17 Jan 06 113750932114894877

I finished Blue Like Jazz over the weekend and have been encouraging our leadership to read this book. I would also recommend you reading this book. Here’s the thing. I don’t buy into everything in the book but it certainly challenged and stretched me in my thought process. I wanted our leadership to read this book to truly understand the thought process of a post-modern generation.

From blue to green I now turn to Jesus, Hero of Thy Soul by Jim McGuiggan. I felt the need for some Irish influenced thoughts. The downside of reading a McGuiggan book is you don’t get the full flavor of the accent. I’d love to open that book turn to the first page and listen to his thick accent begin to read. An actual audio book instead of a popup book.

Here’s an excerpt to peak yer intrest:

Jesus is much more than a hero. A hero relates only to our sense of admiration, but Christ also confronts the darkness in us – and deals with it. When our eyes open to the Christ, even our admiration for him convicts us. His purity dazzles us without blinding; his strength awes us without driving us to grovel; his joy frees us without making us giddy or superficial.

In our tender moments, we want to hug him for what he did with the woman taken in adultery. And when we feel the need to be brave and speak out against injustice, our souls rise to their feet as he cleanses the temple or scathes the ruler of the synagogue who begrudged a satanic victim her freedom after eighteen years of bondage.

Only Jesus could give himself to all without pandering to anyone. Only he could treat us all as individuals while insisting that we belong to one another. Only he could forgive us fully, freely, gladly – but without dishonoring us our weakening our resolve for righteousness.

Having seen Jesus, knowing how he has lived here, we can’t settle for less than a genuine pursuit of his likeness.

16 Jan 06 113742362089480405

My services are available to any interested bidder. It seems the team I root for is guaranteed to lose. So send me the team you want me to root for (the one playing against your team) and a check for a done deal.

I talked about phobias yesterday, (in the context of fearing death and judgment) how inventing and naming phobias has become something of a word game. Inspired by the plethora of unofficial phobias I composed a list of common church phobias.

ATTENDAPHOBIA (The fear of going to church)
FLANNELBOARDAPHOBIA (The fear of teaching a kid’s class)
HYMNOPHOBIA (The fear of singing)
LONGWINDEDAPHOBIA (The fear of long sermons)
PRESBUTEROPHOBIA (The fear of elders)
BUDGETSUNDAYPHOBIA (The fear of budget Sunday)
LEFTHANDKNOWSWHATRIGHTHANDISDOINGAPHOBIA (The fear of giving)

Please feel free to add your own.

13 Jan 06 12 Things We Love About Madison

In Honor of Today, Her 12th Birthday

1. Madison has a gentle, sweet spirit.

2. Madison has a heart for God.

3. Madison has a heart for others.

4. Madison works patiently and tenderly with younger age children. She has a special bond with several younger girls.

5. Madison is a great friend.

6. Madison is a generous giver.

7. Madison is a gracious receiver of gifts. (Christmas was a blast just watching her receive gifts. If you want to feel good about giving to someone she’s the one!)

8. Madison is thrilled to learn and speak Spanish.

9. Madison is enthusiastically learning to play the Tenor saxophone.

10. Madison endures difficulty with grace and patience.

11. Madison loves to sing praise songs. (She is a regular voice in our praise band.)

12. Madison is a softball superstar.

12 Jan 06 113707651418666711

Seldom does a book live up to it’s hype - which is why I won’t read anything recommended by Oprah. Often the publicity of the book outruns the actual content in the book. Sometimes it would just be nice for a book to live up to the praise plastered all over the covers and splash pages.

Then there is Blue Like Jazz (Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality) by Donald Miller. I’m hesitant to recommend the book because I’m only a 1/4 of the way through. But listen to this: If the rest of the book is anything close to the first 1/4 you are going to have to read this book. Already I have been challenged in so many ways. My thought furnace has been mightily fueled by his writing and I find it mentally engaging and stimulating. I’ve got to finish up my sermon prep for the week so I can get back to reading! Greg have you borrowed anything recently that sounds like something I would preach?

Here’s an excerpt from the book as he struggles understanding the root of various problems in this world.

The problem is not a certain type of legislation or even a certain politician; the problem is the same that it has always been. I am the problem. I think every conscious person, every person who is awake to the functioning principles within his reality, has a moment where he stops blaming the problems in the world on group think, on humanity and authority, and starts to face himself. I hate this more than anything. This is the hardest principle within Christian spirituality for me to deal with. The problem is not out there; the problem is the needy beast of a thing that lives in my chest.

