“Love Came Down at Christmas” is a very popular Christmas hymn. In it, Christ is lifted up as the physical embodiment of love and the hearers are called to remember that and celebrate it especially during the Christmas season. What shapes your understanding of love? If the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ isn't the basis of your understanding of love, then you view of love will always be slanted and unstable.
When it comes to the Christmas story, love is all around, even from the very announcement of Jesus’ birth. Gabrielle went to Mary and told her, “Greetings O favored one, the Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28). This can be translated, “Rejoice (be glad), graceful one (charming one, beautiful one, highly favored one), the Lord is with you.” The next verse says that these words troubled Mary. It was not the angel’s presence that troubled Mary, it was the angel’s words that troubled Mary. She did not believe that God would think that highly of her, that lovingly of her.
Do you really believe God loves you? In the last “Good Words to Remember” we saw how we are God’s beloved. Have you been thinking about that since you read it? Many churches have been talking about the Advent themes of hope, peace, joy, and love these past few weeks. Love is the basis of these other virtues. Without a belief that God loves us how can we have any hope for the future, any peace with our past, or any joy in our present circumstances? When you have hit bottom, when you feel like the lowest of the low, do you still believe God loves you? Jeremiah says, in Lamentations 3:
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—
the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there’s one other thing I remember,
and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:
GOD’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with GOD (I say it over and over).
He’s all I’ve got left.
If you feel like you have lost your grip on hope, like you don’t have peace with your past, or like you don’t have joy in your present circumstances, ask yourself where you are in your belief in God’s love for you. For many, it is fear that is holding them back from believing that God loves them. They fear that they are not good enough for God’s love, like they have not earned God’s love. We never will be good enough for God’s love and we never will earn God’s love but God loves us because he is so good and he gives good gifts to all.
Gabrielle immediately addressed Mary’s fear, called her by name (letting her know he knew exactly who he was talking to), and told her God was with her, even in her low, despised, state. By the end of the conversation, we see Mary at peace with God’s plan for her, hoping in the future birth of Jesus, and running off in joy to tell Elizabeth all about it. She says, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior for he has regarded my low estate.” True worship only comes when we realize that God regards/loves us, even in our lowest of low.
LOVE – A good word to remember.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Good Words to Remember - Beloved
Beloved
Do you hear this word often? It is not a word that is used very often today, but it should be. In the very short book of Jude it is used four times to speak of those who are called by the Father and kept in Jesus Christ. Dear brother or sister in Christ, do you really believe that you are the beloved of God? Of course you can say that you love him and he is love, but do you really believe he loves you? Does he love you, warts and all, with all of your imperfections on the outside and the inside? Remember, he can see the inmost parts of you, the things you hide from everyone else. He sees past façade you construct to get the approval of others. He sees past it and says, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’” (Romans 9:25)
A prolific writer on the love of God (Brennan Manning) said, “I could more easily contain Niagara Falls in a tea cup than I can comprehend the wild, uncontainable love of God.” We lose sight of the gospel so often and go back to thinking we can somehow earn his approval by the devotionals we read, the amount of Scripture we read, or the amount of time we pray. The truth is that if you are an adopted child of God, even though you cannot comprehend it, you are called his “people” and his “beloved” not based on anything you do, but based on the accomplished work of Christ on the cross.
Are you having a bad day today? Have you gotten caught in a cycle of shame that you think you will never get out of? Do you think you are no longer his “beloved?” That is a lie of the Enemy, trying to get you to trade in a relationship based on grace for a routine based on works. Remember that you have something that can never be taken away from you, something that is a gift from the creator of life. It is an enormous gift to be called his “beloved.” Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of that as you go through your day today and him to reveal ways in which you can pass his love to others because you are his beloved.
Beloved – A good word to remember.
Do you hear this word often? It is not a word that is used very often today, but it should be. In the very short book of Jude it is used four times to speak of those who are called by the Father and kept in Jesus Christ. Dear brother or sister in Christ, do you really believe that you are the beloved of God? Of course you can say that you love him and he is love, but do you really believe he loves you? Does he love you, warts and all, with all of your imperfections on the outside and the inside? Remember, he can see the inmost parts of you, the things you hide from everyone else. He sees past façade you construct to get the approval of others. He sees past it and says, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’” (Romans 9:25)
A prolific writer on the love of God (Brennan Manning) said, “I could more easily contain Niagara Falls in a tea cup than I can comprehend the wild, uncontainable love of God.” We lose sight of the gospel so often and go back to thinking we can somehow earn his approval by the devotionals we read, the amount of Scripture we read, or the amount of time we pray. The truth is that if you are an adopted child of God, even though you cannot comprehend it, you are called his “people” and his “beloved” not based on anything you do, but based on the accomplished work of Christ on the cross.
Are you having a bad day today? Have you gotten caught in a cycle of shame that you think you will never get out of? Do you think you are no longer his “beloved?” That is a lie of the Enemy, trying to get you to trade in a relationship based on grace for a routine based on works. Remember that you have something that can never be taken away from you, something that is a gift from the creator of life. It is an enormous gift to be called his “beloved.” Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of that as you go through your day today and him to reveal ways in which you can pass his love to others because you are his beloved.
Beloved – A good word to remember.
Monday, November 16, 2009
FALL 2009 Brennan Manning in Birmingham, AL (session 1)
I finally got to meet the famous author of one of the greatest books I have ever read, Brennan Manning. I actually still have a few pages to go in The Ragamuffin Gospel. I cannot believe I am just now reading this book! I am going to post my notes from the four sessions over the course of this week. Here are the notes from session one. Know that these are rough notes, not a manuscript by any means. Some of the thoughts seem to just cut off…that is a combination of my wondering mind and the way Brennan spoke. I literally thought he was going to pass out a few times, especially on Friday night. Many of the things he said are well worth repeating and I hope they are things I will be sharing with others and living myself for the rest of my life.
My books have aimed at dispelling myths of God and helping them experience the God of Jesus Christ. This is the main business of Christianity.
God’s love is so great that he will no allow us to keep false images, not mater how much they comfort us.
The truth of the intimate love of God is echoed in the unique love of God. God loves me as I really am, a bundle of paradoxes and contradictions.
Aristotle says I’m a rational animal. I say I’m an angel with a capacity for beer.
Do you believe that God loves you so much that he would rather die than be without you?
Feb 8 1956 – In a 4 hour experience of Gods passionate love for me. It changed the entire direction of my life.
Do you believe that God loves you? That he is crazy about you? If not, you are projecting onto Jesus your own negative thoughts about yourself.
Do you believe that God loves you as you are and not as you should be? Nobody in this building is how you should be. Only you can answer that question. It is the sheer work of Grace for us to live in the house of love rather than in the house of fear.
My books have aimed at dispelling myths of God and helping them experience the God of Jesus Christ. This is the main business of Christianity.
God’s love is so great that he will no allow us to keep false images, not mater how much they comfort us.
The truth of the intimate love of God is echoed in the unique love of God. God loves me as I really am, a bundle of paradoxes and contradictions.
Aristotle says I’m a rational animal. I say I’m an angel with a capacity for beer.
Do you believe that God loves you so much that he would rather die than be without you?
Feb 8 1956 – In a 4 hour experience of Gods passionate love for me. It changed the entire direction of my life.
Do you believe that God loves you? That he is crazy about you? If not, you are projecting onto Jesus your own negative thoughts about yourself.
Do you believe that God loves you as you are and not as you should be? Nobody in this building is how you should be. Only you can answer that question. It is the sheer work of Grace for us to live in the house of love rather than in the house of fear.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Good Words to Remember - Meaningful
Over and over in Ecclesiastes, King Solomon repeats the exact opposite of this word. He shouts it four times in his opening sentence, saying, “‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’”
If you give Ecclesiastes a mere surface reading, you will walk away thinking it is a very depressing book. You must look deeper. Solomon had everything he could have wanted, materially, but he found it all to be meaningless…under the sun. Many theologians say this phrase means “apart from God.” When realized as such, Solomon’s words wake us up to the reality that we can have all of the earthly pleasures that advertisements and commercials tell us we need, but as long as we are pursuing them “under the sun” it will be a meaningless pursuit.
A meaningful life is lived when we do all things, even eating and drinking, not “under the sun” but “through the Son” because “in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him” (Colossians 1:16). “Under the sun” even the loftiest of the world’s delights are meaningless but “through the Son” even the lowest of the world’s duties are meaningful.
Meaningful – a good word to remember.
If you give Ecclesiastes a mere surface reading, you will walk away thinking it is a very depressing book. You must look deeper. Solomon had everything he could have wanted, materially, but he found it all to be meaningless…under the sun. Many theologians say this phrase means “apart from God.” When realized as such, Solomon’s words wake us up to the reality that we can have all of the earthly pleasures that advertisements and commercials tell us we need, but as long as we are pursuing them “under the sun” it will be a meaningless pursuit.
