You're The Reason I Sing

If you asked me what image would appear in my mind every time I thought about my Grandpa it would look something like this:

There he'd be across the table from me, in his kitchen, with those big Russian, Polish - Ukrainian pirogi ears. His leather bound watch on his left hand and he'd be fiddling around with his place setting. He had that clock radio to the left of him on a little shelf where he'd sing along to songs like "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime".

The music of the Great Depression is what he listened to. How the music touched him. I noticed that part. It was always so obvious to me that the music was such a big part of him. He played this concertina or otherwise known as a "squeeze-box" while he would hold a harmonica in his mouth with his teeth. I would sit there amazed. I was truly intrigued by his musical abilities because if you saw him you'd never think this guy was interested in music to the degree of where he could "make" it.

It makes sense to me more and more that he is the reason the music is in me. How I love music. How I love to make it. How I love to play it. How I love to listen to it. How it calms me. How it lifts me. How it breaks me. How it moves me to places that nothing else can.

Today it makes sense that he is the reason for music in my life because today that man, my Grandpa, passed away and for some reason it seems more evident to me now than ever before. He was the only Grandpa I had. I never knew my other Grandfather. But this one took care of that just fine. This one made me laugh. This one let me screw up and then gave me 20 bucks. This one made me laugh a lot. This one took me to my first movie theater experiences (King Kong - Jeff Bridges, Paradise Alley - Sylvester Stallone, Moonraker - Roger Moore). This one helped me buy my first car that leaked a quart of oil every 50 miles - but he didn't hold that against me he just helped me get it - he just let me make the mistake and still was my Grandpa with no strings attached and no "I told you so". This one let me try a cigarette when I was like 9. This one shared a beer with me in his car(while driving!). This one put me on his knee and would say "bumpety-bump-bumpety-bump". This one made me laugh.

There was this song that he whistled all the time. I mean all the time. It drove people nuts in his neighborhood because they heard it all the time. I heard it all the time and I find myself whistling it on occasion for absolutely no reason other than it grew into me because he shared it. Last year I asked him what song that was that he has been whistling for 60 years. This is what I loved about him. He looked at me and then sang it to me word for word as if he was talking to me. The song is called "Cathedral in the Pines". Just a simple song about a young couple getting married.

That's what I love though! That ability to share a song you love as if it's, without a doubt, a part of the conversation. I want to do that to my kids more and more. Just sing to them. Just give the music away.

He promised me that he'd give me that concertina when his time was nearing the end. Sure enough he sent it with my Dad to me a few months ago. It began to settle into me a little that my Grandpa was starting his goodbyes if you will.

Just three days ago I went to see him because he refused anymore preventative treatments and was ready to die at 91 years of age. I just held his face and he held mine. And I just told him how great of a Grandpa he was to me. He let me pray for him(which is a huge deal).

Then last night I stayed up and learned a couple of his favorite songs and sang them in my living room for quite a while.

There is this song by U2 that was written when Bono's Dad passed away. It's a father-son song for sure and there are so many parts to that song that ring true with my Grandpa. I just want to sing out from the depths of my heart to him those words that Bono bellows out:
"Listen to me now
I need to let you know
You don't have to go it alone...
It's you when I look in the mirror
It's you when I don't pick up the phone
Sometimes you can't make it on your own...
...Can you hear me when I sing
You're the reason I sing..."

So, today I am sad. Today I hurt. But today I know the reason I sing more than I did yesterday.

I think I'm gonna drown myself in some U2 and Bing Crosby tonight for quite a while.

Don't Miss It!

[to the left is a photo of Martin Luther King, Jr. being arrested for "loitering"]

I've heard so many Christians remark on the outcome of the election with a concern about how Barak Obama's administration will affect the abortion issue/economy/war. I truly understand the concern but I would like to go on to say DON'T MISS WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE!!!

I watched Barak's acceptance speech with incredible joy and excitement(McCain's speech was just as heart-wrenching and great!). History in the making!

I watched the Reverend Jesse Jackson weep. I wondered what was going on in his mind and heart. I don't care what anyone says about Jesse Jackson because this is a man who watched his inspiration and mentor get gunned down some 40 years ago. Jesse Jackson watched Martin Luther King, Jr. give his life in the name of love.

I dropped a tear or two when I saw an African-American family that's headed for the White House walk out on that stage in Grant Park, downtown Chicago.

They stated that the issue of race wasn't part of this election but it certainly came to the surface when the nation clearly chose it's next president and a ripple of emotion most certainly made it's way across a nation that has hundreds of years of hurt and immense suffering to still heal from.

Did you watch the exuberance and emotional responses of the African-American communities? Or did you miss it?

Did you set down your political stance and stop to think for just a second that something as powerful as the abolishment of slavery took place on Tuesday evening, November 4, 2008?

When I was in high school I was part of a U.S. History team that ended up being involved in a nation wide competition involving the history and knowledge of the Constitution, the Amendments and the Declaration of Independence. Each of us was responsible for a certain section and for the investigating of it.

My specific assignment was to be able to answer the value of a black man as a voter after slavery was abolished and when free black men could vote. Their value was 1/5 of a vote. They were worth 1/5 of what a white man was worth.

We went to the Supreme Court of Ohio to compete. No one knew when you would be called up to answer your part before the Supreme Court Justices. I remember so well when it was my turn to speak. At that time it was 1987. I remember that moment because the Supreme Court Justice that I had to face was black. I remember I had to explain to a black Supreme Court Justice, as I stood in his court a young white Catholic male, the reasoning behind the 1/5 voter value of a black man. It was perhaps one of the most humbling experiences of my life because I cannot comprehend what it is like to be devalued because of skin color and that is it.

Seriously stand back and look at the scope and magnificence of this. An African American is going to be the next President. An African American family will occupy the White House in our lifetime. After hundreds of years of opposition, dehumanization, and devaluing we now witness great hope in the healing of immense racial divisions around the world.

So be encouraged that after 400 years of Africans clinging on to the right to be seen as equal they now give to a nation in need through the highest office available. If after 400 years of fighting opposition through sacrifice after sacrifice has proven change is most certainly possible and injustices are not inevitable then perhaps the Christian church of the United States will begin to realize that after 35 years of fighting against legal abortions they should take some lessons on how to stand up for what is right instead of expecting it to change by just voting every 4 years and expecting one person to handle the grunt work.

A great day has come and if you are white and can only see this as an economic issue or an abortion issue then my friend I would ask "how much of your political view have you shared with the African American community face-to-face and not just with your white friends via the internet?"

A great day has come. Don't miss it.

Just Sharing Some Fun

The Largest and Fastest Growing by James Emery White

My friend, Becky, passed this blog entry written by James Emery White to me. It is profound and well said. Within the world of the Western Church we see "Bootcamps for Church-Planting" and a constant emphasis put on being fresh, relevant, genuine and authentic. These words seem to be the substitutes for creativity anymore. The number one way that new churches arrive to do a "church-plant" is no different than what a Panera Bread or a Starbuck's does. American Christendom has pointed out all the "big" churches as the way of success. And American Christians are more and more prone to expect church to be like a night out at the movies.

Here is what James Emery White has to say:

The Largest and Fastest Growing
It’s become as anticipated among some pastors and ministry leaders as the annual U.S. News and World Report ranking of schools is to college and university presidents, the Forbes 500 is to CEOs, and the AP poll is to coaches and fans.

It is Outreach magazine’s annual listing of the 100 largest churches, and the 100 fastest-growing churches. For the record, this year the largest church in the United States is Lakewood Church in Houston, led by Joel Osteen (43,500 attendants), and the fastest-growing church was Church of the Highlands in Birmingham (up 72%, or 3,418 attendants).

