Though they tried to give me sight...

Upcoming Dates

2011-08-22T12:00:00.000-05:00

We've tried to be as comprehensive as possible so that you (and we) can plan our calendars and our budgets. I've also included event costs where possible. Here are the dates of a number of things coming up...please read this CAREFULLY!

While our Mexico mission trip is listed below, there will be a separate post later in the week, addressing not only the two biggest questions that a parent will have about that trip: safety and cos, but also on our expectations for those that desire to join us. I'll keep you informed!

August 26 (5:30-10pm), August 27 (8:30am-4pm)

Student Ministry Team Retreat

This is for all members of our student ministry team, as well as parents and other interested adults.

Wednesday, September 7

E-KLUB/Middle School Youth Group starts

6-8pm

Sunday, September 11

High School Youth Group starts

5:45-8pm

Friday, September 16-Sunday, September 18

All-Church Retreat at North East Iowa Christian Service Camp

For all: students, parents, members, non-members

Sunday, October 16

Eastview Harvest Party

Following Sunday services
Zieser home, Center Point
All are invited

Monday, October 31

Trunk or Treat at Eastview Christian Church

6-8pm

Thursday, November 3 - Sunday, November 6

"The Event" at Ozark Christian College

This is our annual mid-year high school trip to visit a Christian College; it's a mini-conference, college visit and relationship-builder rolled into one event.
Cost will be $90/student; this covers all event registration, food, lodging, and transportation.
$30 deposit and registration form (available soon) due by Sunday, October 16.

Wednesday, November 16

Thanksgiving Celebration at Eastview

6-8pm

December, Christmas event- Date and Times to be announced

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Spaghetti Dinner/Dessert Auction/Talent Show

Because of this HUGE fundraiser, we can help kids get to camp, events like CIY: Believe and everything else that we do.
Speaking of CIY: Believe...

Thursday February 17 - Sunday, February 19

CIY: Believe is our annual mid-year middle school trip, and they won't want to miss it.
We're going back to St Louis for an amazing time of worship, great speakers that share with middle school students in mind and some solid relationship-building between our students and adults.
Cost will be in the $150 range, which covers event registration, hotel lodging, food, fun...everything!

Early July, 2012

Mexico Mission Trip to San Luis Potosi, Mexico

While this trip is open to any of those entering high school and above for the 2012-2013 school year, it is not for everyone. We will have several informational meetings in November (you just need to attend one) to discuss this trip, the issues and, expectations surrounding it, in detail
Assist with several different Vacation Bible Schools in and around the city of San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
Trip cost in 2010 was $1000/participant. While we will make every effort to maintain this level, transportation cost is the largest variable.

Summer Camp Dates, 2012 (all costs were the 2011 early-bird camp year cost, and subject to change)

June 10-15:     Middle School Camp #1      $155

June 17-23:     High School Camp #2          $185

June 24- 27:    3rd, 4th, 5th Grade Camp      $125

June 29-30:     2nd, 3rd Grade Camp            $35

July 8-13:    Middle School Camp #2       $155

July 15-19:     4th, 5th Grade Camp              $125

July 22-28:      High School Camp #2           $185

Please contact me either by phone (319) 393-9570 or email (jmulholland@eastview.net) with thoughts, questions or concerns. We are looking forward to another excellent year!

2011-07-30T07:31:00.001-05:00

Updated eta- 1145-ish.

2011-02-27T13:43:00.001-06:00

Back at Eastview 4 pm ish.

I've Moved

2011-01-20T09:55:00.002-06:00

Of course, by clicking on my web address, it kicks you over to my new site. If for some reason it doesn't work, click here.

Incarnation

2011-01-12T13:54:00.001-06:00

I've seen that video many times over the years. Two things struck me as I watched it again today.

My first thought was...U2 here is really not that great. Why would they pick "Bad" as their "hello, world!" song? Doesn't make too much sense. Until you evaluate the song. Until you see what happens.
The video begins with Bono singing "Satellite of Love", a lament written by Lou Reed about a girlfriend. The song "Bad" is about the horrors heroin addiction. So, we have the transcendent rock star and the lost "other" represented by the crowd. The Transcendent Being is lamenting over his loss of the other to pain.

He is singing to them, calling out to them, and, at 2:00, he sings,
"If I could through myself
Set your spirit free
I'd lead your heart away
See you break, break away
Into the light...
And to the day"

At 4:20 he says, "If I could, you know I would, if I could..." before listing the fruit of their sin: "This desparation...Dislocation...Separation...Condemnation...Revelation...In temptation...Isolation...Desolation..."

He's telling them to simply "Let it go."

He goes to a lower stage, calling one of them out, into community and intimacy with him.

But, she simply cannot do it.
So, at 6:00, he does an amazing thing.
He does the only left to do.

He jumps in. And pulls her out. And dances with her. And then two more.

And Bono, fully aware of his surroundings, sings, "Let it go!" "I'm wide awake!"

He cleverly says goodbye to Ruby Tuesday, and co-opts another Stones song, "Sympathy for the Devil" by saying "Pleased to meet you! Hope you guess my name!"

Bono just taught the thousands in that stadium and the million watching around the world the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And he did it without a single Christian phrase or Bible verse.

That gospel?

God came down as man into the muck and mire of a sinful world and snatched us away from death.

Incarnation.

Whack-A-Mole

2011-01-06T18:23:00.000-06:00

About 5 weeks ago, my wife told me about a problem she was having with our since-departed green van. She noticed that braking distance was increasing, and then, the warning light came on. She and my oldest son checked the brake fluid level, and discovered that it was low so they filled it. A few days later, the light again came on. They added more fluid, and the light went away. But, the problem did not. We took it to a local trusted repair shop, and they discovered the problem: both rear wheel cylinders were ruined. Each and every time the brakes were applied, brake fluid shot out, flooding the drums and shoes with brake fluid, making them completely ineffective. This would be a costly repair. $600, to be exact. We had no choice but to pay it, despite the expense.

Organizations often face similar dilemmas. The resolution, however, is frequently different. Something is amiss, but rather than pay the cost, the symptom is addressed. Back to my brakes...we really had a number of options:

We could have continued to refill the brake fluid.
We could have replaced the shoes.
We could have replaced the drums.
None of those would have solved the problem, they simply would have addressed the symptoms.

The problem was philosophical to the car. And, addressing it in any other manner would lead to continual failure, and in the long run, be more costly.

Like a car, an organization must have philosophical integrity. Problems must be addressed from a philosophical standpoint. It will be costly. It will hurt. It will create stress and conflict. But, anything less is organizational whack-a-mole.

2010-Laces out!

2011-01-01T13:51:00.000-06:00

My mileage goal for 2010 was 1000 miles, I fell short, hitting 862.99 due to some injuries during the year.

Starting out Shoe: Nike Air Tri-D, around 100 miles on them

January 2010: Ouch!

Runs: 13
Monthly Miles: 64.73
Memorable run/s: At the end of a 7+ miler on January 13, I had sharp pain on the inside of both of my kneecaps. Had I known what I was in for, that would have been it, I would have taken time off. I got no miles in the following week, but it was not enough time off, I just tried to push through it.
Highest mileage week: Jan 11-17, 25 miles.

February 2010:

Runs: 14
Monthly Miles: 49.14
Total mileage: 113.8
Memorable run/s: Cut back on mileage in an attempt to push through knee pain. Started physical therapy for my knee injury, ran in Indiana at IWU.
Highest mileage week: February 15-21: 16.4 miles

March 2010:

Runs: 10
Monthly Miles: 30.82
Total mileage: 144.69
Memorable run/s: Finally listened to physical therapist and took first 12 days of the month of to allow knees to recover. Ran in Pennsylvania toward end of month. Knees starting to feel better.
Highest mileage week: March 22-28: 13.9 miles

April 2010: Watch out for that car!

Runs: 20
Monthly Miles: 81.65
Total mileage: 226.34
Memorable run/s: Knee pain in rapid decline, I picked up the mileage. Temps were moving back north as winter ended. April 7 was my first 5-miler since February 20, I felt like a "real" runner again. Then, on April 20, I was hit by a car.
Highest mileage week: April 19-25: 21 miles

May 2010: First Road Race

Runs: 20
Monthly Miles: 95.92
Total mileage: 322.26
Memorable run/s: May 1st was my first ever 5k run, just under 24 minutes (my goal). A few 5+ milers and a couple of 6+'ers for good measure. Some residual knee pain, so I ran a few times in my old ASICS as a test, the pain went away. I replaced the Nikes (360 miles total) with a pair of ASICS GT-2150's.
Highest mileage week: May 3-9:24 miles.

June 2010: Second race

Runs: 24
Monthly Miles: 104.34
Total mileage: 426.59
Memorable run/s: KILLED it in June. A little psychotic actually, ran everyday from June 3-15, including Cedar Rapids' "Run the Flood" 7-miler on June 12 (55:26-the goal was 56 minutes or less). This was my first 7-miler since the knee injuries in January. On June 4, my total distance was 8+, but I walked about 2 miles of that, middle of the day at 83 degrees and humidity is not the time to seek a distance PR. Ran at camp the weeks I was there.
Highest mileage week: June 21-27: 25.2 miles.

July 2010: Mexico!

Runs: 23
Monthly Miles: 86.06
Total mileage: 512.66
Memorable run/s: High mileage considering I was in Mexico for 2 weeks; I ran 7 times while I was there. On July 1, I ran 5 miles with MFP, a friend of mine currently in SF training for the Army. I enjoyed my runs in San Luis Potosi, at over 6,000 feet, dodging cars, buses and the intricacies of the road rules in Mexico, I loved them all. Notice pain in arch in right foot and left heel.
Highest mileage week: July 5-11: 18.8 miles.

August 2010: Injury Returns

Runs: 16
Monthly Miles: 67.99
Total mileage: 580.64
Memorable run/s: Many of these miles are at the beginning of the month. I don't remember which run it was, but I was so hot that my peripheral vision faded and I saw stars toward the end of the run. Foot pain gets worse, so I decide to take a break, treating it for plantar fasciitis. As soon as that starts to feel better, my back gives me trouble (I had 2 back surgeries in 2009). Unlike January, I take the week off.
Highest mileage week: August 2-8: 25.6 miles.

September 2010: Rebuild

Runs: 16
Monthly Miles: 60.7
Total mileage: 641.36
Memorable run/s: Recovering from back pain, I keep it below 4 miles for 2 weeks, and don't get a 5+ in for 4 weeks. On September 10, I wrote "Left Ankle" in my running journal.
Highest mileage week: September 20-26: 15.3 miles.

October 2010: Oldest son Nathan joins me!

Runs: 20
Monthly Miles: 82.02
Total mileage: 723.37
Memorable run/s: I ran twice while at the SYMC ITT planning retreat in Loveland, Colorado, the altitude, just lower than where I was in Mexico, was a killer. I did another 5k on October 10, 22:36, the goal was less than 23.
Highest mileage week: October 4-11: 20 miles.

November 2010:

Runs: 17
Monthly Miles: 67.20
Total mileage: 790.58
Memorable run/s: Marion Turkey Trot 8k on November 13 (5 miles in 37:58, goal was less than 38 minutes), ran twice in New York state over Thanksgiving break. Got in a "two-a-day" on November 23, which was awesome. Replace the ASICS GT-2150 with a new pair of the same as my right arch pain started to return. Replacement mileage was 451 miles.
Highest mileage week: Tie, November 1-7 and 22-28: 20 miles.

December 2010:

Runs: 14
Monthly Miles: 72.40
Total mileage: 862.99
Memorable run/s: On December 13, the windchill was -18. I ran in Larchwood, Iowa a few times over Christmas break, and actually skipped a run due it it being too cold and windy.
Highest mileage week: December 13-19: 18.1 miles.

Lessons learned from 2010:

Pay attention to mileage on shoes.

Listen to your body. Sacrificing mileage now means more mileage later.

Take it easy. Life's a marathon.

Know your limitations. And then, push yourself past them.

Running with a partner is fun. Nate joined my in October and I'm so glad that he did.

Goals for 2011:

Remain injury-free

Half-Marathon in Spring

Dam-to-Dam run in July (20k/12 miles)

Marathon in Fall

950 miles

Why SYMC is MY conference

2010-12-16T10:34:00.001-06:00

The Past

Over the years, I've been to several different youth ministry conferences. The very first one that I went to was in 2003, it was CIY's National Youth Leaders Convention and it was great. It was there that I realized I was not doing what God wanted me to be doing. I realized that I had been running from His call on my life for years, and after that conference, I began looking for a college where I could earn a degree and go into ministry full time. Two highlights of that conference were spending the week with my wife and seeing Chris Tomlin lead worship every night, he had recently put out his "Not to Us" cd; it was all new to me. Sadly, this conference is no longer happening.