A meaningful life is lived when we do all things, even eating and drinking, not “under the sun” but “through the Son” because “in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him” (Colossians 1:16). “Under the sun” even the loftiest of the world’s delights are meaningless but “through the Son” even the lowest of the world’s duties are meaningful.
Meaningful – a good word to remember.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Humility vs. Humiliation
Nothing says power struggle like those two little letters put together…“vs”. Life seems to be so much of a power struggle sometimes and it is exactly that struggle that leads so many into the addictive cycle they so want to have power over.
What is the difference between humility and humiliation? I was with a group of friends a few days ago and this topic came up. Don’t you wish you had my friends? One of my older and wiser friends, who is often known as being
once again worded it perfectly…I will not do so here…so, here is my paraphrase…Humility comes from within and humiliation comes from without. To unpack that, humility is something that is an inner gift of the Spirit while humiliation is something that Bret Favre wanted the Packers to feel last night in MNF.
So I started thinking…maybe the more humility we accept, ask for, and cultivate in our own souls, the less someone else has the power to humiliate us. Humiliation, a synonym of shame is one of the main drivers of the addiction cycle but if we continue to humble ourselves before our Maker, he will lift us up above the accusations of the many who are trying to shame us – even the ones who don’t even know that is what they are doing.
I have had a long streak of sobriety, longer than I have had in a long time and the Enemy is taking this as an opportune time to try out some old lies on me to see if I, maybe getting somewhat prideful of my sobriety, might believe them again. He is saying, you are married now so you are fine. You don’t need “accountability” anymore. What did it do for you anyways?
It is only humbling myself before my Maker, remembering that my life has become unmanageable but because of his grace I have been redeemed and will be sustained to the day when all evil is gone, that I will be able to go throughout my day avoiding the ambushes the Enemy is setting for me. The Enemy wants to ambush me, trap me, and leave me wounded so that I might go back to my old medication cycle, which is a trap in itself.
Derek Webb says it well. “I don’t want medication just give me liberation even if it cuts my legs right out from underneath don’t give me medication I want the real sensation even when living feels just like death to me.”
What is the difference between humility and humiliation? I was with a group of friends a few days ago and this topic came up. Don’t you wish you had my friends? One of my older and wiser friends, who is often known as being
once again worded it perfectly…I will not do so here…so, here is my paraphrase…Humility comes from within and humiliation comes from without. To unpack that, humility is something that is an inner gift of the Spirit while humiliation is something that Bret Favre wanted the Packers to feel last night in MNF. So I started thinking…maybe the more humility we accept, ask for, and cultivate in our own souls, the less someone else has the power to humiliate us. Humiliation, a synonym of shame is one of the main drivers of the addiction cycle but if we continue to humble ourselves before our Maker, he will lift us up above the accusations of the many who are trying to shame us – even the ones who don’t even know that is what they are doing.
I have had a long streak of sobriety, longer than I have had in a long time and the Enemy is taking this as an opportune time to try out some old lies on me to see if I, maybe getting somewhat prideful of my sobriety, might believe them again. He is saying, you are married now so you are fine. You don’t need “accountability” anymore. What did it do for you anyways?
It is only humbling myself before my Maker, remembering that my life has become unmanageable but because of his grace I have been redeemed and will be sustained to the day when all evil is gone, that I will be able to go throughout my day avoiding the ambushes the Enemy is setting for me. The Enemy wants to ambush me, trap me, and leave me wounded so that I might go back to my old medication cycle, which is a trap in itself.
Derek Webb says it well. “I don’t want medication just give me liberation even if it cuts my legs right out from underneath don’t give me medication I want the real sensation even when living feels just like death to me.”
Monday, July 13, 2009
Where Do You Get Your Ideas About Sex?
I was reading one of my favorite Birmingham publications (Black&White) and ran across this article about a sex theme park. What?! A sex theme park? Yep, China, a place where apparently talk about sex isn’t as wide spread as it is in these parts of the world was actually going to build a Six Flags of Sex. Hmmm… Of course the Chinese government wasn’t having any of that so they put the kibosh on that project, even making them take down the huge mannequin one would have to have walked through the legs of to enter the park. Think the story is over? Think again. It turns out that while the Chinese Love Land was getting all of this press there is a Love Land in South Korea that is open for business and has been for five years. Yep, we kept part of Korea free from Communist tyranny and look what they have used their freedom to do. Well, that’s one thing to do I guess.
So all of this brings me back to the original question. Where do you get your ideas about what sex is? It seems that in a part of the world where sex is a taboo subject for public discussion the pendulum is swinging to the opposite end. Now sex is the theme of a sculpture park. We have been kicking this question around at Tapestry now that we are entering out Summer of Love series of teachings through the Song of Songs. For me personally, I cannot remember sex being talked about in church, at home, or in my Christian school beyond the admonition to not do it before marriage and then only do it with the person you are married to. That’s it. What do you think the typical teenage response to that is going to be? OK. Got that. Nuff said. NO WAY! Especially when I was hearing all kinds of stuff about sex from my friends at school, and on TV. I was looking up anatomical terms and the word “sex” in the dictionary and in the encyclopedia and when I got to 11, I was spending more time at my friends houses who had Sinemax or Playboy magazines around. And of course there was the music I was listening to in my “Walkman”. Snoop Doggy Dog and EZ E were my teachers then. Now, of course I knew there was a difference between sex and romance. Where did I learn about romance? Boys II Men were my teachers there. I’ll Make Love to You was one of my favorite songs. Still, all I heard from home or church was, “sex is for marriage.” That’s it. I know I’m not the only one here. This is the USUAL story of people growing up in the church.
So, now we at TOH are going through the Song of Songs, seeing what the Bible has to say about sex and romance. It turns out that God actually has a lot to say about this invention of his, actually advising us on how to use it properly, beyond the admonition not to do it outside of marriage. WOW!
Give a listen to this sermon series and jump in on the conversation over at TOH Community to let us know what you think.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Im Just A Restaurant Prophet With My Hands In My Pockets
Now, Jesus knew well from experience that a prophet is not respected in the place where he grew up. So when he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, but only because they were impressed with what he had done in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, not that they really had a clue about who he was or what he was up to. John 4:35-45 from The Message.
Yesterday I was reading this passage in John and as I meditated on it I was brought back to the memory of when I was working on my undergrad degree in the thriving metropolis of Kosciusko, MS (the birth place of Oprah Winfrey) and was preaching at small church in Laurel, MS every week (twice on Sundays). When I was in Laurel and increasingly as I traveled across the state representing the college, my reputation began to build and I was becoming a respected up and coming Bible teacher / preacher. But, when I went home to Mobile, AL, to the church I grew up in, I was just a college kid home for the weekend. This verse brought comfort to me because I loved the fact that I was experiencing something Jesus experienced.
The thing is, I wonder why it was that I was just a college kid home for the weekend in one city and in the next state over I was having more speaking requests than I could fill (now this isn't bragging because I average about five speaking requests a year now and that is normally when someone is really desperate). Was it because they knew me better in Mobile? Was it that they know all of the silly things I have done, so it is hard for them to respect me? Maybe. I feel like the less somebody knows me, the more I keep the relationship a relationship of preacher and congregant, preacher and student, or whatever you want to call it, the more the person respects me and comes to me for advice. Maybe that is true and maybe it isn't. I know that there are kids from the various Birmingham ministries I have been a part of that still come to me and respect me even though they have certainly seen some of my ridiculousness. Whatever the case is, I need to know that people are watching me and I need to do my best to glorify Christ and lift him up. If I do that and people don’t respect me, then so be it. But, if I do not do that, then I have no right to complain when people don’t respect me. This has a lot to do with my situation at work.
I tell you what, working in the restaurant industry is a strain on my Christian witness. It is a place where I experience rejection coming from all angles and have plenty of down time to gossip and complain about people. You think gossip happens at an old lady’s bridge game? I have heard, and yes, been a part of, more gossip around the soda machine at a restaurant than I could have ever imagined. It is a culture at the restaurant and it is so hard not to get sucked up into it. It is just one of the examples of how stuff can hit you from out of nowhere and one (insert me here) can go from a reputation of being “oh that preacher who just started working here we better stop cussing around” to “just another guy that gossips and I couldn’t even tell he was an different from us.” I think the person I want to be known for, the type of “prophet’s respect” I am looking for, is somewhere in between those two things. I mean, if people just respect me when they really have no clue who I am or what I'm up to, that is really no respect at all is it? Where is the reality in that? There is no reality. I want something that is REAL.