A member of our staff stuck his head in my office, referenced the listing, and said, “Shouldn’t we have been in it?” Having already glanced at the list with undeniable curiosity, and making a few quick mental calculations, I already knew the answer. “Yes, we would have been on the fastest-growing list – and fairly high up…but I didn’t submit any of our numbers.”

I could see it on his face. “What were you thinking? You didn’t submit our numbers?” He knew that we are currently in the fastest-growing season in the history of the church. We have gone from three services to six, with a seventh planned for the spring, and are laying the groundwork for a major building expansion on our eighty-acre campus.

I found myself stumbling for the way to respond, but then it came out: “It just didn’t feel…clean.” There. I had finally said it, though I had felt it for a long time. The listing seemed dirty, competitive, dark…yes, for me, even sinful. Let me hasten to say “for me.” The darkness is entirely mine – my own long battle with competition, my own hot and cold embrace of a kingdom mindset, my constant temptation toward schadenfreude over the demise of others, all along with a good dose of ongoing pride. I had crowed about our own numbers too many times in the past in ways that did not honor God, but only honored me, and felt palpable shame. Like a man who battles lust finally giving in and openly poring over pornography on the internet or entering into an affair, for me to submit our numbers would feel like giving in openly to one of the more important spiritual battles in my life.

And I can’t help but feel it would contribute to one of the greater battles in the wider church world's life, which is envy. We say, “It’s all for the Kingdom,” and “we’re on the same team,” but few of us are saints enough to mean it. We want our churches to grow, and at our worst, others not to grow. We want to be the biggest and fastest – which means others be smaller and slower.

Irish writer Oscar Wilde once told a fictional tale about how the devil was crossing the Libyan desert. He came upon a spot where a small number of demons were tormenting a holy hermit. The sainted man easily shook off their evil suggestions. The devil watched as his lieutenants failed to sway the hermit, then he stepped forward to give them a lesson.

“What you do is too crude,” he said. “Permit me for one moment.”

He then whispered to the holy man, “Your brother has just been made Bishop of Alexandria.” Suddenly, a look of malignant envy clouded the once-serene face of the hermit. Then the devil turned to his imps and said, “That is the sort of thing which I should recommend.”

I am not trying to indict Outreach magazine, much less those who participated. I have no doubt they are good, well-intentioned folk who are attempting to serve the Kingdom through this compilation. This is confession, not admonition. To be sure, I have sensed the way the list (and others like it) has been used by those who, it would seem, share in my darkness. There are too many who are too quick to anoint the “next thing,” gloat over those with past success who are now experiencing decline, race to find the silver bullet of success, or take pride in their own success as if God has finally arrived.

But that only adds to my disgust as I see my own struggles manifest in others.

So each year, it has almost become a personal spiritual discipline. The form arrives, I start to fill it in, and then I ask myself, “Why?” It won’t advance the cause of our mission at Mecklenburg; it won’t help us reach lost people; it may open a few more doors of opportunity in terms of speaking platforms, but God can see to that in other ways if He so desires. The only motivation that I could find was self-serving; to be noticed and then acclaimed. And that felt dirty.

For a long time I have been haunted by a single verse in the Old Testament that came from God through the prophet Jeremiah: “Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not” (Jeremiah 45:5,NIV). Great things for God, yes; great things for myself, no. And the line between the two can often become conveniently blurred.

I love the church. I love the Kingdom of God. I want to see it expand. I love that churches around the world are growing. But to single them out in a way that draws attention to them simply for their numerical growth, and nothing else, does not seem entirely healthy to me as it offers a distorted view of success. Crowns in heaven will not be based on numerical attendance, growth, acres or even decisions. For pastors and churches, it will be based on faithfulness to the vision of the church as cast by the New Testament. God may use me, or someone else, to bear much fruit. But in the end, I suspect that a bi-vocational pastor in a small town of 5,000 with an average attendance of 50 may be the greatest pastor on the planet, with the largest crown in heaven.

You may see Meck’s numbers in future lists in Outreach Magazine, or you may not. We may not submit them, and even if we do, we may not warrant inclusion. But if you do, it could mean that I have either given in to my dark side…or somehow, risen above it. But what you will know for certain is that it means very little. It will not tell you whether we are turning attenders into disciples; it will not tell you whether we are creating a new culture in our city that honors Christ; it will not tell you whether we are attracting sheep from other churches, or truly reaching the radically unchurched. It will just tell you that we got even bigger than we already are, or at an even faster clip; and probably that we have way too big of a head about it.

-James Emery White

Sources

Outreach Magazine’s “List” issue, including the 100 fastest-growing churches and the 100 largest churches, can be accessed on line at http://www.outreachmagazine.com/.

For a report on the article, including some of the findings (Outreach Magazine now charges for the article as a download), see Outreach 100: Largest and Fastest-Growing Churches in America by Lillian Kwon, The Christian Post, Saturday, September 27, 2008, at http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080927/outreach-100-largest-and-fastest-growing-churches-in-america.htm.

The story by Oscar Wilde has been adapted from Hesketh Pearson, Oscar Wilde: His Life and Wit (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1946), pp. 127-128.

Jesus: Apolitical!? part 1

The church is only the church when it exists for others.
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Social services did not exist in the Roman Empire until a peculiar and odd group of people began to take responsibility for those in need. That peculiar people was the early church. That odd group had not only looked upon their own but began to care for the poor of their own "enemy".

There is a proverb that says "Your gifts will lead you to the thrones of Kings and Queens." Mother Teresa was definitely one whom was capable of bringing about the manifestations of that scripture. When brought before world leaders she addressed the issue of abortion and especially confronted America on it. She said this:
"Please don't kill the child. I want the child. Please give me the child. I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted, and to give that child to a married couple who will love the child, and be loved by the child. From our children's home in Calcutta alone, we have saved over 3,000 children from abortions. These children have brought such love and joy to their adopting parents, and have grown up so full of love and joy!"

I see so many similar stories in the Gospels that continue to deconstruct my views, my perceptions and my own plans for this life. I thank God that the Bible still does that to me. I would worry if the wonder of God's Word would cease to amaze and humble me. I would worry if it were to stop chiseling away at the walls I have built.

One story that I have recently been consumed by has been the occurrence found in Luke 14:1-14.

In order to get a good grip on this passage you must be enveloped by the first few verses. Some investigating is necessary in order to obtain a perspective that is fitting for the context of the moment this happened and what it has to say to us today in light of the political season at hand.

I took heavy notes from a teaching given by Greg Boyd and Scott Boren(The Kingdom: It's Really Upside Down) as well as some research through N.T. Wright's Luke For Everyone.

Here's what I'd like to share in the discussion of this passage with you:

We find Jesus arriving at the home of a prominent Pharisee on the Sabbath. Have you ever delved into the world of the Pharisee? Here's a slight taste: Pharisees were experts of the Law(the Torah). Not all lawyers were Pharisees but almost every Pharisee was a lawyer, teacher, rabbi or in other words, an expert of the Law. Another interesting fact, since we're debunking the apolitical theories of Jesus, is how so very politically involved the Pharisees were.

There were two schools of the Pharisees that existed in Jesus' day. Those two schools were Shammai and Hillel. Shammai were prone to armed revolt and Hillel was a "we want to live and let live" school. With great insight and research from N.T. Wright we learn this and we can also learn that the Pharisees were indeed thronging for a Separatist Nationalism. In other words, they - compared to similar actions found regularly in the Church in America today, were pushing to basically legislate morality.

