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!