God help us as we navigate those waters, trying to stay in the fairway between the roughs. What I need to remember is that when I get in the rough water of my mistakes, sins, addictions, obsessions, etc..., I have an awesome opportunity to lift Jesus high! Living in the fairway all of the time, something I'm never going to do since it is impossible, normally just leads to SELF glorification. So, while I pray that God will keep me in the fairway by his grace, when I wander off course, I pray that God will show me how when I am weak he is strong and how he can be glorified in the midst of my mistakes. I also know that because of the sanctification work going on in my life I can be brought back to the smooth waters of the fairway…until I drift off again
Copy and paste this link below into your browser to hear the Derek Webb station on Pandora I have been working on. I love it!
http://broadcaster.pandora.com/t?r=927&c=0&l=37961&ctl=171ABB0:B375FAE8D7699F913F36FB2C8E97A6D9&
Yesterday I was reading this passage in John and as I meditated on it I was brought back to the memory of when I was working on my undergrad degree in the thriving metropolis of Kosciusko, MS (the birth place of Oprah Winfrey) and was preaching at small church in Laurel, MS every week (twice on Sundays). When I was in Laurel and increasingly as I traveled across the state representing the college, my reputation began to build and I was becoming a respected up and coming Bible teacher / preacher. But, when I went home to Mobile, AL, to the church I grew up in, I was just a college kid home for the weekend. This verse brought comfort to me because I loved the fact that I was experiencing something Jesus experienced.
The thing is, I wonder why it was that I was just a college kid home for the weekend in one city and in the next state over I was having more speaking requests than I could fill (now this isn't bragging because I average about five speaking requests a year now and that is normally when someone is really desperate). Was it because they knew me better in Mobile? Was it that they know all of the silly things I have done, so it is hard for them to respect me? Maybe. I feel like the less somebody knows me, the more I keep the relationship a relationship of preacher and congregant, preacher and student, or whatever you want to call it, the more the person respects me and comes to me for advice. Maybe that is true and maybe it isn't. I know that there are kids from the various Birmingham ministries I have been a part of that still come to me and respect me even though they have certainly seen some of my ridiculousness. Whatever the case is, I need to know that people are watching me and I need to do my best to glorify Christ and lift him up. If I do that and people don’t respect me, then so be it. But, if I do not do that, then I have no right to complain when people don’t respect me. This has a lot to do with my situation at work.
I tell you what, working in the restaurant industry is a strain on my Christian witness. It is a place where I experience rejection coming from all angles and have plenty of down time to gossip and complain about people. You think gossip happens at an old lady’s bridge game? I have heard, and yes, been a part of, more gossip around the soda machine at a restaurant than I could have ever imagined. It is a culture at the restaurant and it is so hard not to get sucked up into it. It is just one of the examples of how stuff can hit you from out of nowhere and one (insert me here) can go from a reputation of being “oh that preacher who just started working here we better stop cussing around” to “just another guy that gossips and I couldn’t even tell he was an different from us.” I think the person I want to be known for, the type of “prophet’s respect” I am looking for, is somewhere in between those two things. I mean, if people just respect me when they really have no clue who I am or what I'm up to, that is really no respect at all is it? Where is the reality in that? There is no reality. I want something that is REAL.
God help us as we navigate those waters, trying to stay in the fairway between the roughs. What I need to remember is that when I get in the rough water of my mistakes, sins, addictions, obsessions, etc..., I have an awesome opportunity to lift Jesus high! Living in the fairway all of the time, something I'm never going to do since it is impossible, normally just leads to SELF glorification. So, while I pray that God will keep me in the fairway by his grace, when I wander off course, I pray that God will show me how when I am weak he is strong and how he can be glorified in the midst of my mistakes. I also know that because of the sanctification work going on in my life I can be brought back to the smooth waters of the fairway…until I drift off again
Copy and paste this link below into your browser to hear the Derek Webb station on Pandora I have been working on. I love it!
http://broadcaster.pandora.com/t?r=927&c=0&l=37961&ctl=171ABB0:B375FAE8D7699F913F36FB2C8E97A6D9&
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The Village Psalms Bible Study
Last night I met up with some of the guys from The Village to study the Psalms as I have been doing every Monday for about eight weeks now. The last two times we met, it was at Starbucks in Five Points South…where you can run into some for real characters! We have been sitting at the tables outside because the weather has been so nice and both weeks someone has been walking by and has heard us talking and asked if he could join us. We had a really cool guy, Tony, join us last night. Tony, like our friend from the week before, got really antsy when he saw the Birmingham Police pulling someone over just a few yards from where we were sitting….he didn’t tell us exactly why. What he did tell us was that years ago he would read the Bible every night and fall asleep holding his Bible. He told us that he wasn’t sure if he would be able to be part of a discussion about the Bible but he would try. About an hour in he asked us if we did this every Monday and asked if he could join us next week. As he walked away, Rob asked him how we could be praying for him. He asked us to be praying for his soul to get right with God. So, be praying for Tony. I hope he was blessed in some way by our discussion of the Psalms.
So, what did we actually discuss? This week we got into the categories/genres of the Psalms. They wanted to talk about some of the things I am learning in seminary and that was the first things Mark got into in our Psalms class at Beeson. I wanted to show them 3 main things…what a preacher I am…
1. The importance of realizing categories and how we use them everyday
2. That we cannot understand the categories of the Psalms as easily as we understand the categories we use everyday.
3. How to recognize what category a particular Psalm is in and what to do with that knowledge.
I think my favorite part of the discussion was that right around us there was a great example of what I was teaching (Starbucks, The Original Pancake House, and Surin West). We all understood that if we come downtown at 6:00 am we would only expect to get bacon and eggs at one of those places and we would only expect to get a cup of coffee and a muffin at one of those places. If we went there at 6:00 pm we would only expect two of those places to be open and would only expect to get a meal (a delicious meal covered in curry) at one of those places. Without knowing categories of restaurants, and what category those three restaurants fit into, we would be messed up. My next move was to point out how naturally we understood those categories and tell them that we cannot expect that we know the categories of the Psalms that intuitively.
Then, only having time to analyze one category of Psalms, we discussed praise psalms, particularly looking at Psalm 103. I love the last verse of the Psalm, Psalm 103:22. There he moves from telling all of creation to praise God to telling himself to praise God, which is exactly how he begins. Wouldn’t it be awesome if all preachers preached like this? David admonished himself from the beginning, wasn’t afraid to give that same admonishment to the gathered community (and even all created things), and then said again how he needed to obey the commandment. I find that it is sometimes easy to think of what others should do without realizing my own wandering heart. At the beginning of the day and at the end of the day my focus must be on whether or not MY SOUL is praising the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul!
So, what did we actually discuss? This week we got into the categories/genres of the Psalms. They wanted to talk about some of the things I am learning in seminary and that was the first things Mark got into in our Psalms class at Beeson. I wanted to show them 3 main things…what a preacher I am…
1. The importance of realizing categories and how we use them everyday
2. That we cannot understand the categories of the Psalms as easily as we understand the categories we use everyday.
3. How to recognize what category a particular Psalm is in and what to do with that knowledge.
I think my favorite part of the discussion was that right around us there was a great example of what I was teaching (Starbucks, The Original Pancake House, and Surin West). We all understood that if we come downtown at 6:00 am we would only expect to get bacon and eggs at one of those places and we would only expect to get a cup of coffee and a muffin at one of those places. If we went there at 6:00 pm we would only expect two of those places to be open and would only expect to get a meal (a delicious meal covered in curry) at one of those places. Without knowing categories of restaurants, and what category those three restaurants fit into, we would be messed up. My next move was to point out how naturally we understood those categories and tell them that we cannot expect that we know the categories of the Psalms that intuitively.
Then, only having time to analyze one category of Psalms, we discussed praise psalms, particularly looking at Psalm 103. I love the last verse of the Psalm, Psalm 103:22. There he moves from telling all of creation to praise God to telling himself to praise God, which is exactly how he begins. Wouldn’t it be awesome if all preachers preached like this? David admonished himself from the beginning, wasn’t afraid to give that same admonishment to the gathered community (and even all created things), and then said again how he needed to obey the commandment. I find that it is sometimes easy to think of what others should do without realizing my own wandering heart. At the beginning of the day and at the end of the day my focus must be on whether or not MY SOUL is praising the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Help With The Hamper
I think I have always been one of those people that was pretty eager to accept help. I think it goes back to this trip I was on when I was like 11 years old. My Mother, who has always been directionally challenged, was driving us from Mobile, AL to Columbus, MS. Now I know that is not a far drive at all, but then, I thought it was forever away. To make matters worse, there were large detours because of a bridge that was out. So, not only was my Mom not sure where she was going, now she was taking even less traveled roads to get there. At one point, after we had been on the road for hours, we saw the sign welcoming us back to Alabama. I don’t know if it was the downpour of rain, my screaming little sister in the car seat next to me, or the fact that I had watched too many horror movies about people getting lost in the country, but for some reason, seeing that sign welcoming us back to Alabama and knowing we were far from home made me panic. I couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t pull over and ask someone at a gas station for directions, though at this point, this far from the main road, I wasn’t too sure about that option either. So, I have never been afraid to ask someone where something is or admit that I have no idea what the answer is to a question, which isn’t a good thing when my manager is asking me questions about the new menu items and I seem as if I could care less what the answer is. I really do care; I’m just honest about it when I don’t fully know it, rather than trying to BS my way through it.