Macro to Micro

When I got to Eastview in 2005, I began looking for a conference to attend. In 2006, 2007, and 2008, I attended Willow Creek's "Shift" conference. As a new youth minister, the first two years of this conference gave me just what I needed, youth ministry ideas, structure and philosophy from the 30,000 foot view. By the third year, everything seemed flat, my church was not Willow Creek and I found myself and our ministry in a totally different place. What I needed was some "in the trenches" help. And that's when I decided to try out Group's "National Youth Ministry Conference" (to become "Simply Youth Ministry Conference"). In 2009 I went to Columbus Ohio, unsure of what I'd find, but hoping for something different.

Eureka!

Not only did I get into the Horseshoe, but I found something that had been missing. 3 things, actually.

Relationship: SYMC is built on relationship. I found myself talking to anyone and everyone. From regular youth ministers like myself to main stage speakers. What's more, every person that I spoke with actually appeared to care about me, what I was saying, and what I was asking.

Relatability: Everyone that I talked to, again from other youth ministers to the "names"...they all seemed to know youth ministry. Why? Because they all do it. I read their blogs and listen to their stories about the relationships that they have, not only with one another, but with students. I could tell that they actually cared about what was going on. Every session that I was a part of, every classroom, workshop and affinity group that I walked out of...I left with a tangible, "I can do that." I never felt like I was being sold a brand or a method of ministry. There was no "one size/method/program fits all" feeling. From main session speakers, workshops and training sessions to connection groups, I got to know people.

Inclusion: I'm actually a part of something. Not only are the good people at SYMC my co-laborers in Christ, but they are my friends. Through emails, super-secret Facebook groups, even text-messages, I know these folks and they know me. As a part of SYMC's "Inside Track Team" (which, they let ANYONE in, btw), I actually got to go to Colorado in October along with 70+ other ITT members and plan next year's conference. Are you kidding me? I haven't written a book, don't produce a weekly podcast or anything like that. I'm a chump youth minister among chump youth ministers. But. They value me and every other youth minister out there. I am a part of something, a bigger plan, and it is God's plan.

Obviously, as a member of the Inside Track Team, it sounds like I'm simply shilling for the man. Here's when it all became real to me that the team at SYMC is for real. Three things happened at the ITT retreat in October:

They put us up. We got to Colorado, and they paid for everything else. Transportation to/from Denver, hotel and food. What's more, people from Group who lived less than an hour away, chose to stay in the hotel with us. Why? They value relationship.
They remembered me. Monday night, we went over to Kami Gilmour's house for dinner (about 100 people). We rode in a limo, and Doug Fields rode with us. (This is not about hero worship). In the limo, Doug talked to us like we were his friends. He remembered a brief conversation that Hannah and I had with him at SYMC in Chicago, and asked about it. I talked to the CFO of Group that night about Group and he asked about what we were doing. They are relatable.
They let me in. My planning group included Rick Lawrence, Group Magazine's editor. He asked questions, we talked and conferred, and he actually wrote down the ideas of a bunch of chump youth ministers. What's more, each group did this. They value inclusion.

What now?

Times are tough for youth ministry right now. It seems like every single week I hear about a youth minister being let go for a wide variety of reasons. Without a doubt, some of those reasons are legitimate. But I wonder...were those youth ministers and ministries really plugged in to a solid support system? Did they know that every year a group of people meet to do nothing but love on and support them? If you are a youth minister struggling with something, come to this conference.

Finances are tight, and many churches correctly need to evaluate what they are doing. Talk to those in your church that support what you're doing and ask them to help you get there. Partner with other churches that are going and share hotel space.

Maybe your church doesn't understand the value of this conference. Have your eldership, senior minister, board member, or janitor read this post...heck they can call me at 319-393-9570 and I'll tell them that your church will be better for it.

SYMC in Chicago. March 4-7, 2011. GO!

An update

2010-12-11T07:22:00.000-06:00

It's been a few weeks. Here's what I've been up to:

I went to New York over Thanksgiving break and spent the weekend with some, friends from Toccoa Falls College. We chilled out, went to West Point, took a train to the city, saw Grand Central, Central Park, 30 Rock, all kinds of things. It was great.

I finished my "Building an Intergenerational Ministry" class, and right away, "Contemporary Theological Issues" started. We are studying postmodernism as it relates to theology and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. On the whole, it is an interesting class, and the research on various people and places is thought-provoking. It is also very frustrating, as I deal with the fruit of unorthodoxy each week in our ministry. I have a minimum 2-week break starting next Friday, and am really looking forward to it.

Speaking of ministry, we have one more high school youth group meeting left for the year, and our middle school group is done until January. Then, our MS group will take a look at the "basics" of Christianity (how modern of me) and our HS group will be looking at "The Gospel According to the Office, " which will prove to be an interesting study.

SYMC 2011 is in March. One of my elders/youth leaders is definitely in with me, and I'm looking forward to spending time with him. I'll also be leading a Connecting Group during the conference on Smaller Church Youth Ministry. I'm excited about the opportunity.

I'm in maintenance mode when it comes to running, just taking it easy. I could kill it, and come in at 900 miles for the year, but I feel like there'd be an injury around the corner, if history is any indication. Nate has been running with me, learning the joys of 5 degree runs. So right now, I'm playing it cool, and hoping to begin training for a half-marathon in February or March. Wanting to do the Illinois thing again.

What I'm not telling you about are details of a ministry issue that has popped up in the last week. No, I'm not leaving, nor is that a possibility. It's just ministry, dealing with people. In 2 Corinthians 11:28, Paul writes about how he faces daily the pressures of his concern for the churches. That stress became crystal clear to me in the past week as we have ministered to a family in our youth ministry. This is the toughest issue that I've dealt with in 5 years, and would appreciate your thoughts and prayers, as I know the family would.

Well, Stanley Grenz's Beyond Foundationalism is calling my name, as I am a few days behind on my reading. I'll post some thoughts on THAT during the next week.

What's an album?

2010-11-24T13:52:00.000-06:00

Over at Beat Farm Radio, I was reminded of the fact that many people today have no clue that music was created in a linear manner. In many instances, song order meant something. At the end of the linked post, above, they asked for contributions from people who had listened to an album from start to finish.

Let's talk Pedro the Lion's "Winners Never Quit" from 2000. In short, it's about two brothers, one a Christian politician running for office and the other a drunk who does his best to avoid scrutiny until the election is over.

"Slow and Steady Wins the Race": what could be an allegory to the Christian life in which believers are so focused on their, "mansion on the river Jordan," surrounded by people who "deserve" to be there too, that they fail to care about the people who've wandered from the path.

"Simple Economics": The politician is hard at work in the final days of the race, trying to figure out how to rig the race so that he wins. Telling line, "power can be such a tease, you're always wanting more, it's good to know that just like sex it can be paid for."

"To Protect the Family Name": The brother is picked up while driving drunk. The whole song is sung from his standpoint, begging and pleading with the police officer to let him go as he doesn't want to, "Further shame the family name."

"A Mind of Her Own": The wife of the politician finds out, and rebels against her husband. The song builds and builds, ending with the husband screaming, "You put down that telephone...you're not telling anyone."

"Never Leave a Job Half Done": Musically upbeat, we learn from the initial line, "Bloodstains on the carpet, bloodstains on my hands" that the politician has murdered his wife, but there is joy "when lies never show." This is a surreal song to hear in concert, because of the lyrical content matched with the musical tone.

"Eye on the Finish Line": Again using biblical language, the politician justifies what he's done, because it's the end that matters. Over time he muses, the murdered wife, "would have understood that this was for the greater good. Soon I will meet her at our mansion in the sky, leaving this wicked world behind."

"Bad Things to Such Good People": The politician, now arrested, reflects on a life of ruin. He realizes that he is the one that has shamed the family name. "All the while, the good Lord smiled, and looked the other way."

"Winners Never Quit": Reintroducing the path from the first song, the singer talks about giving up as, "the path is too narrow, the way too steep" to follow. In the end, we should, "count it a blessing that you're such a failure. Your second chance might never have come."

While these are great songs individually, as a whole they paint a clear image of the brokenness of man and his sinful condition. And, in the end, there is redemption.

What do we expect?

2010-11-23T10:21:00.000-06:00

I've been reading through the Acts of the Apostles for my devotional time. Acts is a continuation of Luke; scholars believe that initially it was one book called "Luke/Acts." Luke tells of the life and times of Jesus, while Acts tells us about the life and times of the early church.

This morning I read Acts 15. I'm familiar with this text anyway because I wrote my undergrad research project on it. I think the first time that I really had this text hit me was in 2004 or 2005, my family went to Pennsylvania for Easter, and I read it on the flight. Verse 19 in particular was an amazing read, "It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God."

Here's what is taking place:

Paul and Barnabas are in Antioch at the end of Paul's first missionary journey.

Some men from Jerusalem show up at Antioch and start telling the Gentile converts to Christianity (still a sect of Judaism, btw), "Unless you are circumcised...you cannot be saved." Paul and Barnabas, who had a ministry to the Gentiles specifically, disagreed and all sorts of arguments broke out. The church, then, sends Paul, Barnabas, and "some other believers" (no doubt some of the the people from Jerusalem) to go to Jerusalem to find out about this teaching.

After stories were shared, some Pharisees stood up and again repeated the charge, with an addition, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the Law of Moses." The leadership them met to discuss what was happening. Peter defends the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles, and says, "Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?"

Translation: Why are we making these people obey a law that we could not keep? We're saved by the grace of God, not by what we do.

Eventually, James (Jesus' brother) stood up and addressed the group. He quoted a text from the OT (Amos 9:11-12) and then said the statement that rocked me. "It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead, we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. for Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read from the synagogues on every Sabbath."

James tells the believers that it should not be a set of hoops that people must jump through to become believers. And the things to avoid are simply out of respect (the exception here being sexual immortality) for the Jews that are gathered in the same synagogue where the Christians (remember, still a sect of Judaism) were meeting.

They then compose a letter, which begins, "We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said." Translation, "These guys cowboyed the message of salvation" so we are sending some people back to make this right. But, it won't only be Paul and Barnabas (who had argued against the men in the first place), it will be Judas and Silas so they can confirm what this letter says.

There is a tremendous amount of accountability here. Picture it...Paul and Barnabas are in Anitoch. Some guys come saying something different, and they all go to the place where the dispute arose. What would it look like of just Paul and Barnabas had come back to Antioch with a letter saying "see? we were right!" Even Paul and Barnabas were subject to accountability.

After a while, Judas and Silas left, but Paul and Barnabas remained behind, teaching and preaching. And also, we can presume, on the lookout for false teachers.

Who cares?

We should. There are people today who do not know Jesus. I know, that's a shocker.

And there are people telling them about Jesus. We need to allow the gospel to stand on it's own. If someone wants to come to God, we shouldn't worry about how they dress, or who they will vote for. They might smoke, they might drink alcohol. They might say a "bad word" or two. They might be different from us.

And the last thing that we need to do is to try to get people to adhere to some ridiculous american sub-cultural evangelical nonsense that somehow passes for Christianity. We need to rejoice like Paul and Barnabas and the church in Jerusalem and marvel "about the miraculous signs and wonders God" has done to them and through us.

It should not be difficult for people to turn to God.

Where were we?

2010-11-19T14:19:00.000-06:00

The other day, I stated my belief that event-driven youth ministry is a failure. Sure, it exposes kids to Jesus, puts them into an environment that allows them to hear God speak to them, and encourages them to employ some spiritual disciplines like prayer, Bible study, etc. but, then they come home to "reality, and because those disciplines are really not disciplines and attached to our students, the emotion of the event wears off, and they simply look to the next one to lift them up.

The following day, I stated that youth ministry is not even a biblical practice. When we look at God's Word, we see the body of believers and parents and families taking seriously their roles in discipling their children. In most cases, this too has failed. I ended that post with what some (many?) would feel is a typical youth minister's rant. Perhaps.

Here's what I think.

If you are a parent that loves Jesus, I'm going to be blunt. It is your role to disciple your children. While that may include bringing them to church and youth events, that's not discipleship. In Deuteronomy 6:4-9, we see two specific commands. The first is teaching. This is an intentional time set aside for communicating God's Word to our kids. The second is living. This is simply how we live, we care for the hurting, we give of our coin, time and talent; it's just who we are.

If there is not some time set aside on a consistent basis for teaching, you are not doing the first. If you are not engaged in spiritual disciplines in a manner that your kids observe, then you are not doing the second. For those of you reading this, you must understand that both are required.

This will be difficult, there will be questions and your kids will see you stumble. Those are opportunities for you to disciple and be discipled. This is an opportunity for the church to equip parents to disciple their children.

