A stomach in knots reminds him that this is not normal experience for the average Jay. The abyss beneath is intimidating and with tears in his eyes, he willingly places himself in harm's way.
The styrofoam encased in fiberglass becomes thinner and the bend in the board causes him to dig his toes deeper into the gritty sandpaper the closer he gets to the end. Looking down at the water is not the hard part. The hard part is looking around, for no horizon can be seen -- nor is there any support for the board. No pillar on an island with a diving board attached.
Just a board.
In the air.
Hovering high over the water.
In the middle of Nowhere.
He knows there is Somewhere. But to get there means abandoning the board, and to abandon the board means to embrace the abyss. The abyss is dark and scary, and God only knows what is in there waiting to consume him. He assumes he will swim to safety, even though it seems that safety is a figment of his imagination. But to stay on the board is not only to be in the middle of Nowhere, but to go Nowhere. And that is an alternative that is unacceptable.
And so he bends his knees, the board flexes under him and flings him high into the air. At the pinnacle of his extension, just before gravity proves its tenacity, he thinks he just may fly away and escape the abyss. Certainly, he thinks, flying enables one to go Somewhere.
And then he falls.
The watery floor beneath awaits his arrival with iron resolve. His feet hit first -- toes pointed and knees together parting the water without a splash. As he slips beneath the surface, he begins to kick. Surprisingly, he keeps falling further and further as if he is being pulled. Legs straining, fingers clawing, he reaches desperately for the light at the surface that is becoming smaller and smaller like the light at the end of the tunnel before the end of the tunnel can be seen.
The light slips away and he is sure that this is the end, or Nowhere again. The darkness is everywhere, and the abyss is still calling him and drawing him and clawing him. And there is no escape.
And now he must breathe.
And he realizes he can breathe.
And he knows he is in a new world.
And he is born again.
Again.
So this is Somewhere.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Sunday, December 10, 2006
John Edward McCumber III
Today is Trey's sixth birthday.
This whole journey I've been on lately with understanding my identity in Jesus as being more than what I do for Him has been most intensely illustrated to me by my relationship with my kids -- especially Trey.
Trey is my namesake, and he is most like me in personality. When I watch him, his reactions, his struggles, his young values -- I see me. When he grows up, he wants to play soccer for the Italian or Irish national teams because the USA sucks at soccer. I swear I didn't put that thought in his head.
Trey and I sometimes butt heads, and when we do it can be rough. My mom has a saying for parenting: "Choose your battles wisely and win every battle you choose." The battles I choose with Trey are often really difficult.
No matter what though, he's my son. He's mine. I see me in him, and that's not pride at all. When Trey scores a goal, that's my boy. When Trey gets his name put on the board at school, that's my boy. While I will obviously react in two different ways in regard to training/discipline in those two situations, there's one thing that doesn't change: he's my son and I love him more than I can say or understand. Nothing he does or is ever changes that fact.
No matter what, I'm God's son. I am his. He has put His nature in me and seeking His own glory through me is not pride at all. When I preach a good sermon, I'm His boy. When I speak in anger to my wife, I'm His boy. While He obviously reacts in two different ways in regard to my training/discipline in those two situations, there's one thing that doesn't change: I'm His son and He loves me more than I can say or understand. Nothing I do or am ever changes that fact.
Happy birthday, Trey. Thank you for teaching me about who I am. You are my son, I am so pleased with you, and I love you more than you will ever know.
Doing As Result Of Being or Being Versus Doing Part Six
Being vs doing was a bad title...too misleading of a generalization.
Doing as result of being is key. To pit the two against one another can be dangerous because what I'm learning is that I do have something to do -- I think of it in terms of the word "calling". I do play a role, a really important role, as I believe every person does.
The problem arises when my calling supercedes my identity. Kept in the proper order and balance, I think Paul can say "I'm an apostle", because as his call, that is what he is doing but it's because of who he is in Jesus. Paul holed up in prison was not able to be very apostle-ish but he was still a son of God and some of his most powerful writings came from that time period.
For me, doing my calling can become an idol so easily as a result of how I learned to think about God and my relationship with Him, that it is almost "being vs doing". And I know that I am not alone in that struggle -- many Christians today deal with the same issue, especially American Christians. Some dark part of me wants to believe that there are things in me that merit the love of God, something to offer that will pay Jesus for what He did for me. And that's just a lie.
"But God demonstrated His own love toward us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Doing as result of being is key. To pit the two against one another can be dangerous because what I'm learning is that I do have something to do -- I think of it in terms of the word "calling". I do play a role, a really important role, as I believe every person does.
The problem arises when my calling supercedes my identity. Kept in the proper order and balance, I think Paul can say "I'm an apostle", because as his call, that is what he is doing but it's because of who he is in Jesus. Paul holed up in prison was not able to be very apostle-ish but he was still a son of God and some of his most powerful writings came from that time period.
For me, doing my calling can become an idol so easily as a result of how I learned to think about God and my relationship with Him, that it is almost "being vs doing". And I know that I am not alone in that struggle -- many Christians today deal with the same issue, especially American Christians. Some dark part of me wants to believe that there are things in me that merit the love of God, something to offer that will pay Jesus for what He did for me. And that's just a lie.
"But God demonstrated His own love toward us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Immersion Retreat - October 31
Traveled today from Kauai to Oahu to meet with the leadership at New Hope Fellowship in Honolulu, by far the church that I am most stoked about getting to visit. This morning, we had time to kill before we could check into our hotel, so we went to Pearl Harbor. It was a deeply sad place. The USS Arizona is the centerpiece of the memorial. It was bombed that morning of December 7, 1941 and sank in nine minutes after being hit, killing 1173 of its crew members, 900 of which are still underwater in the Arizona. It is a stark reminder of the sacrifice required for freedom. Freedom isn't free...socially, politically, or spiritually.
"You were bought with a price."
The USS Arizona Memorial in the harbor. To get there, you get on a naval ship from the main building.
The foundation for gun turret three, rusty and sticking out of the water.
A shrine listing all the names of the sailors and marines who were killed aboard the Arizona.
The USS Missouri, the last battleship the US decommissioned after the Gulf War, stationed now in Pearl Harbor as a museum/learning exhibit.
This trip has been a great experience. I've been blogging about the travel aspects, but the spiritual ramifications of the research, learning and community experiences are by far the most intense things of this trip. I'm really thankful to be a part of it.
I really miss my family though. Tomorrow, we spend most of the day with New Hope and then we catch the red eye home! I can't wait to see my wife and kids.
Not wanting to end this post on a totally somber depressing note, here's a picture of Tim's foot.
"You were bought with a price."
The USS Arizona Memorial in the harbor. To get there, you get on a naval ship from the main building.
The foundation for gun turret three, rusty and sticking out of the water.
A shrine listing all the names of the sailors and marines who were killed aboard the Arizona.
The USS Missouri, the last battleship the US decommissioned after the Gulf War, stationed now in Pearl Harbor as a museum/learning exhibit.
This trip has been a great experience. I've been blogging about the travel aspects, but the spiritual ramifications of the research, learning and community experiences are by far the most intense things of this trip. I'm really thankful to be a part of it.
I really miss my family though. Tomorrow, we spend most of the day with New Hope and then we catch the red eye home! I can't wait to see my wife and kids.
Not wanting to end this post on a totally somber depressing note, here's a picture of Tim's foot.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Immersion Retreat -- October 28, 29, 30
October 28
Let me begin this post by again offering congratulations to my friends in St Louis. The World Series win was certainly a great thing, but now, how about achieving the #1 ranking for America's most dangerous city? St Louis beat out Detroit, Compton and Camden! Philly's not even on the list. So I don't want to hear it from any of you St Louis people any more. When I was a youth pastor at Hope, parents would always freak out about being really safe on the overseas mission trips. I always said the most dangerous mission trips we took were to our own city -- guess I was right.
I realized a lot of you that read this weren't at Cornerstone the Sunday before I left for this immersion retreat, so you have no idea why I'm in Texas or Hawaii. I was selected to be a member of a team of six pastors from south-central PA sponsored by a scholarly grant from the Lilly Foundation to research how to lead and perpetuate missional churches and church movements. It is a two-week research project called an "immersion retreat" where we travel across the country and interview leaders who are currently leading missional churches and movements and glean information and principles to formulate a deeper understanding of missional leadership in order to be missional and transformational leaders ourselves. It's a great opportunity with lots of learning and community, and it's obviously sweet being in Hawaii to interview leaders at Kauai Christian Fellowship and New Hope Fellowship.
So, like I said earlier, writing about the full content of all that's going on with the learning side of things would be very unprofitable because it's essentially information overload and I'm going to need to process for a while. But I wanted to include my friends and family on the travel side of things.
A few weeks ago at Cornerstone, I taught John 4 -- Jesus and the Samaritan soman -- had everything to do with living water. I started off that teaching by talking about people who love water and are part fish, like my buddy Tim, he's a surfer dude. I on the other hand, do not like water. It's not that I'm afraid of it cause I'm a relatively strong swimmer. Saturday I went body surfing. This is me before going body surfing.
This is me after going body surfing.
One of the most painful experiences of my life. I was in the water with my friend, Dave and we got wrecked by this huge wave -- 20 feet high! (actually, my buddy Tim on the shore said it was about five feet high, but what does he know?). I lost my body board and ended up getting pounded into the sharp, lava hewn rocks making a huge divot in my leg and depositing large amounts of sand into my bathing suit -- very uncomfortable. I remembered once again why I don't do water: too much work and lots of pain.
October 29
Today was a cool day. Went to Kauai Christian Fellowship and spent the afternoon with its pastor, Rick Bundschuch talking missional leadership and ministry.
Sunday evening consisted of some very cool community time with the guys on the team.
Spiritually invigorating and draining.
October 30
Have some down time today and tomorrow before getting to New Hope Fellowship in Honolulu. So we went hiking today in an incredible canyon in Kauai.
After driving through the canyon, we hiked about one and a half miles back into the canyon to Waipoo Falls. They were intensely beautiful, as is all of Kauai.
Let me begin this post by again offering congratulations to my friends in St Louis. The World Series win was certainly a great thing, but now, how about achieving the #1 ranking for America's most dangerous city? St Louis beat out Detroit, Compton and Camden! Philly's not even on the list. So I don't want to hear it from any of you St Louis people any more. When I was a youth pastor at Hope, parents would always freak out about being really safe on the overseas mission trips. I always said the most dangerous mission trips we took were to our own city -- guess I was right.
I realized a lot of you that read this weren't at Cornerstone the Sunday before I left for this immersion retreat, so you have no idea why I'm in Texas or Hawaii. I was selected to be a member of a team of six pastors from south-central PA sponsored by a scholarly grant from the Lilly Foundation to research how to lead and perpetuate missional churches and church movements. It is a two-week research project called an "immersion retreat" where we travel across the country and interview leaders who are currently leading missional churches and movements and glean information and principles to formulate a deeper understanding of missional leadership in order to be missional and transformational leaders ourselves. It's a great opportunity with lots of learning and community, and it's obviously sweet being in Hawaii to interview leaders at Kauai Christian Fellowship and New Hope Fellowship.
So, like I said earlier, writing about the full content of all that's going on with the learning side of things would be very unprofitable because it's essentially information overload and I'm going to need to process for a while. But I wanted to include my friends and family on the travel side of things.
A few weeks ago at Cornerstone, I taught John 4 -- Jesus and the Samaritan soman -- had everything to do with living water. I started off that teaching by talking about people who love water and are part fish, like my buddy Tim, he's a surfer dude. I on the other hand, do not like water. It's not that I'm afraid of it cause I'm a relatively strong swimmer. Saturday I went body surfing. This is me before going body surfing.
This is me after going body surfing.
One of the most painful experiences of my life. I was in the water with my friend, Dave and we got wrecked by this huge wave -- 20 feet high! (actually, my buddy Tim on the shore said it was about five feet high, but what does he know?). I lost my body board and ended up getting pounded into the sharp, lava hewn rocks making a huge divot in my leg and depositing large amounts of sand into my bathing suit -- very uncomfortable. I remembered once again why I don't do water: too much work and lots of pain.
October 29
Today was a cool day. Went to Kauai Christian Fellowship and spent the afternoon with its pastor, Rick Bundschuch talking missional leadership and ministry.
Sunday evening consisted of some very cool community time with the guys on the team.
Spiritually invigorating and draining.
October 30
Have some down time today and tomorrow before getting to New Hope Fellowship in Honolulu. So we went hiking today in an incredible canyon in Kauai.
After driving through the canyon, we hiked about one and a half miles back into the canyon to Waipoo Falls. They were intensely beautiful, as is all of Kauai.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Immersion Retreat - October 25, 26, 27
Hey Everyone in blogland.
Let me begin this post by congratulating my St Louis friends on winning the World Series. It couldn't happen to a nicer city and you folks deserve it, especially the way the Rams and Blues have tanked in the last four or five years. St Louis is the greatest baseball town in America.
So, the immersion retreat is going well. On Wednesday morning, we traveled from Corpus Christi to Houston. We spent all Wednesday afternoon at Ecclesia, a church in Montrose -- metro Houston area. It was a really cool experience to talk ministry philosophy and purpose with the guys at Ecclesia. Their church reminds me so much of Cornerstone. Doing great kingdom work.
Wednesday I got a real treat. Mike Taylor is a former student from my youth group at Hope Church in St Louis. Mike went to Moody and is now a youth pastor in Sugar Land, a suburb of Houston. His wedding to his wife, Lacey, was one of the many I was privileged to do this summer. Anyway, I got to spend all night hanging out with Mike and Lacey at their crib. Literally all night -- didn't go to sleep at all. I loved it.
Thursday morning we flew from Houston to San Francisco. San Francisco is another city I love and another location of a wedding I performed this past summer. We had a six hour layover in SanFran, so we took off into the city to hang out in Union Square. Was very cool. Tried to hang out with another former student and intern -- actually, the girl from the SanFran wedding -- but she was working.
Here's a trolley from San Francisco, the home of Rice A Roni, the San Francisco treat, which is the product placement I think of when I think of San Francisco.