Last night I was standing up at the host/hostess stand at Brock’s and I saw a woman, who I knew was a guest in our restaurant, walking toward me. Eager to act is if I was taking care of company business and always ready to help the guest, I locked eyes with this woman and asked if she was looking for the restroom. She looked at me as if I had just asked her if she knew where her own head was and sternly told me, “It is through those doors. I know exactly where it is.” Taken aback by this, I told her, “Well there is a mirror in there and you might want to take a look in it before you return.” Not really. But it would have been pretty sweet if I would have. It was as if she was so irritated that I would think that she didn’t know where the restroom was and that I would offer to help her by telling her where it is.
I think we find this problem in churches a lot today. We all walk in like we don’t need help or if we do, it is only a little bit of help. I'm doing great brother! Great! How are you!? Galatians 6:2 Paul commands Christians to carry each other’s burdens. One of the things that struck me about that when I read it a few days ago was the context of Galatians 6:1-5. This is a spiritual brother/sister restoring someone who has been tempted and is caught in a sin. I don’t think this is “catch me if you can” kind of caught but “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” kind of caught. When are churches going to be the places where people admit their struggles and believe that real spiritual restoration will occur because the Holy Spirit is going to work through Christian family? When is John going to be transparent with the community and tell us what sins he is caught in and what burdens he needs the community to help him carry rather than telling us what sins his neighbor or family member is dealing with. When I guest preach at churches and preach on the prodigal son, I always hear stories of how someone is a prodigal that needs to come home. The kicker is that it is always some telling about someone else who is a prodigal who needs to come home. The person talking to me never thinks he/she is the prodigal!
Where does this start? This starts with the leaders and teachers in the church being transparent and honest about struggles in their lives. We don’t have to air out every bit of our dirty laundry but to act as if it is all clean in that hamper is a lie, a lie that Satan will be glad to help you keep up as long as possible. What dirty secrets are in your hamper? Do you have anybody in your life you feel is safe enough to confess to (James 5:16)? Is anybody in your life safe? Do people think you are a safe person to confess to?
Monday, January 19, 2009
Sweet Monday Action
This has been a great day! I am still pumped about last night, I am actually getting pulled in to the inauguration hype, and I am watching a MLK documentary (KING) in celebration of MLK day.
I posted Tal's sermon from last night here.
I posted Tal Prince Live from last night here.
(My heart sinks as I watch a national cable channel recount the bombing at 16th Street Baptist Church, a horrible tragedy that occurred just a few miles from where I sit and type now.)
Last night was a great night at Tapestry. As we sat and prayed over our gathering (something we do every week for about 20 minutes before the gathering) I could feel the Holy Spirit moving in me, letting me know this was something special we were doing tonight. People often say that as soon as they walk in the room where we worship, they can physically feel the presence of God. That isn’t anything you can conjure or make happen. God just chooses for it to happen and all you can do is be thankful for it and not overlook the wonderful blessing you have. Of course, we are gathered, asking for God’s presence among us and we set the atmosphere as much as we can with lighting and music but in the end, it is God’s decision and I cannot make Him do anything (nor would I want to).
I read Isaiah 44:9-20 from The Message and I could hear that the community was really hearing the words of this Bible passage. Sometimes Peterson hits the ball out of the park and I think his translation of Isaiah 44 is one of those home runs.
Tal used the story of Marcus Schrenker, how he faked his death (and was horrible at it) because he couldn’t keep up the image. He went on to say how we all need to die to our images but many of us are just faking our deaths because somewhere in the Bible we are told to do so.
I wonder if I am faking my death. Oh, I know I am faking my death. Well, it isn’t really faking my death as much as death to self just doesn’t come that easily. I was totally reminded of it last night and this morning as I signed up for Twitter. Now, I kicked against the multiplying wave of people looking for one more way to update everybody on the minutia of life and keep “networked” for long enough but I couldn’t hold out a day longer. I walked down the aisle last night, and I am tweeting with the best of them. I am not one of the best of them mind you…I am just out there tweeting along with them. Immediately I had two followers…at 4:00 am! Then I started looking at how Tal is following just a few more people than is following him and I thought that is the true sign of Twitter fame…when more people are following you than you are following. I thought of cutting the number of people I was following from 30 down to one so I could have twice as many followers as number of people I was following and then saw what must be the ultimate twitter triumph…Donaldmilleris is following one person while . I just thought of this one…if you could keep your number of followers above your number of updates. Nope. Not a good measuring rod. Barack Obama has 165,414 followers and only 264 updates, but he is following 168,134 people, so that whole followers over updates thing isn’t going to work out.
Why do I care so much about all of this? This is my image! This is the image that I hold up so high, thinking the world revolves around me…when clearly it doesn’t. I love looking at my little map on my blog and seeing where in the world people are who are looking at my blog. Who are you in Brazil? Whoever you are…I love you and you do so much for my little idol of an image. Seriously, this is crazy. I have like 9 blog readers and I think it is some kind of big deal and I am worried about how many people are going to follow me on Twitter now. So, now I am off to try to make my blog really cool like this guy from Atlanta who’s blog is so cool that they did an article on him in Collide Magazine. I especially love the way he has the little Twitter bird at the top of his blog...I need to get one of those.
I don’t have an image problem…I promise.
I posted Tal's sermon from last night here.
I posted Tal Prince Live from last night here.
(My heart sinks as I watch a national cable channel recount the bombing at 16th Street Baptist Church, a horrible tragedy that occurred just a few miles from where I sit and type now.)
Last night was a great night at Tapestry. As we sat and prayed over our gathering (something we do every week for about 20 minutes before the gathering) I could feel the Holy Spirit moving in me, letting me know this was something special we were doing tonight. People often say that as soon as they walk in the room where we worship, they can physically feel the presence of God. That isn’t anything you can conjure or make happen. God just chooses for it to happen and all you can do is be thankful for it and not overlook the wonderful blessing you have. Of course, we are gathered, asking for God’s presence among us and we set the atmosphere as much as we can with lighting and music but in the end, it is God’s decision and I cannot make Him do anything (nor would I want to).
I read Isaiah 44:9-20 from The Message and I could hear that the community was really hearing the words of this Bible passage. Sometimes Peterson hits the ball out of the park and I think his translation of Isaiah 44 is one of those home runs.
Tal used the story of Marcus Schrenker, how he faked his death (and was horrible at it) because he couldn’t keep up the image. He went on to say how we all need to die to our images but many of us are just faking our deaths because somewhere in the Bible we are told to do so.
I wonder if I am faking my death. Oh, I know I am faking my death. Well, it isn’t really faking my death as much as death to self just doesn’t come that easily. I was totally reminded of it last night and this morning as I signed up for Twitter. Now, I kicked against the multiplying wave of people looking for one more way to update everybody on the minutia of life and keep “networked” for long enough but I couldn’t hold out a day longer. I walked down the aisle last night, and I am tweeting with the best of them. I am not one of the best of them mind you…I am just out there tweeting along with them. Immediately I had two followers…at 4:00 am! Then I started looking at how Tal is following just a few more people than is following him and I thought that is the true sign of Twitter fame…when more people are following you than you are following. I thought of cutting the number of people I was following from 30 down to one so I could have twice as many followers as number of people I was following and then saw what must be the ultimate twitter triumph…Donaldmilleris is following one person while . I just thought of this one…if you could keep your number of followers above your number of updates. Nope. Not a good measuring rod. Barack Obama has 165,414 followers and only 264 updates, but he is following 168,134 people, so that whole followers over updates thing isn’t going to work out.
Why do I care so much about all of this? This is my image! This is the image that I hold up so high, thinking the world revolves around me…when clearly it doesn’t. I love looking at my little map on my blog and seeing where in the world people are who are looking at my blog. Who are you in Brazil? Whoever you are…I love you and you do so much for my little idol of an image. Seriously, this is crazy. I have like 9 blog readers and I think it is some kind of big deal and I am worried about how many people are going to follow me on Twitter now. So, now I am off to try to make my blog really cool like this guy from Atlanta who’s blog is so cool that they did an article on him in Collide Magazine. I especially love the way he has the little Twitter bird at the top of his blog...I need to get one of those.