These insights came to him after an afternoon of protesting in beautiful downtown Portland, Oregon. I believe the fair citizens of Portland are attempting to include protesting as an Olympic sport. His afternoon of protesting led him to the following realization.

The thing I realized on the day we protested, on the day I had beers with Tony, was that it did me no good to protest America’s responsibility in global poverty when I wasn’t even giving money to my church, which has a terrific homeless ministry. I started feeling very much like a hypocrite.

He’s addressing the tough questions relating to motives. Something we should continually be evaluating. What are the reasons behind these actions of mine?

More than my questions about the efficacy of social action were my questions about my own motives. Do I want social justice for the oppressed, or do I just want to be known as a socially active person? I spend 95 percent of my time thinking about myself anyway. I don’t have to watch the evening news to see that the world is bad, I only have to look at myself. I am not browbeating myself here; I am only saying that true change, true life-giving, God-honoring change would have to start with the individual. I was the very problem I had been protesting. I wanted to make a sign that read “I AM THE PROBLEM!”

I just find this type of honesty and candor refreshing. Thanks to Steve for the recommendation. I’ll keep you posted.

11 Jan 06 113699219577090384

Epic by John Eldredge is proving to be an interesting read. If I have not already mentioned this, the book is quite short — it only has 104 small pages. No really, I mean it, it is a small book. Nevertheless, the story is quite large.

The human story, according to Eldredge, is divided into four acts. Act one: Eternal Love. Act two: The Entrance of Evil. Act Three: The Battle for the Heart. Act Four: The Kingdom Restored.

Here’s an excerpt from Act Three: The Battle for the Heart.

Rescuing the human heart is the hardest mission in the world. The dilemma of the Story is this: We are so enamored with our small stories and our false gods, we are so bound up in our addictions and our self-centeredness and take-it-for-granted unbelief that we don’t even know how to cry out for help. And the Evil One has no intention of letting his captives walk away scot-free. He seduces us, deceives us, assaults us – whatever it takes to keep us in darkness.

This made me think of how the Bible describes what God, through Jesus, does to free those wanting to be releases from captivity.

God has freed us from the power of darkness, and he brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son. The Son paid for our sins, and in him we have forgiveness. (Colossians 1:13-14 NCV)

Ultimately the battle for the heart, your heart, has been won or waits to be won. Each of us happens to be in a different spot on the same battlefield.

10 Jan 06 113690357678535918

I am not without understanding. I fully relate to the thought process as I am the say way. I will bypass all of the parking spots for THE parking spot. Can I park in this spot without getting the doors or side panels dinged? It’s a serious issue. I’m told it’s a guy thing - is that true?

There is also this unwritten code pertaining to truck owners. Truck owners back into parking spaces. It’s a requirement of ownership like having a gun rack in Montana. The driver of this clown car, however, broke all the rules and pushed me beyond my limit of understanding.

I was just visiting Costco (many things seem to happen while at Costco) to honor a promise I made to Brady. Our Costco is right across from the Pentagon in a very busy place with a very busy parking lot. Even though I’m understanding and all that other sappy stuff I felt this driver crossed the line - two of them to be exact. Not just one parking spot but three! It would have been one thing if the car was a Ferrari or a Lamborghini or a Ford F-150 SuperCrew. But this car? I can’t take it.

Now to the dark side of my thought process. I entertained, briefly but nevertheless entertained, the idea of backing into said vehicle multiple times. Just to see the smug look on the face of the driver disappear upon returning would have been delightful. Of course, I would have promptly invited him to church.

Yes, I know, my first thought was destructive. So help me out. Anyone have any constructive ideas (or other destructive ideas would be fine) to teach the element correct parking etiquette?

09 Jan 06 113681653025638370

I would be hard pressed to express my complete frustration with the mouse problem in my office. The more mice who go on to glory the more mice who return. I find myself unable to stem the furry tide. Nothing like coming in to the office on a Monday morning welcomed by a plague carrying rodent. I know, I know someone is out there thinking “Oh yeah? Try working with my boss?”

At least my experience, thus far, does not compare to that of Luciano Mares. Click here to find out why.

I wrote a lenghty introduction for a new message series which I began yesterday. Following the advice of trusted counsel, who gave me correct advice, I decided to omit the first page of text. I didn’t omit these thoughts because I thought they were wrong. I was fearful of making people mad and having them subsequently not listen to what I was trying to say in the message.

Here’s the text of what I wanted to say but did not say.

