithm.com which will send you an email whenever a new post is made on the ol' Joy in the Margins blog. I know, you've been wondering how on earth you get my insights any faster than you already were. Wonder no more.On an unrelated note, my sweet wife sent me a bag of candy to camp last week and in that bag was a box of Sno-caps, which quickly became one of my favorites. It was a bit of a let-down, though, when I realized that Sno-caps were actually just chocolate chips with little white sprinkles on them. Next thing you know, they'll be telling me that Slurpees are just ice with Kool-aid in them.
Monday, May 15, 2006
We are all witnesses
I saw this ad on TV before camp, and I knew that I had found my video clip/multi-media component to my talk on being a witnessing community (because we are hip like that in InterVarsity, where we use video clips to make our talks more cool and relevant to the college kids - word). Check it out - Nike has taken our job description and is using it to sell shoes!
Sunday, May 14, 2006
So was he or wasn't he... and does it matter?
So about the guy in our track who came to know Jesus this week after growing up in a Christian home and even being a leader in his IV chapter. I have been tempted to gloss over his conversion and say, "Well, maybe he was already a Christian, so it's not THAT amazing." Now, I say tempted to do that because I cannot help but notice the change that came over him. He went from being distant, pensive, and somewhat closed to being joyful, loving, and open, eager to learn. I could see the difference and it was amazing!
So did he move from death to life? From darkness to light? From spiritual oprhan to adopted son of the King? Or did he just wake up and realize what had happened some time earlier in his life? And is there a big difference between the two?
Certainly on the eternal scale there is a big difference - if we are in Christ or not has tremendous bearing on where we will spend the rest of all time. But even if this young man was in Christ due to intellectual assent, he was not experiencing the life that Jesus offered, and that is one of the main reasons Jesus came. Not just to save us from sin but to save us to Life and Adoption.
I wonder how many people in the Church are like my friend, knowing in their head but paralyzed and numb in their heart. And even if eternity is not at stake for them, LIFE is at stake. We have too many numb Christians trying to get by on obedience and dilligence and not drawing from the life of Christ. Obviously I am not discounting the importance of discipline and obedience, but those can flow from a well-spring of life so that Christ lives through me, or they can be manufactured through my flesh, which leads to burnout and a lack of joy.
To motivate Christians to witness, serve, give, obey when their heart is not free and not experiencing the life that God offers is to encourage them to trust in themselves and live by the flesh. This is why we begin the Good News track preaching the Gospel to the students who are wanting to share the Gospel with others. This is why we teach them more about prayer than about apologetics. We must live by the Spirit.
Praise God for setting our Brother free to know life, and not just life but Life Abundant. The Good News is necessary for us all - like I have told students for years, "We never graduate from the Gospel."
So did he move from death to life? From darkness to light? From spiritual oprhan to adopted son of the King? Or did he just wake up and realize what had happened some time earlier in his life? And is there a big difference between the two?
Certainly on the eternal scale there is a big difference - if we are in Christ or not has tremendous bearing on where we will spend the rest of all time. But even if this young man was in Christ due to intellectual assent, he was not experiencing the life that Jesus offered, and that is one of the main reasons Jesus came. Not just to save us from sin but to save us to Life and Adoption.
I wonder how many people in the Church are like my friend, knowing in their head but paralyzed and numb in their heart. And even if eternity is not at stake for them, LIFE is at stake. We have too many numb Christians trying to get by on obedience and dilligence and not drawing from the life of Christ. Obviously I am not discounting the importance of discipline and obedience, but those can flow from a well-spring of life so that Christ lives through me, or they can be manufactured through my flesh, which leads to burnout and a lack of joy.
To motivate Christians to witness, serve, give, obey when their heart is not free and not experiencing the life that God offers is to encourage them to trust in themselves and live by the flesh. This is why we begin the Good News track preaching the Gospel to the students who are wanting to share the Gospel with others. This is why we teach them more about prayer than about apologetics. We must live by the Spirit.
Praise God for setting our Brother free to know life, and not just life but Life Abundant. The Good News is necessary for us all - like I have told students for years, "We never graduate from the Gospel."