I don’t have an image problem…I promise.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
KC part 1 (Sunday at Jacob's Well)
Today is a really great day in Birmingham. I had a great lunch with Tal and Marc, the weather is great, I posted the first recording of Tal Prince Live since August, and I just picked up my dry cleaning. What could be better? Now I figured it is as good of a time as any to write about my experiences in Kansas City while I was there to visit Becki during the second week in December.
I am going to start with my experiences at Jacob’s Well Church. Here are some pictures of JW that are on Tim Keel's blog. Since I knew I was going to be there that Sunday, I checked out their website, downloaded a few sermons, and familiarized myself somewhat with their staff. It turned out that familiarizing myself with the staff helped out because the regular teaching pastor, Tim Keel, was no preaching that Sunday. Instead, Deth Im was preaching. Deth is one of the associate pastors and he also serves JW as an elder. They were going through the themes of Advent (hope, joy, peace, love) which was awesome because that is exactly what we were doing at Tapestry! That is the kind of stuff that happens when you are following the church calendar, which is something we do a little at Tapestry but I later learned they do a lot at JW.
Deth preached on rejoice, which he said really means to be glad glad because the re prefix intensifies the word joy. One really cool thing they did was give us all tiny bells as we walked in and Deth asked us to ring those bells when we felt like something said or read resonated with us, instead of using our normal evangelical guttural sounds. That was a really cool thing. People rang the bells after Scriptures were read, people rang bells when they resonated with a truth of happy things in our lives and when they rejoiced even in the midst of pains in our lives. The texts he especially used as he taught were the magnificat of Mary in Luke 1 and story of the Israelites rejoicing in Psalm 126. This all led up to the final question of how does your soul magnify the Lord?
This sermon is an awesome sermon. I don’t always say that, so you can trust that I really believe that. Several things I liked:
ª The opening way he involved the entire audience with something fun AND used the context of the interaction as a launching pad for the sermon.
ª The way he shared personal stories, and what Calvin Miller calls his romance with the text. A lot of times preachers get really jacked up about something in the Bible and don’t understand why the congregation doesn’t get that jacked up too. What we don’t realize is that we had a long time of meditating over this passage before we got jacked up over it. Share the journey that you went through as you came to fall in love with this text.
ª The interaction brought by the bells
ª The way we read Psalm 126 out loud together during the sermon and then he invited people to say what they thought was going on there and what the writer of the Psalm was getting at. He used those thought, at almost the exact middle point of the sermon, as a catalyst to bring us to the end of the sermon.
After the sermon, Mike Crawford led us in “The Magnificat” and “Ring Out O Bells”. You really need to check out his Myspace page and get his new CD. I will be writing more on that later.
How does your soul magnify the Lord?
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Romans 6
I am really wanting to get into Romans 6 with the guys at The Village. I was reading it tonight and so much stuff was jumping out at me. (Reading back over what I have written here, I want you to know that what I talk about in the next to paragraphs are not the main things I want to teach the guys at The Village, though the importance of baptism and sanctification are subjects that I expect to come up.)
First, the importance of baptism in the believer’s life was so obvious. Of course the denomination I grew up in teaches that one is not saved unless he is baptized and this nifty NIV Study Bible study note on Romans 6:3-4 says, “In NT times baptism so closely followed conversion that the two were considered part of one event (see Acts 2:38 and note). So although baptism is not a means by which we enter into a vital faith relationship with Jesus Christ, it is closely associated with faith. I look at that and say that those verses in Romans 6 and Acts 2:38 sure do make good cases that one is not saved if he refuses baptism and even further, the case that one is saved at the moment he is baptized and not before. The bottom line for me is that my teaching on salvation is going to come from the NT examples. So, if after I talk to someone about becoming a Christian he decides he wants to become a Christian yet doesn’t inquire about when he will be baptized, I need to go back to the drawing board and figure out where I went wrong. I guess I just picture it to be like when Phillip was teaching the Ethiopian Eunuch. After being taught about Christ from Isaiah 53, as the Eunuch saw water he wanted to be baptized.
The second thing that jumped out at me was the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Romans 6:10 clearly states that Christ’s death to sin was once and for all and Romans 6:11 clearly says that we are to count ourselves dead to sin IN THE SAME WAY. So, that leads me to think that it is once and for all. I have been struggling a lot lately with this doctrine. Some of my friends present the logical argument that if there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation then there is nothing we can do to loose our salvation. I do agree that it is not on the basis of doing good things of following the law hat we are saved and neither is it on the basis of doing bad things or breaking the law that we might possibly pass back from the kingdom of light back to the kingdom of darkness. I do think that we have to accept the gift of salvation and I tend to think that just as we can accept it we can later reject it, saying we never really accepted it in the first place or maybe we did accept it but now we don’t want to have anything to do with it. I feel like my friends would say that person never really accepted Christ in the first place but only tasted of salvation and it was like seed scattered on rocky, shallow, or thorny ground, it was never going to produce fruit. Maybe they are right about that, so I think that there needs to be balance. People that don’t believe in “once saved always saved” need to quit acting and living like their salvation depends on the last prayer they said rather than on the saving work of Christ on the cross that stretches forgiveness all the way to the beginning of my life and all of the way to the end of my life. It doesn’t just wipe my slate clean and it doesn’t just obliterate my slate. It obliterates my old slate and then gives me a new one that has the righteousness of Christ written all over it so tightly that there is no room to write any sins on it. My sisters and brothers that believe that all saints will persevere to the end need to be real with people who show no signs of sanctification in their lives. People who show no signs of sanctification in their lives need to be told that a person who is justified shows signs of the Spirit’s work in his life and if you are showing no signs that you intend on following him, especially if you outright reject his saving work, you might not be a Christian (and I guess they would follow it up by saying, “and you never were one”).
The connection between Psalms and Romans 6, especially what I want to teach the guys at The Village out of Romans 6, is the connection of sin mastering a person’s life that is found in Psalm 19:13. I want Psalm 19:13-14 to be the theme of this group. I love that paragraph, Romans 6:11-14. I think that is the elaboration of "live a new life" in Romans 6:4, even though the NIV Study Bible note says Romans 6:8-10 is the elaboration of "live a new life." I think Romans 6:8-10 is the elaboration of "as Christ was raised from the dead."
So, my blogging friends, do you agree or disagree with me on my Romans 6 thoughts on baptism and the perseverance of the saints? What do you think about the connection between Psalm 19:13 and Romans 6:14? Thanks for walking this road with me. We need Jesus and he has given each of us deposits of His Spirit. Therefore we need each other. We cannot travel this journey of faith alone.
First, the importance of baptism in the believer’s life was so obvious. Of course the denomination I grew up in teaches that one is not saved unless he is baptized and this nifty NIV Study Bible study note on Romans 6:3-4 says, “In NT times baptism so closely followed conversion that the two were considered part of one event (see Acts 2:38 and note). So although baptism is not a means by which we enter into a vital faith relationship with Jesus Christ, it is closely associated with faith. I look at that and say that those verses in Romans 6 and Acts 2:38 sure do make good cases that one is not saved if he refuses baptism and even further, the case that one is saved at the moment he is baptized and not before. The bottom line for me is that my teaching on salvation is going to come from the NT examples. So, if after I talk to someone about becoming a Christian he decides he wants to become a Christian yet doesn’t inquire about when he will be baptized, I need to go back to the drawing board and figure out where I went wrong. I guess I just picture it to be like when Phillip was teaching the Ethiopian Eunuch. After being taught about Christ from Isaiah 53, as the Eunuch saw water he wanted to be baptized.
The second thing that jumped out at me was the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Romans 6:10 clearly states that Christ’s death to sin was once and for all and Romans 6:11 clearly says that we are to count ourselves dead to sin IN THE SAME WAY. So, that leads me to think that it is once and for all. I have been struggling a lot lately with this doctrine. Some of my friends present the logical argument that if there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation then there is nothing we can do to loose our salvation. I do agree that it is not on the basis of doing good things of following the law hat we are saved and neither is it on the basis of doing bad things or breaking the law that we might possibly pass back from the kingdom of light back to the kingdom of darkness. I do think that we have to accept the gift of salvation and I tend to think that just as we can accept it we can later reject it, saying we never really accepted it in the first place or maybe we did accept it but now we don’t want to have anything to do with it. I feel like my friends would say that person never really accepted Christ in the first place but only tasted of salvation and it was like seed scattered on rocky, shallow, or thorny ground, it was never going to produce fruit. Maybe they are right about that, so I think that there needs to be balance. People that don’t believe in “once saved always saved” need to quit acting and living like their salvation depends on the last prayer they said rather than on the saving work of Christ on the cross that stretches forgiveness all the way to the beginning of my life and all of the way to the end of my life. It doesn’t just wipe my slate clean and it doesn’t just obliterate my slate. It obliterates my old slate and then gives me a new one that has the righteousness of Christ written all over it so tightly that there is no room to write any sins on it. My sisters and brothers that believe that all saints will persevere to the end need to be real with people who show no signs of sanctification in their lives. People who show no signs of sanctification in their lives need to be told that a person who is justified shows signs of the Spirit’s work in his life and if you are showing no signs that you intend on following him, especially if you outright reject his saving work, you might not be a Christian (and I guess they would follow it up by saying, “and you never were one”).