Thursday night we flew from San Francisco to Lihue (pronounced Luh-hoo-we), Hawaii on the island of Kauai. This place rules. I've been a lot of beautiful places in the world, and this place is right up there at the top. We are on Kauai to learn from Rick Bundschuh, pastor of Kauai Christian Fellowship a church that started as a youth ministry gone nuts. Kauai is where we'll spend the most solid time block in our trip which is nice cause all this traveling is really taxing, even in Hawaii. So today we were at KCF for a while and then spent the afternoon seeing some of the north shore. Here's some pics from the day.
Tomorrow, we're going on a three hour tour. I may or may not see you all again.
Let me begin this post by congratulating my St Louis friends on winning the World Series. It couldn't happen to a nicer city and you folks deserve it, especially the way the Rams and Blues have tanked in the last four or five years. St Louis is the greatest baseball town in America.
So, the immersion retreat is going well. On Wednesday morning, we traveled from Corpus Christi to Houston. We spent all Wednesday afternoon at Ecclesia, a church in Montrose -- metro Houston area. It was a really cool experience to talk ministry philosophy and purpose with the guys at Ecclesia. Their church reminds me so much of Cornerstone. Doing great kingdom work.
Wednesday I got a real treat. Mike Taylor is a former student from my youth group at Hope Church in St Louis. Mike went to Moody and is now a youth pastor in Sugar Land, a suburb of Houston. His wedding to his wife, Lacey, was one of the many I was privileged to do this summer. Anyway, I got to spend all night hanging out with Mike and Lacey at their crib. Literally all night -- didn't go to sleep at all. I loved it.
Thursday morning we flew from Houston to San Francisco. San Francisco is another city I love and another location of a wedding I performed this past summer. We had a six hour layover in SanFran, so we took off into the city to hang out in Union Square. Was very cool. Tried to hang out with another former student and intern -- actually, the girl from the SanFran wedding -- but she was working.
Here's a trolley from San Francisco, the home of Rice A Roni, the San Francisco treat, which is the product placement I think of when I think of San Francisco.
Thursday night we flew from San Francisco to Lihue (pronounced Luh-hoo-we), Hawaii on the island of Kauai. This place rules. I've been a lot of beautiful places in the world, and this place is right up there at the top. We are on Kauai to learn from Rick Bundschuh, pastor of Kauai Christian Fellowship a church that started as a youth ministry gone nuts. Kauai is where we'll spend the most solid time block in our trip which is nice cause all this traveling is really taxing, even in Hawaii. So today we were at KCF for a while and then spent the afternoon seeing some of the north shore. Here's some pics from the day.
Tomorrow, we're going on a three hour tour. I may or may not see you all again.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Immersion Retreat - October 24
Met with Bill Easum today. It was a great meeting. Trying to download any or all of the different meetings we will be in on the spot like this, without processing, is not going to be helpful to anyone. So I'll focus on the travel part.
Here's the other guys on this team I'm on. Most of you know the other dude in the middle...Tim Doering. Left to right of the other dudes you don't know is Rob Eshelman, Dave Ulm, Dave Weiss and Galen Hackman.
I couldn't resist this one...you Napoleon Dynamite fans will love it! Vote for Pedro! And he's a real dude running for a real office!
We toured the USS Lexington, a WWII aircraft carrier that's now in Corpus Christi harbor. It was so cool. Here's a few pics.
The mighty USS Lexington...
That Japanese flag on the tower is the spot where a kamikaze fighter attacked it!
Here's me being tough sailor-dude.
Here's me in the brig. I was so tough it broke a rule of some sort.
I also operated a 50mm cannon. You turn it with your hands and shoot it with your feet.
This is an F14 Tomcat. It is so tough looking and it's what Maverick and Goose flew in Top Gun which is one of my top five movies of all time.
For those of you who were worried about us, we did get all our luggage today, so I was able to change close. Good thing too, cause I think things were starting to get a little pungent.
This evening, we spent some time in our study of the book of Acts and discussion around what it means to re-discover what a New Testament church looks like. The trip has been great so far, thanks for praying for us.
I feel the need...the need for speed.
Here's the other guys on this team I'm on. Most of you know the other dude in the middle...Tim Doering. Left to right of the other dudes you don't know is Rob Eshelman, Dave Ulm, Dave Weiss and Galen Hackman.
I couldn't resist this one...you Napoleon Dynamite fans will love it! Vote for Pedro! And he's a real dude running for a real office!
We toured the USS Lexington, a WWII aircraft carrier that's now in Corpus Christi harbor. It was so cool. Here's a few pics.
The mighty USS Lexington...
That Japanese flag on the tower is the spot where a kamikaze fighter attacked it!
Here's me being tough sailor-dude.
Here's me in the brig. I was so tough it broke a rule of some sort.
I also operated a 50mm cannon. You turn it with your hands and shoot it with your feet.
This is an F14 Tomcat. It is so tough looking and it's what Maverick and Goose flew in Top Gun which is one of my top five movies of all time.
For those of you who were worried about us, we did get all our luggage today, so I was able to change close. Good thing too, cause I think things were starting to get a little pungent.
This evening, we spent some time in our study of the book of Acts and discussion around what it means to re-discover what a New Testament church looks like. The trip has been great so far, thanks for praying for us.
I feel the need...the need for speed.
Immersion Retreat - October 23
So I'm on a study trip funded by the Lilly Foundation to Texas and Hawaii with five other CoB pastors. I know, I know...rough life. I thought I'd keep all you Cornerstoners and other friends up to date with what's going on with a pictorial review of our time together.
Today, we left at 6:00am to fly to Corpus Christi, Texas. Tomorrow we meet with Bill Easum from EasumBandy Associates -- church growth consultants. Texas is a wild place.
Lots of oil.
This is the view from my hotel room.
But Corpus Christi is right on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and it is beautiful and warm. Looking forward very much to meeting with Bill tomorrow.
Oh, by the way, Delta lost all our bags in Atlanta...all six of us. I'll be wearing the same thing tomorrow that I'm wearing right now, and that's kind of gross.
One more pic...
Today, we left at 6:00am to fly to Corpus Christi, Texas. Tomorrow we meet with Bill Easum from EasumBandy Associates -- church growth consultants. Texas is a wild place.
Lots of oil.
This is the view from my hotel room.
But Corpus Christi is right on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and it is beautiful and warm. Looking forward very much to meeting with Bill tomorrow.
Oh, by the way, Delta lost all our bags in Atlanta...all six of us. I'll be wearing the same thing tomorrow that I'm wearing right now, and that's kind of gross.
One more pic...
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Being Versus Doing Part Penta
Before you read this post, read the first comment by my buddy Jimmi (aka Joshua) on the last post, Being Versus Doing Part Quatro (yes, he's the guy who compared Anne Lamott to Bruce Springsteen -- please offer him some grace). Jimmi makes some deeply profound points in his thoughts.
The best thing Jimmi says is that the starting point is the cross. I take no exception to this observation and deeply agree with it. How I view the cross is very important and is the starting point for all belief. I jive with all that, to a point.
Jimmi puts it like this:
"I think the point is that it is not us acting out our AM-Devotional Truths by will-power, and it's not us tapping in to our wishy-washy emotions. Instead, it's God grace allowing us to come along for the ride.
So, I guess my argument is that there is a difference in evangelizing, being married, doing funerals and counseling, when your brain is tuned to the “belief” of the all-encompassing grace of God vs. an emotion or passion.
Can the Spirit use passions? Yes. Does He? Yes. But, is that the starting point for our actions? Depending on how we define our words...I'm inclined to say "no". Because our passions should spring from our belief in the cross."
I'm falling back again on my Reformed leanings here, but I don't think that how I view the cross or what I believe about the cross is nearly as important as how the cross views me, because it is in that view that my identity is formed. There's a reason why Jesus died, because He loved me. It is in the reception of that love that my identity is formed and I am made new, not in an act of my will to believe anything (John 1:12).
When I am a new creation in Christ, when God births me again, I become more and more who Jesus made me to be. My identity in Him is concretely made manifest by who I am as I "work out my salvation with fear and trembling (Phillippians 2:12,13)". I'm not ignoring the battle between old man and new man, nor am I advocating a new Gnosticism, but I am saying that I believe that "our spirits bear witness with God's Spirit that we are the children of God born of water and of blood (Romans 8:16)". And that means that what my spirit feels matters and I believe that what my spirit feels comes from a place of deep redemption.
"The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12)."
There is a difference between soul and spirit. I am still thinking this through, but I'm coming to a belief that the spirit is the place of regeneration where the fullness of my positional, soteriological blessings in Christ are held. The soul, for lack of better terminology, is the place where sanctification begins as a practical outworking of my new identity as my mind, will and emotions are made subject to my redeemed spirit.
And so, the more that I am deeply aware of my identity in Christ in my redeemed spirit, the more I am released to be, feel and know all that Jesus has for me.
I hope the Eagles win on Sunday.
The best thing Jimmi says is that the starting point is the cross. I take no exception to this observation and deeply agree with it. How I view the cross is very important and is the starting point for all belief. I jive with all that, to a point.
Jimmi puts it like this:
"I think the point is that it is not us acting out our AM-Devotional Truths by will-power, and it's not us tapping in to our wishy-washy emotions. Instead, it's God grace allowing us to come along for the ride.
So, I guess my argument is that there is a difference in evangelizing, being married, doing funerals and counseling, when your brain is tuned to the “belief” of the all-encompassing grace of God vs. an emotion or passion.
Can the Spirit use passions? Yes. Does He? Yes. But, is that the starting point for our actions? Depending on how we define our words...I'm inclined to say "no". Because our passions should spring from our belief in the cross."
I'm falling back again on my Reformed leanings here, but I don't think that how I view the cross or what I believe about the cross is nearly as important as how the cross views me, because it is in that view that my identity is formed. There's a reason why Jesus died, because He loved me. It is in the reception of that love that my identity is formed and I am made new, not in an act of my will to believe anything (John 1:12).
When I am a new creation in Christ, when God births me again, I become more and more who Jesus made me to be. My identity in Him is concretely made manifest by who I am as I "work out my salvation with fear and trembling (Phillippians 2:12,13)". I'm not ignoring the battle between old man and new man, nor am I advocating a new Gnosticism, but I am saying that I believe that "our spirits bear witness with God's Spirit that we are the children of God born of water and of blood (Romans 8:16)". And that means that what my spirit feels matters and I believe that what my spirit feels comes from a place of deep redemption.
"The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12)."
There is a difference between soul and spirit. I am still thinking this through, but I'm coming to a belief that the spirit is the place of regeneration where the fullness of my positional, soteriological blessings in Christ are held. The soul, for lack of better terminology, is the place where sanctification begins as a practical outworking of my new identity as my mind, will and emotions are made subject to my redeemed spirit.
And so, the more that I am deeply aware of my identity in Christ in my redeemed spirit, the more I am released to be, feel and know all that Jesus has for me.
I hope the Eagles win on Sunday.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Being Versus Doing Part Quatro
The thing about being vs doing is that it releases me to be who I really am.
Take this weekend, for instance. On Sunday afternoon I led the funeral service of a seventeen year old named Nick who died of an overdose. It was a terrible tragedy.
I don't consider myself to be very good in those situations that require an intense amount of shepherding -- I'm just not a natural shepherd-type person. My pastor in St Louis, Clint, is an awesome shepherd. He really connects with people at those darkest times of their emotional trauma and brings a lot of love and hope.
Do you know what my naturaly reaction is at a funeral? Anger.
Anger because it is not supposed to be this way. I don't know personally if Nick knew Jesus or not. Praise God that his mom says he did. All I know is that here is this beautiful young life with so much potential for the honor and glory that God made it for (Psalm 8), and it is violently ripped from us. This is not how it was suppposed to be. Nick should still be here, skateboarding and dreaming about a souped-up Volkswagen, not lying on his bedroom floor breathing his last breath because of cocaine.
I stood before a packed house at the funeral home...standing room only, mostly teenagers, and the primary emotion in my spirit was anger. But it was righteous anger, it wasn't sin. And because it was right, it didn't come out wrong. I think God used me on Sunday because I was being who God made me to be. If I had tried to change to fit a mold of "doing" like I had seen others doing, or like some class in seminary tries to teach me, I don't think I would have connected with the hearts of the people there.
The point is this...be fully who God made you to be. The thing is, the only way to be that is to deeply engage God intimately so that He can define you on the deepest level. The more superficial your relationship with God, the more you will do instead of be and the more empty you will be in the places you were meant to feel life most deeply.
Take this weekend, for instance. On Sunday afternoon I led the funeral service of a seventeen year old named Nick who died of an overdose. It was a terrible tragedy.
I don't consider myself to be very good in those situations that require an intense amount of shepherding -- I'm just not a natural shepherd-type person. My pastor in St Louis, Clint, is an awesome shepherd. He really connects with people at those darkest times of their emotional trauma and brings a lot of love and hope.
Do you know what my naturaly reaction is at a funeral? Anger.
Anger because it is not supposed to be this way. I don't know personally if Nick knew Jesus or not. Praise God that his mom says he did. All I know is that here is this beautiful young life with so much potential for the honor and glory that God made it for (Psalm 8), and it is violently ripped from us. This is not how it was suppposed to be. Nick should still be here, skateboarding and dreaming about a souped-up Volkswagen, not lying on his bedroom floor breathing his last breath because of cocaine.
I stood before a packed house at the funeral home...standing room only, mostly teenagers, and the primary emotion in my spirit was anger. But it was righteous anger, it wasn't sin. And because it was right, it didn't come out wrong. I think God used me on Sunday because I was being who God made me to be. If I had tried to change to fit a mold of "doing" like I had seen others doing, or like some class in seminary tries to teach me, I don't think I would have connected with the hearts of the people there.
The point is this...be fully who God made you to be. The thing is, the only way to be that is to deeply engage God intimately so that He can define you on the deepest level. The more superficial your relationship with God, the more you will do instead of be and the more empty you will be in the places you were meant to feel life most deeply.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Why No Posts? Being Versus Doing Part Tre
It's been a while. To be honest, I've thought a lot about posting in the course of the last three weeks. I've even logged into blogger and written some stuff and then deleted it.