Friday, May 12, 2006
The Good News is Always Good
Week one of camp is over, and I think that we had an excellent track. I asked my supporters to pray for three goals - that students would experience the Good News and love of Jesus, that we would grow in dependence on the Holy Spirit and prayer, and that the students would be given conviction and boldness to actually invite their friends to know Jesus. I believe that God has done that, and I pray that He would continue the work begun. Also, a student in our track who had grown up in a Christian home, had even led a small group from IV, but had never really had the knowledge of Christ move from his head to his heart. It was amazing to see the change that came over him as he actually believed what he had always known, and it was simply the work of God breaking through in a quiet moment. Amazing grace, always pursuing and at work.
Attached is a pictures of the dining hall here at camp; what a beautiful setting!
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Wish You Were Here, the People are Beautiful
Hello everyone! Rockbridge has kindly put high-spped internet access into the staff quarters, and so I can update briefly on the ol’ blog. I wish that you all could be here to see how God uses our ministry in the lives of students – it is such an exciting time! On the first night of worship, for instance, we sang a song in Mohawk (Native American), Spanish, and in a South African language, in addition to English songs. Where else would students be exposed to praising God in so many ways? There are students learning how to study the Word and in the process, hearing God’s heart for reconciliation. There are students learning how to share the Gospel, and in the process hearing the Good News for themselves. Students are learning to lead their peers in studying the Bible and leading their peers to love God and serve Him more. It is an amazing time. There are students from Bulgaria, Lebanon, and Mexico here. There are white, black, Asian and Hispanic students (though we are still predominantly white). And the Lord is being glorified. I love being a part of this ministry and this staff team! Plus, my precious wife and daughters are here, which is so fun! Not a very pithy post, but one from the heart.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Barney... duck!
It’s disconcerting, to say the least, that as I cooked supper and my girls watched Barney this evening, a man was shot almost within sight of our house (good thing the grandparents don’t check the ol’ blog much). Gregory Street has long been the main problem spot for our community (the last shooting that I have heard about happened there a couple years ago). What makes me shake my head in sadness and fear and relief is that Diane and I had been trying to take the girls down to the park on Gregory lately. Mostly when we want to go to the park, we drive out to a “quiet-er” neighborhood in the city with nicer playground equipment and where we feel at ease with our girls playing there. But we want to use the park near us, to have a chance to meet kids and families who might be down there. Now it seems much less attractive. Yet most families who play there don’t have other options.
The whole scene just felt sort of surreal. I’m in the kitchen, cooking supper, watching 6 or 8 police cars zoom past our house, and soon an ambulance returns up the street. A man walking by tells some other guys that someone has been shot. All the while my girls are in the land of purple dinosaurs, safe and innocent and oblivious.
I thank God for His hand with us in the times we have gone down there recently – there wasn’t even a whiff of anything wrong there. Now with some time away due to Rockbridge, it will be decision time when we get back as to when to head to the park again to play.
The whole scene just felt sort of surreal. I’m in the kitchen, cooking supper, watching 6 or 8 police cars zoom past our house, and soon an ambulance returns up the street. A man walking by tells some other guys that someone has been shot. All the while my girls are in the land of purple dinosaurs, safe and innocent and oblivious.
I thank God for His hand with us in the times we have gone down there recently – there wasn’t even a whiff of anything wrong there. Now with some time away due to Rockbridge, it will be decision time when we get back as to when to head to the park again to play.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
A Wonderful Celebration
On Tuesday night we had a pizza party celebrating the year in tutoring. This was the first time that we had done this, and we had over 100 people come between kids, parents, siblings, cousins, and tutors! A Grace high school small group served the pizza for us and cleaned up, we had videos from Sunday school and tutoring to show, and gave the kids the chance to talk on the mic about what they enjoyed in tutoring.
It was one of the happiest moments of ministry in Glenwood that I have ever had. There was just something wonderful about the families of the kids all being there, about the tutors getting to meet moms and dads and grandmas. There was something special about a small group of high schoolers from our church serving behind the scenes, the high school pastor and his wife and family serving as well. Diane and the girls got to come and eat dinner with a family from next door. Some of our neighbors from church came to help meet and greet.