At Eastview, we are absolutely blessed with a plethora of unchurched and dechurched kids in our youth ministry. This provides a special challenge because as un-equipped as our churched parents may feel (and be), the parents and families of these kids are really un-equipped. Here, we focus on discipleship of the kids. In effect, our church, the youth workers and leaders, take on the discipling role of parents. These kids need to receive the same commitment to discipleship that "our" families have. They receive the teaching on our youth nights and Sunday school, and see the living when we serve at SEMP, go to Mexico, clean at camp, etc. It is this second part that the event properly functions. It provides opportunity for life as a Christian.

In the end, I see the role of the youth minister within the church to be a resource to families, parents and kids, as opposed to the primary discipler of students. While in some cases this is so, it's not the proper order. Parents, we are here to help you. Helping you does not mean telling you what to do. It means coming alongside you, to communicate God's desire for your family, and then helping you get there.

No post today

2010-11-17T16:08:00.001-06:00

Working on my final project for "Building a Multi-Generational Church."

Prepping for tonight's Thanksgiving Celebration at Eastview.

I'll round out my posts tomorrow.

What now?

2010-11-16T15:55:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, I blogged about Jesus and The Event. When linking it to my Facebook account, I entitled the the status "The failure of youth ministry." Of course, I got a few "likes" and even a comment. Allow me to clarify:

Youth ministry, when focused on events, is a failure. Why? Because it creates the very attitude expressed by my student earlier this week. We go on an event, and we feel good. We want that feeling to continue. It does not, and our expectations are not met. Well, let's examine "the event"...it could camp, a visit to a Christian college, mission trip, conference..whatever.

While at those events, we are generally spending our time surrounded by people that encourage us in our walk of faith. We are given devotionals to work through, have time dedicated to prayer and those devos, specific time set aside for the spiritual disciplines that many people strive for. We hear speakers that challenge us, and, to be honest, music that lifts our spirits. There is nothing wrong with any of those things. Basically, our lives are ordered around God. This is as it should be.

Then, we come home.

Our cell phones, favorite movies, video games and tv shows call out to us. Our friends and those that we are dating want to spend time with us. For those students for whom faith is of the least importance within the home, there is not even a feigned interest. However, I cannot tell you how many times that I've seen kids from Christian homes hop out of the van in our churches parking lot and not even be asked by parents "how'd it go?".

So...what now?

Well, the most biblical thing that could happen would be that churches would simply fire every youth minister in the country. In case you missed it, I said, "the most biblical thing that could happen would be that churches would simply fire every youth minister in the country." The church, the body of Christ made up of the Christians within would own their responsibility to the younger generation. Titus 2 would be our guides. The older women would teach the younger, and the older men would teach the younger. But, I'm going to be honest here. That's not going to happen. Many in the "body of Christ" are way too interested in working, vacationing, saving, 401(k)'ing, remodeling their homes, taking it easy and remaining too self-absorbed in their own complacent lives to obediently obey God's Word.

On equal par, biblically speaking, would be for Christian parents to take seriously their responsibility as laid out in Deuteronomy 6:6-9. This is a valid option. There are several things in the way:

The church has failed to properly communicate that it is, in fact, the role of the parents and family to do this.

The church has failed to equip parents in their role.

Adults have relegated their role of personal discipleship to the church, it's why much of what happens in a church building takes place on Sunday mornings, it's why this program, above all else, receives the largest amount of focus as indicated by attendance and effort.

Not every kids comes from a Christian home. But honestly speaking, not every kid that comes from a home that claims to be Christian is. For many in the West, Christianity is another thing to put on in the morning. It's right up there with voting Republican. In fact, for many Americans, it's the same thing.

In the end, like everything else in our culture, we leave discipleship up to "the professionals." We've handed the discipleship of our kids over to the "professionals". This whole "read your Bible thing" with our kids is simply too hard. "What if they ask a question?" Therein lies the problem, our own discipleship is lacking, like Paul says, "many should be teachers" but simply have better things to do.

So, we hire youth ministers. They are the ones in tune with youth culture, they are the ones that can watch our kids and will entertain them. That way, we can blame those that we've given responsibility FOR (yes, I said for) when our kids don't want to attend. Parents don't like youth ministry when it's too boring. Parents don't like youth ministry when it's all games. Parents don't like it when youth ministry reaches out to "those" kids. Parent's don't talk to their kids about being an example to "those" kids when they come. They don't encourage them to read their Bibles or other things to be studied. Parents don't like it when there are requirements for mission trips. Parents don't like it when the youth ministry schedule is too full, and they don't like it when it's too empty.

Lastly, what many parents don't do is communicate. They don't respond (or even read??) to emails or webposts. They don't tell youth ministers about significant events in the lives of their kids. They don't come to parent meetings. And why? Because no one is going to "tell them how to raise their kids."

No doubt, this will be interpreted as another "anti-parent youth ministry rant."

Stay tuned to tomorrow's post, when we'll talk about a few typical youth ministry responses.

Jesus and The Event

2010-11-15T12:38:00.000-06:00

We were in the midst of our high school youth group meeting, and a student said three words that confirmed why youth ministry as we know it has failed.

"It doesn't work." When pressed for details, this student talked about the camps, the trips, the events, even threw prayer and reading the Bible in for good measure. The student talked about post-trip spiritual highs and promises of this time "being different." Finally, the words, "I'm done trying" were said.

I read from Hebrews 12, where the author (Paul?) writes this: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin the so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on CIY, or summer camp, or the ski trip, or the service project...WAIT! It says nothing of the sort. We are to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

For too long, youth ministries have looked to events to draw kids to Christ. I know that I have. And that, is a fail.

But, our adult ministries are no different. Daily, we receive emails and brochures for various items promising to solve all of our ills. A church down the street gets an electric guitar and pays a worship leader, and people flock to them, because what they want, what WE all really want, is some emotion, some feeling, some hint the God is there and this is all worth it. We want something that "works", with the word "works" of course defined as an experience. But, like last year's fireworks show or the newest movie, the next one had better really captivate my attention. If it doesn't, we're gone.

At the beginning of Hebrews, we read, "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son..."

How does God now communicate? Jesus.

Not through camps, loud guitars, "feelings", bright lights, a parking place up front, more money, a bigger house, a wonderful home life, a perfect marriage or the perfect church.

God communicates through a man hanging on a tree.

And every attempt, every single attempt to experience what Jesus alone offers will leave you empty, sad, scared, and wanting.

"But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved."

On connecting

2010-11-08T12:26:00.001-06:00

This past weekend, I had the joy of attending Turning Point in Omaha. Turning Point is an event for high school students that takes place every November. The theme for this years was "Pause"; we discussed the lost art of the Sabbath. Our students had the opportunity to practice one of three spiritual disciplines: "Solitude", "Meditation" and "Journaling". We'll be re-visiting each of these in an extended format in January.

Friday night's session was a interview format with three students and a leader from NCC. When they were initially talking about Sabbath, one of them made this amazing statement:

"We don't know how to connect with something, because we are so connected with everything else."

Over the weekend, I saw this commercial a few times, it effectively communicates what he meant.

And what is presented as the solution to our inability to connect? Yet another device. Brilliant.

I'm not done with this video.

Group Magazine, November/December 2010

2010-11-05T18:04:00.000-05:00

Up front: I've been a subscriber to Group Magazine for a few years now. For the past 2 years, I've attended the Simply Youth Ministry Conference. I'm also on their Inside Track Team for the conference. I love what they do. All of that said, I wouldn't be talking about it if I didn't believe in it.

Overall, I like Group because it is filled with practical information from people actually serving in ministry.

Here are some things from the November/December 2010 issue that will influence our ministry over the next few months:

One In Depth, by Jeff Dunn-Rankin
The article deals with talking so that kids will listen and listening so kids will talk. He talks about "listening with full attention", "acknowledging their feelings" and "giving feelings a name". The second one really hit home with me. Often when I talk with kids I find myself giving advice or asking questions. I've also found myself saying things like "There's no reason to get upset". That's not honoring the relationship or the person. We need to work on listening.

Going Super Deep With Teenagers, by Rick Lawrence
Rick details the results of the survey that they've used with the students that attended Group Workcamps last year. What's more, he posts a link that we can download the survey results. Each year in our student ministry, we hand out some type of survey. I'm thinking about re-working it a bit and asking all of our small groups (middle school, high school, and adults) to work through it.

It's Called Work for a Reason, by Mark DeVries
"Not building the right systems beneath a youth ministry virtually guarantees you'll be blindsided and overwhelmed by the very situations that a well-prepared youth worker will handle with ease." Based on both this statement and some work for my "Multi-Gen Ministry" course at IWU, I'm taking a deeper look at the systems behind our ministry. There will be some changes coming.

Outwit, Outplay and Outlast Parent Criticism, by Dwayne Stinson
Dwayne begins the article with a story about a retreat gone awry. There was a tremendous amount of issues afterwards which led them to create a behavioral covenant for their group. Our middle school group is a little...boisterous...so something like this may be coming soon. I gave a copy of the article to each of my middle school leaders.

On Outreach

2010-11-03T15:48:00.001-05:00

I'm spending part of my afternoon reading Inside the Organic Church for my class. In the chapter detailing a church called "The Bridge" located in Arizona, Whitesel writes, "The cultural mandate must be carefully studied and replicated, not only because of its strategic importance, but also because evangelicals lack proficiency" (39).

Translation: It is not only important that we study our culture because we need to understand those whom we minister to, but also, because we are ignorant of said culture.

And Christians thought that they had all the answers.

582 miles, 10 hours of driving...

2010-11-03T12:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, a friend and I drove up to Maple Grove Minnesota to attend Dare2Share's Ultimate Roadtrip youth leader event. Hannah and I went because we're on Group Publishing's SYMC Inside Track Team, specifically, we went to handout some packets from Group Publishing that included the Sept/Oct 2010 Group Magazine and some other goodies.

The plan was for me to wakeup about 3:15am and be on the road at 4 to drive to Cedar Falls, pick Hannah up, and then get to Minneapolis. Imagine my surprise when the alarm went off, I shut it off, and then woke up at 3:55am. Jumped out of bed and showered, in the car, stop at Road Ranger for a cup of coffee, and out of CR by 4:25. Hannah had also overslept, so we left CF about 5:30am. Had a great drive, and arrived in Maple Grove around 9:20-ish. Went to Starbucks for some caffeine, then over to the even site, Dave and Busters. We went inside, found our spot and started setting up the bags. Unfortunately, not everything was there, we were missing some books. We got the bags done and the lunch was at 10:30...yeah. Chicken, potatoes, rolls, and salad at 10:30am. It was good, but a little early for me.

The event started by 11:30 or so. Greg Stier walked us through a few things. He began by talking about ministry as a roadtrip. It was good stuff.

The overall premise is that, "Everything you do in youth minstry should drive toward a desired destination. Determining that destination is the single most important decision you will make when it coms to how to lead, structure and advance your youth ministry."

He then went over 4 specific steps:

Know where you are headed before you start driving. This forced us to ask ourselves the one question that matters most..."What could a great destination look like for our group?" The funny thing is that I've actually been thinking about this for the last few weeks. You'd think that a guy who had been at the same church for 5 years would know this by now...
Prepare for your trip. We need to make sure that our tanks are filled spiritually, and that we've gone over our ministrys, looking for things that might get in the way. Stier calls these "flat tires", they include things like: budget, church politics, need for leaders, etc.
Use the right MAP. A MAP is a Ministry Action Plan. It forced us to ask how our existing lineup of stuff, programs, events, etc, fit the destination. He talked about using the bigger meetings (youth group) to recruit the smaller core that will go the distance.
Hit the road, and rejoice over what happens on the trip. He broke this down into 3 pieces: Realize the every pothole and detour can make us stronger, Every mile marker your teens pass is progress toward the great destination, and Embrace the reality that not all your teenagers will make it all the way. That last one is especially sucky, yet each week I see evidence of kids that have been completely led astray and picked off, kids with no foundations, kids that have been choked out by the world. I also see a few, very few that are cultivating their relationships with God and growing.

It was a good trip. It would cool to go as a part of Group and served as a reminder to focus our efforts. I also came away with the fact that I need to be spending more time in prayer over our students. Additionally, I need to be looking for the group within the group. This weekend, we're taking some of our high school students to Nebraska Christian College for their Turning Point event. I'll start there.

We were out or Maple Grove by 2:15, quick stop for gas and Wendy's in Owatonna Minnesota and home in time (7:20pm) to vote. It was a long, but fruitful day.

Next up, "Why I choose SYMC as my conference"

Not sitting this one out...

2010-10-29T14:51:00.000-05:00

Nope...not a political post. Saving that one for next week.