So why no posts?
I have had nothing to give.
September was rough month for me, spiritually speaking. That rough time extended into some of the key relationships in my life and I started doing rather than being. Here's a window into my life: if I miss time with me and Jesus, just for the sake of loving Him and being loved by Him, I lose it spiritually.
One of the weak points about my driven type of nature is that I have an incessant need to work harder in order to fix stuff...even my relationship with Jesus. So when things are rough at home, and people at church are frustrating, and the prayer network has no one coming to pray, and the children's ministry fund is not going well...I know that the key to me staying "on top of things" is to get alone with Jesus and right things spiritually.
And so I do, but only with the intention of getting me "fixed" so that I can get back to doing. And so I do what is right and what I know to do, but there is no heart connection because the relationship is not flowing out of my identity, it's flowing out of my work ethic. I'm using Jesus to fix me -- setting His agenda for Him -- instead of releasing myself completely into Jesus to be born again in Him again (if that sentence didn't make sense, come to Cornerstone Sunday).
So, last week, after much tough love by my wife, I went to spend time with Jesus just to be with Him and receive. And it was life-giving and wonderful. He again established my identity in Him and reminded me that as long as I am His, I have everything I need.
Take the world, give me Jesus.
So why no posts?
I have had nothing to give.
September was rough month for me, spiritually speaking. That rough time extended into some of the key relationships in my life and I started doing rather than being. Here's a window into my life: if I miss time with me and Jesus, just for the sake of loving Him and being loved by Him, I lose it spiritually.
One of the weak points about my driven type of nature is that I have an incessant need to work harder in order to fix stuff...even my relationship with Jesus. So when things are rough at home, and people at church are frustrating, and the prayer network has no one coming to pray, and the children's ministry fund is not going well...I know that the key to me staying "on top of things" is to get alone with Jesus and right things spiritually.
And so I do, but only with the intention of getting me "fixed" so that I can get back to doing. And so I do what is right and what I know to do, but there is no heart connection because the relationship is not flowing out of my identity, it's flowing out of my work ethic. I'm using Jesus to fix me -- setting His agenda for Him -- instead of releasing myself completely into Jesus to be born again in Him again (if that sentence didn't make sense, come to Cornerstone Sunday).
So, last week, after much tough love by my wife, I went to spend time with Jesus just to be with Him and receive. And it was life-giving and wonderful. He again established my identity in Him and reminded me that as long as I am His, I have everything I need.
Take the world, give me Jesus.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Freedom Of Love
It's cool how when I really believe that Jesus loves me and when I see that love concretely in the people I am closest to that I feel truly free.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Children's Worship And The Cornerstone Family
September 5, 2006
Dear Cornerstone Family,
One of the most foundational ways in which we have seen God’s blessing to Cornerstone is the arrival of many new families to our community and the arrival of a lot of new babies. It has been so cool to see God blessing our Cornerstone family at large as He blesses individual families within our community. This blessing also comes with increased challenges. Today, I am writing to you as parents and church family in order to reference a particular issue.
Children’s Worship
A few weeks ago, we had a Sunday morning service dedicated solely to how we serve and are served by the children in our Cornerstone family. On that Sunday, one of the teaching workshops focused on the banners that many of our children use to worship on Sunday mornings. It was good, biblical teaching and the concept of worshipping the Lord through the waving of flags and banners is a beautiful form of worship.
Children need to be led into worship. Left to themselves, children will begin to be children and become easily distracted. Last week during the service, I counted thirteen children who were flying banners! What a magnificent joy! Without being led through the worship experience though, it often resulted in a lot of distraction for our little worshippers as they began playing with one another, walking back and forth across the front of the sanctuary to exchange one banner for another, and flying their banners very close to lit candles.
Now, hear this loud and clear, we do not want our children to stop flying banners in worship. We believe the Lord delights in our kids as they worship Him. We do want to lead our kids into worship and help them focus on what worship means for them, even at their young age. Therefore, we are asking that if your child desires to fly banners in worship, at least one parent or guardian needs to join them in that worship and help lead them into and focus on our time of worship as a community.
Here is what I fear: I am afraid that we, as adults, will be filled with the fear of man and project that fear on to our children. Our kids will want to fly their banners, and because we, as adults, are afraid of what other people think, we will the quench the Spirit of God within our children and discourage their expression in worship.
Hear this warning, my brothers and sisters,
Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea (Matthew 18:3-6).
If a child wants to fly banners in worship and you actively or passively prevent him/her from doing so based on your fear of man, you have caused that child to sin. Jesus’ words are crystal clear. You do not have to stand in the front of the sanctuary. You may get your banners and take your child anywhere in the sanctuary that you would like to be. As worship leaders, we love to see the banners in the front because as we view them, they remind of us of our God and our calling in Him, but please do not feel that it is mandatory to remain in the front.
It is my true feeling that in this, God is trying to teach the adults of our community something about letting go of our pride and becoming unabashed and without shame or fear in our worship of Jesus, and He is using our kids to get our attention.
Again, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Pastor Tim or Pastor Jay at the church office.
Peace to you all,
Pastor Jay
Dear Cornerstone Family,
One of the most foundational ways in which we have seen God’s blessing to Cornerstone is the arrival of many new families to our community and the arrival of a lot of new babies. It has been so cool to see God blessing our Cornerstone family at large as He blesses individual families within our community. This blessing also comes with increased challenges. Today, I am writing to you as parents and church family in order to reference a particular issue.
Children’s Worship
A few weeks ago, we had a Sunday morning service dedicated solely to how we serve and are served by the children in our Cornerstone family. On that Sunday, one of the teaching workshops focused on the banners that many of our children use to worship on Sunday mornings. It was good, biblical teaching and the concept of worshipping the Lord through the waving of flags and banners is a beautiful form of worship.
Children need to be led into worship. Left to themselves, children will begin to be children and become easily distracted. Last week during the service, I counted thirteen children who were flying banners! What a magnificent joy! Without being led through the worship experience though, it often resulted in a lot of distraction for our little worshippers as they began playing with one another, walking back and forth across the front of the sanctuary to exchange one banner for another, and flying their banners very close to lit candles.
Now, hear this loud and clear, we do not want our children to stop flying banners in worship. We believe the Lord delights in our kids as they worship Him. We do want to lead our kids into worship and help them focus on what worship means for them, even at their young age. Therefore, we are asking that if your child desires to fly banners in worship, at least one parent or guardian needs to join them in that worship and help lead them into and focus on our time of worship as a community.
Here is what I fear: I am afraid that we, as adults, will be filled with the fear of man and project that fear on to our children. Our kids will want to fly their banners, and because we, as adults, are afraid of what other people think, we will the quench the Spirit of God within our children and discourage their expression in worship.
Hear this warning, my brothers and sisters,
Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea (Matthew 18:3-6).
If a child wants to fly banners in worship and you actively or passively prevent him/her from doing so based on your fear of man, you have caused that child to sin. Jesus’ words are crystal clear. You do not have to stand in the front of the sanctuary. You may get your banners and take your child anywhere in the sanctuary that you would like to be. As worship leaders, we love to see the banners in the front because as we view them, they remind of us of our God and our calling in Him, but please do not feel that it is mandatory to remain in the front.
It is my true feeling that in this, God is trying to teach the adults of our community something about letting go of our pride and becoming unabashed and without shame or fear in our worship of Jesus, and He is using our kids to get our attention.
Again, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Pastor Tim or Pastor Jay at the church office.
Peace to you all,
Pastor Jay
Friday, September 01, 2006
Being Versus Doing Part Deuce
Before reading this post, it's important that you read Being Versus Doing Part Uno and read the first comment on that post by my buddy Jimmi.
Jimmi's an MDiv student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and is an eclectic, good thinker. He also has great taste in music and film although in his latest post, he does compare Anne Lamott to Bruce Springsteen which is just insanity. Check out his blog here. And he makes a good point. To answer your question, Jimmi, allow me to not answer it at all, but instead to think of seminal virtues.
Without diving into endless conversations of predestination and free will, consider for a moment the virtues of love and faith. I deeply believe that both originate in the heart and character of God and are held to no "rankings" at all. In my mind and experience though, love precedes faith. To hold to McManus' language and form my own equations,
love = passions
faith = beliefs.
In the government of God, everything originates in love. God did not have to make humans and I believe that we are more than a random decision by a bored Higher Power. God made us to reflect Him in His image and the basis of that image-bearing is the ability to love. Adam and Eve loved God simply because He was God, not because they believed anything about Him. I don't know that I actually believe the statement I'm about to write, but here it is: Faith was not even a part of human existence, consciousness or essence until Genesis 3:15. My son doesn't believe that I'm his dad, I just am. Faith as a gift of God is a result of love as a gift of God. That statement I definitely agree with.
I think that what McManus is saying, and I would agree, is that passions are seminal. To answer another question posed, I do take McManus to mean that values and passions are synonomous. It is possible to be passionate about something without believing anything rational about it. I can be passionate about desiring an end to the war in Iraq without having a belief that war is inherently evil or understanding foreign policy or just war theory. My spirit just tells me that something is very wrong there.
I definitely believe that passion is compelled to stir some type of belief. Passion without belief is just a bunch of hot air. But passion is the starting point because love is the starting point in the rule of God.
Again, not sure I agree with anything I just wrote. I think I do though.
Jimmi's an MDiv student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and is an eclectic, good thinker. He also has great taste in music and film although in his latest post, he does compare Anne Lamott to Bruce Springsteen which is just insanity. Check out his blog here. And he makes a good point. To answer your question, Jimmi, allow me to not answer it at all, but instead to think of seminal virtues.
Without diving into endless conversations of predestination and free will, consider for a moment the virtues of love and faith. I deeply believe that both originate in the heart and character of God and are held to no "rankings" at all. In my mind and experience though, love precedes faith. To hold to McManus' language and form my own equations,
love = passions
faith = beliefs.
In the government of God, everything originates in love. God did not have to make humans and I believe that we are more than a random decision by a bored Higher Power. God made us to reflect Him in His image and the basis of that image-bearing is the ability to love. Adam and Eve loved God simply because He was God, not because they believed anything about Him. I don't know that I actually believe the statement I'm about to write, but here it is: Faith was not even a part of human existence, consciousness or essence until Genesis 3:15. My son doesn't believe that I'm his dad, I just am. Faith as a gift of God is a result of love as a gift of God. That statement I definitely agree with.
I think that what McManus is saying, and I would agree, is that passions are seminal. To answer another question posed, I do take McManus to mean that values and passions are synonomous. It is possible to be passionate about something without believing anything rational about it. I can be passionate about desiring an end to the war in Iraq without having a belief that war is inherently evil or understanding foreign policy or just war theory. My spirit just tells me that something is very wrong there.
I definitely believe that passion is compelled to stir some type of belief. Passion without belief is just a bunch of hot air. But passion is the starting point because love is the starting point in the rule of God.
Again, not sure I agree with anything I just wrote. I think I do though.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Being Versus Doing Part Uno
This idea is where my heart has been a lot recently.
"Cultures are not born in a vacuum. The fuel of a culture is what is referred to as ethos. The fuel of ethose are values, which I am convinced are deeper and more primal than beliefs. It is far more important to change a person's passions than their beliefs. You can believe many things without being passionate about them, but you cannot be passionate about something without believing in it. The revolution Jesus began 2000 years ago does not simply change our theology, but more powerfully it transforms our pathos. The dynamic tension between the message and the culture is not about what Jesus once said but about what Jesus is saying. The intersection is not simply between an ancient message and a contemporary context but between an eternal God and this moment in history.
The real issue facing the church is not essentially about methodology or even preserving the message; the real issue is why the church is so unaffected by the transforming presence of the living God. Jesus lives in every time and place in human history. He both makes Himself known and manifests Himself through the Body of Christ. We should give up our role as preservationists -- the church was never intended to be the Jewish version of the mummification of God. God is not lost in the past, He is active in the present. Our mandate is to continue the revolution Jesus Christ began 2000 years ago. The Scriptures are more than our textbook; they are our portal into the presence of God, where we not only come to know His mind and heart but also are transformed to become like Him." -- Erwin McManus, "The Church In Emerging Culture" pg.247.
This is what I'm talking about when I speak of being versus doing, what McManus calls changing passions instead of beliefs. The key sentence in the quote is the first sentence of the second paragraph, and why I believe we have nowhere else to turn but away from our institutions, programs and work, and completely back to Christ and our personal and collective identity in Him. To quote Steve Fry, otherwise "we will be forever healing the soul and never aligning the spirit."
"Cultures are not born in a vacuum. The fuel of a culture is what is referred to as ethos. The fuel of ethose are values, which I am convinced are deeper and more primal than beliefs. It is far more important to change a person's passions than their beliefs. You can believe many things without being passionate about them, but you cannot be passionate about something without believing in it. The revolution Jesus began 2000 years ago does not simply change our theology, but more powerfully it transforms our pathos. The dynamic tension between the message and the culture is not about what Jesus once said but about what Jesus is saying. The intersection is not simply between an ancient message and a contemporary context but between an eternal God and this moment in history.
The real issue facing the church is not essentially about methodology or even preserving the message; the real issue is why the church is so unaffected by the transforming presence of the living God. Jesus lives in every time and place in human history. He both makes Himself known and manifests Himself through the Body of Christ. We should give up our role as preservationists -- the church was never intended to be the Jewish version of the mummification of God. God is not lost in the past, He is active in the present. Our mandate is to continue the revolution Jesus Christ began 2000 years ago. The Scriptures are more than our textbook; they are our portal into the presence of God, where we not only come to know His mind and heart but also are transformed to become like Him." -- Erwin McManus, "The Church In Emerging Culture" pg.247.
This is what I'm talking about when I speak of being versus doing, what McManus calls changing passions instead of beliefs. The key sentence in the quote is the first sentence of the second paragraph, and why I believe we have nowhere else to turn but away from our institutions, programs and work, and completely back to Christ and our personal and collective identity in Him. To quote Steve Fry, otherwise "we will be forever healing the soul and never aligning the spirit."