And the event was smooth. It was happy, celebratory, fun, and it went off without a hitch. This is what ministry as a team, a church, and a family is about, and I just loved it. Praise God for a wonderful year.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Compelled By Love
In preparing to lead the Good News evangelism track for Rockbridge, I have had the chance to think a lot about the Gospel. Below is what came out as I worked on the opening night talk, Compelled By Love.
God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
Is there a more ludicrous, radical deal in the whole world? I mean, sometimes car dealerships will give you $5000 for whatever piece of junk car you can push, pull or tow there and apply it towards a new car. That is a good deal. Buy one get one free bags of boneless, skinless chicken breasts at Harris Teeter is a really good deal.
But this? This is crazy. First you have Jesus, the only perfect person to ever live, the only one to be untarnished by sin. This perfect one gets made to BE sin, so fully does He take on our identity and our sin on the cross (it so pulverizes and covers Him) that He is actually transformed into it.
Then you have us, who are by nature God’s enemies and deserving of wrath, and we receive the righteousness of God in exchange for our sin and wickedness. We are remade from darkness to light, from objects of wrath to accepted in the beloved, from enemies of God to His friends, from children of the devil to children of the King, from unacceptable to acceptable. Our pain and sickness and mess for His peace and righteousness. Our wages, which earned death, for His inheritance, which is an eternal Kingdom.
Is that Good News? Is that life to the dead? Is that comfort to the afflicted? Riches to the poor? Freedom for the captive?
Yes! This is a compelling love.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Recycled Pottery
Today in church one of our pastors, Will Dungee, preached on the potter passage in Jeremiah 18. He talked about how we are created by God to be vessels shaped by His hand, and he had some pots thad had been thrown ("made") by a church member. As Will talked he "accidentally" let one fall and break, and then segwayed into how many of us are broken, and that we think the thing to do with broken pots is just to throw away the pieces, since they aren't good for anything. Well, I knew that God didn't do that, but I wondered, "What does God do with these broken pots? Is there a verse about gluing back together?"
As I wondered, a video came on the screen, and the potter from our church showed how broken pots were recycled into usable clay. They are put into a big tub of water, and over time the water re-softens the shards until they become maleable clay, which can then be thrown again. And the pieces made from the recycled clay are really beautiful because they have different colors and patterns from the different clays in them. Who knew?!
Then they showed Psalm 40:2 - "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire", and looking at the tub of recycled clay, it was a muddy, miry mess. From that comes good, beautiful works fashioned by the potter.
Will laid out broken pieces of pottery on the stage, and then placed finished pots and bowls, made from recycled pottery, behind the broken pieces and opened the altar for people to pray.
Diane and I have been going through a real breaking time in our marriage, and as I prayed there before those pieces of pottery, the Lord encouraged me that though we are broken now, He was going to soften us in the love and power of His Holy Spirit, and reform us together into a new vessel, more united and more beautiful because from our brokenness the Lord will create unity. Amazing grace - what a good God we have.
As I wondered, a video came on the screen, and the potter from our church showed how broken pots were recycled into usable clay. They are put into a big tub of water, and over time the water re-softens the shards until they become maleable clay, which can then be thrown again. And the pieces made from the recycled clay are really beautiful because they have different colors and patterns from the different clays in them. Who knew?!
Then they showed Psalm 40:2 - "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire", and looking at the tub of recycled clay, it was a muddy, miry mess. From that comes good, beautiful works fashioned by the potter.
Will laid out broken pieces of pottery on the stage, and then placed finished pots and bowls, made from recycled pottery, behind the broken pieces and opened the altar for people to pray.
Diane and I have been going through a real breaking time in our marriage, and as I prayed there before those pieces of pottery, the Lord encouraged me that though we are broken now, He was going to soften us in the love and power of His Holy Spirit, and reform us together into a new vessel, more united and more beautiful because from our brokenness the Lord will create unity. Amazing grace - what a good God we have.
A Dangerous CD
Back in the day I fell in love with a college band from Texas named Caedmon's Call after hearing them play an outdoor concert (at Duke of all places). I especially appreciated the lead guitarist, Derek Webb, and his songs on their CD's were always my favorite.