The connection between Psalms and Romans 6, especially what I want to teach the guys at The Village out of Romans 6, is the connection of sin mastering a person’s life that is found in Psalm 19:13. I want Psalm 19:13-14 to be the theme of this group. I love that paragraph, Romans 6:11-14. I think that is the elaboration of "live a new life" in Romans 6:4, even though the NIV Study Bible note says Romans 6:8-10 is the elaboration of "live a new life." I think Romans 6:8-10 is the elaboration of "as Christ was raised from the dead."
So, my blogging friends, do you agree or disagree with me on my Romans 6 thoughts on baptism and the perseverance of the saints? What do you think about the connection between Psalm 19:13 and Romans 6:14? Thanks for walking this road with me. We need Jesus and he has given each of us deposits of His Spirit. Therefore we need each other. We cannot travel this journey of faith alone.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Romans 1
Having read Romans 1, I think Romans 1:1-2 really describes what we are trying to do at Tapestry. We try to show the good news of Jesus from all of the Scriptures. I recently had a friend from work come to Tapestry and he said that he had been to several churches lately and one thing that was different about Tapestry was that he heard a lot of hope in the sermon. That made me smile because I thought, “Hope is our middle name baby,” even though it is our last name. Another one of my friends from work was somewhat contemplating whether or not he was going to come to the sermon on divorce since he had recently been divorced and, I agree, he didn’t need to hear another “sermon” on divorce. The thing about Tapestry is that as I was talking to him I was able to certainly guarantee him that we weren’t there to shovel shame on sinners but to give all of the comfort and grace that Jesus offers. As a matter of fact, Tal had specifically told the rest of the worship planning team that he wanted comfort, comfort, comfort after the sermon. Now this doesn’t mean that we don’t call a sin by its own name. We do. But we also are transparent about our sins and our total dependence on the one that has put us in right relationship with the Father and is putting our lives back together as we continue on our journey here in this world and the good news that God loves you and that even though it may be difficult, he has a plan for your life. I am so happy to be in a church where I can be certain that hope in the good news of Jesus will be preached from every portion of the Bible. I love that hallmark of Tapestry. I just wish it wasn’t a hallmark of Tapestry but a regular part of the church as a whole. Romans 1:20 really stood out to me. Is that the cut and dry answer to the skeptic that asks, “What about the Crackatoans that have never heard about Jesus?” The cover story in the latest Newsweek is Lisa Miller’s article, “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage.” She quotes the Anchor Bible Dictionary as saying that nowhere in the Bible do its authors refer to sex between women. Well I think Romans 1:26 is referring to sex between women. Is it not? Anyway, I'm not trying to jump on a bandwagon, I’m just telling you what I'm reading. Probably the most convicting verse of this chapter was Romans 1:32. It seems that it is worse for someone to approve of these kinds of wickedness than to actually engage in them. My prayer is that I never applaud, but always regret my sins and the sins of others. Are all of my sins, past and future, removed? YES. Even though God can use my most wicked actions for His glory, I still wish I had not sinned in the first place. One of my friends said he does not regret anything he has done. I wonder about that. I think there are things I wish I never had done and hope I never do again. Do I sit around and think about my sins all of the time? NO. I don’t live in the shadow of sin and shame but in the shadow of the cross where all shame is dispelled.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Religionless Christianity
I was talking to Casey earlier about this paper he is writing, which I hope he shares on his blog when he is finished with it...although his publisher might not like him giving it away for free. We were talking about Bonhoeffer looking forward to a “religionless” Christianity. In this religionless Christianity there would not be special words than only Christians understood and only used when talking with their Christian friends. I think a lot of times Christians say these religious words without giving any explanation as if no explanation is needed. I think people that just say it instead of explaining it in beautiful ways in which people that have never heard of it can grasp it really don’t grasp it themselves. Now I do realize that there are people who grasp it but never explain it in ways in which someone who doesn’t understand it, or has little understanding of it can actually grasp it too. These people need to wake up and realize that not everyone has had their noses in theological textbooks for the last 30 years of their lives. At the restaurant I work at, I can mention foie gras, show you that it is available as an appetizer and how it is part of the duck cassoulet but, if I cannot explain it to someone in a way that is going to make it appetizing to him, he isn’t going to buy it. The same is true for terms like “justification.” I can mention that in a sermon but if I never explain it in a way that, as one preacher says, brings the cookies down to the bottom shelf, people aren’t going to be really amped up about it nor are they going to be able to live in light of it or understand how sanctification is different from it. So, is a term like justification just religious talk? Can we find a word that embraces all that is true and good about “justification” but looses the technical term that so many people don’t understand? The thing is, computers have technical terms that have to be explained and medicine has technical terms that need to be explained, so maybe theology has technical terms too, terms that aren’t going to be understood unless you explain them and the thing to do is not change the term but just make sure you explain the term to people so they aren’t afraid of theology. I hate it when people say they hate theology. I especially hate it when pastors say, “I'm not theologian but…” Give me a break. All Christians should be theologians of some kind. I love what Vintage Church is doing with this concept. So, I think we should remove the technical terms as much as possible, realizing that they are not always helpful, but also realizing that sometimes removing the technical term is less helpful than keeping it. In those cases, the goal is to talk about the concept in a way that is inviting and creative and then say… “and that, my friends, is (insert your favorite theological term here).”
Why is this on my mind? This not only comes from the conversation with Casey but from reading some in McLaren’s a Generous Orthodoxy, especially the epilogue where he talks about not wanting to be called an Evangelical but rather an evangelical and chapter 19 where he explains why he is Emergent. More to come on those two things later…
Why is this on my mind? This not only comes from the conversation with Casey but from reading some in McLaren’s a Generous Orthodoxy, especially the epilogue where he talks about not wanting to be called an Evangelical but rather an evangelical and chapter 19 where he explains why he is Emergent. More to come on those two things later…
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Theology on Tap last night
Life at Jackson’s Bar & Bistro is great. We have our worship planning meetings there, Becki and I meet Tal there for our counseling sessions, and of course we have “theology on tap” there. Good theology, good fellowship and good beer are what you can expect when you come to theology on tap. When we started going there about a year ago, we never thought it would turn into this. Almost every member of the front of the house staff comes up to our table on Tuesday nights to see how we are doing. Brett, Jessica, and Charles update us on their lives and they seem to really appreciate us coming in there every week. Brett even remembers when we put up the "free beer for your story" sign, something we havent done in quite a while. Last week the weather was great and the patio was packed. This week it was freezing cold…literally in the thirties…so the patio only had a few random smokers who would bear the cold to get that nicotine fix. We actually had to break up in to two tables last night which was what we knew we would have to do because it is so loud inside that having a discussion would be impossible. This week we hit excerpts from Penses by Blaise Pascal. He is already under suspicion just for the simple fact that he is a math genius but to top that off, he is French. Despite that, God has used him to kick us all in the nuts with words that were written down almost 400 years ago.
Foster sums up the chapter by saying that Pascal basically says that there are two contradictory principles at work in all of us: the greatness we have because of our creation in the image of God and the wretchedness we have because of the fall. He says that only Christianity adequately explains the contradiction and only Christ can lift us above our pride and lust.
Could it be that pride and lust are at the center of all sins? What do other religions have to say about our pride and lust? I don’t think they have much to say that is helpful. Buddhism basically says for you to get rid of all of your desires which as soon as you desire that then you have failed because you still have a desire. That’s a little like saying that there is absolutely no absolute truth. Islam gives you list after list of things to do in order to conquer your desires. Why are we full of pride and lust? It is because we are broken, busted people that are enemies of God just because we were born into it. The good news is that even though we are enemies of God, He still loves us and hung in there all the way through death in order to save us from ourselves. Though we still have to go down the road of sanctification, Christians can be sure that we are united with God and that is something the Enemy can never take away.
That is some of the conversation that went down last night. I thought it was a great night and I am so appreciative of the guys that were at my table. This is the most honest group of fellow travelers I have experienced. I love these guys. More of us Christian men should tell our brothers that we love them. Paul wasn’t embarrassed of it and we shouldn’t be either.