Friday, August 18, 2006
Spirit
I love this picture...a coloring page for my kids. It's just really simple and I appreciate the fact that Jesus doesn't look like a wimp.
"Jesus replied, "The truth is, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven. So don't be surprised at my statement that you must be born again. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit."
Been thinking a lot about John 3 lately. Without giving away my teaching for September 24, the phrase "born again" has got to be reclaimed. This has nothing to do with "getting saved" as if it were something we could get anyway. It has everything to do with understanding the role of Spirit and spirit in our lives. To be born again by water and Spirit is to be regenerated, a new creation, new DNA, a whole new identity. To miss this truth is to live life in our own strength and miss the abundant life that Jesus came to give.
By the way, pray for Carrie Wenzler today, she's in surgery at Hershey. Should be home on Sunday.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
San Francisco
Returned recently from San Francisco. Sheri and I went there so I could officiate yet another wedding of a former student/intern. The wedding was beautiful.
San Francisco is a great city. The wedding was in Sausalito, so we had to cross the Golden Gate Bridge four roundtrip times. I remember watching this special on the History Channel (which I watch because I'm a nerd) about the engineering marvel that it is. It's one of the world's largest suspension bridges which means that the bridge is literally hanging on the cables that run up and down from the main cable that is suspended off of the two towers. The towers are what I was most "wowed" by. They're huge. In my imagination, I pictured this apocalyptic scene from Planet of the Apes or The Matrix sometime after global warming, nuclear holocaust and country music have caused the end of the world as we know it, and those two towers were still standing. They are that strong. It made me think differently about God being a strong tower.
Definitely one of the coolest things I've seen and San Francisco is one of the coolest cities I've been in. It actually made it into my top five.
Top Five Favorite Personally Visited American Big Cities
(population 1 million or more)
1. Philly -- I just love Philly. Maybe it's a hometown thing (though I'm actually from a western suburb). Every time I am in Philly, I love the vibe. I love cheese steaks, the Eagles, the rude people, South Street, the Italian Market, Center City, streetball, the Sixers, the brownstones, the cobblestones, the stoners, the history (love the history!), the pretzels, the ethnic diversity, the music scene, and the colletive hatred of anything Jersey. Philly rules.
2. Chicago -- Chicago's a great town. I've been there mostly for meetings and conferences at Moody Bible Institute which is in the heart of the city. It's clean, the people are Midwesternly friendly, and the art, music, and museum scene is great (you have to go to the Contemporary Museum of Art). I also had a huge encounter with God in Chicago in 2001, so it's got spiritual sentimentality for me. Great town.
3. New York -- New York is full of energy and beauty. It's really cleaned up its act since I was a kid; I love the law about no smoking inside anywhere. I really like NY City for its history of immigration as well, as the Gateway to America, the world has come to us and the fire of the melting pot began there. Central Park is a great place to chill. I also deeply respect all New Yorkers for how their city handled 9/11.
4. St Louis -- I lived there for five years, and it's a great city. It doesn't have a huge downtown, but the people are so friendly and hospitable. Most every tourist thing is free, which is great. Forest Park is a smaller version of Central Park and every bit as good. The Delmar Loop is a great place to chill, with the best cd/record store I've ever been in. St Louis pizza is horrible, but the pork steaks, ribs and root beer can't be beat. By far the greatest baseball town in America. But the people make the city...great people.
5. San Francisco -- Set in the mountains, these people just build houses on hills everywhere...it's unbelievable. The traffice is horrendous, but the vibe is great. Take a trip across the Golden Gate Bridge and drop into Sausalito for an incredible view of the bay from some great coffehouses. Union Square is one huge moving mass of shops and humanity that is a great place to hang out. The thing about California is that most people you meet aren't actually from there. I stood outside on a sidewalk for a bit (an hour) while Sheri shopped and I heard so many different languages. It was really cool. Great people too, didn't get to meet a lot, but those I did interact with were really cool.
I think I'm going to go into tourist book writing. Peace out.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Israel
Hey...sorry for the lack of posts lately. I hate excuses, so I won't try to offer one.
In Chicago now for to officiate a wedding for one of my former youth group kids. Love doing this kind of stuff.
I'm worried about this conflict in Israel...really worried. I get TIME magazine weekly. I think it's pretty good journalism and it keeps me up to date on the way the liberal side of the media is thinking. I much prefer it to FoxNews.
Anywho, in the latest issue of TIME, a writer offered a six step plan to peace in Israel. I gave the magazine to a lady we met on the plane, so I'm trying to remember all of them.
1. US must involve themselves diplomatically
2. Israel must restrain itself
3. Hizballah must stop making bad decisions for the Arab world
4. Iran must be handled
5. Iraq must be won
I can't remember the sixth one.
Anyway, this is such a hard topic to
Oh yeah, 6. Hamas must rethink its positions
Anyway, this is such a hard topic to engage in just common every day life. To any normal person in the world, this six step plan makes sense -- especially politically. For the most part, it's the same song that every Secretary of State or US president has sung since 1948.
For me though, there is no man-made plan of peace that is every going to work and I call upon the facts of history as my witness.
At its heart, this is still a spiritual issue and God cares about His people possessing that land. This still stems back to Abraham's disobedience, Israel's exiles as explained in the Old Testament, the giving of the New Covenant and God's continuing fulfillment of His promises to His people as given in the Scripture, especially Ezekiel.
To an outsider, I sound like a religious nut. To other Christians and maybe some Messianic Jews, it makes sense. I care for Israel deeply because I am the seed of Abraham by faith. I think every Christian should be emotionally connected to the Jewish people. We (Christians and Jews)look like idiots to the world. But I'm cool with that.
At its heart, this is still about Jesus. My emotional connection to Israel is based on the fact that I know our Messiah and I wish they did as well. Israel has such a sad and glorious story. It's my prayer that the present conflict will in some supernatural way point their hearts toward the emptiness in their souls and that their Prince of Peace and His government will be realized (Isaiah 9:6) and established, not politically, but in their hearts.
In all things though, brothers and sisters, pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
In Chicago now for to officiate a wedding for one of my former youth group kids. Love doing this kind of stuff.
I'm worried about this conflict in Israel...really worried. I get TIME magazine weekly. I think it's pretty good journalism and it keeps me up to date on the way the liberal side of the media is thinking. I much prefer it to FoxNews.
Anywho, in the latest issue of TIME, a writer offered a six step plan to peace in Israel. I gave the magazine to a lady we met on the plane, so I'm trying to remember all of them.
1. US must involve themselves diplomatically
2. Israel must restrain itself
3. Hizballah must stop making bad decisions for the Arab world
4. Iran must be handled
5. Iraq must be won
I can't remember the sixth one.
Anyway, this is such a hard topic to
Oh yeah, 6. Hamas must rethink its positions
Anyway, this is such a hard topic to engage in just common every day life. To any normal person in the world, this six step plan makes sense -- especially politically. For the most part, it's the same song that every Secretary of State or US president has sung since 1948.
For me though, there is no man-made plan of peace that is every going to work and I call upon the facts of history as my witness.
At its heart, this is still a spiritual issue and God cares about His people possessing that land. This still stems back to Abraham's disobedience, Israel's exiles as explained in the Old Testament, the giving of the New Covenant and God's continuing fulfillment of His promises to His people as given in the Scripture, especially Ezekiel.
To an outsider, I sound like a religious nut. To other Christians and maybe some Messianic Jews, it makes sense. I care for Israel deeply because I am the seed of Abraham by faith. I think every Christian should be emotionally connected to the Jewish people. We (Christians and Jews)look like idiots to the world. But I'm cool with that.
At its heart, this is still about Jesus. My emotional connection to Israel is based on the fact that I know our Messiah and I wish they did as well. Israel has such a sad and glorious story. It's my prayer that the present conflict will in some supernatural way point their hearts toward the emptiness in their souls and that their Prince of Peace and His government will be realized (Isaiah 9:6) and established, not politically, but in their hearts.
In all things though, brothers and sisters, pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Barb Shutt
Hey Cornerstone Family...
Barb Shutt's dad died last night. He has had some health problems with his kidneys, and some dehydration problems caused a heart attack. Pray for her family, some of whom don't know Jesus. Pray for Barb as well as she carries this heavy weight.
Barb Shutt's dad died last night. He has had some health problems with his kidneys, and some dehydration problems caused a heart attack. Pray for her family, some of whom don't know Jesus. Pray for Barb as well as she carries this heavy weight.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Eschatology
I swiped this 1970's record cover off of www.purgatorio.com -- great site by the way if you don't mind Christians making fun of themselves. It cracked me up.
Front
Back
Here's what I know about eschatology (doctrine of the end times): Jesus is coming back.
That's pretty much all I know. There's a lot of creative guesswork and novel writing going on that is in my estimation doing more harm than good, but whatever.
I also think it's funny that Tim Lahaye wrote the evangelical textbook on sex and then published a massive line of end times novels (books about prophecy or profitcy?). I don't know why that strikes me as funny, but it totally cracks me up.
Front
Back
Here's what I know about eschatology (doctrine of the end times): Jesus is coming back.
That's pretty much all I know. There's a lot of creative guesswork and novel writing going on that is in my estimation doing more harm than good, but whatever.
I also think it's funny that Tim Lahaye wrote the evangelical textbook on sex and then published a massive line of end times novels (books about prophecy or profitcy?). I don't know why that strikes me as funny, but it totally cracks me up.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Favorite Card Games
It's been a while since I posted a list. We played UNO with the fam tonight, so here's my favorite card games:
1. Pinochle -- A family favorite at every holiday and family gathering. We'll play till our fingers fall off and marriages on the verge of major issue.
2. Spades -- On the way back to Beckley, West Virginia after the national tournament in Oklahoma City, Jason, Brock, John, Rob and I played spades for ten straight hours -- seriously.
3. Poker -- Hold 'Em, Baseball, Blackjack, Draw, El Diablo, whatever -- poker is fun. Anytime I play with Travis though, I get pretty upset cause he always manages to pull the most amazing hands out of nowhere. I think we should have a poker night at Cornerstone.
4. Hearts -- I most enjoy playing with my uncles and grandfather because things get so animated with the queen gets tossed, but online is fun too.
5. Rook -- Haven't played it since college, but it is way fun and thinking of it spurred me to write down "buy Rook deck" in my PDA to do list.
6. Uno -- I'm colorblind, so I have serious difficulty telling the red cards from the green cards, but it's fun to play with my kids.
7. Phase Ten -- There's a good possibility I may be undefeated at this game.
8. Dutch Blitz -- I'm not joking, my wife is a world-class Blitz player. I've never seen her lose except when I beat her once. I had her sign the score card for proof of the outcome and I have it hanging on the white board in my office. If the Amish gambled, I'd take her to barn raisings and hustle for cash.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Father's Day
"The Prodigal Returns" by Rembrandt, one of my favorite artists.
I really liked studying for the sermon I gave this past Sunday about the Prodigal Son. Re-discovering the story with the father being the active agent in the restoration of the boy rather than the boy being the active one really put the story in perspective. It also helped so much for me to understand the disconnect between the two preceding stories of the lost sheep and lost coin. In those two stories, the shepherd and woman are the ones initiating the search and doing the finding and now I see how the father in the Prodigal Son story is the one doing the restoring, not the boy.
One thing I ran out time to say yesterday: the second son often gets the short end of the stick. But he is also in need of rescuing. I see the Prodigal Son as being the person in need of rescue because sin has wrecked him. I see the older son as being the person in need of rescue because he has been wrecked by religion. Whereas the younger son knows he is unacceptable and hatches his own scheme to work his way back in, the older son thinks that his actions necessitate the father's love.
The key to Luke 15 is this (a nod to my Reformed leanings): it is God who seeks and God who saves. He is the shepherd seeking the sheep, he is the woman seeking the coin, he is the father seeking the restoration of his sons in spite of their deep offenses to him.
Seeing God as Father is something that I am just recently stepping into -- somewhere over the course of the last four or five years -- but it is something that is revolutionizing my relationship with Him. It's a cool journey.
Monday, June 12, 2006
World Cup Part 2
I coach my sons' soccer team. It's the Rising Star FC Micro Team, ages 4-6 years. They play with more energy and aggression than the US played with today.
It's not even that we got beat by a really good team -- it's that there was no sense of urgency. No attacking, no speed -- the USA team's greatest strengths never capitalized on. Beasley didn't attack, Donovan wasn't served, Convey's crosses were horrible, Pope didn't mark -- it was rough.
By the way, Rosicky is the man. Those goals were incredible. Nedved ruled the midfield. I think the Czech Republic could beat Brazil if they attack the way they did today.
On to Italy.
World Cup
It's impossible to say how excited I am that the World Cup is here.
The USA is ranked seventh in the world and is playing in the group of death with the Czech Republic, Italy and Ghana. First game is in 1 hour 14 minutes versus the Czechs.
I love the World Cup!
My friend Ben is there, in Germany and has tickets to the Italy/USA game. He's so freaking lucky and is getting a beatdown when he gets back, provided the Italians don't beat him down in Germany because he can get pretty loud.
PSU Football
I'm aware that Penn State is not going to have the same year that they had last year, mostly because of line restructures and rebuilding, but I'm still pretty high from last year's awesome year.
I felt for Paul Posluszny when he hurt his knee in the Orange Bowl, but it's going to be great to have him back for his senior year. At Linebacker U, the be called the best that ever came out of Penn State is pretty huge.
The receiving corps, especially Derrick Williams, is really great too. All Morelli should have to do is throw the ball far and long, and the speed should take over.
Unfortunately, being Morelli's first real year, rebuilding both lines and the secondary will probably take its toll. Athlon has Penn State unranked in the top 25 and finishing sixth in the Big Ten. I don't know -- I think they'll go 7-4, which would probably keep them unranked, but get a bowl game.
Look out for the Lions in 2007 though. They will be a real contender for the BCS title.
Joe Pa rules.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Weddings
I'm officiating a wedding ceremony tomorrow. Weird week, this past week was. Two of the staples of pastoral ministry happened/are happening this week. A wedding and a funeral.