He has since left the band and has released 3 CD's, the latest of which is an amazing thing to listen to. "Mockingbird" is a challenge to the Church to be doers of justice and lovers of mercy, and challenges the fusing of the Christianity and politics.
Listening to this CD makes me very uncomfortable, and I happen to agree with much of what Derek says, so I can imagine how it might sit with someone on the other side of the fence. At a recent concert on a college campus, a full three rows of students walked out after he sang these lines from "A King and a Kingdom."
It's safe to say that you won't here his music on K-Love (Christian radio), and I think that it is a shame. The Christian subculture, from music to books, has become so homogenous in what is presented to us as good, there is little room made for a message like Derek's that might challenge the status quo. But why should we fear ideas and theology, especially from a fellow Brother in Christ, simply because it challenges our own belief system? Below are some more lyrics, but first a quote from Derek in the recent issue of Relevant magazine.
That said, Webb doesn’t believe that getting involved in social justice issues is an absolute requirement of faith. “I’ve heard too many of my brothers and sisters who also have a heart for Africa say, ‘ God is going to judge us based on how we respond to the emergency in Africa.’ But I believe that’s an outright lie. God has already judged and punished Jesus for the fact that we don’t love people well. That’s very good news, but it also calls us to be about the Lord’s business, which right now I believe is in Africa."
A New Law
don’t teach me about politics and government
just tell me who to vote for
don’t teach me about truth and beauty
just label my music
don’t teach me how to live like a free man
just give me a new law
(pre-chorus)
i don’t wanna know if the answers aren’t easy
so just bring it down from the mountain to me
My Enemies Are Men Like Me
how can i kill the ones i’m supposed to love
my enemies are men like me
i will protest the sword if it’s not wielded well
my enemies are men like me
(vs. 2)
peace by way of war is like purity by way of fornication
it’s like telling someone murder is wrong
and then showing them by way of execution
He has since left the band and has released 3 CD's, the latest of which is an amazing thing to listen to. "Mockingbird" is a challenge to the Church to be doers of justice and lovers of mercy, and challenges the fusing of the Christianity and politics.
Listening to this CD makes me very uncomfortable, and I happen to agree with much of what Derek says, so I can imagine how it might sit with someone on the other side of the fence. At a recent concert on a college campus, a full three rows of students walked out after he sang these lines from "A King and a Kingdom."
there are two great lies that i’ve heard:
“the day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die”
and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican
and if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him
“the day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die”
and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican
and if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him
It's safe to say that you won't here his music on K-Love (Christian radio), and I think that it is a shame. The Christian subculture, from music to books, has become so homogenous in what is presented to us as good, there is little room made for a message like Derek's that might challenge the status quo. But why should we fear ideas and theology, especially from a fellow Brother in Christ, simply because it challenges our own belief system? Below are some more lyrics, but first a quote from Derek in the recent issue of Relevant magazine.
That said, Webb doesn’t believe that getting involved in social justice issues is an absolute requirement of faith. “I’ve heard too many of my brothers and sisters who also have a heart for Africa say, ‘ God is going to judge us based on how we respond to the emergency in Africa.’ But I believe that’s an outright lie. God has already judged and punished Jesus for the fact that we don’t love people well. That’s very good news, but it also calls us to be about the Lord’s business, which right now I believe is in Africa."
A New Law
don’t teach me about politics and government
just tell me who to vote for
don’t teach me about truth and beauty
just label my music
don’t teach me how to live like a free man
just give me a new law
(pre-chorus)
i don’t wanna know if the answers aren’t easy
so just bring it down from the mountain to me
My Enemies Are Men Like Me
how can i kill the ones i’m supposed to love
my enemies are men like me
i will protest the sword if it’s not wielded well
my enemies are men like me
(vs. 2)
peace by way of war is like purity by way of fornication
it’s like telling someone murder is wrong
and then showing them by way of execution
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Hackin' Away at Dennys 2
As I have thought more about the Ricky Manning situation, I’ve wondered why I reacted so strongly. Pro athletes cause trouble all the time, and I don’t usually get too worked up about it.