They believed that if they enforced the children of Israel into a holy state that they would prepare for themselves the immediate entrance of the Kingdom of God. They themselves would enforce holiness upon their people whilst creating their own laws of enforcement and work from the inside out and then have their way and their own Kingdom without end. Political agenda to the core!

The story continues to say that Jesus was being carefully watched. If you go back a few chapters in Luke you will find that the Pharisees have concluded that this Jesus is not joining in with their efforts. Think about that. With the immense fame and popularity that was forming around Jesus there must have been some job securities at stake within the leadership roles of the religious elite. Why else would Jesus be invited to a "prominent" Pharisee's home?

The next portion of scripture tells us that a man with dropsy is right in front of Jesus upon His arrival. Dropsy is an abnormal swelling of one's body. According to some of the man-made laws of the Pharisees at this time, dropsy was the result of sexual sin. Wha???

Look at this scenario:

• Jesus being watched carefully and on the Sabbath...
• Dinner meeting with a prominent Pharisee...
• A sick(unclean) man due to sexual sin just happens to be there...

TO BE CONTINUED!

Students take a look at an 'invisible' problem - Entertainment

Students take a look at an 'invisible' problem - Entertainment

Jesus - apolitical? [intro]

apo·lit·i·cal

\ˌā-pə-ˈli-ti-kəl\

Function:

adjective

1: having no interest or involvement in political affairs ; also : having an aversion to politics or political affairs2: having no political significance

As a little boy it is quite possible that Jesus may have seen smoke rising from a neighboring village not far from his home. Upon the hill, for display purposes, of that burning place there were over 2,000 men crucified in one day by the Roman army.(you can find more in Christ and The Caesars; by Etehelbert Stauffer).

There is no question that Jesus knew what it meant to be under the rule of the oppressor. There is no doubt that Jesus grew up in the midst of poverty, greed and empire-worship. There were no famines to put the blame on for the issues of hunger that existed in Jesus' day.

Jesus did not avert these issues. They are extremely political issues and He most certainly faced them.

What did it take to be able to simply stay alive in those days? What did it take for the "children of God" to be able to live together and yet separate from and within an empire of such dominating force? What did it take for people to pursuit careers in order to feed, clothe and secure their loved ones?

Politics.

You cannot escape that. Politics have existed since the discussion over the apple in the Garden of Eden took place. To simply write Jesus off as "apolitical" for the sake of clearing out debate within church walls, and usually because of the fear of losing "potential tithers", is both historically false and theologically unsound. Christians who avoid the political uneasiness of our day cannot do so by claiming Jesus as being apolitical. It's too late to make it that simple. It's easy to make that mistake but perhaps blindly arrogant to push it.

Be honest -

• What do we American Christians know about Jewish culture 2,000 years ago?
  
• What do we really know about this incredibly strict religious system that hung over the people as they were overshadowed by the most oppressive empire?
• What do we know about the Roman Empire?

Think about it - How can a King be called apolitical?

Why did Jesus pay his taxes?
There is incredible significance in that.
[refer to the definition provided above again]

Jesus called a couple of tax-collectors[Matthew & Zaccheus] where He took one of them away from their literal work and stuck them into the Kingdom work of delivering the Gospel and with the other He put the Kingdom work right into his literal government job and restored what was corrupt and turned a sinful man into an upright governmental agent that was capable of serving a dark empire as a child of light.

That's awesome. That's the whole salt of the earth thing. Salt is a preserver. We are salt on death. We slow the decay of what sin does to the soul of those that we reach out to and for. We are salt on this earth. We are salt on the governments of corruption and with love we slow the decay that death brings and we introduce life in many places.

Jesus approached Jerusalem on a donkey which was a hard working and peaceful creature. He did not arrive on a war horse ready to lop off heads. He need not approach with instruments of war but only of peace. His presence alone invaded the politics of man with the only truthful political agenda the world will ever be able to abide in.

Read this quote from Dr. Greg Boyd:

"While Jesus never entered the fray of political debates, everything about Jesus’ life revolted against the politics and social norms of his day. It’s why he was crucified. He was involved in what we today would call “non-violent civil disobedience.” In this sense Jesus was a political revolutionary."

We serve a King that calls His kingdom-dwellers a people not of this world but a people that are in it! We are in this world. We are not called to avoid politics nor are we to use Christianity to domineer it. We are called to serve.
To give.
To hope.
To pray. [Are you prepared to pray for whomever becomes our next president?]
To change with influence, love and sacrifice.
To take drastic steps in this restoration process that our King has begun and will complete!

Kingdom-dwellers like Martin Luther King, Jr. had faced opposition from birth until death. He faced opposition at birth because he was black. He faced opposition his whole life until he was murdered because of his political expertise and his willingness to follow a "dangerous unselfishness" that turned the other cheek towards the politics of man but followed the politics of Jesus.

The politics of Jesus? You know, like:

1. Love God with all your heart...,
   
2. Love your neighbor.,
   
3. Feed the hungry,
   
4. Clothe the naked,
   
5. Quit pointing the finger at same sex marriages while the divorce rate in the evangelical church climbs higher than any other,
   
6. If the evangelical church world would like to bring the percentage of abortions down than they should stop having them.

That dangerous unselfishness is what killed Jesus as well. Even upon the cross with a crown of thorns and sign over his head written in three different languages that this is the King of the Jews, Jesus forgave His enemies. Three different languages tells you just how cosmopolitan and diverse that area was. And Jesus with a demonstrative act bore that title in great pain and suffering and allowed love to win over the politics of evil men and restored from that moment on the truth and power that has taken root and will ultimately reign in the Kingdom of no end. The political realm was given hope and truth at the crucifixion of Jesus like all things were and just as all things will be restored.

It is far too easy to call Jesus apolitical. Those who do simply have found thier own way out of taking responsibility for poverty, greed, war, and injustices. On the first day of an earthly king hearing about another King coming, the earthly king slaughtered babies out of fear and envy. It is the same in so many churched worlds today. When truth invades our self-built kingdoms that have imitated the coolness of the world over the imitation of Christ we are but given a choice to surrender to the King of Love or bow before the throne of death. We all know that Herod did indeed bow before the throne of death.

Jesus - apolitical? The Bible tells us from the moment Jesus was born(while on the run) until He died that He stared in the face of the kingdoms of this world not with a look of destruction but with a proclamation of conquering death that says indeed this Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords.

How can He be such a King and Lord and be apolitical?
Well, to be apolitical means to avert politics but yet He is King and Lord - so the aversion to politics is where?

The aversion is from those who fear the truth of a dangerous unselfishness.

Search our hearts, O great King. Search our hearts.

1 in 6

1 in 6 children in Ohio are hungry tonight.

The Vision That Guides Us

I wrote this out of inspirations gathered in thought with the stereo turned off in the car(as I like it) from Henri Nouwen's; Compassion and Ken Wilson's teaching on; The Quest for The Radical Center.

We Christ-Followers are so very much like pilgrims.

One thing is the fact that pilgrims come toward a common destination. It is not where we have come from but where we are going that unites us or at least helps us to tolerate each other(Ken Wilson) until our love will be perfected when the day comes when we collide head on with the City of the Great King. A Kingdom which runs parallel with the kingdoms of Earth and it has no end and is not swayed nor is it shaken. The common destination isn't necessarily about our departure from the world but it is about the arrival of the dwelling of God with us forever!

This is the kind of pilgrimage that tells us that we are not at home but we are headed there but what makes it stand out is that we are not in some kind of "waiting room" mode but we are participants of the Kingdom at hand. We are participants in building what is and is to come.