Foster sums up the chapter by saying that Pascal basically says that there are two contradictory principles at work in all of us: the greatness we have because of our creation in the image of God and the wretchedness we have because of the fall. He says that only Christianity adequately explains the contradiction and only Christ can lift us above our pride and lust.
Could it be that pride and lust are at the center of all sins? What do other religions have to say about our pride and lust? I don’t think they have much to say that is helpful. Buddhism basically says for you to get rid of all of your desires which as soon as you desire that then you have failed because you still have a desire. That’s a little like saying that there is absolutely no absolute truth. Islam gives you list after list of things to do in order to conquer your desires. Why are we full of pride and lust? It is because we are broken, busted people that are enemies of God just because we were born into it. The good news is that even though we are enemies of God, He still loves us and hung in there all the way through death in order to save us from ourselves. Though we still have to go down the road of sanctification, Christians can be sure that we are united with God and that is something the Enemy can never take away.
That is some of the conversation that went down last night. I thought it was a great night and I am so appreciative of the guys that were at my table. This is the most honest group of fellow travelers I have experienced. I love these guys. More of us Christian men should tell our brothers that we love them. Paul wasn’t embarrassed of it and we shouldn’t be either.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday night update
Check out Roger Cullins on NoiseTrade. He has a really good sound. I am really digging “Who Can Know Your Ways”
I just posted a bunch of Disney pictures on Facebook. Check them out and comment on them.
Part of fulfilling Beeson’s ministry internship requirements includes setting learning goals and having my mentor take me through certain action steps to show that I have made some tangible progress in these goals. One of the goals I picked was to work on my attitude. So, my mentor lowered the boom. He said that this is going to be an ongoing battle for me. He said that I will many times come across as arrogant and derogatory even if I don’t mean to. Well I guess that explains all of the times I thought I was being so innocent and Becki thought I was just trying to cut her down. And all of this time I thought the problem was with her. Imagine! The problem was actually me. I know this may come as a shocker to some of you, but we are going to just have to accept this and move on. So what do I do? I need to be intentionally watching for that. I need to get people in my life who have permission to let me know if my attitude is getting too sarcastic. You would think I would be offended at this but I totally wasn’t. It is a lot easier to accept criticism from a mentor when he admits his own faults and is as transparent about his fears and faults as Tal is. He even said he knew he could get too sarcastic and too far off making fun of people and that created an atmosphere, especially between me, Casey, and himself of being cliquish and arrogant at times.
Thanks for taking time to read.
I just posted a bunch of Disney pictures on Facebook. Check them out and comment on them.
Part of fulfilling Beeson’s ministry internship requirements includes setting learning goals and having my mentor take me through certain action steps to show that I have made some tangible progress in these goals. One of the goals I picked was to work on my attitude. So, my mentor lowered the boom. He said that this is going to be an ongoing battle for me. He said that I will many times come across as arrogant and derogatory even if I don’t mean to. Well I guess that explains all of the times I thought I was being so innocent and Becki thought I was just trying to cut her down. And all of this time I thought the problem was with her. Imagine! The problem was actually me. I know this may come as a shocker to some of you, but we are going to just have to accept this and move on. So what do I do? I need to be intentionally watching for that. I need to get people in my life who have permission to let me know if my attitude is getting too sarcastic. You would think I would be offended at this but I totally wasn’t. It is a lot easier to accept criticism from a mentor when he admits his own faults and is as transparent about his fears and faults as Tal is. He even said he knew he could get too sarcastic and too far off making fun of people and that created an atmosphere, especially between me, Casey, and himself of being cliquish and arrogant at times.
Thanks for taking time to read.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Ministering in the restaurant (part 2)
In the last restaurant post, I said that there was someone who I could really say was my enemy. I mean it. This guy seemed to be doing whatever he could to make me look bad at every turn as if it was his personal agenda for the day to make me have a bad day. I had been praying for him because Jesus says to pray for our enemies but then the craziest thing happened. All of the sudden we started getting along! He was super nice to me, we would actually have conversations, we would help each other out. People’s heads were turning. They couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it. He started asking where I was when I was gone and even telling people that he liked me. It was crazy! A few weeks later I realized that I had stopped praying for him. Now he was just a coworker that was nice to me just like most of my other coworkers. Tonight changed all of that though. I don’t know what happened. It was like a switch was flipped. Man, this guy was all over me tonight. I made a mistake. It wasn’t a big mistake, as a matter of fact, I think it is a mistake that is made often but he was making a HUGE deal out of it. And of course, I was in one of those moods. I wouldn’t back down. We had it out in front of everyone. Well later, one of the other cooks was saying how he couldn’t put up with this guy and just wanted him to get out of his face tonight. Apparently my enemy turned friend had told this other guy that the Bible is…cover your ears children…this isn’t G rated…Bull seit. Replace the e with an h of course. This guy was all mad that he had said that. Now, I am objectively out of the situation and I am able to tell him that he needs to have patience with doubters like that. I am telling him that there are plenty of people that don’t believe the Bible is true and we have to be willing to be used by Christ to win them over to God. I told this guy that my enemy turned friend would probably be most affected by his witness so he needed to remember that. My how patient I am. All of this conversation is taking place in the back of the kitchen. When I go up to the front of the food window again, my enemy turned friend (I guess turned back to enemy) jumps my case telling me that I had made the same mistake again. He told me that I was a dumb ass and that I needed to learn how to do my job right. So, I told him, “I am going to pull out this ticket and we are going to see who is a dumb-ass.” So I pulled out the ticket showing that I had done right and he says, “well then someone back here is a dumb-ass because they didn’t tell me that this ticket was up.” Then he tells me that I was a dumb ass earlier because of the mistake I made. So I told him to look at the ticket and tell me who was a dumb ass now. All of that after encouraging this other guy to be patient with my enemy. And all of this in front of the other guy. Well, I guess he is back on my prayer list. Christians in the restaurant industry know how dark of a place it is sometimes. Almost anyone in the restaurant industry knows how dark it can be sometimes. We Christians have to be praying for each other and encouraging each other everyday. It is a high stress environment but we need to know that people are watching us to see where our hope lies. Do we get just as stressed out as everyone else? Where is that peace that passes understanding the Bible talks about? Do we get pissed when a table leaves a crappy tip? What does the Bible say about the love of money being the root of all kinds of evil and what does it say about not worrying about what you will have tomorrow? If you are shining like a city on a hill then your light cannot be hidden.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Im not together but Im getting there.
I went to Chattanooga this weekend (unfortunately did not get a chance to visit those two beloved places, Ruby Falls and Rock City) because Tal was doing his porn presentation with Ruth Graham and Friends. He doesn’t like to travel alone, which is a really good idea because women at these conferences hit on him even though he is admitting his sexual sin. I guess somehow that turns some people on. So, Casey “Sea Bass” Hobbs and I went with him and I had a great moment with God as I read Thomas Merton’s book Spiritual Direction and Meditation later Saturday night in my hotel room. One of the most important things Tal talks about when he talks about the recovery process is accountability, which naturally includes the discipline of confession. I do not remember hearing much teaching, if any, on confession as I grew up in the church. There was not very much openness and honesty in the church I grew up in. Many priests and pastors have neglected this practice and do not have any practical understanding of how to take confessions or give spiritual direction to the penitent in order that he may avoid sin. As a pastor I want this to be one of the distinguishing marks of my ministry, that I not only preach and teach, but that I am loyal to receive confession from people in my church, am able to give direction and counsel for living in light of the gospel of Christ, and that I go into other churches and teach willing and able Christians how to give this kind of spiritual direction. So many Christians and even leaders are living a meaningless pantomime of perfection. This is precisely why so many sins have gained such a foothold in our church members and leaders today. The sin is kept secret and the secret feeds the shame and the shame feeds the addiction and the cycle goes round and round. How I wish this cycle would be broken and I believe the type of transparent spiritual direction Merton is advising, especially with novice Christians, is essential to robbing these secret sins of their power to perpetuate that cycle.
On page 27, Merton says, “ Even for a superior (What Merton means by superior is someone who has been maturing in the Christian faith for years, as opposed to someone new in the faith) a timely conference with a good director may resolve many apparently hopeless problems and open one’s eyes to unsuspected dangers, thereby preventing a disaster…In many cases the absence of direction may mean the difference between sanctity and mediocrity in the religious life…good directors are rare…If we really desire spiritual directors for our communities and for others, let us seek them. We can at least pray for this intention! He will raise up priests who will desire to give themselves to this kind of work, in spite of the difficulties and sacrifices involved. But there is always a danger that the priest qualified to seriously direct religious will be overwhelmed by the demand for his services.”