But this one seems more personal. This is not a “shots in the dark outside a club” incident. This is something that could happen to me or a friend of mine. I could be the guy at Denny’s working on my laptop. I could be the geek getting picked on.
Also inside me is the thought, “It’s not right for people to get bullied.” And so the incident plays into my desire to be safe and into the fears that maybe I never truly am, and it taps into my desire that life be fair and people be treated nice.
Things that make you go “Hmm.”
But this one seems more personal. This is not a “shots in the dark outside a club” incident. This is something that could happen to me or a friend of mine. I could be the guy at Denny’s working on my laptop. I could be the geek getting picked on.
Also inside me is the thought, “It’s not right for people to get bullied.” And so the incident plays into my desire to be safe and into the fears that maybe I never truly am, and it taps into my desire that life be fair and people be treated nice.
Things that make you go “Hmm.”
All I needed to say in prayer I learned in pre-school
This year at pre-school, Eliza has learned the classic blessing passed down from snack table to snack table throughout the ages – “God is Great.” Since she is always eager to pray that one at supper time, it has become our staple family prayer, and I have been struck at how deep and accurate a prayer it is.
“God is great.” There is none like Him, and there is nothing He cannot do. His power is immeasurable.
“God is good.” His character is love. He delights in His children and His creation. He sends rain to the fields of the wicked and the upright alike. We owe all to Him and He lavishes good things on us.
“Let us thank Him for our food.” We are about to eat a meal together. He gave us the money to buy it. He made the food grow. We will be full at the end of this time. It is only right to give thanks.
“Amen.” You can say that again.
“God is great.” There is none like Him, and there is nothing He cannot do. His power is immeasurable.
“God is good.” His character is love. He delights in His children and His creation. He sends rain to the fields of the wicked and the upright alike. We owe all to Him and He lavishes good things on us.
“Let us thank Him for our food.” We are about to eat a meal together. He gave us the money to buy it. He made the food grow. We will be full at the end of this time. It is only right to give thanks.
“Amen.” You can say that again.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Hackin' Away At Denny's
Is there nowhere safe to go anymore? I mean, you would figure that a Denny’s restaurant on a Saturday night would be as innocuous a location as you could find to have a quiet spot to work on your laptop. That’s what one guy in LA thought until he was beaten unconscious by a group of men, including former Panthers defensive back Ricky Manning, Jr.
I am sure that there may be more to the story, but the early report is that the group was making fun of the guy, calling him a geek and a nerd. When he complained to the manager, he was beaten for having the audacity to want to enjoy his late-night Grand Slam and coffee in peace.
The next morning he probably woke up in the hospital.
The next morning Ricky Manning, Jr hosted a conference call about his new $21 million dollar deal with the Bears.
Here’s one thing Manning had to say about the incident.
"I was pretty down this morning because of the situation," Manning said. "But when I found out I was a Chicago Bear, it kind of brought a little light to the day. ... I can't let something like this let me have a bad start to my football career in Chicago."
Here’s one thing the victim had to say about the incident.
“I was pretty down this morning because of the situation,” Joe Victim said. “But when I found out that they had boxed up the rest of my Denny’s meal for me and that I could drink it through a straw now, it kind of brought a little light to the day…. I can’t let something like getting beaten by an NFL player and his friends let me have a bad start to my otherwise swell week.” *note: not an actual quote from the victim
I am sure that another version of the story will come out, like the computer nerd said something to the group. Whatever he said, I don’t think it could have been worth being beaten unconscious by several assailants (Manning has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon because he had accomplices and he used excessive bodily force).
And perhaps it was simply that he had the audacity to challenge an elite athlete by complaining to a manager, and pride wouldn’t allow Manning to let him get away with that. I’ll be interested to see what comes of this as the story unfolds.
I am sure that there may be more to the story, but the early report is that the group was making fun of the guy, calling him a geek and a nerd. When he complained to the manager, he was beaten for having the audacity to want to enjoy his late-night Grand Slam and coffee in peace.
The next morning he probably woke up in the hospital.
The next morning Ricky Manning, Jr hosted a conference call about his new $21 million dollar deal with the Bears.