Revelations 21.1-5 describes what that common destination looks like:
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

This vision ultimately guides us from all of our separate and distinct places in the body of Christ and leads us on the journey that demands us to rely on one another through the work of the greatest gift of all- love. It is described here in Revelation 21 in order to give us vision for our journey. Because our arrival from our journey will break us into a clear-cut humble state of being and the work of our hands, feet, hearts and minds will be forever in perfect peace, rest and celebration. Wahoo!

How is it that we know this place is real? I mean even as a Christian we have these doubts - do we not? We see that this vision of the not-yet-but-almost-here is a confirmation thrown back at us from the future. It's a strong seed of hope that has been gently placed into our hearts and each and every day it seeks to root itself deeper and work towards that bursting action that leads outward into a full bloom of hopefulness that aides in the rescuing of those around us.

We can't describe it like the back of our hands but only with the eyes of our hearts. So what does that look like? We know this place, this common destination, by a citizenship that has been given to us here and now for the here and now and also for the not yet. We know this because we yearn for it. We breathe because of it. We long for it. We hope for it. We run to it and we run for it and when we run from it His grace seeks to be in pursuit of us even if it must chase us into our darkest corners.

How do we identify with this Kingdom at hand and this Kingdom yet to come?
It is revealed to us each time strangers are welcomed into our lives
and into our communities of faith,
each time the naked are clothed,
each time the sick and the prisoners are visited,
and each time oppression is overcome.

We realize we are more and more a part of this identity when we begin to approach this vision that guides us with a sense of wonder and anticipation and humility. A sense of ownership over us by our Creator King thrusts our hearts into the depths of sacrifice and a desire to live in Him occupies our every waking thought. We see His majesty when a newborn takes it's first breath of air and we praise Him. We see His care for us in the people that invade our lives with friendship and great acceptance. We begin to echo His lavishing upon us as we purposefully seek to give our own selves away towards the needs of others. This is how we know the vision that guides us is truly guiding us!

A couple thousand years ago a discussion began with two very confused and discouraged followers of Jesus. They were leaving Jerusalem heartbroken because their leader had been savagely beaten and killed. They were on a road to Emmaus which was another place that most assuredly had experienced the devastating effects of oppression that the Roman Empire had weighed down upon it. Crushed hope paved this road to and from Emmaus.

Who shows up GENTLY to comfort them and walk with them and listen to their DOUBTS? Who shows up to delve into the great history of the children of God and give vision and purpose and revelation?

Jesus.

He moves in subtly with care like a surgeon at work.

He goes on to be with them and even have dinner and
teach perhaps the most personal and incredible Bible study
ever recorded in all of history and then He leaves humbly and quietly.

Stay focused on this occurrence. Jesus began a conversation with these two. That conversation is still being carried out today by you and I. It is NOT a conversation meant only for the business driven and institutionalized church or the intellectual gospel bearer.
It is not just meant for the elite.
It is not meant for only pastors to dialogue with other pastors about it as if they own it.
It is a conversation that invites every single one of us into the discussion.

Let's see... I don't recall Jesus giving job interviews or checking applications in order for any of us to be of any use or even demanding that we be strong in our theology in order to represent Him. In fact, it seems that Jesus always confounds us by using the least of these. We have been asked to respond to His calling. We have not been forced to respond to Jesus nor have we been given the right to demand from others what we don't practice ourselves.

[Insert confessional time here.]

Take for instance the whole plan of a Crucified Messiah. It certainly does not mesh very well with the Western world view of "powering up" in order to take over. We so often think that the Jews were incredibly stupid for not knowing who Jesus really was when we have our Bible studies and discussions as we plagiarize the opinions of writers that fit our arguments. How is it that the poor get poorer and the Church in America seeks refuge in presidential elections, popular opinion polls and craves for media attention like a heroine addict seeks a fix? How is it that churches spend tens of thousands of dollars on marketing campaigns that embrace the culture of cool in order to "power up" when poverty is crushing our neighborhoods?

Dorothy Day said it well when she said, "I wonder: Have we even begun to be Christians yet?"

The vision that guides us is a lot to consider with our hearts and minds. It's a vision that changes everything about the world we've been surrounded by since birth. It's a vision that redeems here and now and provides us with incredible capability to be heart-wrenchingly involved in the restoration of all things.

That vision:
A crucified king alive and forever enthroned who reigns over a Kingdom that is here and now and not-yet and it is like the mustard seed that expands and spreads out and houses even the unwanted and it's law is love.

DIT Fest 2008

Our 2nd Annual partnership with DIT Fest raged through the Vineyard building in downtown Kent over the weekend. 35 plus bands gave their time, efforts and music to the event and drew at least 1,000 people throughout the 2 day event that was free.

The fest brings the DIY philosophy of do-it-yourself and merges it into DIT or do-it-together. While bands play friendships are born. Causes and efforts geared towards fighting poverty are shared throughout the event.

The Vineyard building was packed wall to wall throughout the 2 day fest of punk, folk-rock and clear-cut music from the heart. When asked if there were any "christian" bands I just had to laugh and say, "there are no such things as christian bands there are only bands".

God demonstrates His love for all and most certainly is the Giver of each and every gift displayed and slapping the word "christian" before the word "band" does not sanctify it by any means.

I'll tell you where you find Jesus in it though. You find Him serving the thousands of free cups of coffee, peanut butter sandwhiches, and free sheet pizzas galore. You find Him loading the bands in and out and giving them shelter for the weekend(yes... bands slept all over our building and wherever they could find a comfortable zone and we awoke them with fresh coffee and pastries in the morning). He was there with every hardened heart towards the Americanized Church and hearing the cries of the youth through their angst filled prayers through song.

The event not only was just flat out fun and a huge blessing to us but it also brought business to several places in downtown Kent and it cost us all nothing to share what we had. We spent ZERO money advertising it and in fact brought in money to provide fuel for traveling bands and for ARM which is an effort we spear-head to help furnish apartments for folks coming out of homelessness.

Be the Doer

In the midst of seeking God and relaying His message to so many that feel worthless and in the process of fighting poverty there are so many times that cynics arise and attempt to tear down.

There will be those that will bring endless debates to the table simply because they are "angry" and have full-time salaries that allow them to throw out cynicism toward the laborers. Unfortunately, their claim is usually followed by a memorized piece of Scripture to justify their weary judgements.

So during these times in ministry when you will be criticized for caring for the marginalized here's what you do to stay away from the pointless arguing and in the way of Jesus:

1. Avoid wasting time over fruitless discussions that rob the time you could have given to someone that is hungry and naked.
   
2. Stay away from efforts that tear down with the tongue instead of build up with the entire body.
   
3. Oppose the American Institutionalized Church that embraces competitive driven agendas and popularity polls by re-directing your frustrations and turning them into the energy and effort that considers others more valuable, especially the needs of the poor.(Thomas Merton has great things to say about that!)
   
4. Be the doer and not the talker.

A favorite young and excelling teacher of mine is Rob Bell. He has been criticized by self-proclaimed theologians that are quite frankly just - angry people. I am most excited to think about what Rob will have to offer in the next 30 plus years especially because of the display of leadership he shows at a young age despite the critics.Rob Bell has handled the cynics with great leadership and teaching. Here's an example:

Gettin' Inked

After 17 years together, 12 years of that being married and four kids later my super hardcore wife and I went out for our twelfth anniversary and got tattoos.

This was my sixth tattoo and my wife's first. Now, for a first tattoo you'd think my wife would just get some cute little butterfly no bigger than a nickel down by her ankle. But no, my beloved went for the 6 inch long tattoo on her bicep!!