Over at B-Mac's place, we find the latest installment in his ever-popular "Q & R" (that's "response", because Brian doesn't give "answers", answers imply that someone is wrong). From a "reader of A New Kind of Christianity" comes the following:

"...I know Revelation is a different sort of text and difficult to interpret. But I am wondering about Revelation 21. What do you do with the verses about a lake of burning sulfur that the cowardly, vile, liars etc go to in the second death? This just sounds so much like the "theos" form of God.
I loved what you said about 1)giving myself permission to not like a verse and then 2) to see if there is another way this could be understood. I am stuck with this one though...
I want to scratch it away."

This is a perfectly legitimate question.

Notice what Brian does next...

"First, I think you mean Rev. 20:11-15 (and 21:27)..."

This is quite the assumption that Brian makes, but is really no different than Brian's typical exegetical skills (of course, he's an English teacher, so he has no idea about theology-or so his normal line goes-) he takes what someone has implicitly said (or wrote) and says "I think you mean..." Brian does this frequently with scripture, as when he talks about Paul not being familiar with gender, or homosexuality, or any of the other things Brian disagrees with, but I digress.

Now, how do we know that the person behind the "Q" was referring to Revelation 21 and not 20? Let's look closely at his question.

a- The person behind the "Q" specifically mentions "a lake of burning sulfur", "the cowardly", "vile", "liars" and "the second death". When we look at the verses that he meant to talk about, (you know, Brian's a mindreader and all), this would be Revelation 20:11-15...we do indeed find the dead being judged, but nowhere, and I mean NOWHERE in Revelation 20:11-15 do we find the words, "the cowardly", "vile", "liars". What we do see mentioned is the "lake of fire" and "the second death".

b- If we skip ahead to chapter 21, specifically verses 7 & 8, guess what words we find. Yep, you guessed it..."a lake of burning sulfur", "the cowardly", "vile", "liars" and "the second death."

We can infer from this text that in chapter 20, we find the setup to the judgement process, with chapter 21 giving us the specifics. Now, I'm no English major but I would call this "foreshadowing." Perhaps the guy with the MA in English could give me the correct term.

Let's continue, Brian tells us what Revelation 20 (again, the "Q" wasn't about that, so B-Mac doesn't care, because he has a point to make) doesn't say:

"I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their beliefs and religious affiliation. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, atheists, homosexuals, and liberals were thrown into the lake of fire ... Christians were spared." Nothing like that at all! The judgment occurs according to works ...'what they had done.'"

I agree with Brian. It does NOT say those things. But...who cares...B-Mac's got a straw man to set up:

"So what some Christians commonly say about judgment is quite different from what this text itself says."

I know that's just what I said last week in youth group..."And the dead were judged according to their beliefs and religious affiliation. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, atheists, homosexuals, and liberals were thrown into the lake of fire ... Christians were spared." Actually, no I didn't. I've never said that. Or heard it said. Except when B-Mac tells me that I've heard it said.

Brian continues to tell us what the text means (which is funny for a non-theologian/English major who doesn't give "A's"):

"Interestingly, when "the devil who had deceived them" is thrown into the "lake of fire and sulphur" in 20:10, along with "the beast and the false prophet," it says "they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." When human beings are judged in 20:11-15, it says they are plunged into "the second death." Nothing about torment, etc., is mentioned beyond being judged."

Follow along here. The beast and false prophet? Thrown into the fire for "day and night forever and ever." The lake of fire that is specifically called "the second death". The people not found in the book of life? Also thrown into the fire. But relax! It's not torment. (B-Mac really said that...don't believe me?):

"When human beings are judged in 20:11-15, it says they are plunged into "the second death." Nothing about torment, etc., is mentioned beyond being judged."

Are there two lakes of fire? One for "torment" and one for...roasting marshmallows? Let's answer the guys "Q"...shall we? I believe that it's along the lines of, "Who is going into the fire?"

In context, the new heaven and new earth are joined. God's on the throne and the long war is over. Jesus says, "He who overcomes will inherit all this...but the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice the magic arts, the idolaters and al liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death" (Revelation 21:7-8).
The people above are the same ones mentioned in Revelation 20:15. That's the specific list. And, they were judged "according to what they had done"..lie, murder...etc.

B-Mac continues with the claim that Revelation was written as an analogy for what was going to happen to the Roman Empire. Why analogy? B-Mac has an answer for that, "In literature of the oppressed, an oppressed group tells the truth about the powers that be, but they do it in a "slant" or indirect way so that they won't be arrested, tortured, and killed for doing so."

B-Mac takes his mind-reading skills to a whole new level by tell us what John really meant; his dream was either not real or just an allegory.

Brian closes:

"And I think the point of Revelation is that the powerful people who did the killing will ultimately be judged as the villains of history, and the powerless people who got killed for their witness against the beastly systems will be judged the heroes in God's eyes."

Because Brian knows what God really meant.

John 15

2010-10-22T10:04:00.000-05:00

Supposedly, Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. With that analogy, he says that if we are not connected to Him, we cannot bear fruit.

If our very lives depend on him, then...

Why do we ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit and not spend time in prayer?

Why do we ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit and not spend time in scripture?

When godly people come into our lives to hold us accountable, why do we ignore them?

Why do we attempt to do things without him?

Why do we expect to bear fruit without him?

"If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned" - John15:6.

What does Jesus mean? I think he means that when we separate ourselves from him, that we will die.

Thoughts from John 14

2010-10-21T10:46:00.000-05:00

I read John 14 a moment ago as a part of my daily devo time.

Here are some interesting statements that Jesus makes:

14:9- "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one coms to the Father except through me."

How unfriendly of him. Who does he think he is to make this statement?

14:12- "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing."

We could then infer that if we are not doing what he did, the whole love God and love people thing, we have no faith in him...regardless of what we say.

14:15- "If you love me, you will obey what I command."

The inverse is true. If we do not do as Jesus asks, we don't love him...no matter what we think.

14:21-22- "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

No obedience? No love. No love? No love from God. No revelation of Christ...No matter what we think.

14:23-24- "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching...He who does not love me will not obey my teaching."

Obedience is clearly linked to love. Obedience is our response to God's love for us. If we are not obedient to the things that God calls us to do, then we do not love God.

Regardless of what we think.

Do you want to know if you love God? It's simple, really.

Are you obedient to him?

On Parent/Teacher Conferences...

2010-10-20T14:39:00.000-05:00

I was over at Drudge Report this morning for my daily marching orders, and I saw the following: "Parents who skip kids' school conferences could face jail in Detroit...", so I clicked on it. You should too.

In summation, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy wants a law passed that will put parents in jail for skipping parent-teacher conferences. Predictably, some are "for", while others are "against". According to the article, "Her plan would require parents to attend at least one conference per year or face three days in jail. Parents of those excelling in school would be exempt, as would those whose health issues make travel difficult and those "actively engaged" with teachers through e-mail, phone calls or letters."

One respondent said this, "You can't legislate parental involvement," he said. "If the law forces parents to go, what will it do other than fill up a room with parents who don't want to be there?"

That is probably the most frustrating thing to read. I think that anyone with half an awareness of current events knows that Detroit as a city is a disaster. Crime is out of control. The economy stinks. And the one thing (besides Jesus, of course) that people need is an education process that is focused on teaching and working with parents. Survey after survey shows that parents are the main influence on kids, yet parents remain strangely distant. Perhaps it's the un- and under-employment. Perhaps it's the broken family situation. Maybe the Detroit school system is doing such a fantastic job with their students that parents don't feel the need. Maybe they're doing such a lousy job that parents don't see the point.

Ultimately, the emotion that rises to the top when I think about this article is that of profound sadness. Sadness that our culture and society is so broken by sin that jailing parents would even be offered as a solution. Sadness that parents are either unable or unwilling to participate in the education of their children. Sadness that another generation of kids are falling through the cracks.

Why I'm writing about this:

One of the things that I struggle with, probably the most consistent frustration over the past 5 years has been communication to and with parents. I send out a "mostly"-weekly email, update "mostly"-weekly our parent website , send stuff home with kids, through the mail...we've even hand-delivered invitations for events. And, for the most part, and with a few awesome exceptions, we never hear or see the vast majority of parents at anything they're invited to. I can count on one hand the number of personal conversations I've had with parents that have even asked who we are as a church.

This too, makes me sad.

Programs are the right answers to the wrong questions

2010-10-12T12:06:00.000-05:00

Before I get serious, know this: I need to listen to more Arcade Fire.

Last week at the SYMC 2011 Inside Track Team Summit, I ran into a guy named Mark Riddle; he runs an organization called "The Riddle Group", an advisory group to churches and ministries. I've followed him on Twitter for a while, and today, he pointed us to a blog post entitled "A few ideas to wrestle with." There were 13 choices. I'm picking number 7: "Programs are the right answers to the wrong questions".

Wrong question: What should we study next?

Right question: How will a study of Francis Chan's Crazy Love create relationship and community within our church?

Wrong question: What can we do to get more people involved?

Right question: What does involvement look like?

Wrong question: Why isn't our church growing? What do we need to do to get more people to come?

Right question: Are we being faithful to what God has called us to?

Wrong questions typically involve "doing". They typically lead to programs that often are too tightly held and eventually become tradition. For instance, prior to last year, Eastview always had a joint youth group (middle school/high school) that met on Wednesday nights. When we first brought up the possibility of splitting the group, there were objections like "we need the older kids to be an example to the younger...are we adding another night of programming...etc". Some valid points in there. But, when we looked deeper, and started asking "why?", we found that our high school students were not modeling good behaviors, in fact, they were having nothing to do with our middle school students. Then ones that did want to grow were often frustrated by the MS students. While our MS numbers grew during that time, our HS numbers shrank. So, we split the group, and now we have more kids between the two, and on a consistent basis, than ever. We have a 2:1 student:leader ratio in MS (unheard of) and a 4:1 in high school.

Wrong questions typically involve doing. (Didn't I just say that?) In our western culture, "doing" typically leads to feelings of accomplishment. Just look at all I've accomplished...I've read my bible (check), prayed (check), gone to small group (check), gone to a ministry team meeting (check), attended Sunday service (check), and on and on it goes.

Right questions point to motivation. Often, church calendars are filled with events that are used to measure people's commitments. Start asking "why?" and watch people's temperatures (and voices) rise. When we defend things (programs) based on the wrong questions, we tend to get territorial.

At the end of the day, when we ask the wrong questions, we end with a bunch of programs that are haphazardly put together that many do not attend. Why? Because we failed to ask and get to the REAL question...WHY? This is why there is huge value in a single philosophy of ministry.

A philosophy of ministry provides a lens through which we plan. If our philosophy of ministry values relationship, than our events should value relationship. We should ask questions like:

How will this event build relationship?
How will it get people talking with one another in meaningful ways?
Is the event at a time when people can attend?

A philosophy if ministry helps us discern whether or not we should do something. Again, should our value be relationship, we should ask:

What are some possible outcomes from this event (good or bad)?
Does this event fit into our philosophy? This is similar to "How will this event build relationship?" above, but is different in that the above question is a "practical" question. This question takes scope and sequence into account.

A philosophy of ministry forces us to ask the right questions. Right questions begin with the word "why...?". I once heard that you should ask 5 "Whys?". By the time you get to the fifth "why?" the right (real, honest) answer is revealed. Sometimes, it may be "I don't know", which is ok because it's honest.

I have struggled with this in youth ministry...often. I've both done things that don't fit and not done things that do fit. Sometimes out of tradition, other times out of territorial selfishness. A good place to start is by asking yourself "why?". If you cannot do that honestly, find a person whom you trust and give him or her permission to ask it.

Sin, and the Body of Christ

2010-10-09T11:14:00.000-05:00

The other evening I read "Day 33" from my 40 Days with Dietrich Bonhoeffer study. (Yes, I am well past 40 days). In part, it read:

"Every act of self-discipline by a Christian is also a service to the community. Conversely, there is no sin in thought, word or deed, no matter how personal or secret, that does not harm the whole community."

After reading this, I thought, "I agree, wholeheartedly". I dutifully responded in my journal, and then went to sleep, without giving it another thought. Until this morning.

The names of my students starting flooding my mind, people that I should be in prayer for. People that I've told that I would be in prayer for. But, I have not been in prayer for them. Why? My sin.
When I sin, it keeps me from praying for people.
When I sin, it keeps me from studying scripture as I ought.
When I sin, it keeps me from fellowship as I ought...it allows me to be in seclusion, away from others. When I sin, it keeps me from serving others.

"Every member serves the whole body, contributing either to its health or for its ruin, for we are members of one body not only when we want to be, but in our whole existence. This is not a theory, but a spiritual reality that is often experienced in the Christian community with shocking clarity, sometimes destructively, and sometimes beneficially."