Weddings are pretty much the exact opposite of funerals. At funerals, a life has come to an end. At weddings, a life is just beginning as two become one. At funerals, I feel like people hang on my every word because they're dealing with some of the toughest questions of their lives. At weddings, people just want you to get to the vows, even though what I say during the charge at a wedding ceremony is really deep stuff. At funerals, the primary emotion is sadness. At weddings, the primary emotion is joy. Both are emotionally draining.
It would be cool for Jesus to show up like He did at Cana and turn water into wine, or for my friends in recovery or fundamentalism, Coca-Cola. That's never happened to me, and I don't think that miracle had nearly as much to do with the wedding as it did the submissive spirit of the Messiah, but it would be cool. But I think there's an even deeper miracle that happens at a wedding: two becoming one.
It's hard to picture, and as believers, we put God into that equation and suddenly it's a beautiful trinity: husband, wife, Jesus. I think most of the marital difficulties that I counsel couples about has to do with a lack/misunderstanding/misusage/absence of intimacy. Two becoming one is not nearly as much about sex as it is about intimacy. And lack of intimacy in marriage, particularly emotional and spiritual, can reap devastating consequences.
But for those few moments in time, that first few hours when a couple is protected by the presence of their family, friends, pastor, one another and the magic that a wedding day brings, the intimacy is complete -- even before sex comes into the picture. And it's because God has shown up and made two become one.
There's a lot of pictures of the church in the Bible, but my favorite is the church as the Bride of Christ and the intimacy we are able to have with the Lover of our Soul, not because we loved Him, but because He first loved us.
"In this is the love of Christ demonstrated, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Weddings are pretty much the exact opposite of funerals. At funerals, a life has come to an end. At weddings, a life is just beginning as two become one. At funerals, I feel like people hang on my every word because they're dealing with some of the toughest questions of their lives. At weddings, people just want you to get to the vows, even though what I say during the charge at a wedding ceremony is really deep stuff. At funerals, the primary emotion is sadness. At weddings, the primary emotion is joy. Both are emotionally draining.
It would be cool for Jesus to show up like He did at Cana and turn water into wine, or for my friends in recovery or fundamentalism, Coca-Cola. That's never happened to me, and I don't think that miracle had nearly as much to do with the wedding as it did the submissive spirit of the Messiah, but it would be cool. But I think there's an even deeper miracle that happens at a wedding: two becoming one.
It's hard to picture, and as believers, we put God into that equation and suddenly it's a beautiful trinity: husband, wife, Jesus. I think most of the marital difficulties that I counsel couples about has to do with a lack/misunderstanding/misusage/absence of intimacy. Two becoming one is not nearly as much about sex as it is about intimacy. And lack of intimacy in marriage, particularly emotional and spiritual, can reap devastating consequences.
But for those few moments in time, that first few hours when a couple is protected by the presence of their family, friends, pastor, one another and the magic that a wedding day brings, the intimacy is complete -- even before sex comes into the picture. And it's because God has shown up and made two become one.
There's a lot of pictures of the church in the Bible, but my favorite is the church as the Bride of Christ and the intimacy we are able to have with the Lover of our Soul, not because we loved Him, but because He first loved us.
"In this is the love of Christ demonstrated, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Funerals
A friend's mom died over the weekend -- I'm officiating the funeral tomorrow night and just finished up preparations for the service.
Funerals are tough from just about every aspect. I think that what's weirdest about them though is how in such a stark presence of the reality of death, that grim reality is not truly there.
Just ask anyone who has gone through the difficult loss of a loved one -- the funeral can oftentimes consist of a rush of adrenaline, full of plans to be made, the presence of family and sweet memories of a life well-lived. The depth of the death, while terribly painful, is hard to fully realize. A few weeks or months down the road though, that's when it gets tough. That's when the nights are lonelier. That's when great memories bring tears instead of smiles. That's when key times when you would have been together bring back the sting of what should have been.
It's hard to have hope there.
I've had a lot of friends lose people they love over the last few years: Justin and Naomi, Larry, Kati, Ann, Kurt and Sue, Leonard and Mary, Lois, Megan, Julie, Josh, Betty -- to name a few.
I've been reading John 11 pretty often lately; it's the passage where Jesus declares Himself "the Resurrection and the Life". It's also the passage where Jesus weeps. I don't think that Jesus was sad about Lazarus being dead. The passage begins with Jesus finding out that Lazarus was sick. So He, the One who heals the sick, decides to wait a few more days before going to see the family. On the way, Jesus hears that Lazarus died. When He arrives on the scene, the mourners are gathered, the body is buried, the family is grieving. Jesus isn't surprised by any of this -- He intentionally waited.
Have you ever been so angered by something that it brought tears to your eyes? I have. I've gotten so angry and frustrated that I've cried. I think that's what happens with Jesus in John 11. Jesus sees this wreckage that death brings -- a wreckage that He never intended, that is a result of the brokenness and fallenness of this world, and He weeps because this is not the way it was supposed to be.
I wish I could have heard Him say "Lazarus, come forth!". A commentator I read once, I think it was J. Vernon McGee, said (paraphrase here), "Had He not prefaced that statement with Lazarus' name, every grave in Israel and Samaria would have opened and ushered out resurrected bodies!"
Jesus, the Creator of life and Giver of life, hates sin and hates the sting that it brings humankind. It was never supposed to be this way. His children were not designed to feel this pain. When He made the world, there were no plans for graveyards, hospitals, ambulances, or funeral homes.
This is the beauty of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, because in Christ, the way things were meant to be has now been restored. In Christ, the sting of sin and death is gone. In Christ, death is a new chapter in the reality of our present eternal life. In Christ, funerals take on new meaning.
That's not to say that in Christ, there is no pain in the loss of people we love. But it is to say that in a venue of hopelessness, there is hope. In a place that is so dark, there is light. In the presence of death, there is life. The call of suffering is a call to a higher plane of life in Christ.
So to you, my friends who are hurting, I give you these words:
I look up to the mountains--
does my help come from there?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made the heavens and the earth!
He will not let you stumble and fall;
the one who watches over you will not sleep.
Indeed, he who watches over Israel
never tires and never sleeps.
The Lord himself watches over you!
The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
The sun will not hurt you by day,
nor the moon at night.
The Lord keeps you from all evil
and preserves your life.
The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
both now and forever.
-- Psalm 121
Funerals are tough from just about every aspect. I think that what's weirdest about them though is how in such a stark presence of the reality of death, that grim reality is not truly there.
Just ask anyone who has gone through the difficult loss of a loved one -- the funeral can oftentimes consist of a rush of adrenaline, full of plans to be made, the presence of family and sweet memories of a life well-lived. The depth of the death, while terribly painful, is hard to fully realize. A few weeks or months down the road though, that's when it gets tough. That's when the nights are lonelier. That's when great memories bring tears instead of smiles. That's when key times when you would have been together bring back the sting of what should have been.
It's hard to have hope there.
I've had a lot of friends lose people they love over the last few years: Justin and Naomi, Larry, Kati, Ann, Kurt and Sue, Leonard and Mary, Lois, Megan, Julie, Josh, Betty -- to name a few.
I've been reading John 11 pretty often lately; it's the passage where Jesus declares Himself "the Resurrection and the Life". It's also the passage where Jesus weeps. I don't think that Jesus was sad about Lazarus being dead. The passage begins with Jesus finding out that Lazarus was sick. So He, the One who heals the sick, decides to wait a few more days before going to see the family. On the way, Jesus hears that Lazarus died. When He arrives on the scene, the mourners are gathered, the body is buried, the family is grieving. Jesus isn't surprised by any of this -- He intentionally waited.
Have you ever been so angered by something that it brought tears to your eyes? I have. I've gotten so angry and frustrated that I've cried. I think that's what happens with Jesus in John 11. Jesus sees this wreckage that death brings -- a wreckage that He never intended, that is a result of the brokenness and fallenness of this world, and He weeps because this is not the way it was supposed to be.
I wish I could have heard Him say "Lazarus, come forth!". A commentator I read once, I think it was J. Vernon McGee, said (paraphrase here), "Had He not prefaced that statement with Lazarus' name, every grave in Israel and Samaria would have opened and ushered out resurrected bodies!"
Jesus, the Creator of life and Giver of life, hates sin and hates the sting that it brings humankind. It was never supposed to be this way. His children were not designed to feel this pain. When He made the world, there were no plans for graveyards, hospitals, ambulances, or funeral homes.
This is the beauty of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, because in Christ, the way things were meant to be has now been restored. In Christ, the sting of sin and death is gone. In Christ, death is a new chapter in the reality of our present eternal life. In Christ, funerals take on new meaning.
That's not to say that in Christ, there is no pain in the loss of people we love. But it is to say that in a venue of hopelessness, there is hope. In a place that is so dark, there is light. In the presence of death, there is life. The call of suffering is a call to a higher plane of life in Christ.
So to you, my friends who are hurting, I give you these words:
I look up to the mountains--
does my help come from there?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made the heavens and the earth!
He will not let you stumble and fall;
the one who watches over you will not sleep.
Indeed, he who watches over Israel
never tires and never sleeps.
The Lord himself watches over you!
The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
The sun will not hurt you by day,
nor the moon at night.
The Lord keeps you from all evil
and preserves your life.
The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
both now and forever.
-- Psalm 121
Friday, May 26, 2006
Pics From Vacation
Christy and Daddy after her first canoe ride.
Here's the kids...all packed in with all our stuff. Lots of stuff. Too much stuff.
Here's a family pic at the scenic overlook...lots of eagles to behold.
Here's the kids in a "cave" in a bunch of gimongous rocks.
Trey conquers the biggest rock in the world!
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Reflections From My Vacation
It's been a long time since I posted a new blog because I have been on a vacation with my family. We went to a cabin on the Susquehanna River just north of the Maryland border. It was beautiful. Here's some things that happened.
Trey caught his first real fish -- a ten inch largemouth -- with a grub jig. It was a man's catch. He wasn't interested in cleaning it or eating it.
Ben caught his first fish ever on his first cast ever.
Christy went for her first canoe ride.
Sheri went for her first canoe ride.
I had a great wipeout on a mountain bike trail.
We saw bald eagles.
We went on great hikes and nature walks.
Sheri and I stayed up late talking and reading.
We colored, painted and played with PlayDoh.
We barbecued a lot. I'm a great barbecuer.
We went rock-hopping on some huge rocks.
Plenty of time for napping.
Early morning time with Jesus.
No media all week. No TV, computer, phone, PDA, nothing.
Unplugging is hard.
Unplugging is great.
Unplugging is essential.
Here's some random thoughts I had:
1. Spending all that time with my family made me realized just how much the church is like a family. It's not a business, an institution or an organization -- it's a family. Families are messy, but families are the truest form of community. That's a really deep thought.
2. I really think the Eagles will have a good season this year. Without the TO distraction, and with a healthy McNabb, Westbrook and Smith, I think we can go far in the NFC.
3. Bald eagles are so cool. I was watching an eagle one morning. He was flying way high, circling over a great blue heron. The heron dove at the water and came out with a fish. The eagle pursued the heron, attacked it with his "large talons" (nod to Napoleon), and forced the heron to drop his fish in order to get away. After the heron released the fish, the eagle went into a steep dive, plucked the fish out of the air, took it to his tree and ate it. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
4. Spending all that time with Jesus and my family made me realize again that I need to be cool with being defined by that primarily. I oftentimes define myself by who I am as a pastor/ministry professional. But if I have them, and only them, I'm good to go. Three things I can do that no one else can:
a. no one else can have me relationship with Jesus for me
b. no one else can be a husband to my wife
c. no one else can be a daddy to my kids
It's good to be home. If vacations were normalcy, they would cease to be vacations. Coming back to Lebanon, I was sort of disappointed, but then I realized that we were coming back to our calling in the Kingdom. Staying at the cabin perpetually would mean bailing on who God intends us to be, it would be to miss out on our destiny. It's good to be home again.
Trey caught his first real fish -- a ten inch largemouth -- with a grub jig. It was a man's catch. He wasn't interested in cleaning it or eating it.
Ben caught his first fish ever on his first cast ever.
Christy went for her first canoe ride.
Sheri went for her first canoe ride.
I had a great wipeout on a mountain bike trail.
We saw bald eagles.
We went on great hikes and nature walks.
Sheri and I stayed up late talking and reading.
We colored, painted and played with PlayDoh.
We barbecued a lot. I'm a great barbecuer.
We went rock-hopping on some huge rocks.
Plenty of time for napping.
Early morning time with Jesus.
No media all week. No TV, computer, phone, PDA, nothing.
Unplugging is hard.
Unplugging is great.
Unplugging is essential.
Here's some random thoughts I had:
1. Spending all that time with my family made me realized just how much the church is like a family. It's not a business, an institution or an organization -- it's a family. Families are messy, but families are the truest form of community. That's a really deep thought.
2. I really think the Eagles will have a good season this year. Without the TO distraction, and with a healthy McNabb, Westbrook and Smith, I think we can go far in the NFC.
3. Bald eagles are so cool. I was watching an eagle one morning. He was flying way high, circling over a great blue heron. The heron dove at the water and came out with a fish. The eagle pursued the heron, attacked it with his "large talons" (nod to Napoleon), and forced the heron to drop his fish in order to get away. After the heron released the fish, the eagle went into a steep dive, plucked the fish out of the air, took it to his tree and ate it. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
4. Spending all that time with Jesus and my family made me realize again that I need to be cool with being defined by that primarily. I oftentimes define myself by who I am as a pastor/ministry professional. But if I have them, and only them, I'm good to go. Three things I can do that no one else can:
a. no one else can have me relationship with Jesus for me
b. no one else can be a husband to my wife
c. no one else can be a daddy to my kids
It's good to be home. If vacations were normalcy, they would cease to be vacations. Coming back to Lebanon, I was sort of disappointed, but then I realized that we were coming back to our calling in the Kingdom. Staying at the cabin perpetually would mean bailing on who God intends us to be, it would be to miss out on our destiny. It's good to be home again.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Happy Metal
I went to my first real metal show last week at the Troc in Philly. It was the most intense concert experience I've had. The energy level was through the roof. We were up on the balcony, but the floor was insane. I was so glad to not be down there. It was this mass of humanity, moving and singing -- all celebrating the same thing: metal.