One flower for each of our kids.
She's so quiet but yet just so tough.

The Real Question of WWJD

This is a response from someone that is a great friend to me. I asked him his thoughts on Christianity especially with what he sees right here in our city that we both live in and work in, the whole WWJD thing and the perspective he has on the "church" because he is not a christian but man does he "get it"!

Here it is, read it and weep:

What Would Jesus Do? a response from Steven May

We see this acronym plastered on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and hanging from key chains all in typical American fashion. And, keeping in step with typical American thought, it has become a meaningless gesture to be no more than a symbol of inclusion.

So, what would he do? A good question to be posed. First, we need to ask, are Jesus' life and words a set of stories to be told once a week to give individuals relief of their conscience as they stroll off the six other days to feed institutions that create poverty, war, and ignorance across the globe. Or, was his life and words an example, a call to action. If it is simple scripture to be quoted, then we are mere children poised on a fence gazing at an orchard, but never tasting the delicious fruit within. But, if it is in fact a call to action, the question is, what wouldn't Jesus do.

He wouldn't build a church that cost millions of dollars and took in even more in revenue, while children mere miles away picked through garbage to gain enough sustinence to live one more day.
How do I know this? Because he didn't, his church was no more than his body and the earth, and his life was dedicated to the needy.

What would he do then? He would openly defy authority in the church and in government, as he did in his time and was ultimately sentenced to death for it. And, as some churches openly display the flag of a nation built on the genocide of the indigenous people who came before, I wonder do they really consider what would Christ do. Would he wave the flag of a nation who's prisons are comprised almost exclusively of people from at or below the poverty line? The same prisons where 80% of the population is comprised of blacks, although they only make up 10% of the national population. Would he support a system that executes the mentally retarded, or anyone for that matter? For a non-white homeless man who was sentenced to death, we need to truly ask ourselves, what would Jesus do?

Does Christ hold a special place in his heart for conservative white upper-class americans, as many churches would lead you to believe? Or, does he love gay activists, communists, muslim fundamentalist bombers, abortion doctors, and drug addicts equally? I say he does, only because I've read his words and know the life he lived.

What would Jesus do? He would take action to help the poor, the imprisoned, the sick, the homeless. He would challenge the government that allows and perpetuates these social ills. He would challenge the churches who pick and choose doctrine to justify greed and material wealth, while children go hungry.

I know all these things because it is what he did, in his own life. So, maybe instead of hiding under fish symbols and acronyms, we should contemplate what Jesus did do.

Hayhurst on the mound for the Padres!

A good friend of mine, Dirk Hayhurst, started pitching Major League baseball yesterday for the San Diego Padres.

I'll be officiating his wedding in October - that'll be a story in itself, I'm sure. It's been surreal talking to Dirk as he made his debut in front almost 40,000 fans. He's such a good man, a great writer and exceptionally talented at sarcasm!

It was great sitting around a living room full of his friends as we listened to the game here in Kent as he started the game out there in San Francisco. I think we all wanted to explode in tears of joy as we tried to imagine what our friend must have been feeling like as he reached that place that every passionate baseball player strives for.

Here's how it went for him: MLB.com

Dirk was also named the Community Man of the Year in Portland just a few days ago where he was playing for the Minor League team, the Portland Beavers.

Statistics shmistics!

67.7% of all statistics
are made up
on the spot.

Crap... how the heck will folks coerce people into coming to "church" now that I've exposed the truth about statistics with statistics?!?!

Feel like wrestling?

Here is a link to an article definitely worth reading. It's written on Greg Boyd's blog and it is so very worthy of wrestling with. I've been reading lots and lots of Greg's essays, blog entries and some great "Q & A" sessions.

Here it is:
Washing Osama's Feet

Hopefully, when you go to the link and take a nice long look at the painting of Jesus washing the feet of the leaders around the world you will begin a discussion with Jesus on the great love of God. Take God's word for it... not just what your pastor says because even he/she jacks it up.

A Nice Way to Crush the Mundane Way of Things... Enjoy

"The Shack" by William P. Young : my personal book review

Excerpt from “The Shack”;

Chapter 10 Wade in the Water

page 149

“You mean,” Mack interjected a little sarcastically, “that I can’t just ask, ‘What Would Jesus Do’?”

Jesus chuckled, “Good intentions, bad idea. Let me know how it works for you, if that’s the way you choose to go.” He paused and grew sober. “Seriously, my life was not meant to be an example to copy. Being my follower is not trying to ‘be like Jesus’, but it means for your independence to be killed...”

This book, The Shack, has become more than just “a favorite” to me already but it has become, without a doubt, a true treasure in our time. You simply cannot put it down.

It has been quite some time that I’ve been able to read a book and allow it to let me weep in public without a care of who was around me. As you can see, the little excerpt above is enough to chew on for a while especially because of the loving and necessary convictions it brings to us Westerners. It’s little moments like this one that fill every grace dripping page of this book and make you wrestle with your heart, your own personal agenda for your life and where your heart is when it comes to knowing our Father who is in heaven.

Not surprising to find though are the angry critics that have labeled the book to be a work of heresy. The theology in it is amazing and incredibly well painted. After all, any book that gets praised by Eugene Peterson is surely worth your while. The way it is all laid out is ingenious and masterful. Western Christians need a good jolt of creative genius injected into their mechanisms of business driven Churches and individualistic philosophies. God is at work in this - so be blessed and majestically wrecked by it.

Most of the negative critiques are coming from those that are having a hard time with the way that the Trinity is portrayed. God is seen as a large African woman who goes by the name, “Papa” and is not some gray haired long bearded shiny white man. I’ll admit that it does cause some much needed discomfort at first but as you read along you are certain to become engrossed into the beautiful theme of grace, forgiveness and restoration.

The difficulty with the book that I had was wrapped around the fact that I am a father of four and three of the four are my precious girls. So any book about a six year old girl being abducted and murdered and then follows the despair of a father who blames himself is not an easy read. However, the road to restoration is absolutely gut-wrenching and sweet.

Hope you have the guts to cry in public - it’ll do you some good.

Togetherness: the companionship of nobodies

Pittsburgh was never a place that could grow on me. I spent a good nine and a half years there and it still is just a place that I lived in for a while. The first two years were a time set aside for the Art Institute of Pittsburgh where I was studying to obtain a degree in Video Production and Music Business.

I didn’t spend much time studying as I already had a good grip on my “field” and not in a prideful sense either, but more or less I really focused and narrowed in on my ability to consume lots of drugs and alcohol. Most of my days at the school revolved around my several “pit stops” at the bar across the street during breaks where I’d down a pitcher of beer in under five minutes before class would start again and so I could function in my own reality. And that was just a normal day. During the course of any normal day I had at least the equivalence of a twelve pack of of beer rolling around inside of me.

My younger sister had transferred to Pittsburgh as well to finish off one more year of school and we shared an apartment together during the first of the two years I had ahead of me. She was by far the best room mate I ever had. When she was done with school the time came for me to find my own apartment.

So I landed myself in an apartment on the southwest inner city section of Pittsburgh. The best part of the location was that my girlfriend lived just about a half mile down the road from me except she wasn’t a drug user at all. So I kept my drug life oblivious to her. And not only that but she was still in high school so she wasn’t allowed out at night during the school week. A part of me just didn’t want to corrupt her. Honestly.

I had lots of “sort of” friends at the Art Institute but most of my classmates were like eighteen and I was twenty-two at the time. I didn’t have a lot in common with most of them and they pretty much just drank on Friday nights at weekend dormitory parties because they were away from home for the first time. So occasionally I’d hang out with them but most of the time distance and the lack of a vehicle kept me from being able to do so regularly.