Here’s one thing Manning had to say about the incident.
"I was pretty down this morning because of the situation," Manning said. "But when I found out I was a Chicago Bear, it kind of brought a little light to the day. ... I can't let something like this let me have a bad start to my football career in Chicago."
Here’s one thing the victim had to say about the incident.
“I was pretty down this morning because of the situation,” Joe Victim said. “But when I found out that they had boxed up the rest of my Denny’s meal for me and that I could drink it through a straw now, it kind of brought a little light to the day…. I can’t let something like getting beaten by an NFL player and his friends let me have a bad start to my otherwise swell week.” *note: not an actual quote from the victim
I am sure that another version of the story will come out, like the computer nerd said something to the group. Whatever he said, I don’t think it could have been worth being beaten unconscious by several assailants (Manning has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon because he had accomplices and he used excessive bodily force).
And perhaps it was simply that he had the audacity to challenge an elite athlete by complaining to a manager, and pride wouldn’t allow Manning to let him get away with that. I’ll be interested to see what comes of this as the story unfolds.
Bring It On
My good friend Alex had a post yesterday about the very serious trials of being a sleep-deprived parent asking, begging, God for a good night’s sleep, and that prayer going unanswered. In fact, it seems sometimes, that the little one sleeps less in respinse to those prayers!
If I were God, I would answer that prayer because I would be a fix-er God. Whenever one of my children got in a scrape, I would make it go away, snap!
But God is not a fix-er God. He is a redeeming, refining God who desires life for us more we desire it for ourselves.
And so after a very late night where Diane and I had a very intense and heated discussion, all we would like would be to have a day where the girls are compliant and quiet. Yet already before 8:30, Eliza has tried to clean her room with baby powder and tried to fill the ice cube tray with water while sitting on the rug by the sink, and Psalter has been screaming for about ½ of the time she has been awake. I get to go to work, and I just feel so bad and just want God to give my wife a break (in part because I love her and in part because I feel bad that I get to go to work and she has to stay and deal with the girls).
But God is not a fix-er. He is a redeeming, refining God who desires life for us more than we desire it for ourselves.
So He says, “No,” for now, and calls me to give Him my guilt and my fear of Diane resenting me for working, and He calls Diane to trust Him in the midst of frustration and fear that this day will be more than she can handle.
And so we depend on mercy and grace, mercy to cover sin and grace to empower us to embrace life in hard places.
If I were God, I would answer that prayer because I would be a fix-er God. Whenever one of my children got in a scrape, I would make it go away, snap!
But God is not a fix-er God. He is a redeeming, refining God who desires life for us more we desire it for ourselves.
And so after a very late night where Diane and I had a very intense and heated discussion, all we would like would be to have a day where the girls are compliant and quiet. Yet already before 8:30, Eliza has tried to clean her room with baby powder and tried to fill the ice cube tray with water while sitting on the rug by the sink, and Psalter has been screaming for about ½ of the time she has been awake. I get to go to work, and I just feel so bad and just want God to give my wife a break (in part because I love her and in part because I feel bad that I get to go to work and she has to stay and deal with the girls).
But God is not a fix-er. He is a redeeming, refining God who desires life for us more than we desire it for ourselves.
So He says, “No,” for now, and calls me to give Him my guilt and my fear of Diane resenting me for working, and He calls Diane to trust Him in the midst of frustration and fear that this day will be more than she can handle.
And so we depend on mercy and grace, mercy to cover sin and grace to empower us to embrace life in hard places.
Monday, April 24, 2006
Things Aint Always What They Seem
Taking kids home from tutoring, I saw a family out in their backyard. Several little girls playing, looked like mom and dad were there. A nice scene.
Coming back past this house 10 minutes later, I saw the “dad” leave the yard and walk out to a car that pulled up. He handed something white into the car, received something back, and the pretty picture got smashed.
Where have you gone, Norman Rockwell?
Coming back past this house 10 minutes later, I saw the “dad” leave the yard and walk out to a car that pulled up. He handed something white into the car, received something back, and the pretty picture got smashed.
Where have you gone, Norman Rockwell?