I was sitting there watching the most phenomenal guitarist I've ever seen and looking at this crowd and a thought came to me: this is a pretty authentic form of community. A crowd of people coming together for one purpose, thoroughly enjoying that purpose and invading one another's personal space for the sake of the purpose.
When the band was performing its set, everyone was dancing, moshing, yelling, singing along and freaking out during unbelievable guitar solos. These were real music fans too, not teenyboppers celebrating celebrity stereotypes with no musicianship. There was celebration of some incredible creativity, art and beauty. I know a lot of you out there don't get metal, but that's not the point. In the words of Nelson Mandela (I think): "that which is loved is always beautiful". And this crowd rallied around a common beauty that translated into passion.
Makes me wonder why the beauty of Christ that we rally around doesn't translate into passion like that. Would we stand in line for an hour and a half to get to church? Would we stand for four hours while the service goes on? Why do we seem bored with Jesus? He's better than metal -- and that's the understatement of the year.
Totally random thought: I think it's cool that when people get together for a concert, a common form of expression of passion and tribute is for people (people who don't necessarily know Jesus) to raise their hands in the air.
I was sitting there watching the most phenomenal guitarist I've ever seen and looking at this crowd and a thought came to me: this is a pretty authentic form of community. A crowd of people coming together for one purpose, thoroughly enjoying that purpose and invading one another's personal space for the sake of the purpose.
When the band was performing its set, everyone was dancing, moshing, yelling, singing along and freaking out during unbelievable guitar solos. These were real music fans too, not teenyboppers celebrating celebrity stereotypes with no musicianship. There was celebration of some incredible creativity, art and beauty. I know a lot of you out there don't get metal, but that's not the point. In the words of Nelson Mandela (I think): "that which is loved is always beautiful". And this crowd rallied around a common beauty that translated into passion.
Makes me wonder why the beauty of Christ that we rally around doesn't translate into passion like that. Would we stand in line for an hour and a half to get to church? Would we stand for four hours while the service goes on? Why do we seem bored with Jesus? He's better than metal -- and that's the understatement of the year.
Totally random thought: I think it's cool that when people get together for a concert, a common form of expression of passion and tribute is for people (people who don't necessarily know Jesus) to raise their hands in the air.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Sermon -- April 30, 2006
Here's the transcript of my sermon from Sunday morning. I know it challenged a lot of us about how we live our lives. Review and let me know what you think!
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Perhaps you have heard this story before. If so, let me tell it to you again:
Once upon a time there lived a vain Emperor whose only worry in life was to dress in elegant clothes. He changed clothes almost every hour and loved to show them off to his people.
Word of the Emperor's refined habits spread over his kingdom and beyond. Two scoundrels who had heard of the Emperor's vanity decided to take advantage of it. They introduced themselves at the gates of the palace with a scheme in mind.
"We are two very good tailors and after many years of research we have invented an extraordinary method to weave a cloth so light and fine that it looks invisible. As a matter of fact it is invisible to anyone who is too stupid and incompetent to appreciate its quality."
The chief of the guards heard the scoundrel's strange story and sent for the court chamberlain. The chamberlain notified the prime minister, who ran to the Emperor and disclosed the incredible news. The Emperor's curiosity got the better of him and he decided to see the two scoundrels.
"Besides being invisible, your Highness, this cloth will be woven in colors and patterns created especially for you." The emperor gave the two men a bag of gold coins in exchange for their promise to begin working on the fabric immediately.
"Just tell us what you need to get started and we'll give it to you." The two scoundrels asked for a loom, silk, gold thread and then pretended to begin working. The Emperor thought he had spent his money quite well: in addition to getting a new extraordinary suit, he would discover which of his subjects were ignorant and incompetent. A few days later, he called the old and wise prime minister, who was considered by everyone as a man with common sense.
"Go and see how the work is proceeding," the Emperor told him, "and come back to let me know."
The prime minister was welcomed by the two scoundrels.
"We're almost finished, but we need a lot more gold thread. Here, Excellency! Admire the colors, feel the softness!" The old man bent over the loom and tried to see the fabric that was not there. He felt cold sweat on his forehead.
"I can't see anything," he thought. "If I see nothing, that means I'm stupid! Or, worse, incompetent!" If the prime minister admitted that he didn't see anything, he would be discharged from his office.
"What a marvelous fabric, he said then. "I'll certainly tell the Emperor." The two scoundrels rubbed their hands gleefully. They had almost made it. More thread was requested to finish the work.
Finally, the Emperor received the announcement that the two tailors had come to take all the measurements needed to sew his new suit.
"Come in," the Emperor ordered. Even as they bowed, the two scoundrels pretended to be holding large roll of fabric.
"Here it is your Highness, the result of our labour," the scoundrels said. "We have worked night and day but, at last, the most beautiful fabric in the world is ready for you. Look at the colors and feel how fine it is." Of course the Emperor did not see any colors and could not feel any cloth between his fingers. He panicked and felt like fainting. But luckily the throne was right behind him and he sat down. But when he realized that no one could know that he did not see the fabric, he felt better. Nobody could find out he was stupid and incompetent. And the Emperor didn't know that everybody else around him thought and did the very same thing.
The farce continued as the two scoundrels had foreseen it. Once they had taken the measurements, the two began cutting the air with scissors while sewing with their needles an invisible cloth.
"Your Highness, you'll have to take off your clothes to try on your new ones." The two scoundrels draped the new clothes on him and then held up a mirror. The Emperor was embarrassed but since none of his bystanders were, he felt relieved.
"Yes, this is a beautiful suit and it looks very good on me," the Emperor said trying to look comfortable. "You've done a fine job."
"Your Majesty," the prime minister said, "we have a request for you. The people have found out about this extraordinary fabric and they are anxious to see you in your new suit." The Emperor was doubtful showing himself naked to the people, but then he abandoned his fears. After all, no one would know about it except the ignorant and the incompetent.
"All right," he said. "I will grant the people this privilege." He summoned his carriage and the ceremonial parade was formed. A group of dignitaries walked at the very front of the procession and anxiously scrutinized the faces of the people in the street. All the people had gathered in the main square, pushing and shoving to get a better look. An applause welcomed the regal procession. Everyone wanted to know how stupid or incompetent his or her neighbor was but, as the Emperor passed, a strange murmur rose from the crowd.
Everyone said, loud enough for the others to hear: "Look at the Emperor's new clothes. They're beautiful!"
"What a marvelous train!"
"And the colors! The colors of that beautiful fabric! I have never seen anything like it in my life!" They all tried to conceal their disappointment at not being able to see the clothes, and since nobody was willing to admit his own stupidity and incompetence, they all behaved as the two scoundrels had predicted.
A child, however, who had no important job and could only see things as his eyes showed them to him, went up to the carriage.
"The Emperor is naked," he said.
"Fool!" his father reprimanded, running after him. "Don't talk nonsense!" He grabbed his child and took him away. But the boy's remark, which had been heard by the bystanders, was repeated over and over again until everyone cried:
"The boy is right! The Emperor is naked! It's true!"
The Emperor realized that the people were right but could not admit to that. He thought it better to continue the procession under the illusion that anyone who couldn't see his clothes was either stupid or incompetent. And he stood stiffly on his carriage, while behind him a page held his imaginary mantle.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
The April 18, 2005 edition of Time Magazine listed the “100 Most Influential People In The World”. In the section of 100 most influential scientists and thinkers, Peter Singer, professor of bioethics in Princeton University’s Center for Human Values, is said to be “a man whose reasoning merits consideration by everyone”. This is a system of thinking in which Singer considers that 20th-century advances in medicine, technology and anthropology have made traditional Judeo-Christian ethics irrelevant and hypocritical. He offers five new commandments:
1. Recognize that the worth of human life varies" because all life is not of equal value.
2. Take responsibility for the consequences of your decisions" because the old commandment to "never intentionally to take innocent human life" is too absolutist to deal with all the circumstances that can arise.
3. Respect a person's desire to live or die" because "incurably ill people who ask doctors to help them die are not harming others".
4. Bring children into the world only if they are wanted" because being fruitful and multiplying now causes serious overpopulation.
5. Do not discriminate on the basis of species" because what is "human" can no longer be demonstrated to apply to homo sapiens alone.
Based on these five commandments, Singer analyzes the history of traditional arguments about life and death, with man as the center of the universe, and makes a forceful case for his new ethic.
An ethic which includes abortion as a viable option even to the point that the head of the baby is still in the birth canal.
An ethic in which people whose brains no longer function may have their vital organs removed, even if they are not legally dead.
An ethic in which beastiality is considered a proper sexual consideration.
An ethic in which an outside determining group makes a decision as to when one has stopped contributing to society and the lives of the elderly are ended prematurely.
An ethic in which people and animals are literally on the same level. And given the choice between killing you or killing a chicken, serious moral consideration would have to be had.
An ethic in which children who are diagnosed with genetic malfunction leading to disease or handicap may be exterminated. What he’s saying is that when we found out our six month old daughter Christy had cystic fibrosis, to choose to murder her at that point would have been morally permissible.
And this is from a man widely referred to as the most influential philosopher in American education.
How is it that we get to this point? When do we say enough is enough? We are at a point of moral crisis.
And I’m not talking to the world, I’m speaking to us the church. And I’m not talking about Cornerstone, I’m speaking to the Church, capital “C” – you just happen to be listening this morning.
I mentioned to you before the nightwalkers, thousands of children in Uganda who walk from their villages every night into the cities in order to sleep safely. If they stay in their villages, rebel forces kidnap them force them to become sex slaves and soldiers. Here is a picture of their story.
Video clip from "Invisible Children" -- www.invisiblechildren.org
This is a moral crisis. Where is truth? Where is a moral code to govern our lives? What happened to right and wrong?
A worldview is the lens by which you view the world around you. Today we are ruled by this worldview: moralistic therapeutic deism. (Term taken from James W. Sire -- "The Universe Next Door".)
It’s all about us. It’s all about making ourselves happy. It’s as inward-focused as it can get. And don’t think this hasn’t permeated the Church because it’s everywhere. It’s in our marriages, our families, our programs, our ministries, our budgets. The church at large is a bunch of moralistic therapeutic deistic consumers.
When will we stop watching TV and begin engaging the Kingdom?
When do we stop bickering in our families and begin living healthy lives?
When will we stop substituting “faith questions” about what we know about God into a life walked in faith – following His voice?
When will we realize that illegal immigration has very little to do with immigration and has everything to do with the Great Commission?
When will we realize that even the poorest person in this room is unbelievably wealthy in global terms?
When will we stop playing church and begin to build relationship with our neighbors?
When will we stop complaining about the public school system and begin running for the school board, or speaking up at PTA meetings, or just volunteering to go on a field trip?
When will we begin to realize that every black man in a big coat, baggy jeans and a ball cap twisted sideways isn’t out to hurt us, and realize that there’s a person there with hopes, dreams and fears?
When will the individuals in our church stop coming into our pastoral offices and saying, “I want community” and then not be faithful in attending their small group or joining any small group at all?
When will we stop talking about prayer, or how we’d like to pray, or who we like to hear pray, or how we’re not sure we believe in prayer, or how we’re too intimidated to pray and begin actually praying because prayer changes things?
When will Christians, the same Christians who placed this administration into power, demand that our government stop securing oil fields in Iraq and if they want to send troops somewhere, send them a few thousand miles south to liberate tens thousands of terrified children in Uganda, Sudan and Congo?
When will realize we’ve all been abused one way or another – physically,verbally, sexually, emotionally, spiritually-- we’re all screwed up and we just need to be real about it and talk about it and pray for one another?
Really what I’m asking is this, when do our lives stop being about us and about securing our own personal happiness?
We’re walking around naked. Everyone sees it, except us. You know what, I think maybe even we see it, but like the emperor, we don’t want to look stupid.
Here’s a point of truth: when you’re naked, and you know it, and you pretend you’re not naked but you really are – there’s a serious issue there.
These problems are massive.
Peter Singer’s ethical code.
Genocide in Sudan.
Nightwallkers in Uganda.
Child labor in China.
Murder on Mifflin Street.
Drug trafficking down Route 78.
Stolen car laundering on the east side of Chestnut Street.
A five yr old and two yr old living in inhumane conditions on Fifth Street.
Domestic abuse in the building right next to our church.
Broken homes in the people who live next door to you.
The thing is, none of this is new. For years, decades, centuries, mankind has been trying to cure itself of these vast diseases of society and culture. Secular organizations of all sorts and kinds -- non-profit and governmental – have worked countless hours and spent billions of dollars to cure societal and sociological issues of brokenness. And the struggle still continues.
These things are so huge they don’t make sense. We can’t even wrap our minds around them, which is one reason why you should go to a third world country and force your mind to wrap around them. That’s for free.
No invention of man is going to answer these things. No strategy of community wellness or plan of restructuring society is going to fit the bill. They’re too huge.
If you’ve ever experienced significant pain, you know what I’m talking about. At some point, the words and clichés just stop being effective. Your pain is too huge.
There is only one thing that will bring hope to this hopelessness: Jesus.
Some of you out there here me say that and you’re like, “Yeah! Preach it!” Others of you are like, “That’s just a little too simplistic”. Others of you are just rolling your eyes saying, “Look where He got us so far.” Still others are not even sure He’s for real.
Listen, it’s not Jesus’ fault we’re not Kingdom people. And it’s not Jesus’ fault we don’t listen.
It’s not that Jesus is "the answer" to society’s problems. I’m not saying to enter one of these secure locations with a thousand kids in it, preach Jesus and expect all their problems to go away. Now that’s an over-simplification. It’s just simply this: Jesus is life.
Everything else is death. And so we bring Jesus, which makes absolutely no sense to the world. It’s foolish. That’s what Paul says anyway. Look again at v.18-25. This is the paradox of faith at work, and the world scorns it and mocks it and says thanks, but no thanks – it’s just foolishness. Jesus is my worldview.