I loved the privacy of my own apartment and I did enjoy the seclusion of it. However, since I didn’t have a lot of friends to hook up with I could feel the loneliness setting in. I wouldn’t be depressed or sad about it either. I just wanted the company of others from time to time and realized that being alone wasn’t always good.

I had taken a part time job at a local grocery store where I had become friends with an older guy named Mark. He was a Vietnam Veteran with a flare of hippie stuck on him in his tone and in the way he talked. He was kind and easy to talk to. We started hanging out together after work by having a few beers at the Redstone Tavern and then we’d head off our separate ways. Mark was cool and I am always up for a veteran to share a story or two.

One night at the Redstone, Mark mentioned to me that he needed a place to stay. It wasn’t a problem since Mark was good people and I liked drinking with him. So he mentioned that he needed to grab his belongings and that he just needed to crash until he could get enough money saved for a new apartment. So I insisted on helping him get his stuff. So we started walking and followed some train tracks that ran out back of the bar for about a quarter of a mile. We then veered right and headed into the woods. Mark walked a little in front of me and then kind of disappeared into the branches of a huge pine tree.

So I followed.

It took a few seconds for me to realize that this was Mark’s “home” as I watched him fold up a blanket and pack a suitcase with all his belongings that were under the natural shelter of this pine tree. Mark was homeless.

I could see that he was trying to cover his shame as he gathered his belongings and so I helped and didn’t bother discussing why he was out here sleeping in the woods. So I reassured him of the comfort of my apartment, a freshly stocked fridge of Black Label and a recent purchase of some fine ganja. Mark’s face lit up and we made way for my place.

Mark was actually a decent room mate for the most part. I just had to kick him out every once in a while when my girlfriend came over.

As the months went by it seemed that my place started becoming a sort of haven for a small group of co-workers and neighbors that were more like outcasts. There was Glen, who was in his upper thirties and was a total pervert. He was a belligerent drunk who constantly talked about how he wanted all of the young cashiers and actually thought he had a chance. But we knew between his mannerisms and his horribly fake hair piece there was no way he’d even get a conversation out of one of those urban teen age girls.

Somewhere along the way this other guy named Mike weaved his way in to our little circle of misfits. He was a boarder staying in a house down the street from mine. He was gay and spent a lot of time maneuvering subtle hints of him wanting me when we all partied. I remember one night he brought the movie “My Own Private Idaho” over to my place. He also brought some wine and wanted to make it a “date”. So I watched the movie, drank the wine and then kicked him out. I guess I wasn’t any better for using him to get me drunk as he wanted to use me for his own desires.

There I was a twenty two year old musician hanging out with a forty-four year old homeless veteran, an upper thirties pervert and a fifty year old homosexual. When I look back at it now it makes me sad. Why did we hang out when we had so many differences? What was it that brought us together?

The upfront answer: Companionship.

We were each desperate for relationships in some way or another. We ached inside for that part of life where you get to share your life with others and then eventually you get to call them - “my friends”.

We came together constantly for fellowship but that fellowship only functioned if it was high. Be it alcohol, marijuana, LSD and/or cocaine we gathered around it as it was the center of us. To leave that experience and that part out of it meant that we probably weren’t going to get together. But when we all chipped in and scored some stuff then the partying raged and the gathering would motor on. If I had more than enough dope for myself well then it meant that I needed to share that experience with someone else.

Most drug addicts don’t like to party alone. They end up alone because their friends end up in prison, dead, in rehab or they find religion. In fact this story took pace in the same year that three acquaintances of mine died from drug related deaths. One was a heroine overdose and the other two committed suicide in the the way of the gun in the mouth and then pulled the trigger because crack and ecstasy took them into what they thought was an inescapable solitary confinement.

It is hard to re-visit this place and this is but one year out of the twelve or so that I spent as an addict. Not only because of the loss of friends but remembering the godless place that we had each dwelled in is much more painful. The longing for something more screamed out so loud in each of our lives and we found what appeared to be but a sliver of hope in our togetherness. We realized that we each had something to give toward one another and so we tried to make that “save us”.

The problem was that our center of togetherness was nothing more than selfishness. We used each other for our own gain. To get higher and then have each other as justification of it. Our energy and effort was focused more on what we could get out of our coming together rather than what we could put in to it. It thrived off of what someone else had and not what we could give. Our gatherings relied on our own strengths and agendas.

Eventually, our little crew disbanded. Partially because my close friend Mark disappeared one day. I came home from work and all of his belongings were gone and so was all of my money. I wasn’t even mad at Mark for taking my money because he had no home. My heart, however, was so very crushed that he did it without saying goodbye. A year later we’d make amends. That is another story and a miracle in itself.

The word togetherness does not contain the same meaning of community. They are two different words that work side by side to obtain what is good in the eyes of our Triune God who exists infinitely in perfect community. Togetherness is but a portion of what community is. I refuse to explain what community should look like or even be because it can only define itself as it is experienced and lived out. Dietrech Bonhoeffer said it best: “Those who love their own idea or dream about community will destroy it. Those who love the people around them will create it.”

Togetherness on the other hand can be looked at and talked about and dissected. It is like the rungs on a ladder. You need those rungs to be together all in their place so that they can function for their intended purposes. If you narrow the Church down to just being something at a time and a place then you have stripped it down to it’s unintended purpose. Our own ideas of togetherness outside of His way pulls God’s creative masterpieces off of the walls of His galleria of beauty and depreciates them to be “paint-by-number” no named works of normalcy that carry no importance whatsoever. I look at my four children and weep over them with great love and passion because they are mine. I don’t look at each one of them and determine if they have have different kinds of worth value. I’d die for each one of them no matter what.

I sought out companionship with a group of nobodies before I came to know the Truth and the Life. Our togetherness, although temporary, kept us afloat for a little while. But because we used each other to get things for ourselves it could not bring about life and therefore it could not be sustained. We relied on our own efforts and it came crashing down.

I do believe that somehow in that drug-circle we were each in our own way crying out to God. We were just too busy thinking about our own needs. It reminds me though of the time when Jesus went over to have dinner at Matthew the tax collector’s house. Matthew had Jesus and what was the beginnings of the disciples over for dinner and did I mention that that was right after Jesus asked Matthew to quit his job on the spot and follow along.

What is more astounding: The fact that Matthew left his job to follow Jesus or the companionship that took place immediately afterwards? I can never get over the beauty of this gathering at Matthew’s home. There stands the religious leaders on the outside looking in criticizing the whole thing(critics risk very little which is why they tend to stay on the outside of what they are criticizing). The disciples didn’t know what to do but they knew love was weaving it’s way in because they couldn’t escape the presence of the God that their hearts were drawing near to minute by minute as Jesus sat RECLINED eating dinner with notorious sinners, and republicans... oops I mean tax-collectors. Just kidding - I couldn’t resist!( I’m a registered republican by the way!)

Jesus dines in the companionship of nobodies. Why? Because there sits a group of nobodies aching to be loved by the Ultimate Somebody. No competitiveness amongst them, no agendas or debates, no titles and degrees to wave around, no “my idea is better” than yours, no critics. Just a group of folks gathered in the presence of Almighty God where life blossoms and love enters the hearts of His lost children. Just a group of folks that see the goodness in being a nobody. Whether that be with 5,000 people or with 3 people makes no difference as you find Jesus in both places.