This cuts me to the heart, and my only response is to repent.

In Colorado...

2010-10-04T12:48:00.000-05:00

I'm in Colorado for a few days...why? I'm participating in Group's Inside Track Team Summit to plan and prepare for next year's Simply Youth Ministry Conference. I've been up for about 29 of the last 31 hours.

A moment ago I read John chapter 2. Here's the gist:

Jesus turns water into wine, his first miracle. Then, he clears the temple. Verse 23:

"Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man."

Translation: Jesus could really care less about their belief based on what he's done. Because he knows their hearts. Their hearts are empty for him. And he's simply not interested. They make him sick. Physically ill.

How about you? Where is your heart? You may not know...but he does.

The Weekly

2010-09-27T12:37:00.001-05:00

Bottom Line? Excellent week.

School

Finished Biblical Interpretation, moving into Building a Multi-Generational Church. This is my 5th class, I'm a bit less than half-way through. A decision to be made (and soon) is whether or not I'll be transitioning to the MDiv program. Which will be a natural lead-in to the Phd discussion. That would be a wonderful thing to pray for me about.

Running

I ran a little more than 5 miles on Saturday. In the pouring rain. It felt glorious. Last week's motivation problems were washed away. It's official...I'm a runner again.

Family

Katie was home for the weekend. We had a great time of catching up and chilling out. She had some "bible college" jokes. Which was most excellent. I'm seeing my children become adults, and I am so very proud of who God is making them to be. Anne continue to be an encouragement to me. She loves to serve coffee and snacks before and after church at Eastview. She loves the kids who don't know what love is. I want to be like her when I grow up.

Media

I started watching "Arrested Development" last week. It brought a ton of laughter into our Friday night.

Ministry

I'm feeling encouraged right now about the things that God is doing in HIS student ministry program at Eastview. We've had some amazing conversations in our middle school and high school youth groups...Sunday School as well. I feel as though there is some sifting going on. The more our kids are exposing themselves to God's Word, the more He is doing. In thinking about the 4 soils analogy of Jesus' "Parable of the Sower", I'm starting to see some soil revealing itself. While I'm not hanging a "Mission Accomplished" banner in our youth room, there are some things happening. And, I suppose that I shouldn't really be surprised, should I?

Bible Study

I'm still in the book of Luke. This morning, I read Luke 21. The chapter begins with the well-know tale of the giving of the widow's mite...the wealthy give out of wealth, she gave out of poverty, which was the more blessed gift. Then, something happens in the story:

"Some of the disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, "As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down."

What are we really about? The place? Or what happens IN the place? Sometimes we can be so enamored with the building itself that we fail to recognize that what we have is simply a tool. That this happened immediately following their encounter with the widow is not coincidental.

When Moses built the Tabernacle, all of the people brought what they had, they gave out of their wealth, so much so that Moses had to tell the people to stop. And then...the Israelites committed adulterous act upon adulterous act against God. God gave them over again and again to their sin...and to the other nations. They had the shiniest temple around...and God was no where near it. He departed from it, and Ezekiel watched it happen. All the while the people were bringing offerings that meant nothing. They were whitewashed tombs, cups that were shiny and bright on the outside, but a total mess on the inside.

Sure, God ordered that the temple be built in a manner befitting the worship of the One True God. At some point, it stopped being about Him, and started being about the temple itself. Don't believe me? Go back and read Luke 21:5 again:

"Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God."

It wasn't about God at all. And...neither is our building worship. It is the meek, the humble, the poor inspirit that God will exalt. Let's be about them.

Other

Colorado is a week away, can't wait!

2 Weeks in Review

2010-09-24T11:52:00.000-05:00

Here's an update:

School:
I finished the Biblical Interpretation class yesterday. "Multi-Generational Ministry" started today. Need to do some bulletin board posting and get some reading done.

Running:
This has been a real struggle for me the past month. I came off my heel issue and then went right into lower back pain. I've had a very slow 3+ week recovery period. Running has been spotty, haven't had a 20 mile week in more than a month. Struggling with motivation. The awesome thing is...my oldest son Nate started running with me 2 weeks ago. I'm so happy that he's running with me, we are currently prepping for a 5k in October and a 7-mile trail run in Urbandale Iowa in mid-November.

Music:
Not really into anything "new" as of late. I've been listening to Pandora a lot...the Eminem station is my current favorite. Say what you want...the guy has some interesting things to say.

Other things:
Our oldest child, Katie, is coming home from Lincoln Christian University this evening. Other than Skype, haven't seen her in a month. Really looking forward to see her.

I am going to Group's Inside Track Team Summit in a little more than a week. Flying to Colorado and talking about next year's Simply Youth Ministry Conference will be awesome. It will be nice to meet some people and hang out with people who get youth ministry.

Some quick thoughts

2010-09-13T16:01:00.000-05:00

Over the past few weeks, my evening devotional time has been spent reading from the book 40-Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer. For those that don't know, Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran minister in Germany in the 1930's and 1940's. He fled Germany at one point as the Nazis were in power, and then returned to certain death. On one hand, he promoted peace and non-violent approaches to the Hitler. On the other, he was involved in plots to kill Hitler.

Day 18: "Because we cannot deny that we no longer stand in true discipleship to Christ, while being members of a true-believing church with a pure doctrine of grace, but are no longer members of a church which follows Christ..."

Translation: We love grace, the forgiveness of our sins. But actually following Christ? Not so much.

Day 21:"You complain that you cannot believe? No one should be surprised that they cannot come to believe as long as, in deliberate disobedience, they flee or reject some aspect of Jesus' commandment. You do not want to subject some sinful passion, an enmity, a hope your life plan , or your reason to Jesus' commandment? Do not be surprised that you do not receive the Holy Spirit, that you cannot pray , that your prayer for faith remains empty!"

Translation: Don't want to follow God? Of course you cannot believe. There's nothing for you to believe in.

Wow.

On "The Joshua Tree"

2010-09-08T11:30:00.000-05:00

In 1987, U2 released what many consider their opus..."The Joshua Tree". It was their 5th studio album, hot off the heels of "The Unforgettable Fire" and their amazing performance at Live Aid. On April 27 of that year, Time Magazine dubbed them "Rock's Hottest Ticket". I remember buying it on cassette (no cd player for me until 1990!) and listening over and over to it. Here's the track listing:

"A" Side:
Where the Streets Have No Name
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
With or Without You
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running to Stand Still

"B" Side
Red Hill Mining Town
In God's Country
Trip Through Your Wires
On Tree Hill
Exit
Mothers of the Disappeared

On a whole, this is their "American" album, it's rock-country-blues influenced. Some say it's their best, which is why 1991's Achtung Baby was a let down to many fans, because it was NOT Joshua Tree, part deux.

Where am I going?

Obviously, the first 3 (4?) songs are the bread and butter on this record. But. It is the "B" side where the real gems are. When listened to in a linear fashion (that's straight through to you postmoderns out there), those initial songs simply serve as the set up to who and what U2 really is all about: solid songwriting and muscianship. And...most importantly...storytellers. It is not until the "B" side actually, that anything different than the previous 4 studio albums comes out. U2's story changes.

Streets? Boy's "I Will Follow"
Still Haven't Found? October's "Tomorrow/October/With a Shout"
With or Without You? War's "Two Hearts Beat as One"
Bullet followed immediately by Running? "The Electric Co/Shadows and Tall Trees"

Red Hill Mining Town

Then...the transition from "Running" to "Red Hill" just happens. Harmonica fade out into guitar...but not the "U2 sound" guitar. A guitar that pulls the song through. Larry Mullen actually leaves the toms alone and simply plays a beat.

Key line:

"Wounded by fear, injured in doubt...I can lose myself, you I can't live without."

Transition to "In God's Country"...from the mournful depression of life in a dead end mining town to the hopefulness of "God's Country"..up tempo, some of the U2 sound is back, just enough to remind you what you're listening to.

Key line:

"Naked flame.
She stands with a naked flame.
I stand with the sons of Cain
Burned by the fire of love."

Trip Through Your Wires

Country guitar, U2 sound is "back" but in a country format that would be fully developed on Rattle and Hum's "Angel of Harlem."

So dramatically different of a sound, they are having fun in this song, this is better than ANYTHING on the first side, hands down. This is the pinnacle of the side and album.

Key line:

"I was broken, bent out of shape
I was naked in the clothes you made
Lips were dry, throat like rust
You gave me shelter from the heat and the dust
No more water in the well"

Transition to One Tree Hill...the album begins the descent, but it's descending into a reality. Because...what is my response once the well is empty?

Key line (and filled with irony for Bono):

"I don't believe in painted roses
Or bleeding hearts
While bullets rape the night of the merciful"

I believe Bono is taking the Bonhoeffer route here...what is the response to a very real evil? Can we sit idly by? Some people do not...so we get Exit.

Exit

Key lines:
"He wanted to believe
In the hands of love...
Hand in the pocket
Finger on the steel
The pistol weighed heavy
His heart he could feel
Was beating, beating...
He saw the hands that build
Can also pull down
The hands of love."

Mothers of the Disappeared

Snare drum in background, sounding like machine gun fire. About "the disappeared", people taken by the military in Argentina in the 1970's.

"Midnight, our sons and daughters
Were cut down and taken from us
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat
In the wind we hear their laughter
In the rain we see their tears
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat

Night hangs like a prisoner
Stretched over black and blue
Hear their heartbeat
We hear their heartbeat

In the trees our sons stand naked
Through the walls our daughters cry
See their tears in the rainfall"

This video is incredible, the band has mothers come on stage and lament about their loved ones. Simply amazing.

"The new Runner's World's here, the new Runner's World's here..."

2010-09-04T12:34:00.000-05:00

That about sums up how I feel when I come home from work and find that the new Runner's World magazine has arrived. With that in mind, here are some thoughts about the October 2010 issue that will have an impact on the way I train and run:

The North Face ad on page 21 sent me to their website. They have some pretty sweet stuff. Thankfully, Dick's Sporting Goods is a retailer. More on that in a sec.

The Personal Best section always begins with 5-10 tips, this month it's called "The Warmup: Pacing". One of the things I've been missing in my runs is that I don't really have a purpose when I head out beyond mileage. The first pointer sent me to the Runner's World Training Calculator. Follow the instruction to see how you should be pacing. I can tell you that I do not follow this. At all. The second helpful piece is that a person should run at 180 steps/minute. This morning, I calculated my steps (twice) at 168/minute. Something to work on.

The Long Way, page 35. I am a "progression runner". I start out slow and increase my pace. This morning, my splits were: 8:10, 8:06, 7:47, 7:32, 7:12. I am NOT properly incorporating a long run (50% farther than my usual maintenance run).

The Better Blend, page 47 article was good. I made my first smoothie yesterday. Frozen strawberries, milk, peanut butter, half a banana, honey and ice. It was good. Next time, no ice...

The Body Shop, page 60. Injury prevention stuff. I need to work on this, as every few months I need to take some time off.

Into the Wild, pages 101-124. Makes me want to hit the Thomas Park frisbee golf course over the next few weeks. Obviously, daylight is best, and now that it's cooler I can see this happening over the next few weeks. Also, Nate (our 16 year-old) and I are going to run the Living History Farms Off-Road Race in Urbandale in November. It's a 7-miler.

With Nate starting to run with me to train for the Urbandale, I'm going to place some intentionality into my training. Specifically, going to work on pacing and the long-run incorporation. Some speedwork as well. It's going to be a fun, and hopefully injury-free, few months.

Back to Dick's Sporting Goods. They have a rewards program when you earn points which are then converted to credit at the store. Our MasterCard is linked to that account, so every dollar we put on that card, gas, our cellphone bill, Nathan's orthodontist, groceries...EVERYTHING earns us points. Now, we pay it every month, because credit cards suck. This year, we've earned $630 in FREE money there. Earlier this week, we walked out of there with $160 in merchandise, new running shoes for Nate, a jacket for Katie, a gun case...free. When I got my new Asics in May, they were free. All of my Nike insulated gear for winter...free. They should pay me for advertising...

Coming next week, a review of the new Group magazine, and how it's influencing our student ministry.

Hungry

2010-09-01T12:17:00.001-05:00

Hungry from John Mulholland on Vimeo.

Can't, or won't?

2010-08-30T12:53:00.002-05:00

"Can't vs Won't" from John Mulholland on Vimeo.

Power Out!

2010-08-27T11:35:00.000-05:00

I hear from so many christians that they don't "feel it" any more.

Arcade Fire offers the perfect solution:

"And the power’s out in the heart of man,
Take it from your heart, put it in your hand.
And there’s something wrong in the heart of man,
You take it from your heart and put it in your hand!"

You weren't saved for you. Go and tell others.