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Stuff-ed Part Three
As I have continued to think about my thirst for “stuff”, I am realizing that I am a consume-er on many levels, and eating is one of them. I eat my meals with lightning speed, especially if it is something that I like. I used to say that I ate fast because of my young kids. Now I am seeing that I am trying to consume my food and enjoy it as quickly as possible, and on some level I am trying to fill a part of myself that is deeper than my tummy. I’ve noticed that I have been stopping more for drinks or candy bars when am out, and they never measure up to my hopes of how refreshing or good-tasting that they will be. I’ve noticed that I eat out of habit in the evenings, or even just eat as many good little things as strike my fancy.
I think that what it all boils down to is that there is nothing apart from Christ that will bring me life. There is nothing apart from Christ that will bring me joy. And as long as I seek to fill that need for life and joy with stuff or food or TV or work, I will come up empty. I believe that as I grow in knowing Christ as life, I will more enjoy the things that I eat or buy or do, because I am not counting on them to be more than they can ever be.
I think that what it all boils down to is that there is nothing apart from Christ that will bring me life. There is nothing apart from Christ that will bring me joy. And as long as I seek to fill that need for life and joy with stuff or food or TV or work, I will come up empty. I believe that as I grow in knowing Christ as life, I will more enjoy the things that I eat or buy or do, because I am not counting on them to be more than they can ever be.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Stuff-ed Part One
Tonight I bought a pair of expensive sunglasses on ebay. I didn’t need them because a friend had given me a pair the other week that were the same brand. But the pair he gave me kind of made my head hurt because they were a little tight, so I decided to try a different style of the same kind.
And now I grieve my preoccupation with stuff, and my inability to find a balance of grace when I mess up, and a loving obedience that leads to simplicity.
I think that I have talked a lot about living simply in recent years, but I am pretty sure that I don’t. I think that material simplicity involves giving up things that you would like to have, and could also afford, so that other might have what they need. At this point, the main way that Diane and I limit what we have is that we try and give away a lot up front. This reduces what we have left over to spend on “wants”, and yet I still manage to find a way to make my “wants” a reality. And I am reluctant to give up my rights to have what I want, provided I can afford it.
Stuff-ed - Part Two
Simplicity is relative, I guess. Compared to some friends and family, Diane and I have very little. Compared to others, we have so much. But comparisons really aren’t the way to measure this, I don’t think. The Lord is concerned with the heart, and mine is way too affected by the love of “things.” I want the heart of our friend Chelsea who, in talking about moving onto the mission field, told Diane with excitement, “We only get to bring TWO BAGS EACH!” I want the heart of our friends Michael and Casey, who moved into a two-bedroom apartment with no TV(despite having 2 kids and another on the way), and downsized to one car in order to prepare for life on the mission field and to be able to be more generous with their resources.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Mind, Heart and Soul
This Easter weekend, Diane and I had two very different worship experiences within 12 hours or so of each other. On Saturday night we attended an Episcopal service called “The Easter Vigil.” Our host graciously got us ready for the liturgy and what to expect, and the service was amazing. Not in a “I got goose-bumps and felt the presence of Jesus in my heart" amazing. But rather, I felt that I loved the Lord with my mind and with an appreciation of tradition observed by Christians since at least the third century. In a gloomy, dim sanctuary, we heard the story of salvation told through the Old Testament scriptures, moving from Genesis to Isaiah and having the Psalms interspersed as our guide along the way. After an infant baptism ceremony, the lights came up and we celebrated the new life that we have in Christ by taking communion and even being sprinkled with baptismal water by the priest as a reminder of our own baptism. The Word of God was powerful, as were the rich creeds that we listened to and spoke.
On Easter we attended my mom’s church, a non-denominational community church that was buzzing with excitement. A full praise band led us in musical worship, and the pastor taught us about having passion in our lives, and used power point to illustrate his sermon. Loving the Lord with all of you heart was certainly lifted up and experienced.
And I thought, I'd love to have both in worship. I'd love to have the liturgy of the Episcopal tradition as well as the more emotional connection that I appreciate in the evangelical tradition. Not to say that either is void of emotion or tradition, but certainly each is stronger in areas than the other. Diane and I just really were blessed by each experience of worship and met God in different ways at each one.