When we present out worldview to those around us, the key question is not “Why?”, the key question is “So what?”. What change has this worldview brought you? How has it effected who you are? The reason why Jesus has lost so much sway in this world is not because He’s not doing anything, but because His people are more concerned with securing their own happiness than they are about furthering His Kingdom through sacrifice and submission to Him.
Whether they know it or not, the entire world is looking for Jesus, but they will never find Him on their terms. We come to Christ on His terms. We desperately need Him because He is life and He alone has the words of life.
That’s what makes the Bible so powerful. These are the words of life that God has spoken through His Spirit to us. Again, that’s straight-up foolishness to the world, and I make no apologies for it. How’s that worldview working out for you? Are you happy? No, you’re not. There’s always a higher level of happiness, isn’t there? There’s always more to be attained through whatever avenue you choose: money, sex, pleasure, work. Who cares who you slept with? Who cares what you smoked? Who cares what you own? Who cares how much money you make? Who cares how you force your kids to define you? Who cares how busy you are? You’re never completely filled by any of these things.
But with Jesus, even the crazy things make sense. Check out v.26-29. Things with Jesus are so against the system of the world that they look foolish, but they’re not. And that frustrates the world. It’s frustrating that we can simply rest in Christ and in the community -- living for relationship with Jesus and meeting the needs of others, and we don’t need the rat race or the sex or the drugs or the alcohol or the religion or the paycheck or the popularity or the stuff. We just need Jesus and we live our lives as on outflow of who we are in Him. That is so foolish to the world and it is so the path of wisdom and the path of life. Jesus is the starting point and the ending point and everything in between. You may as well give up running now because you’re never going to find what it is that you’re looking for anywhere other than giving it all up to Him.
I don’t care if you believe what I’m saying, just live it. Live it and watch the huge things not necessarily get solved, but watch them not dominate anymore, watch them lose their authority, because Jesus is life and in certainty of life there is hope even in the darkest of nights.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Perhaps you have heard this story before. If so, let me tell it to you again:
Once upon a time there lived a vain Emperor whose only worry in life was to dress in elegant clothes. He changed clothes almost every hour and loved to show them off to his people.
Word of the Emperor's refined habits spread over his kingdom and beyond. Two scoundrels who had heard of the Emperor's vanity decided to take advantage of it. They introduced themselves at the gates of the palace with a scheme in mind.
"We are two very good tailors and after many years of research we have invented an extraordinary method to weave a cloth so light and fine that it looks invisible. As a matter of fact it is invisible to anyone who is too stupid and incompetent to appreciate its quality."
The chief of the guards heard the scoundrel's strange story and sent for the court chamberlain. The chamberlain notified the prime minister, who ran to the Emperor and disclosed the incredible news. The Emperor's curiosity got the better of him and he decided to see the two scoundrels.
"Besides being invisible, your Highness, this cloth will be woven in colors and patterns created especially for you." The emperor gave the two men a bag of gold coins in exchange for their promise to begin working on the fabric immediately.
"Just tell us what you need to get started and we'll give it to you." The two scoundrels asked for a loom, silk, gold thread and then pretended to begin working. The Emperor thought he had spent his money quite well: in addition to getting a new extraordinary suit, he would discover which of his subjects were ignorant and incompetent. A few days later, he called the old and wise prime minister, who was considered by everyone as a man with common sense.
"Go and see how the work is proceeding," the Emperor told him, "and come back to let me know."
The prime minister was welcomed by the two scoundrels.
"We're almost finished, but we need a lot more gold thread. Here, Excellency! Admire the colors, feel the softness!" The old man bent over the loom and tried to see the fabric that was not there. He felt cold sweat on his forehead.
"I can't see anything," he thought. "If I see nothing, that means I'm stupid! Or, worse, incompetent!" If the prime minister admitted that he didn't see anything, he would be discharged from his office.
"What a marvelous fabric, he said then. "I'll certainly tell the Emperor." The two scoundrels rubbed their hands gleefully. They had almost made it. More thread was requested to finish the work.
Finally, the Emperor received the announcement that the two tailors had come to take all the measurements needed to sew his new suit.
"Come in," the Emperor ordered. Even as they bowed, the two scoundrels pretended to be holding large roll of fabric.
"Here it is your Highness, the result of our labour," the scoundrels said. "We have worked night and day but, at last, the most beautiful fabric in the world is ready for you. Look at the colors and feel how fine it is." Of course the Emperor did not see any colors and could not feel any cloth between his fingers. He panicked and felt like fainting. But luckily the throne was right behind him and he sat down. But when he realized that no one could know that he did not see the fabric, he felt better. Nobody could find out he was stupid and incompetent. And the Emperor didn't know that everybody else around him thought and did the very same thing.
The farce continued as the two scoundrels had foreseen it. Once they had taken the measurements, the two began cutting the air with scissors while sewing with their needles an invisible cloth.
"Your Highness, you'll have to take off your clothes to try on your new ones." The two scoundrels draped the new clothes on him and then held up a mirror. The Emperor was embarrassed but since none of his bystanders were, he felt relieved.
"Yes, this is a beautiful suit and it looks very good on me," the Emperor said trying to look comfortable. "You've done a fine job."
"Your Majesty," the prime minister said, "we have a request for you. The people have found out about this extraordinary fabric and they are anxious to see you in your new suit." The Emperor was doubtful showing himself naked to the people, but then he abandoned his fears. After all, no one would know about it except the ignorant and the incompetent.
"All right," he said. "I will grant the people this privilege." He summoned his carriage and the ceremonial parade was formed. A group of dignitaries walked at the very front of the procession and anxiously scrutinized the faces of the people in the street. All the people had gathered in the main square, pushing and shoving to get a better look. An applause welcomed the regal procession. Everyone wanted to know how stupid or incompetent his or her neighbor was but, as the Emperor passed, a strange murmur rose from the crowd.
Everyone said, loud enough for the others to hear: "Look at the Emperor's new clothes. They're beautiful!"
"What a marvelous train!"
"And the colors! The colors of that beautiful fabric! I have never seen anything like it in my life!" They all tried to conceal their disappointment at not being able to see the clothes, and since nobody was willing to admit his own stupidity and incompetence, they all behaved as the two scoundrels had predicted.
A child, however, who had no important job and could only see things as his eyes showed them to him, went up to the carriage.
"The Emperor is naked," he said.
"Fool!" his father reprimanded, running after him. "Don't talk nonsense!" He grabbed his child and took him away. But the boy's remark, which had been heard by the bystanders, was repeated over and over again until everyone cried:
"The boy is right! The Emperor is naked! It's true!"
The Emperor realized that the people were right but could not admit to that. He thought it better to continue the procession under the illusion that anyone who couldn't see his clothes was either stupid or incompetent. And he stood stiffly on his carriage, while behind him a page held his imaginary mantle.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
The April 18, 2005 edition of Time Magazine listed the “100 Most Influential People In The World”. In the section of 100 most influential scientists and thinkers, Peter Singer, professor of bioethics in Princeton University’s Center for Human Values, is said to be “a man whose reasoning merits consideration by everyone”. This is a system of thinking in which Singer considers that 20th-century advances in medicine, technology and anthropology have made traditional Judeo-Christian ethics irrelevant and hypocritical. He offers five new commandments:
1. Recognize that the worth of human life varies" because all life is not of equal value.
2. Take responsibility for the consequences of your decisions" because the old commandment to "never intentionally to take innocent human life" is too absolutist to deal with all the circumstances that can arise.
3. Respect a person's desire to live or die" because "incurably ill people who ask doctors to help them die are not harming others".
4. Bring children into the world only if they are wanted" because being fruitful and multiplying now causes serious overpopulation.
5. Do not discriminate on the basis of species" because what is "human" can no longer be demonstrated to apply to homo sapiens alone.
Based on these five commandments, Singer analyzes the history of traditional arguments about life and death, with man as the center of the universe, and makes a forceful case for his new ethic.
An ethic which includes abortion as a viable option even to the point that the head of the baby is still in the birth canal.
An ethic in which people whose brains no longer function may have their vital organs removed, even if they are not legally dead.
An ethic in which beastiality is considered a proper sexual consideration.
An ethic in which an outside determining group makes a decision as to when one has stopped contributing to society and the lives of the elderly are ended prematurely.
An ethic in which people and animals are literally on the same level. And given the choice between killing you or killing a chicken, serious moral consideration would have to be had.
An ethic in which children who are diagnosed with genetic malfunction leading to disease or handicap may be exterminated. What he’s saying is that when we found out our six month old daughter Christy had cystic fibrosis, to choose to murder her at that point would have been morally permissible.
And this is from a man widely referred to as the most influential philosopher in American education.
How is it that we get to this point? When do we say enough is enough? We are at a point of moral crisis.
And I’m not talking to the world, I’m speaking to us the church. And I’m not talking about Cornerstone, I’m speaking to the Church, capital “C” – you just happen to be listening this morning.
I mentioned to you before the nightwalkers, thousands of children in Uganda who walk from their villages every night into the cities in order to sleep safely. If they stay in their villages, rebel forces kidnap them force them to become sex slaves and soldiers. Here is a picture of their story.
Video clip from "Invisible Children" -- www.invisiblechildren.org
This is a moral crisis. Where is truth? Where is a moral code to govern our lives? What happened to right and wrong?
A worldview is the lens by which you view the world around you. Today we are ruled by this worldview: moralistic therapeutic deism. (Term taken from James W. Sire -- "The Universe Next Door".)
It’s all about us. It’s all about making ourselves happy. It’s as inward-focused as it can get. And don’t think this hasn’t permeated the Church because it’s everywhere. It’s in our marriages, our families, our programs, our ministries, our budgets. The church at large is a bunch of moralistic therapeutic deistic consumers.
When will we stop watching TV and begin engaging the Kingdom?
When do we stop bickering in our families and begin living healthy lives?
When will we stop substituting “faith questions” about what we know about God into a life walked in faith – following His voice?
When will we realize that illegal immigration has very little to do with immigration and has everything to do with the Great Commission?
When will we realize that even the poorest person in this room is unbelievably wealthy in global terms?
When will we stop playing church and begin to build relationship with our neighbors?
When will we stop complaining about the public school system and begin running for the school board, or speaking up at PTA meetings, or just volunteering to go on a field trip?
When will we begin to realize that every black man in a big coat, baggy jeans and a ball cap twisted sideways isn’t out to hurt us, and realize that there’s a person there with hopes, dreams and fears?
When will the individuals in our church stop coming into our pastoral offices and saying, “I want community” and then not be faithful in attending their small group or joining any small group at all?
When will we stop talking about prayer, or how we’d like to pray, or who we like to hear pray, or how we’re not sure we believe in prayer, or how we’re too intimidated to pray and begin actually praying because prayer changes things?
When will Christians, the same Christians who placed this administration into power, demand that our government stop securing oil fields in Iraq and if they want to send troops somewhere, send them a few thousand miles south to liberate tens thousands of terrified children in Uganda, Sudan and Congo?
When will realize we’ve all been abused one way or another – physically,verbally, sexually, emotionally, spiritually-- we’re all screwed up and we just need to be real about it and talk about it and pray for one another?
Really what I’m asking is this, when do our lives stop being about us and about securing our own personal happiness?
We’re walking around naked. Everyone sees it, except us. You know what, I think maybe even we see it, but like the emperor, we don’t want to look stupid.
Here’s a point of truth: when you’re naked, and you know it, and you pretend you’re not naked but you really are – there’s a serious issue there.
These problems are massive.
Peter Singer’s ethical code.
Genocide in Sudan.
Nightwallkers in Uganda.
Child labor in China.
Murder on Mifflin Street.
Drug trafficking down Route 78.
Stolen car laundering on the east side of Chestnut Street.
A five yr old and two yr old living in inhumane conditions on Fifth Street.
Domestic abuse in the building right next to our church.
Broken homes in the people who live next door to you.
The thing is, none of this is new. For years, decades, centuries, mankind has been trying to cure itself of these vast diseases of society and culture. Secular organizations of all sorts and kinds -- non-profit and governmental – have worked countless hours and spent billions of dollars to cure societal and sociological issues of brokenness. And the struggle still continues.
These things are so huge they don’t make sense. We can’t even wrap our minds around them, which is one reason why you should go to a third world country and force your mind to wrap around them. That’s for free.
No invention of man is going to answer these things. No strategy of community wellness or plan of restructuring society is going to fit the bill. They’re too huge.
If you’ve ever experienced significant pain, you know what I’m talking about. At some point, the words and clichés just stop being effective. Your pain is too huge.
There is only one thing that will bring hope to this hopelessness: Jesus.
Some of you out there here me say that and you’re like, “Yeah! Preach it!” Others of you are like, “That’s just a little too simplistic”. Others of you are just rolling your eyes saying, “Look where He got us so far.” Still others are not even sure He’s for real.
Listen, it’s not Jesus’ fault we’re not Kingdom people. And it’s not Jesus’ fault we don’t listen.
It’s not that Jesus is "the answer" to society’s problems. I’m not saying to enter one of these secure locations with a thousand kids in it, preach Jesus and expect all their problems to go away. Now that’s an over-simplification. It’s just simply this: Jesus is life.
Everything else is death. And so we bring Jesus, which makes absolutely no sense to the world. It’s foolish. That’s what Paul says anyway. Look again at v.18-25. This is the paradox of faith at work, and the world scorns it and mocks it and says thanks, but no thanks – it’s just foolishness. Jesus is my worldview.
When we present out worldview to those around us, the key question is not “Why?”, the key question is “So what?”. What change has this worldview brought you? How has it effected who you are? The reason why Jesus has lost so much sway in this world is not because He’s not doing anything, but because His people are more concerned with securing their own happiness than they are about furthering His Kingdom through sacrifice and submission to Him.
Whether they know it or not, the entire world is looking for Jesus, but they will never find Him on their terms. We come to Christ on His terms. We desperately need Him because He is life and He alone has the words of life.