4:17 of sheer awesomeness

2010-08-24T10:47:00.000-05:00

"If the businessmen drink my blood
Like the kids in art school said they would
Then I guess I'll just begin again
You say, "can we still be friends?"

If I was scared... I would
And if I was bored... you know I would
And if I was yours... but I'm not

All the kids have always known
That the emperor wears no clothes
But they bow to down to him anyway
It's better than being alone

If I was scared... I would
And if I was bored... you know I would
And if I was yours... but I'm not

Now you're knocking at my door
Saying please come out with us tonight
But I would rather be alone
Than pretend I feel alright

If the businessmen drink my blood
Like the kids in art school said they would
Then I guess I'll just begin again
You say, "can we still be friends?"

If I was scared... I would
And if I was pure... you know I would
And if I was yours... but I'm not

Now I'm ready to start

If I was scared... I would
And if I was pure... you know I would
And if I was yours... but I'm not

Now I'm ready to start

Now I'm ready to start
I would rather be wrong
Than live in the shadows of your song
My mind is open wide
And now I'm ready to start

Now I'm ready to start
My mind is open wide
And now I'm ready to start
And I'm sure you opened the door
To step out into the dark

Now I'm ready"

The Myth of Balance

2010-08-20T09:41:00.000-05:00

"Balance" is a very American concept.

Balance between work and play...between work and family...between service and being served...between church and life.

What a bogus concept. This morning, I'm working through my morning devotional which is focused today on Micah 7:18-19. In the midst of the "lesson", it says this, "The Bible is largely a book about finding balance between work and play, God and other people, faith and deeds--and between God's hatred for sin and his desire to completely forgive the sinner."

What a load of crap. God states that we are to love Him with ALL our heart, ALL our mind, ALL our soul, ALL our spirit. EVERYTHING that we are is to be solely, specifically in Love with God and God alone.

The American Gospel is a false one. The only "balance" in God's Kingdom comes from His perfection ("the hatred for sin and his desire to completely forgive the sinner").

It is precisely because of the idolatry of balance within the "church" that we do not minister in the way we are called.

People will not sacrifice time because they need to have the proper ratio between work and life.

People will not sacrifice money because they need to balance their so-called giving with their new car and house payment...and their 401(k) so they can retire comfortably.

The American Church needs to wake the #$%^ up to the realization that we are idolaters and adulteresses.

Responding to critics

2010-08-09T09:35:00.000-05:00

Back when I was in Mexico, we blogged about the trip over here. I also did some personal blogging about my own thoughts on this blog. In response to this post, someone made a comment back. While I moderate my comments (to keep the viagra ads out), I am willing to post anything that people say. Unless, an anonymous post is made. As promised, here is the posting made by the anonymous person.

"Why did they go to the old Hacienda de Gogorron?
Could it be because, it is a VERY popular place and has always been known for its thermal ( read hot enough to feather a chicken) waters.
That your church hadn't heard about it, blows my mind.

The movie"Zorro" with Katherine Zeta Jones and Antonio Banderas was filmed there.

I am familiar with SLP and Gogorron, so I know what I am speaking about.

I wonder too, what kind of gospel is been preached there. I would suggest, that, instead of going to other countries to try to change the people's beliefs and their way of thinking, that, you should stay in the USA, and try to evangelize your own people who are the most immoral in the planet. You should preach your religion where the need is the most, not where it is easier and enjoyable."

Here are some of my thoughts about this person's post:

The people that we went and visited outside of Gorgorron were not there (as far as I know) to enjoy the hot springs. They were there because that is where they live. The specific home that we visited was made of mud, and had an outdoor toilet. Their kitchen was in a dual-purpose room. I'm in no way criticizing the lifestyle, it's simply how they live. When I talked in my blog about Gorgorron "being discovered", I meant the Pavon Church learning about the ministry opportunity there. I do not go to Mexico to "try to change people's beliefs and their way of thinking". We went to Mexico to help the Pavon Church with their multi-site Vacation Bible School program, of which Gorgorron was 1 of 4 sites. This trip is a part of our ministry structure here in the US. Following Jesus' command to His disciples, we take the gospel local (to our city), and then to the "ends of the earth", which includes Mexico and Tanzania (where we also sent a group this Summer). I re-read my post to try to understand where you got the idea that the gospel being preached in Gorgorron is "easier and more enjoyable" and couldn't anything like that.

So, anonymous person...there is a response. I'm curious...do you have the courage to defend your beliefs and statements in a non-anonymous manner? If so...respond, and I will gladly continue the conversation with you.

More than 10 days later.

2010-08-05T09:54:00.001-05:00

High school week was a blast last week. We had 72 students and 18 adults at NEICSC. We went out into the communities around Bristow and did various service projects, did some work around the camp, had 4 book clubs going, an awesome worship leader and heard God's Word spoken. It was a wonderful week with our students. It also closed out a busy summer of consistent time with our students before our Fall programming starts up in a few weeks. Between then and now I'll be occupying my time with the administrative preparations needed: Fall Kick-Off prep, lesson planning, our annual ministry team retreat.

Here's an update:

School:
In the midst of my Biblical Interpretation class. The material is interesting, as is the the work. But, it's a little flat. Next up is "Building a Multi-Generational Church".

Running:
Got my 80+ miles in for July, quite a feat considering I was on a hyper-busy ministry schedule of being away from home for 3 full weeks. I'm currently in the denial phase of a possible Achilles Tendinitis on my left heel.

On "Opting Out of Youth Ministry":
A few days ago, Sarah Mae posted a blog entitled "Why Our Family is Opting Out of Youth Ministry". It was a pretty thought-provoking post, and has caused quite a buzz among youth ministers, there are a ton or responses, both on her blog comment section and on the personal blogs of youth ministers. You should check out her thoughts.

Some Writing:
Still waiting on feedback from the article I wrote last month. Beyond that, a friend of mine was asking for some ideas about small church ministry on a book she is in the process of writing, and I need to get a full article to her. I'm excited by this.

Music:
This week, both House of Heroes and The Arcade Fire had new releases out. The HOH album is called "Suburba" and AF is "The Suburbs". Perhaps I'll post some thoughts on both albums.

Other things:
We're taking Katie to Lincoln next weekend for her Freshman year. Time flies. After that, we're heading to Anne's parents house for a few days for some family time. September brings our church retreat, and then in October, I'll be heading to the Inside Track Team Summit at Group Magazine's headquarters in Colorado for a few days.

10 days-ish later

2010-07-24T17:36:00.000-05:00

My last post was July 14, and from Mexico. Here are a few of the things going on:

I got back from Mexico.
We arrived in the States on Monday afternoon, and had a pretty good debrief. We talked about some of our real struggles and expectations about being home, as well as some things that we needed to work on regarding our personal and group discipleship. If I said this in a post from Mexico, it bears saying again. We'll be upping the ante a bit in our student ministry when it comes to discipleship; if the students who claim the cross of Christ are not looking for accountability in their walks with God, they should find a different youth group to be a part of in September.
I've also been feeling under the weather since returning. I was sick for a few days, and now it is manifesting itself in simple tiredness. I just want to sleep. Which is unfortunate, as high school camp starts tomorrow.

I've come to the realization that I am a great christian, but a lousy disciple.
To quote Bill Holley this morning, "I know way more than I practice." And I am way burned out on that. We consistently talk about "doing" and rarely talk about "being". But, I've talked about discipleship here and here. The Mexico trip and recent conversations have only widened the chasm between the two. I will process this more deeply over the next few weeks on the blog, and will culminate all of this at the end of August in my sermon.

I've given up Facebook for 30 days. Mostly.
Online relationships are not real ones. Over the past few days, I have seen that people are unable to communicate with one another face-to-face, but whose online skills are unmatched. When my first instinct of the morning is not to pick up God's Word, or to pray, but to find out what song lyrics my "friends" have posted, there is something very, very wrong.
I say "mostly" because I'll be using Eastview's Facebook page to update on the going's on at camp, and have some picture stuff to do from the Mexico trip.

I'm still in School.
My Biblical Interpretation class started just before Mexico, and there is much to do for that. Fortunately, it's stuff I like. Also, it gets me more into the Word.

I love Running.
Basically, I've decided that if I got 80 miles in for July, I would be satisfied with that. As of right now, I'm at 65. I got in some mileage while in Mexico, which also pleases me. After a 100+ June, I'm viewing July as recovery. For the year, I'm at 491 miles, which means I will have to suck it up and really push myself if I want to hit 1,000 miles for 2010.

I saw some family.
My brother and his family was up from Tennessee over the past few days. It was cool to see them, to eat with them, and play some Rock Band with the family.

I'm getting ready for high school camp next week.
Tomorrow, I'm off to NEICSC for the week. Co-deaning with Hannah, giving 3 messages, and hanging out with students. What excites me most is it's another week of just ministry.

I wrote an unsolicited article.
I'm having a friend proof it and give me some thoughts.

I'm getting ready to send my oldest to college.
I have a lot to do before Fall programming starts.
My ministry team's annual retreat will be here before I know it.

SLP-Wednesday

2010-07-14T08:51:00.000-05:00

Meals from yesterday:

Cereal
Potosinos (which you can only get here) made by Martha's sister
Quesedillas con salsa, homemade donuts

At Pavon VBS we had 237. Got about half of my sermon done. One of Brigido's daughters, Andrea, is making a graphic novel about our exploits here in SLP. I saw part of it last night, and it is amazing. Took a group down to the market last night, while the rest of our group went to Rancho Nuevo and La Mision. For thoughts on that experience and video from the day, hop over to our trip blog, here.

Questions and Thoughts:

Why is it that we consider anything less than a 15% tip wrong, yet we are quite content to give God "what our heart tells us to"?

Last night, Rob and I sat up for a bit talking about how to "bring all this home."

How do we communicate what we've seen here? The love of Christ? The commitment to service?
When we ask the question, "Why isn't Eastview growing?", what do we mean by that?
Are we inviting people? Why would we? Why should we?
By inviting people to Eastview, are we simply "letting" Bill do the work of proclaiming the gospel?
Are we so un-knowledgeable about our faith that we need to leave it to the "professionals"?

"We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, thought by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again"-Hebrews 5:11-12

SLP-It's Tuesday

2010-07-13T08:19:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's Meal Lineup:

Pancakes
Hamburgers
Quesedillsas with potatoes

Started the Pavon VBS yesterday. We had 203, including the group and adults...kids kept coming through the first hour, we'll probably be at 350 this morning. In the afternoon, we split the big group, about half went to do VBS at Rancho Nuevo and then La Mision, while the other half went downtown to the market. The Eastview group was in the latter half. This week, I'll be both driving downtown and leading groups through the market. Last night while entering the parking garage, I rubbed up against another vehicle, putting a nice scratch on it. The damage was small, and we're going to take care of it, but at least I didn't go to jail!

After all of those shenanigans, we did get some market time in. I bought a djimbe:

I also got my favorite snack...an espresso and a churro:

Driving out of the market was much less eventful and we returned to the house by 8:45pm. Devotions last night was at 9:30, sang some songs and were in bad by 11:15. Up this morning before 6 and went out for 3 miles with Nate Pugh.

Questions and thoughts from yesterday:

Last night, Nate P challenged our groups to love the younger kids in our churches the way they love the younger kids here in Mexico. Definitely something I need to work on, as well as our high school students with the younger kids. We talked about the key piece being accountability. We can sit around and wax philosophical all we want about what we need to do, but until there is accountability, we will never change.

The church at large does this as well. We talk and sing about making Jesus king and sacrificing our "all and all", but do we do that? What do those things even mean, practically speaking? For our youth ministry it means this:

We are done with a lack of accountability among our students. When we see those who claim to follow Christ acting in an un-loving manner, they are going to be called on it. We're going to be asking kids to be in the Word and spend time in prayer through the week, and we''ll be asking about it on youth group nights. If they'd like a youth group without accountability, there are dozens of other churches in Cedar Rapids they are welcome to attend.
For our leaders too, there will be an increase in accountability. If we are not actively pursuing Christ in our lives, spending time in spiritual disciplines and fellowship, how can we expect that of our students? We cannot.
Several times this week, Nate P has talked about the joy and benefits of even a cup of cold water to the least of these. He has said, "we offer so much more than water, we offer Christ." We need to stop playing games with Christ and who we are to be and what we are to do.

We need to get serious about our calling. Who's in?