On Easter we attended my mom’s church, a non-denominational community church that was buzzing with excitement. A full praise band led us in musical worship, and the pastor taught us about having passion in our lives, and used power point to illustrate his sermon. Loving the Lord with all of you heart was certainly lifted up and experienced.
And I thought, I'd love to have both in worship. I'd love to have the liturgy of the Episcopal tradition as well as the more emotional connection that I appreciate in the evangelical tradition. Not to say that either is void of emotion or tradition, but certainly each is stronger in areas than the other. Diane and I just really were blessed by each experience of worship and met God in different ways at each one.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
When the door closed and all is quiet....
... your two-year-old may be covering her little sister in baby powder.
Saying "bye" to Urban Guy
I’ve been really bogged down lately with wondering where God was leading us as a family here in Glenwood. Should we buy another house to use for students to live in year round? Why would we do that when I can barely get any students to apply for GUPY this summer? Should we just wait and then move later? Would we have to move if our neighborhood improved too much? Do we stay in this house on Silver or buy another one and use this for a GUPY house?
Questions, questions, and I have put so much pressure on myself to find answers. In many ways I have been putting my identity in being Urban Guy. But the problem is that if Urban Guy is who I am, then I will make ministry and life decisions to uphold that identity, which leads me to serve in law, not in love.
Today I had a couple of simple, but profound, revelations. First is that I feel the most peace in my spirit when I think about staying here t 828 Silver, working on our house, and just loving our neighbors. And that is OK. I don’t have to have a grand vision for super ministry schemes. I don't have to have the road ahead mapped out. I don't have to work so hard to maintain my Urban Guy identity, and I don’t have to live as though my worth and identity lie in my work with the poor. Living in the future has been exhausting to me and has robbed the joy of the present from me.
Second is that I remembered, again, that my truest worth is in my sonship. I am a new creation in Christ, a beloved son of the Father, and I don't have to strive for significance or worth by being Urban Guy. I am Marshall (Chosen), dearly loved. Urban Guy will never be who I am, and that is freedom.
Questions, questions, and I have put so much pressure on myself to find answers. In many ways I have been putting my identity in being Urban Guy. But the problem is that if Urban Guy is who I am, then I will make ministry and life decisions to uphold that identity, which leads me to serve in law, not in love.
Today I had a couple of simple, but profound, revelations. First is that I feel the most peace in my spirit when I think about staying here t 828 Silver, working on our house, and just loving our neighbors. And that is OK. I don’t have to have a grand vision for super ministry schemes. I don't have to have the road ahead mapped out. I don't have to work so hard to maintain my Urban Guy identity, and I don’t have to live as though my worth and identity lie in my work with the poor. Living in the future has been exhausting to me and has robbed the joy of the present from me.
Second is that I remembered, again, that my truest worth is in my sonship. I am a new creation in Christ, a beloved son of the Father, and I don't have to strive for significance or worth by being Urban Guy. I am Marshall (Chosen), dearly loved. Urban Guy will never be who I am, and that is freedom.
Plans with a hope and a future
In Jeremiah 29, God calls the Israelite exiles to build houses and settle down in Babylon, planting gardens and raising kids, seeking the peace and prosperity of the city. As I shared that message with a local church in our neighborhood this morning, encouraging them to continue as owners and not live as renters, I realized that I was worrying so much about the future that I myself was not living as an owner in my heart.
But God says in Jeremiah 29:11 that He knows the plans He has for the exiles in Babylon, plans to prosper and not to harm, plans with a hope and a future. He speaks those words to a people who are being sorely tempted to live with the future in mind.
So, like the Israelites, my call is to settle in and love life here until God reveals the next step, knowing that His heart towards me is good and kind. That sure beats trying to figure it out myself.
But God says in Jeremiah 29:11 that He knows the plans He has for the exiles in Babylon, plans to prosper and not to harm, plans with a hope and a future. He speaks those words to a people who are being sorely tempted to live with the future in mind.
So, like the Israelites, my call is to settle in and love life here until God reveals the next step, knowing that His heart towards me is good and kind. That sure beats trying to figure it out myself.
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