I hope to always be in the companionship of nobodies. Where no one cares to have something bigger, better or cooler than anyone else. Where people don’t worry about whether or not we fit in as opposed to just loving people in the way of Jesus. Where we live a life that constantly gathers people to become nobodies like us. Always pointing away from ourselves to Jesus and allowing only His ways and His life to make us into the somebody that only He desires.

Being a nobody in the world means you are worthless. Being a nobody in the Kingdom has the opposite effect. Mother Teresa put it like this: “Like Jesus, we belong to the world, living for others and not ourselves.” We associate the word “nobody” with worth value and importance. But giving up yourself into the hands of our Creator and setting aside the weariness of this world and being seen by Him as a precious gift eliminates the need to be somebody because you are forever His. Because you belong to Him forever. Because you are owned by Him forever. No need to be somebody when Love calls you His home.

People fight for themselves out of desperation in order to gain attention and acceptance and to be loved. When we truly realize that God has already fought for us we will begin to value what it means to be a nobody.

That quirky dislocated group of drug addicts and sex addicts that I dwelled with was gathering for companionship and to take care of each other. Although it was for selfish reasons it did contain some elements that the Church gathers for: companionship and to take care of each other. The difference is that the Church is the body of the Giver of Life and so life eternal has begun and the companionship through Him brings about healing and restoration forever.

Being a nobody is freedom in Him because you are His everything.

Togetherness: the beauty of it

On May 20th at 8:55pm my younger brother Tim, an officer in the United States Air Force, stepped off of his flight that carried him home from the war in Iraq. We awaited his arrival as we peered anxiously down the long hallway filled with passengers scrambling through and around each other.

There was a group of us made up of around 25 or so waiting for him. Our children waited with sagging daisies in their hands for their Uncle Tim. My Mom paced the floor, my Dad kept his grandchildren entertained, and I

tried to fathom the return of one of my brothers who was smack dab in the middle of this war.

I cannot even begin to describe the waves of relief, emotion and happiness that swept over us so silently and powerfully as he appeared in the distance coming toward us. When he was within shouting distance we began to do the "wahoos" and clap. It was especially impacting when he was finally within 20 feet of us and without instruction we parted like the Red Sea for our Mom to greet her "little boy" who had returned from a far away place. And my how she wept as her 6 foot 6 inch 225 pound giant son wrapped his gargantuan arms around her 5 foot 4 inch frame. That was a moment I'll never forget. We all began to cry at the sounds of my mom's weeping as she grasped her son like he was a 5 year old who fell off of his bike.

There is so much to be said in these moments. My family is close but not always. That is not a cynicism on my part or even a criticism. It's just how it is. However, that's where I refuse to leave it. To leave it that place called "that's just how it is" is the place I have despised and always will. The place called "that's just how it is" is the place that breeds loneliness and dispute.

I remember when I had left home for the third time. Back when I was like 19 years old and constantly at war with my Dad about everything, I could not exist in the same environment as him. We just weren't close and were never getting along. I wasn't home for five days this time and we had gotten into a pretty big fight that made me start packing up again to leave. My mom came into my bedroom and knew I was frustrated and hurt. I recall saying to her that all I want is "to know my Dad". My mom in turn said, "I'm sorry but you never will." In other words, "get over it" and move on.

Now she wasn't saying it to hurt me more but to just lay it out that my Dad just doesn't know how to do that part of fatherhood so instead of me wallowing around in all that hurt she wanted me to just push on and understand the reality of the situation.

I could not blot that out and embrace the "that's just how it is" place. It gnawed at my heart all the time. I wanted so desperately to know my Dad but even more for my family to know each other more and more. I just wanted EVERYONE to get along and not in some Utopian version but just the real life version.

There have been many things that have brough

t us together and many things that have caused hurtful divides. It's always the moments that bring us together that outweigh the moments that divide. They are the moments that bring healing and unity. This doesn't mean we ignore the divisive parts but that we learn from them as well as the moments that unite us.

My sister had put together a Welcome Home party, for my brother Tim's return from Iraq set for May 25th. Planning the party began with the obvious: finding a place to do it, setting the date, etc. Since my family is 50% Irish my sister decided to have the party at an authentic Irish Pub. She began asking for everyone to chip in and help out. It was a no brainer because we're family. Everyone began getting their personal schedules worked out and made every effort to set aside their own plans for the celebration to come. Each of us put in the things we new how to do well for the sake of one.

Now, my family is huge. I have 6 brothers and 6 sisters. When we get together with all of our kids there is well over 50 of us in one place. So planning stuff out is never easy and never trouble-free. In order for our family gatherings to be really good and a gift in itself, it requires sacrifice from each of us.

Sacrifice doesn't mean we have to be miserable or do the work that makes us just kind of tolerate it. Sacrifice can be a joyful part of life if we realize how so very much it can be a blessing to God and each other.

Since the party was at an Irish Pub what better way to bless my brother and family and friends than to bring some live music to the party. It's what the Irish do. So I began to write music that revolved around my family and our friends and then one particular song that was all about my brother Tim and that song is called "Our Superman" because Tim has been a fan of Superman since he was 2 years old.

When the moment came at the pub to perform the music I was so nervous. The songs were a gift from not only me but from my brothers and sisters who wrote down their fondest memories of Tim and then gave them to me so that I could transfer them into a song that would then go be for him and for us too. I was nervous because I knew that in the constructing of the song that in my family there are hurts that aren't healed yet but I also know that there is a lot of love too and my hope was to be able to repres

ent my whole family and not just myself.

The pub was pretty full and my family gathered somewhat close to the stage as I began to sing the first of 3 songs that I wrote for the night. The first song was about family and what it means to be the love in it. The second song was based around our memories of Tim. The third song was the gem and the one that truly represented what Tim meant to us all. I poured my heart, guts and soul into this one in particular because it was all just for him.

Here's what was really cool. My tough soldier of a brother sat about 2o feet away for the first two songs. Then when I began the third song he moved up to the edge of the stage by himself and we looked at each other eye to eye when I sang a line to him about this night being all about him. Tears began to fall from his eyes, mine and everyone else joined in the beauty of sharing tears of joy and love for one another. That song was the best and I made it purposefully long so that he'd get the point of how much he means to us all. The song is like 11 minutes long and is built musically on my emotions for him and lyrically on our deep love to him.

When I was done, my

brother came up on the stage before I could even get my guitar off and just hugged me so good. I will never ever forget that moment. How my family came together that night and loved on each other and laughed with each other was overwhelmingly beautiful. It was as if every hurt was just thrown out and discarded in an instant and who and what we really are to each other took shape in the form and design that God had intended in the first place.

Since that night just 6 weeks ago my family has been talking more and hanging out more because we've been reminded of the beauty of togetherness and how it defines us in the way of love and it's power to lift us up above the hurt of this world and even the hurt that we inflict.

Each and every church community whether Lutheran, Catholic or non-denominational is called to be just like this. To see the beauty of togetherness in the way it is intended to be. Just like my whole family set aside our agendas for just one we are to do the same as a church body for Jesus. To give ourselves fully in sacrificial ways that cause joy and hope.

We gathered in a bar with lots of different folks together and sang songs and I even had a song that everyone sang that was all about giving thanks to God for all we have. A bar full of people getting hammered(not everyone but almost everyone) singing thanks to God. Respecting and loving one another. Holding on to that moment as dear and precious is something that I hope and pray for Christians to do more and more in their communities of prayerful worship and love.

Gathering on Sunday as a church body to worship God and hear His word can so easily become a duty and/or a burden. If we see it as a duty and/or burden then that is all it ever will be. If we hold it as precious and yearn for it to be sacred then it will bring healing to us all and it will be a continuous gift to our heavenly Father.