SLP-Day 3

2010-07-11T08:14:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a great day here in SLP. Breakfast was French Toast and little smokey sausages. We went to the Pavon Church to hand out invitations to next week's VBS there. We split into groups and spent over an hour and a half walking around neighborhoods and apartment buildings speaking Spanish handing out slips of paper. One of our groups was escorted around a few plazas by gang members, when our group went to walk down another street, they were told by their escorts that they (the escorts) could not not go...that they would get beat up as it was not their territory. We returned to Brigido's for lunch, nachos with cheese, meat, beans and onions and tomatoes if you wanted them. A quick walk to the casa de cambio for some pesos and we were ready for the rest of the afternoon. Around 3pm, we boarded the bus for our trip to Gorgorron and VBS there. Upon arriving, we saw this:

Those are dressed whole chickens, others were cooking on an open grill. After VBS, we ate a feast of BBQ chicken, rice, mole and fresh tortillas. Here is a picture of me, making a tortilla:

Here is the finished chicken situation:

After a great VBS day, we ate our dinner there in Gorgorron. For the second night, the people of Gorgorron gave of themselves to provide a meal for us. Brigido shared with us that there is land for sale there, a plot twice the size of the Pavon piece; they would like to buy it and build a church building on it. Jason, Nate Pugh and I will be talking about this with our group tonight (Sunday) about how they can help. What God does!

We returned to the casa about 8:45, and had devotions. We bagged 200 bags of candy for Gorgorron and then went to bed.

Questions and Thoughts:

Yesterday's study was from 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15. In the past, Ive always viewed this text as a warning on physical idleness, it's how I've always heard it preached. But after yesterday, I believe that it is a warning against spiritual idleness as well: "keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us." Even the part about earning the "bread they eat"....this could be spiritual food, Christ's body, it could be the spiritual rewards of a life of obedience. The busybodies are the people whose lives are filled with Sunday school, LIFE groups, Sunday services....but without an obedience to the words of Christ, they are merely busy. Our devo tied all this in to the workers and the harvest. The workers are few, and the harvest is great. And what do we do? Nothing...because the harvest is the job of "someone else". Or, since no one is doing it, we will not either.

What will I do for the harvest today?
What will you do for the harvest today?
Are we merely spiritually busy, with no real work?
Why would we expect to eat at the Lord's Table when we are not "earning" it? How can we?

I am concerned that we are so far off base that the most important things in life are passing us by. And that most important thing is the harvest. Not work. Not our hobbies. Not even our families.

"Go, and make disciples." This is who we should be.

It's Saturday in SLP

2010-07-10T09:01:00.000-05:00

     We had a pretty full day yesterday. We went to the Pavon Church for clean-up detail pulled weeds, washed chairs, swept the church, the normal routine. Back to Brigido's for lunch: chicken flautas and "cold" Mexican Coke. Had a nice mid-afternoon cup of instant coffee and hung out a bit at the house and then boarded the bus for Gorgorron. I slept most of the hour + trip, which was nice. It rained most of the time there, the roof leaked, there was mud on the floor (which we covered with more dirt so there were no puddles), and even dogs inside the church building. We had two different classes going in the same space, the place was filled with distraction, but Brigido simply preached God and forgiveness from Zaccheus, not allowing anything to bother him. Rob and I talked a bit about how this is so different from our concept of church, not "good", not "bad", simply different. The people at Gorgorron made us fresh tamales, which were cooking over an open fire all afternoon, so we had full stomachs at the end of the afternoon. We left Gorgorron on a different, older bus, and I sat with Monna and talked about our trip thus far.

     We got back to the house and just had some fruit: papaya, melon, mango, pretty much a good time. I worked on some journaling last night and then Nate Pugh led our devotion time about the importance of unity, followed by some song time. Nate, Omar and I talked about a few ministry things, and then sleep time.

     Up this morning by 7am, and out for a 4+ mile run. Now, having a breakfast of French Toast and little smokey sausages with coffee.

   As I post my "questions and thoughts" section, please know that I realize that there is a contextual difference between America and Mexico. I get that. But....I can't help but think that when I compare how we "do" church and what happens here, or even in the biblical context of seeking and saving the lost, or going into all the nations...I think that we may be using our cultural expectations as a crutch to maintain the machine.

Questions and thoughts:

How much of a "machine" is our ministry?
Are we so focused on this machine that ministry is set aside?
If we are to "seek and save", why do we design our programming so that they come to us?
And...if they don't come, what does that say about us?
At what point is "what we do" become simply about us and our preference?
Are we so out of relationship with people that we don't know how to seek?
Or, perhaps...do we know what we've been saved from?
In essence...do we even have good news to share?

Comment Moderation

2010-07-09T22:13:00.001-05:00

If you wish to leave a comment, I ask that you leave your contact information (a blog address, name, etc). I do not post criticism that is anonymous. If you'd like to engage in dialogue, I'm interested, but this is not a free speech zone where one may drop verbal bombs and post nonsensical arguments.

If you don't have the courage to say who you are, I won't have the courtesy to post your comment.

After I return to the states, I'll be glad to address the questions in your (as of yet) unposted comment.

Got the guts to respond?

San Luis Potosi, Mexico

2010-07-09T09:15:00.001-05:00

For our official trip blog, go here.

     It has been an exciting 28 hours. We woke up yesterday at 4:30 am, had breakfast at 5:30 and then made our way to O'Hare for the 8:20 flight out. Check-in went well, and we went to the gate for a while. After boarding, our runway got changed so we had to do a lot of taxiing to get to the right spot. The pilot came on and said, "I know it seems like we've been driving for a while...because we have." Good stuff. The flight to Dallas/Ft Worth was uneventful, but delayed. We got off at the A Terminal, and then had to hop on the train over to D. Off the train, and ran to our gate where they were holding the flight for us. We sat on the plane for 30 minutes as they transferred our luggage, and then we took off. The flight was pretty empty, so each of us had our own row. We filled our paperwork out, and arrived in SLP later than we were supposed to. We walked off the plane into 73 degrees and 43% humidity, absolutely beautiful. We got through customs ok, Monna had something filled out incorrectly, but it all worked out. We met Brigido, Amy and Marcos in the airport, and then we were off to Brigido's house to drop off our stuff and grab some gorditas (corn tortilla with pulled pork and potatoes, and a scrambled egg one as well) to go. Next, we got on a bus (with air conditioning!!) and drove about an hour and ten minutes to Gorgorron, our first VBS of the trip.

   Gorgorron is located south of SLP about an hour away. One of the members of the Pavon Church (in SLP) has family members there and told them about Jesus. The Pavon Church began an outreach there in November of last year. They do a Sunday evening service, and this is their third VBS there. Over the past few months, they've built a church building there, attached to the home of the family member.

     We arrived at Gorgorron and the VBS was already started. By the end of the afternoon, there were 97 people of all ages there for the lesson. Our group helped with crafts, played games and helped with song time. We got back on the bus at 6:30, and most of our group slept on the return to SLP. We had some hang out and relax time, followed by a dinner of cheese and ham quesedillas and some "really good salsa" (Rob Frederick). There was ice cream served, devotions and then to bed.

     I was up this morning by 6:45am and got a 3.5 mile run in to a local plaza, around and around and around and then back.   Breakfast is eggs and bacon on bolleo bread and coffee, which is pretty great. Today holds work at the Pavon Church, and then back to Gorgorron for VBS. Here are some thoughts and questions that I've been kicking around over the last 15 hours or so:

Gorgorron was discovered because a woman at Pavon had such a relationship with Jesus that she told her relatives about it. Wow.
Upon hearing about Jesus from a relative, they invited the church down to tell them more.
They went, even though it is an hour away, and is on top of several other ministry outreaches that are already taking place.
Brigido's whole family is involved in this ministry, teaching and leading.
They built a makeshift church building to have Sunday evening services there.
I wonder what Gospel is being preached. It is certainly not the Western Gospel of convenience and "your best life now."
What would possess people to do this kind of thing? Why would they drive that far away? What would cause a people to do whatever it takes to preach God's Word?
What is happening here is my dream for our youth programs. A fall-kickoff that involves a VBS for all ages, kids to adults. A program that leads into a weekly ministry for all ages.

But, I wonder. Are we so enamored with "Dancing With the Stars" and the "vanity of vanities" that make up our lives that we would never, could never give up our time and efforts to reach out? What would it require? Are we so in love with Jesus? Has He changed us to the point where we tell our friends, relatives and neighbors about Him?

If someone asked us, at Eastview, to drive an hour outside of Cedar Rapids and have a weekly service...would we do it?

Well?

Out of town...

2010-07-07T08:23:00.000-05:00

I'm taking some of our high school students and adult leaders to San Luis Potosi Mexico for 2 weeks on a mission trip. You can follow out trip here.

On discipleship, part 2

2010-06-30T10:42:00.000-05:00

Last week, my blog entry was entitled "On Discipleship". Here is a follow up.

2 Corinthians 5: 15 reads this way, "And he (Jesus) died for all (us), that those who live (the ones who accept Him) should not live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."

We don't get that. I don't get that. Because I live for myself. And so do you.

Here's another way of saying what Paul said...because Jesus died for us, we no longer get to do what we want, but what Jesus wants us to do. In 1 Corinthians 6:20, Paul writes the following, "You are not your own; you were bought with a price."

We approach Jesus, asking him what we need to do to gain eternal life, and Jesus responds with the 4 cornerstones of the Restoration movement: believe, repent, be baptized and confess. We celebrate, because we've kept them, but we are not satisfied, we feel like we are missing something.

Jesus looks at us and says:

"If you want to be perfect, stop scheduling your ministry around your personal preferences."

"If you want to be perfect, go and talk to your neighbor and co-workers about me."

"If you want to be perfect, love people."

"If you want to be perfect, submit to the authorities over you."

"If you want to be perfect, stop gossiping."

"If you want to be perfect, go to a LIFE Group."

"If you want to be perfect, read your Bible."

"If you want to be perfect, spend time in prayer."

"If you want to be perfect, help get kids to and from youth group, and stop worrying about your vehicle's re-sale value."

"If you want to be perfect, repent of your sin of pride and arrogance."

"If you want to be perfect, stop hoarding your wealth so you can have a nice retirement and give it away."

"If you want to be perfect, put the bottle down and sober up."

"If you want to be perfect, get rid of the suit of fig leaves, and stop hiding."

"If you want to be perfect, stop attending church for what 'you get out of it' and go to worship God."

"If you want to be perfect, stop justifying your sin."

"If you want to be perfect, see the harvest around you and do something with it."

"If you want to be perfect, _______________________."

And each of us, when confronted with the very thing that we do not want to give up, walks away sad. Because we are not alive, rather we are dead. And dead people are not bought with a price. Dead people can do whatever they want to do.

Dead people are not disciples of Jesus.

I am weary of being surrounded by dead people.

What's more...I am tired of being dead myself.

On discipleship

2010-06-23T10:35:00.002-05:00

Over the past few years, there have been attempts to re-define the word “Christian”. Some people believe that there are negative connotations attached to the word, there is too much baggage; to say that one is a Christian is to paint a picture of judgment and self-righteousness. Tony Campolo prefers to be called a “Red-Letter Christian”; in his mind this is a focus on Jesus’ words and teachings. 200 years ago, the Restoration Movement was founded, its adherents were called “Disciples of Christ” to separate themselves from the denominational churches. What does the Bible have to say about it?

First off, Jesus NEVER told people to be Christians. The word “Christian” was merely an identifier, first used in Antioch (Acts 11:26). According to Frederick Norris’ book Christianity: A Short Global History, “The emergence of this name probably involved a bitter pogrom in the 40s AD, one carried out against the Jews whose circus teams had won a stunning victory in the horse races.” People in Antioch began to loot the homes and businesses of Jews, as the authorities sought to restore order, they needed a name for the new believers who insisted that they were not Jews, so the name “Christian” was used. With that background, let’s look at what Jesus DID say.

Through the Gospels, Jesus called those who would follow Him to be “disciples”. What does it mean to be a “disciple”? The Greek word means “a learner, a pupil, a committed learner or follower”. Jesus’ disciples spent time with Him. They watched Him. They listened to Him. They talked to Him. They did what He asked. We do these things today by reading the Word, when we pray, when we serve. But.

Are we simply going through the motions? I submit that many who wear the name “Christian” are simple adherents to the philosophy of Jesus, and not disciples. They like the whole idea of going to church on Sunday, giving a few dollars, participating in communion, and singing some songs. They don’t drink, smoke or chew, or go with those that do. They talk the talk. They are good people. Moral people. Well-liked, fine, upstanding citizens. They probably even vote Republican. But, they are not disciples. We find ourselves content with “mere” christianity, with the intellectual assent to God without the self given entirely over to Him. We read the Word not for transformation, but for “words to live by”. We don’t have because we don’t ask, and what we do ask for we don’t receive because we ask selfishly. We don’t give because we don’t trust. These things are not the way of the disciple, but the superficial things of religion. And, they are worthless, empty, and only lead to frustration. What is the way of a disciple?