As I read Merton’s words, my heart was burning inside of me. I want to be that kind of director. Then it hit me that Tal is exactly that kind of director, even the completely overwhelmed part! God has me at Tapestry to learn this kind of ministry and to be able to go out to be this type of minister that is greatly needed. This ministry is not the glam youth ministry at a mega church that I wanted to do for years. At the Ruth Graham and Friends conference, Tal had 33 people in the first workshop and 36 people in the second workshop and that is if you count Tal, me, and Casey in both of them! Our church has about 30 people coming to it and Tal’s cell phone rings at all hours of the day with some addict he has never met and is probably going to lie to him for half of the conversation. And, he gets paid squat! In case you don’t know, squat isn’t a lot of money in Alabama. The conversion rate isn’t very good here.
I have been struggling for a few weeks about my position in ministry, my role at Tapestry, what I'm going to do when I graduate from Beeson and get married, and how the church down the road is swelling by the minute and Tapestry is barely filling the preaching lab. But this weekend, I laid in my bed thinking about our church, how Kellee McCoy was going to lead worship on Sunday, and how Tal wants to train me and Casey to do the ministry he is doing. I was thinking about how Kellee told me that he finally realizes what he should have realized all along, that he isn’t worthy to be leading worship. I started thanking God for that and then talking to God about how I'm not even worthy to hold the doors open as these wonderful, confessing, broken-but-in-repair people walk in the doors to our worship gathering. I said that I certainly wasn’t worthy to be breaking the bread and pouring the juice and praying over the communion element like I get to do so often. That’s when I started crying. God was giving me a wonderful, humbling vision for ministry and I think it is beautiful. It isn’t anything like what I thought it would be when I was going to Bible College and it certainly isn’t what I thought it would be when I was in high school but it is awesome and I'm so happy that I'm in the ministry position I’m in.
Monday, October 06, 2008
TOH Worship Gathering
Last night was amazing! I love being a part of this church. The whole night was a night of prayer, using the model prayer as a structure. We opened with some basic instructions, letting everyone know that we would be using the model prayer as a structure and telling them that after the Scripture was read to meditate on the phrase from the model prayer and pray out loud a prayer along the lines of that part of the model prayer if they wanted to. We used songs that went along with that section of the model prayer as bridges between the sections. There were some amazing responses to this. During the time of praying "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" conviction and repentance swept over that room like I have never felt before in any room. People were crying out for forgiveness and confessing failures. Tal challenged people to ask God to bless certain people in our lives that had wronged us. People all over the room were asking for strength to forgive people that they had been mad at and had been withholding forgiveness from for years! I was crying all night long. Some of the raw honesty that came out of some people broke my heart. As you will see in this lineup, we took sections from the Sermon on the Mount to go with each line from the model prayer. The Sermon on the Mount is one of the foundational texts for TOH.
Here is how we broke it down.
Song- Come and Listen (Marc always does a great job with this one.)
Our Father in heaven hallowed be Your name
Matthew 5:43-45
Time of Meditation
Song- How Deep the Father’s Love. (Alyssa Adalpe goes yard on this one everytime.)
Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Matthew 5:2-12
Time of Meditation
Song- Mighty Fortress (Casey and Jeanette stepped up to sing on this one.)
Give us this day our daily bread
Matthew 6:25-34
Time of Meditation
Song- The Air I Breathe (play through communion)
Communion Marc spontaneously sang a verse from Amazing Grace here. We always use the words from the book of common prayer as we explain the bread and wine. I normally say something about communion not only being a way to remember Christ but a way for us to realize our commonality in the body of Christ across the room, around the globe, and throughout time. At TOH the communion table is open to all who follow Christ, regardless of denominational affiliation. We tell people that they dont have to be a member of this church of any specific denomination but just be a follower of Christ to partake of the Lord's Supper. The one giving the Communion devotional says that in this we proclaim the mystery of our faith. And we all say together, "Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again." There is a great song by Charlie Hall on his new album that says "Celebrate His death and rising. Lift your eyes. Proclaim His coming." I love that.
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
Matthew 6:14-15
Time of Meditation - As I said earlier, this was a deeply confessional time of repentance for many in the room.
Song- Jesus What a Friend for Sinners (A great hymn. We just sang the first verse and the chorus.)
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil
Matthew 5:38-42
Time of Meditation
Song- Feels Like Redemption (A Michael English song that is right in Marc's wheelhouse.)
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen.
Matthew 5:17-20
Time of Meditation
Song- O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing (DC*B arrangement)
I think this was "a very Tapestry" worship gathering because we were seated in a circle with the communion elements and the cross at the center, we had a lot of overlap between songs and Scripture, we heard the gospel proclaimed in many different ways from many different voices as different people prayed and different people stepped up to the microphone to read the portion of Scripture from the Sermon on the Mount, and there was a single thread of thought that ran through the whole gathering.
This was an awesome night where I was just so honored to see God through the things we had planned. I really think God uses our worship planning team when we get together and focus and pray and seek Him on what to do for the week. Before we got together Wednesday, none of us had ever seen this done or had any idea how to pull it off. Now, I think it was one of the most meaningful worship gatherings I have been a part of. I love this church and I am so humbled that God would let me be a part of its leadership team.
Here is how we broke it down.
Song- Come and Listen (Marc always does a great job with this one.)
Our Father in heaven hallowed be Your name
Matthew 5:43-45
Time of Meditation
Song- How Deep the Father’s Love. (Alyssa Adalpe goes yard on this one everytime.)
Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Matthew 5:2-12
Time of Meditation
Song- Mighty Fortress (Casey and Jeanette stepped up to sing on this one.)
Give us this day our daily bread
Matthew 6:25-34
Time of Meditation
Song- The Air I Breathe (play through communion)
Communion Marc spontaneously sang a verse from Amazing Grace here. We always use the words from the book of common prayer as we explain the bread and wine. I normally say something about communion not only being a way to remember Christ but a way for us to realize our commonality in the body of Christ across the room, around the globe, and throughout time. At TOH the communion table is open to all who follow Christ, regardless of denominational affiliation. We tell people that they dont have to be a member of this church of any specific denomination but just be a follower of Christ to partake of the Lord's Supper. The one giving the Communion devotional says that in this we proclaim the mystery of our faith. And we all say together, "Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again." There is a great song by Charlie Hall on his new album that says "Celebrate His death and rising. Lift your eyes. Proclaim His coming." I love that.
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
Matthew 6:14-15
Time of Meditation - As I said earlier, this was a deeply confessional time of repentance for many in the room.
Song- Jesus What a Friend for Sinners (A great hymn. We just sang the first verse and the chorus.)
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil
Matthew 5:38-42
Time of Meditation
Song- Feels Like Redemption (A Michael English song that is right in Marc's wheelhouse.)
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen.
Matthew 5:17-20
Time of Meditation
Song- O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing (DC*B arrangement)
I think this was "a very Tapestry" worship gathering because we were seated in a circle with the communion elements and the cross at the center, we had a lot of overlap between songs and Scripture, we heard the gospel proclaimed in many different ways from many different voices as different people prayed and different people stepped up to the microphone to read the portion of Scripture from the Sermon on the Mount, and there was a single thread of thought that ran through the whole gathering.
This was an awesome night where I was just so honored to see God through the things we had planned. I really think God uses our worship planning team when we get together and focus and pray and seek Him on what to do for the week. Before we got together Wednesday, none of us had ever seen this done or had any idea how to pull it off. Now, I think it was one of the most meaningful worship gatherings I have been a part of. I love this church and I am so humbled that God would let me be a part of its leadership team.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Little Joke...Little Laugh
My buddy Travis sent me this. I thought in light of the recent happenings in the nations economy, we should be aware of these stats.
If you had purchased $1000.00 of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now
be worth $49.00.
With Enron, you would have $16.50 left of the original $1000.
With WorldCom, you would have less than $5.00 left.
If you had purchased $1000.00 of Delta Air Lines stock you would have
$49.00 left.
If you had purchased United Airlines, you would have nothing left.
But, if you had purchased $1000.00 worth of beer one year ago, drank
all the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling refund
you would have $214.00.
Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink
heavily and recycle.
This is called the 401-Keg Plan.
If you had purchased $1000.00 of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now
be worth $49.00.
With Enron, you would have $16.50 left of the original $1000.
With WorldCom, you would have less than $5.00 left.
If you had purchased $1000.00 of Delta Air Lines stock you would have
$49.00 left.
If you had purchased United Airlines, you would have nothing left.
But, if you had purchased $1000.00 worth of beer one year ago, drank
all the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling refund
you would have $214.00.
Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink
heavily and recycle.
This is called the 401-Keg Plan.
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