The scriptures talk of the beauty of the Lord. We are His body and the body partakes in His beauty when it comes together.

The cure to fearing each other is in the surrendering to beauty of togetherness.

Togetherness: the fear of it

My day is beginning with the sounds of the Dropkick Murphys, Common and The Evens as I am pondering the church and how we actually spend time together.

I wonder with such deep frustration as to why it is so difficult for the church to be the church. In all my years of pastoring and leading it seems to always be the same obstacles that cause us Christians to embrace a stagnant stage in which we stay away from the church to do our own thing. Now don't get upset just bare with me because I am not some perfect example to follow but I do know that every time I kill my agenda - God shows up and I am wrecked and fixed up again and able to continue in the work He has laid out for me that day. 

What is this all about? What does it mean to follow Jesus? Why don't people embrace studying the Bible more as a community instead of when it's convenient and comfortable? Why do we have to criticize each others perspectives before we can worship the one true God? Why do we busy ourselves with so much stuff that has nothing to do with being Kingdom-Dwellers in a world that has so very much lost its way? 

Togetherness has become a fear to the Christian. There are these moments that I have when I get sick of Sundays. I love my brothers and sisters in Christ that I worship with but I get sick of the routines we do in terms of "going to Church". The answer is not to eliminate gatherings of the Church because that is not Biblical. The answer lies in the uncomfortable willingness to strive for what is good, right and true and in the purpose of our Holy God. 

Togetherness is God's idea for the church which does not include our own individual belief systems of what we think God is really saying. Now wonder why we fear it because it involves us eliminating our plans to embrace the ONE plan - His.

Togetherness annihilates individualism in the Kingdom. It is another design that God has ordained to grow us up in His likeness. I wonder with all of the busyness in our lives where it is that we so often forget that in order for us to be together with God it cost Him dearly.

We know it is not easy to live for what is good, right and true but yet we are called into that kind of lifestyle. What is good, right and true? There is only one that is good, right and true - Jesus. That is it. Jesus is always the answer no matter how freakin' cheesey we think that is or how much we cringe at that answer and if we do cringe as Christ-Followers then we are so very much dwelling in the unintended place that will continue to allow a subtle and slow darkness to constrict the ability for us to truly love. Jesus is what it is always about and what it always will be about. To live for what is good, right and true is the life intended and the purest form of it approaches us in the life to come. 

Part of the struggle to maintain togetherness in our society revolves around Christians just wanting to be cool and relevant instead of loving and realistic. Do you grow tired of hearing people say that we need to speak of our faith in a way that it is "relevant". There's even a magazine out by that title. Or is that not cool to say that? It's just another "cool" thing to purchase and throw on the coffee bar at our churches so that people will hopefully think that we're cool too or hopefully they'll think that "we get it" so now we are close to being cool. Or... we need to look more like a Panera Bread of Starbuck's so that folks will come to our deal. Okay - end that rant!

Honestly, I don't understand what it means to be relevant with a story of a King who lived His whole life all for one very important moment that would require for Him to give His life away in the most painful way possible so that you and I, who weren't even born yet, would believe in love as the solution to all the darkness, death and sin in this world. 

How is that relevant?? How is the life of Jesus relevant to the world?? Do you speak about Jesus with relevancy on your mind or faith in your heart? I mean it doesn't make sense if you're spending your time fighting for relevancy for the sake of coolness. In terms of faith and mystery - now that makes me gaze at Him in wonder. It makes me grow in my faith because it takes faith to believe in His story which is what He asks of us. To trust and believe in Him just as I tell my kids when they're afraid of a thunderstorm at night, I tell them I am there and that there's nothing to be afraid of because I am watching over them throughout the night. 

We talk about it and dissect it and tell each other all about our own personal theologies - but my God, how is it that we don't stand in awe of Him and how is it that we can set aside going to worship Him together because we're too tired or need time "away"? Seriously, why do we work ourselves to death all week and then when it comes time to gather as the church body we pick that hour or two to be alone?

Because we fear togetherness.

Togetherness depletes the fuel that it takes in order for selfishness to have its way. Togetherness confronts our intentions and weeds out the impurities that we fight to hold on to. We are selfish to begin with. For myself - I think throughout the day about everything that I do and how many things I wish I could avoid(and sometimes I do) because I want for me first. That's so far from the way of the Cross. (I pray to at least remain in it's shadow, for if I can still see but just the casted shade of that instrument of death, that we call "the cross", then I know that my perimeter is still encompassed by mercy and grace and my longing to please myself will surely be put to death by the love of a King who embraced death so that I may live!)

Togetherness is not the way of our society. I recently received an invite to a church planting seminar that is called an E-Luncheon where you sit in front of computer and hold a discussion with a bunch of other pastors and eat lunch... alone. To me that says we can all be safely away from other people so that we can still be the master of our domains. We're afraid of each other. Real human contact is what God's requires of us. I want feel your laughter shake the frame of my body and then share my laughter and some farts too!! Being together because of Him. In Him. Through Him and then giving it back to Him. Otherwise there is no life. There is only death apart from Jesus.

God's plan is made up of His great sacrifice and His Church making that known to the world. Making His story of sacrifice known means that the Church lives a life of sacrifice and then the world will know who we claim. As Paul wrote it out for us "To live is Christ, to die is gain."

We, the church, are called His body by Him on purpose. He makes a definitive point with that analogy. You can't chop off someones arm and then throw it out into their backyard and tell it to rake the leaves. It ain't gonna happen!!!! And it's gross! 

The difficulty of togetherness is that it requires us to be Christlike. We have differences which means we must show respect toward one another. When we disrespect one another then we must choose to forgive for it is the only option for the follower of Jesus. We cannot demand for our needs to be met but long to meet the needs of others with great love. When we are taken advantage of we are called to be wise, kind and patient not vengeful and destructive. We are called to be humble and compassionate to a world that knows only the way of "me".

Have you placed your ways on the Cross? Or does that scare you too much. The Christian life was never intended to be a do-whatever-we-want deal. Church is not supposed to be a place that displays a smorgasbord of things so that we can pick and choose whatever works best for our schedules. I know this will upset us but when has embracing the Cross ever felt like a warm soft blanket. That's why the scriptures talk about that war within that looks like us doing the things we hate instead of doing the things that we love. 

Togetherness is essential for every and any church community. The poisons that destroy it are our own selfishness, our demands to be loved and then refuse to love, wallowing in our defeat, the mentality that the church owes me, remaining uninvolved and disconnected from the body, and refusing the disciples life.

Now what is even harder to comprehend is that when I say it like that people get upset but then you can flip open your Bible and see that I simply relayed the message that was written down already by God to us. Christians today will get mad if you tell them to read their Bible. 

I understand there's lots of pain and misery in this world. But we haven't been called out of that darkness so that we can spend the rest of our lives looking back at it when there is all this abundant life in front us just there for the taking and then we get to give it away! 

While writing this I received a phone call from a woman in a homeless shelter. She wasn't calling for food, or clothes or money but for a Christ-following community. Her words were, "I need a church community to care for my soul because when I am alone and away from the church I feel like I am dying." Can you argue against that? Maybe we need to lose some things like her in order to see the need for the church and get our eyes off of ourselves.

Togetherness is His plan. I thank God for the people in my life who were relentless at telling me to never forsake the gathering of the Church. I was able to go and worship with the "mega-church" of our city last week and share with them about serving the poor. I am first to be cynical about mega-churches but they embraced me with love and we worshipped Jesus together. It was ALL about Him. 

What else matters?