There are those who view Bible Study as an archeological dig. The Bible, they believe, is the remnant of some distant civilization, a mine to be excavated for its treasures and teachings on how to be the church of Christ. The purpose of Bible Study, in this way of thinking, was to become the right church through the practice of right doctrine. I believe this approach to be sincere but misguided. The purpose of the Bible, as I see it, is to inculcate within us the attitudes and actions necessary to become like Christ.

The New Testament writers did tell the early believers how to function as a church. They told the believers in Corinth how to function as a church in first century Corinth. They told the believers in Ephesus how to function as a church in first century Ephesus. They told the believers in Galatia how to function as a church in first century Galatia. They told the believers in Rome, Asia, and Italy, how to function as a church within the specific contextual realities of their age.

These instructions, however, were given only as secondary instructions. The primary instructions, given to these believers, always focused on how to become like Christ. The most important instructions were to live like Christ. If these believers could become like Christ and live like Christ they were well on their way to functioning as a church which belonged to Christ

We cannot, nor should we, restore the church of the first century because we do not live in the culture of the first Century. We can, however, learn to become like Christ. We can learn to think like Christ. We can learn to live like Christ. In so doing we, as individual members of the body of Christ, can function as a church which belongs to Christ. This is why we need to read the New Testament for what the New Testament writers wanted to tell us and teach us about Christ.

Here’s where I actually began with my introductory thoughts:

What do the New Testament writers tell us about Jesus? Beyond the obvious accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, what do the other writers tells us about Christ? What of Peter, Timothy, James, Paul, and Jude? What of the anonymous essay of Hebrews? What do they tell us about Jesus? What can we learn from these who doubted him and denied him? They ran away from him and ran back to him. They lived for Jesus and died for Jesus. They were taught by Jesus and taught about him. One of these men even tried to erase his name from the face of the earth only to discover, first hand, there is no other name by which to be saved.

The resounding witness of the New Testament writers, the great treasure of the writings of the New Testament, is how to become like Jesus Christ. How to think and act like Christ. How to live like Jesus. The early followers were steadfast in proclaiming a central message: Good News is salvation through Jesus Christ. Not salvation through a church, not salvation through a system of doctrine, not salvation through the keeping of specific traditions, salvation through Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul said it best, as he summarized the teaching ministry of the earliest followers of Christ, he said: “We preach Christ crucified.”

The early followers did preach Christ. They preached him crucified. They preached him buried. They preached resurrected. They preached him ascended and returning. Salvation has always hinged upon Christ ‚Äì upon him crucified, buried, resurrected and returning. Salvation has never been about anything else. There are people who preach doctrine, doctrine, doctrine ‚Äì misunderstanding right doctrine as indisputable evidence of a right heart belonging to Christ. Our Savior preached grace and peace, forgiveness and acceptance, mercy and love. He said: ‚ÄúAll people will know that you are my followers if you love each other.”

Once, during a feast to celebrate the Passover, some seekers came to a follower named Philip with a life changing request. They said to Philip: ‚ÄúSir, we would like to see Jesus.” That‚Äôs exactly who I‚Äôd like you to see. I‚Äôd like you to see Jesus, first in my life and second as an overflow into my ministry of preaching. I wish that others, in your conduct, in your thought process, in your decisions which spill over into your lifestyle would see Jesus.

Let’s journey together. Let’s search the Scriptures with fresh eyes and open hearts to see Jesus. Let’s walk into the fertile soil of the Word of God and see what the New Testament writers wanted us to know about Jesus. Let’s read their instructions, seeking to follow their advice, that we would learn to live like Jesus. With the faith and trust displayed by those first seekers who brought their request to Philip let us approach the writers of the New Testament and say “we would like to see Jesus.”

06 Jan 06 113655690289286756

Can anyone explain to me the reasoning behind picking up something from the freezer or fresh food aisle and leaving it in the canned foods section?

Was there some earth shattering inner struggle within the shopper? Each agonizing step away from the refrigerated section further confirmed that the item of fresh food would violate all that is sacred and pure in the chosen new diet of the new year?

Rid ourselves we must of this foul item before we be defiled. Strength have we not to walk back and place the perishable item in its air cooled crib. Nay, the offending perishable shall be left here with the imperishable. Walk away we shall and behave as if the frozen fancy never crossed the plane of our rolling metal shopping chariot.