That’s what makes the Bible so powerful. These are the words of life that God has spoken through His Spirit to us. Again, that’s straight-up foolishness to the world, and I make no apologies for it. How’s that worldview working out for you? Are you happy? No, you’re not. There’s always a higher level of happiness, isn’t there? There’s always more to be attained through whatever avenue you choose: money, sex, pleasure, work. Who cares who you slept with? Who cares what you smoked? Who cares what you own? Who cares how much money you make? Who cares how you force your kids to define you? Who cares how busy you are? You’re never completely filled by any of these things.
But with Jesus, even the crazy things make sense. Check out v.26-29. Things with Jesus are so against the system of the world that they look foolish, but they’re not. And that frustrates the world. It’s frustrating that we can simply rest in Christ and in the community -- living for relationship with Jesus and meeting the needs of others, and we don’t need the rat race or the sex or the drugs or the alcohol or the religion or the paycheck or the popularity or the stuff. We just need Jesus and we live our lives as on outflow of who we are in Him. That is so foolish to the world and it is so the path of wisdom and the path of life. Jesus is the starting point and the ending point and everything in between. You may as well give up running now because you’re never going to find what it is that you’re looking for anywhere other than giving it all up to Him.
I don’t care if you believe what I’m saying, just live it. Live it and watch the huge things not necessarily get solved, but watch them not dominate anymore, watch them lose their authority, because Jesus is life and in certainty of life there is hope even in the darkest of nights.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Some Random Thoughts
I can see everything -- Wal-Mart to the mall, Sheetz to Coleman's Park. It's all beginning to make sense.
I wonder who else can see? What does it mean to rebuild walls? Who will stand on them and fight? Is there one to stand in the gap? Who abandoned their post to begin with?
Where does truth play into this? When does postmodern nonsense stop and God's Words start? When do we stop living for our own happiness and start living Kingdom-focused?
More than anything, do we love Jesus and know what it means to be loved by Jesus? To be a Christian doesn't have nearly as much to do with doing as it does with being. So what are you? And why are you that? Do you know what it means to rest confidently in Jesus?
These are just some random thoughts I'm having. See you Sunday.
I wonder who else can see? What does it mean to rebuild walls? Who will stand on them and fight? Is there one to stand in the gap? Who abandoned their post to begin with?
Where does truth play into this? When does postmodern nonsense stop and God's Words start? When do we stop living for our own happiness and start living Kingdom-focused?
More than anything, do we love Jesus and know what it means to be loved by Jesus? To be a Christian doesn't have nearly as much to do with doing as it does with being. So what are you? And why are you that? Do you know what it means to rest confidently in Jesus?
These are just some random thoughts I'm having. See you Sunday.
Friday, April 21, 2006
The Burden-Bearer
My back was bent,
My burden was too much.
I walked cobblestone streets
But only at night
And always alone.
Streetlights were present, but never illuminated --
The darkness in the doorway was consuming
So consuming
I didn't want to enter.
But I was compelled.
Darkness that took life extended its icy fingers
In a stranglehold that threatened life
And produced the pain of memory and history.
I would have been consumed
Were it not for Him.
Faithfulness, strength, honesty, humility, truth,
All incarnated on a Wednesday afternoon
Though not gone, my burden
Has become
Easier and lighter,
Restoring what was broken.
The Burden-Bearer has come
And light came with him,
And love came with him,
And now it's only dusk
Or maybe it's dawn.
911955
My burden was too much.
I walked cobblestone streets
But only at night
And always alone.
Streetlights were present, but never illuminated --
The darkness in the doorway was consuming
So consuming
I didn't want to enter.
But I was compelled.
Darkness that took life extended its icy fingers
In a stranglehold that threatened life
And produced the pain of memory and history.
I would have been consumed
Were it not for Him.
Faithfulness, strength, honesty, humility, truth,
All incarnated on a Wednesday afternoon
Though not gone, my burden
Has become
Easier and lighter,
Restoring what was broken.
The Burden-Bearer has come
And light came with him,
And love came with him,
And now it's only dusk
Or maybe it's dawn.
911955
A Favorite Song
This is some sweet poetry:
"Extraordinary Ways" by Conjure One
What I have is nothing to my name
No property to speak of
And no trophy for my game
Intangible and worthless
My assets on the page
My coffers are empty
Any offer of safety has faded away
But what I have
What I have is
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You take what I can give and you treasure it
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You turn to me and say, I believe in this
That makes me lucky
God, I'm lucky, so much luckier than I ever thought I'd be
'Cause what I have
Means so very little to this world
A promise that I kept and a bridge that I saved before it burned
The sacrifice that I made
Brought me to my knees
A choice that cost me everything and set somebody else free
But what I have
Is the value that you see in these things
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You take what I can give and you treasure it
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You turn to me and say, I believe in this
That makes me lucky
God I'm lucky, so much luckier than I ever thought I'd be
'Cause what I have
Is the value that you see in these things
And everytime I forget those things you bring them right back to me
With your patience
When I'm blinding mad
And your passion
When I'm really, really bad
And your eyes
Taking in everything I am
And your body and soul and the way that you know
How I treasure you
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You take what I can give and you treasure it
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You turn to me and say, I believe in this
That makes me lucky
God I'm so lucky
So much luckier than I ever thought I'd be
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You take what I can give and you treasure it
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You turn to me and say, I believe in this
"Extraordinary Ways" by Conjure One
What I have is nothing to my name
No property to speak of
And no trophy for my game
Intangible and worthless
My assets on the page
My coffers are empty
Any offer of safety has faded away
But what I have
What I have is
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You take what I can give and you treasure it
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You turn to me and say, I believe in this
That makes me lucky
God, I'm lucky, so much luckier than I ever thought I'd be
'Cause what I have
Means so very little to this world
A promise that I kept and a bridge that I saved before it burned
The sacrifice that I made
Brought me to my knees
A choice that cost me everything and set somebody else free
But what I have
Is the value that you see in these things
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You take what I can give and you treasure it
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You turn to me and say, I believe in this
That makes me lucky
God I'm lucky, so much luckier than I ever thought I'd be
'Cause what I have
Is the value that you see in these things
And everytime I forget those things you bring them right back to me
With your patience
When I'm blinding mad
And your passion
When I'm really, really bad
And your eyes
Taking in everything I am
And your body and soul and the way that you know
How I treasure you
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You take what I can give and you treasure it
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You turn to me and say, I believe in this
That makes me lucky
God I'm so lucky
So much luckier than I ever thought I'd be
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You take what I can give and you treasure it
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You turn to me and say, I believe in this
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Life
The sunrise this morning was beautiful. It's a perfect Easter day. I stepped outside and the air was brisk, the sky was pink and orange, the birds were singing. It's been a while since we've had a day like this fall on Easter.
I love Easter! It's impossible to say just how much I love Easter especially since our service starts in three hours and I'm readying for it. I just want everyone out there to know how much I love Easter and how great it is to be alive in Christ.
Jesus is alive and because He is alive, I'm alive. You might be alive too -- if so, you should be freaking out in your spirit about what today means. If you're not alive hear this simple statement: Jesus died so that you can have access to God and He rose again so that you might have life. I know it's crazy -- deal with it however you need to, just get to this point: I'm dead and my life is full of death but in Christ I can have life.
Join us in life. Life eternal and life abundant.
It's great to be alive.
I love Easter! It's impossible to say just how much I love Easter especially since our service starts in three hours and I'm readying for it. I just want everyone out there to know how much I love Easter and how great it is to be alive in Christ.
Jesus is alive and because He is alive, I'm alive. You might be alive too -- if so, you should be freaking out in your spirit about what today means. If you're not alive hear this simple statement: Jesus died so that you can have access to God and He rose again so that you might have life. I know it's crazy -- deal with it however you need to, just get to this point: I'm dead and my life is full of death but in Christ I can have life.
Join us in life. Life eternal and life abundant.
It's great to be alive.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Disciple Smack Down
You know that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach before something huge is about to happen? Like before speaking in front of a large crowd or having to have a confrontation with someone you really love. I wonder if Jesus had that during the day on Thursday. I wonder if He woke up that morning and just momentarily, in that dreamy spot between asleep and awake, He didn't remember what was coming. He thought maybe He was building a chair with Joseph that day or playing ball with some buddies. And then the reality hits...I have give the speech today or I have to talk to her. In Jesus' case it was: today my friends leave me.
To be alone is the worst. The Hebrew word for alone is the same as the word "bad". I honestly believe there could be no worse punishment for anyone than solitary confinement. And Jesus knew that's what was coming.
The disciples had a rough day from performance standpoint. The obvious is Judas and his pathetic betrayal. But it goes beyond Judas. They all arrive for the Last Supper and James and John are arguing about who gets to sit at Jesus' right hand in the Kingdom. Peter, James and John can't even stay awake with Jesus during His painful prayer time in the Garden. Peter denies Jesus three times after swearing He won't. When Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested, all eleven scatter. Only John is at the foot of the cross.
I've heard a lot of preachers/teachers rail on the disciples for these things. And as much as I'd like to think I wouldn't have done the same things, I probably would have.
You see, we're not them. The resurrection hadn't happened yet. Their eyes were still blinded to the truths that Jesus had been drilling into them. But rather than rail on them, I prefer to think of their transformation.
Read Acts. Read history. Look at what the resurrection can do when you let it. These same "losers" who bailed on Jesus in His darkest hour turned the world upside-down. Hear Peter preaching at Pentecost. Watch Peter and John stand before the Sanhedrin and refuse to obey them. Feel the nails in Philip's wrists as he is crucified with his family in Hierapolis. Watch Thomas journey to India with the Gospel and die there for it. See John in exile on Patmos writing Revelation.
The resurrection and the Holy Spirit is what the disciples were missing on this dark Thursday night. On this night, those hundreds of years ago, they were defeated.
But on this same night, hundreds of years later, we stand with them in victory because Jesus is risen.
To be alone is the worst. The Hebrew word for alone is the same as the word "bad". I honestly believe there could be no worse punishment for anyone than solitary confinement. And Jesus knew that's what was coming.
The disciples had a rough day from performance standpoint. The obvious is Judas and his pathetic betrayal. But it goes beyond Judas. They all arrive for the Last Supper and James and John are arguing about who gets to sit at Jesus' right hand in the Kingdom. Peter, James and John can't even stay awake with Jesus during His painful prayer time in the Garden. Peter denies Jesus three times after swearing He won't. When Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested, all eleven scatter. Only John is at the foot of the cross.
I've heard a lot of preachers/teachers rail on the disciples for these things. And as much as I'd like to think I wouldn't have done the same things, I probably would have.
You see, we're not them. The resurrection hadn't happened yet. Their eyes were still blinded to the truths that Jesus had been drilling into them. But rather than rail on them, I prefer to think of their transformation.
Read Acts. Read history. Look at what the resurrection can do when you let it. These same "losers" who bailed on Jesus in His darkest hour turned the world upside-down. Hear Peter preaching at Pentecost. Watch Peter and John stand before the Sanhedrin and refuse to obey them. Feel the nails in Philip's wrists as he is crucified with his family in Hierapolis. Watch Thomas journey to India with the Gospel and die there for it. See John in exile on Patmos writing Revelation.
The resurrection and the Holy Spirit is what the disciples were missing on this dark Thursday night. On this night, those hundreds of years ago, they were defeated.
But on this same night, hundreds of years later, we stand with them in victory because Jesus is risen.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Wednesday
I'm sorry to those of you who have been checking the blog for updates like I said to do on Sunday. Blogger.com has been having some serious issues and none of my blogs have posted. I just posted the Palm Sunday one and I'll wrap the others into this Wednesday one.
I love the way Jesus steps up the intensity in his teaching and interactions with the disciples during Holy Week. They're just not getting it and He just keeps pouring it on. I guess He knows that at some point, these things will click.
Can you imagine watching the scene in the Temple when Jesus cleans house? I can. I love the fact that Jesus takes the defense of the Temple into His own hands. His righteous anger works the justice of God. I can see Him calmly gather nine ropes together, knot one end and then begin swinging and yelling, "You will not turn my Father's house into a den of thieves!"
Think of the disciples. They've seen Jesus do some wild stuff but this must have been crazy! If I'm one of them, I thinking, "Now do I watch or do I help? And if I help, who exactly am I allowed to beat up?" I'm also thinking that I always want to be on Jesus' good side, particularly in regard to the Temple.
We don't have a Temple. But we do. Not a building, but our bodies. And not just our individual bodies (1 Corinthians 6:18-20), but a collective Body as well (2 Corinthians 6:16). What kind of stands are we setting up there? What kind of worship is taking place? Who's selling what?
I'm not primarily talking about what you listen to, what you watch, who you hang with. Those are just doorways. The stands being set up are things like complacency, mis-identity, ignorance, shame, numbness, sexual deviancy, anger, fear, gossip, and greed.
And you have no idea how steep the prices are.
Let Jesus clean house in your Temple.
I love the way Jesus steps up the intensity in his teaching and interactions with the disciples during Holy Week. They're just not getting it and He just keeps pouring it on. I guess He knows that at some point, these things will click.
Can you imagine watching the scene in the Temple when Jesus cleans house? I can. I love the fact that Jesus takes the defense of the Temple into His own hands. His righteous anger works the justice of God. I can see Him calmly gather nine ropes together, knot one end and then begin swinging and yelling, "You will not turn my Father's house into a den of thieves!"
Think of the disciples. They've seen Jesus do some wild stuff but this must have been crazy! If I'm one of them, I thinking, "Now do I watch or do I help? And if I help, who exactly am I allowed to beat up?" I'm also thinking that I always want to be on Jesus' good side, particularly in regard to the Temple.
We don't have a Temple. But we do. Not a building, but our bodies. And not just our individual bodies (1 Corinthians 6:18-20), but a collective Body as well (2 Corinthians 6:16). What kind of stands are we setting up there? What kind of worship is taking place? Who's selling what?
I'm not primarily talking about what you listen to, what you watch, who you hang with. Those are just doorways. The stands being set up are things like complacency, mis-identity, ignorance, shame, numbness, sexual deviancy, anger, fear, gossip, and greed.
And you have no idea how steep the prices are.
Let Jesus clean house in your Temple.
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