An employee of the happiest store on earth actually has the job of walking through the store with a basket picking up items that people leave all over the store. How hard is it to take something back to the place where you picked it up in the first place? I guess this type of shopping laziness yields one more job for someone else. What do you do for a living? “Me, I’m a Senior Product Displacement Specialist. I specialize in the search and recovery of wayward groceries.”

Ok, I’m done.

Some friends arrived from out of town yesterday afternoon so we’ve got company for the weekend. Have you made your 2006 reservation yet for le chateau Wray?

05 Jan 06 113647119155036322

I gave up. I was tired. My bowl record, a spillover from my 3-10 NFL fantasy failure, was embarassing. A chimpanzee would have had better results. A chimpanzee probably had better results. Oregon lost, Fresno State lost, and I was pulling for Texas who looked as if they were going to lose. Early in the fourth quarter I went to bed so of course it was the finish of the ages. Whatever.
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Today I begin reading Epic by John Eldredge. Here’s an opening salvo:

Life, for most of us, feels like a movie we’ve arrived to forty minutes late. Sure, good things happen, sometimes beautiful things. But tragic things happen too. What does it mean? We find ourselves in the middle of a story that is sometimes wonderful, sometimes awful, usually a confusing mixture of both, and we haven’t a clue how to make sense of it all. No wonder we keep losing heart. We need to know the rest of the story. For when we were born, we were born into the midst of a great story begun before the dawn of time. A story of adventure, of risk and loss, heroism . . . and betrayal. A story where good is warring against evil, danger lurks around every corner, and glorious deeds wait to be done. Think of all those stories you’ve ever loved – there’s a reason they stirred your heart. They’ve been trying to tell you about the true Epic ever since you were young. There is a larger story. And you have a crucial role to play.

The book, a very short read, looks promising. Eldredge begins with the premise that life, in it‚Äôs unfolding way, is itself a story. Of course it helps if you don’t sleep through the exciting parts.

Brace yourselves Steve and Cecil. The next sentence will be hard to hear. Eldredge says:

Life doesn’t come to us like a math problem.

Easy does it guys. Keep breathing. There you go. But please let that thought sink in.

It comes to us the way that a story does, scene by scene. You wake up. What will happen next? You don’t get to know – you have to enter in, take the journey as it comes. The sun might be shining. There might be a tornado outside. Your friends might call and invite you to go sailing. You might lose your job. Life unfolds like a drama. Doesn’t it? Each day has a beginning and an end. There are all sorts of characters, all sorts of settings. A year goes by like a chapter from a novel. Sometimes it seems like a tragedy. Sometimes like a comedy. Most of it feels like a soap opera. Whatever happens, it’s story through and through.

Are you pleased with the way your story has been written so far? Any edits you‚Äôd like to make? Any additions you‚Äôd like to write into your story this year? I’ll keep you posted if this book is worth the read.

04 Jan 06 113638462400095462

More thoughts (again?) from The Return of The Prodigal Son. Here’s what Nouwen says about the younger son.

The younger son sinned in a way we can easily identify. His lostness is quite obvious. He misused his money, his time, his friends, his own body. What he did was wrong; not only his family and friends knew it, but he himself as well. He rebelled against morality and allowed himself to be swept away by his own lust and greed. There is something very clear-cut about his misbehavior.

The rebellion of the younger son is laid bare on the table for all to see. By contrast, the other son’s rebellion runs deep underneath the surface.

The lostness of the elder son, however, is much harder to identify. After all, he did all the right things. He was obedient, dutiful, law-abiding, and hardworking. People respected him, admired him, praised him, and likely considered him a model son. Outwardly, the elder son was faultless. But when confronted by his father’s joy at the return of his younger brother, a dark power erupts in him and boils to the surface. Suddenly, there becomes glaringly visible a resentful, proud, unkind, selfish person, one that had remained deeply hidden, even though it had been growing stronger and more powerful over the years.

Steve, blogged about this a month or so ago and made some great observations from this particular quote that I agree with. I also agree with Nouwen’s portrayal of the heart condition of both sons.

Most of us grow up thinking how glamorous it must be to experience the lostness of the younger. To sow the wild oats and have a chance to come back and be forgiven is certainly an attractive prospect. Most of us have been living, all the while, the lostness of the older son.

I have to admit, however, I’m having some difficulty with a few of Nouwen’s interpretations. He makes some leaps and stretches from a painting of a fictional story. I’m especially having difficulty with who he claims the older son to be, as portrayed in the painting. Here’s a picture of the painting.

You tell me, based on the story, who most resembles the older son and why. I’ll add more thoughts to the comments later.