If we put family allegiances before Jesus, we are not disciples of Jesus.

If we do not die to ourselves, and follow Jesus to be crucified with Him, we are not disciples of Jesus.

If our wants and desires are placed before God’s will for us, we are not disciples of Jesus.

If we refuse to give up all we are, and we have, we are not disciples of Jesus.

If we are loved by the world, we are not disciples of Jesus.

It is discipleship that is the narrow path that Jesus talks of in Matthew 7:14. Jesus made an astounding claim to be the Son of God, the Messiah, God Incarnate (you know…the whole “Immanuel” thing). And, if that is the case, then the highest thing we could ever do, the only thing, frankly, that is worthy of our time is being a disciple of Jesus. We are called to so much more than simply having the adjective of Christian. We are called to discipleship.

A bit behind...

2010-06-21T13:36:00.002-05:00

Busy with school. Middle school camp was last week. And apparently, new Arcade Fire is just around the corner.

This song fills me with joy.

Questions and Answers

2010-05-27T09:09:00.000-05:00

As part of my devotional time, I've been reading from 1 Chronicles and a book called The One Year Men of the Bible. Today's reading was about the Ethiopian Eunuch and Phillip's willingness and ability to answer the question "Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?"

In 1 Peter 3:15, we read, "If someone asks you about your Christian hope, always be prepared to explain it."

Contrast this instruction with a recent post on Brian McLaren's blog. He is asked the following questions:

"First, I have a huge problem with the Creation story. If God was in charge of creation, and created all things then that means he created Adam and Eve to sin and the Devil to make them do it. And the rest of the Old Testament tells the horrible stuff that ensues from that.

In addition, if God created, and he was all alone while doing it, who wrote Genesis? Who was there with God to be able to report on what was going on?"

Rather than answer, he gives cute little responses. To the first 2 questions (I think, anyway), he responds this way:

"On Genesis, you're not alone in raising those questions about the Genesis story. But here's my hunch: the real problem isn't with the story, but with the assumptions that we bring to the story. For example, what if we're mistaken in our assumption that the two creation stories (have you noticed that the stories in Gen 1 and 2 are very different?) are meant to be taken as literal, historical, scientific, journalistic fact? What if they have a different intention entirely, because they emerge from a different culture than our own that thought and communicated in different genres and categories than we do? What if we're mistaken in assuming that to say God inspired a text is exactly equivalent to saying that God wrote it"

Translation: Our hermeneutic is faulty. And, he does not even attempt to answer the question. He doesn't talk about Genesis 1 being a general overview, while Genesis 2 fills in the details. He leaves out the oral tradition. He just asks question upon question, which sows seeds of doubt and misunderstanding.

When people ask questions, we need to answer them. Sure, there may be some nuance involved, but at the end of the day, the woman came to him with questions, and he simply left them unanswered, beyond his usual, "read my book".

I wonder, how might Brian have answered the question of the Ethiopian Eunuch?

Sometimes, ministry sucks.

2010-05-19T16:06:00.000-05:00

In 2 Corinthians 11, gives this big list about how much his life, and ministry, sucks. He speaks of the life of an itinerant preacher, the pain and suffering that someone like Francis Asbury or George Whitefield could relate to. And, to this list of physical pain, he adds the following:

"Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches."

I have never been put into prison for my faith. Never been hit with rods. No floggings or lashings. Never shipwrecked or set adrift. While I have gone without sleep, ministry has not left me without food or drink.

But the burden of the church? Yes. I live there.

HTC Eris vs. Apple iPhone

2010-05-18T10:56:00.000-05:00

I recently sold my iPhone and switched to an HTC Eris, which uses the Android OS. Here are some thoughts about 3 weeks in to the switch:

On the iPhone:

Last year, I was given an Apple iPhone 2g, 8GB. I had previously been on Verizon, using a Blackberry. When that contract was up, I switched to AT&T and activated the iPhone. As a Mac user for 4 years, there was a seamless transition, "it just worked". When not around a wireless hotspot, it connected to the web via the Edge network. When I was in the middle of nowhere, it connected via two aluminum cans and a string. The plan was $80-ish/month for 450 minutes, 1500 text messages and unlimited data. A glaring disappointment was the inability to send texts with photo or video, or view them if people sent them to me. Multi-tasking was also missing, I could not listen to Pandora and do something else. Other than those two things, I thought that it was the coolest thing since sliced bread. I love the apps, and the interface was top notch. Finally, this iPhone would not be receiving the new OS update in the Summer. So, my original plan was to sell this iPhone and buy a new 3gs iPhone, then I found out that the service was going to be an additional $10/month, with the phone itself being $199. So, after selling it on eBay, I returned to Verizon, and got an HTC Eris.

Without being the total Apple fanboy that I am, there are indeed some things I miss. The ease of use, the obvious thought process that went in to making the product "simply work", the sync process (HTC has a desktop software, but it is PC only-lame), the inability to play my entire music collection in iTunes (yes, I know how to convert to mp3), as well as a few specific apps.

Battery life is about the same, I feel like I use a lot of data, so it goes on the charger every night. I don't play games or anything like that, so my app use is primarily music-driven, with one or two exceptions. I can send photo and video texts, and view them without problem. The camera is 5mp, which I'm fairly excited about. The 8GB micro sd card can be upgraded to 16GB, which is the next purchase. Additionally, it syncs with the entire Google world; calendar, maps, gmail, etc. Sadly, the calendar does not yet sync with the various sports calendars online. Prior to last weekends OS update, it was a little slow and quirky moving between apps. Multi-tasking is sweet.

Over the past weekend, there was an update to the Android 2.1 OS. At first, all of my contacts were gone, but soon it syncd with Google and they were all back. And then...Google Navigator. Built-in GPS. Not only a map view, but satellite view. The ability to add "layers", to see what businesses are around me...gas stations, restaurants, you name it. The GPS in my car just became obsolete. I've also noticed that web browsing is faster since the update.

Because the rest of our family is on Verizon, monthly cost will be half of what it was with AT&T.

Snapshot: There are some things I definitely miss about the iPhone. But, at the end of the day, it is simply a phone.

Downsides:
Music
Simplicity
Miss a few apps
iPhone defaulted to Wi-Fi when a network was in range

Upsides:
5mb camera
Google Navigator is unbelievable.
Photo and video texting
Monthly cost is less

What do YOU think?

It's been 2 weeks!

2010-05-17T16:08:00.000-05:00

2 weeks since the last post. What has happened in that time?

We've had 2 great middle school and high youth group nights. We've talked about camp and gotten registration forms from 10 of our kids. I know that we'll have more forms coming in over the next few days.

I've had 2 meetings. Our student ministry team met and had a lot to celebrate. We had some great discussions and did some planning for next year. This past weekend, all of Eastview's ministry team leaders met, and after celebrating some victories, we started long-range planning for our church. I left encouraged.

I heard Bill preach twice. You can hop over here to listen to what he said.

I went to lunch with my wife at Panera.

I took my mom to the airport very early this past Saturday.

I'm mentally preparing to get my daughter to college in the Fall, and doing some work projects around the house with Nate, and spending some quality time with John on the X-Box.

I talked to Phil today for about 20 minutes. I miss him.

I've run about 44 miles. So far for May I'm at 52. I think this could be a 90-mile month.

I got a new phone. Sold the iPhone and got a Droid. Thinking of posting some thoughts on that tomorrow.

What am I doing now?

Finishing up my Cross-Cultural Ministry class. Just a few weeks left. I need to go visit the Muslim Mosque here in CR this week for a service.

Working on my final paper for Revivals and Revivalism in American Christianity. It's on the Restoration Movement and is fascinating.

Prepping for the Mexico Mission trip. Two months from today, and we'll just have 3 days left in Mexico. We have a meeting this Saturday.

Prepping for the graduation stuff at the end of the month.

Getting ready for camp season.

Drinking lots of coffee.

Reading 1 Chronicles.

One of "those" days

2010-05-03T11:17:00.000-05:00

The week that was:

Last week was a killer week: two graduate courses (Cross-Cultural Ministry (online) and Revivals Revivalism in American Christianity (week-long intensive) at IWU).

Saturday: ran in my first ever 5k. Results here. Got home, hung out with the fam for a bit, helped John mow the yard.

Sunday: had the opportunity to worship God in community with about 100 other people. Took it. Napped in afternoon and had high school youth group last night. We listened to some Sam Philips from The Indescribable Wow and "Delicate" from Damien Rice's O. We talked about truth.

Running:

As noted, ran the 5k last Saturday. I got in 81 miles for April, including 2 weeks of running 5 days. Last week, I only got 17 in, including the race. Knees are feeling pretty good, by my left calf is pretty sore from the race.

Listening:

I listened to a lot of Pandora while I was gone last week. Favorite stations: David Crowder and Queensryche. Also put the Last.fm app on my droid, so I could listen to my own music. It's a great app to have.

Reading:

In addition to my stuff for school I finished Ezekiel last week, and filled yet another journal, this one went from May 2009 to April 30 2010. I'm not really sure where I'm going next, so for a bit I'm going to read The One Year Men of the Bible: 365 Meditations on Men of Character (One Year Books).

What is coming up?

May is a busy, busy month. Meetings every Saturday (youth ministry, ministry team leaders, Mexico mission trip), and then Katie graduates at the end of the month, so there will be all sorts of fun. We have family coming to CR from all over, and it will be nice to spend the weekend with them all. Just around the corner, in June, is our middle school camp week, and then July is Mexico and then senior high camp week.

In addition to all of this, I've got a new little side project going on. It's called The Christian Index, a little place where I hope to have some fun with Christianity and youth ministry, but also make a point or two in the process. I hope that you'll check it out and leave a comment. Of course, I'd love your ideas!

Strategic Silence

2010-04-27T18:35:00.000-05:00

Currently reading Richard Mouw's Smell of Sawdust, The for my Revivals and Revivalism in American Christianity intensive at IWU. In the chapter called "Real Evangelism", Mouw quotes from Paul Tillich's book The Shaking of The Foundations. Tillich recounts Mark 8:30 when Jesus told Peter and the disciples "not to tell anyone about hm", and goes on to make the point that there are times when "holy silence" is necessary. "Should we not," Tillich asked, "at least be silent, in order to preserve the mystery of the words, instead of destroying their meaning by our common talk?".

Mouw clarifies, "Those of us who care deeply about the evangelistic ministry of the church make much of the need for faithful utterance. But perhaps we should also think about the need for faithful silence. To be sure, Christians can retreat into silence out of timidity or fear or embarrassment. Those silences are regrettable. But, there will also be on occasion the silences we struggle mightily within ourselves to maintain-those times when we hold out tongues against the overwhelming impulse to speak, because we sense that the time is n

Publish Post

ot yet ripe for utterance or that we are not yet equipped to do the uttering."

Translation: Sometimes, we need to shut up.

I remember an incident during a Sunday School class I was teaching at a prior church. I don't remember the specific issue we were arguing about, but one person in particular was really going at it, talking, talking and talking. Like hardcore...he was getting more upset. And then, a line from Pedro the Lion's "Forgone Conclusions" off of Achilles Heel popped into my head:

"You were too busy steering the conversation toward the lord
To hear the voice of the spirit telling you to shut the (edit) up
You thought it must be the devil trying to make you go astray
Besides it couldn’t have been the Lord because you don’t believe he talks that way"

I just wanted him to shut up. In our dealings with people, may we learn that there are times to speak, and times to shut up. Or, as Jesus put it..."Peace. Be still."

9 days later

2010-04-14T12:36:00.002-05:00

The past week has been marked by busyness.

Grad School:

Non-Profit Management is done and done. Cross-Cultural Ministry has started, so that has been consuming my reading time. The posting schedule is a bit different for this course, so I've been making some adjustments for that. Books for the class:

The Next Christendom
Introducing World Missions
Intentional Diversity
Majority-Minority Relations

I'm excited for this class because much of our student ministry is cross-cultural, whether to churched post-moderns or to those of differing socio-economic classes.

I have a week-long intensive at the end of the month on Revivals and Revivalism in American Christianity. Before that class starts., I have to read 2 books, write a response paper to each, and also prepare an 8-10 minute oral report on a topic. There will be 4 solid days of 8:30-5 classes, and then a 3500 word research paper due a few weeks after the class. Should be a fun time!!

Running:

Running is going well. Got 16 miles in last week, and this week looks like 18-ish. I've had 2 5-milers in over the past week, the knees are holding up pretty well...just working hard to be aware of when they ache. On track for the 5k on May 1, and the 7-miler Flood Run in CR on June 12.

Misc:

Worked hard last weekend to get podcasting at Eastview going. Done.
Going to camp this Saturday for a work day, taking some of our students for a good time.
Due to safety concerns, we are flying to Mexico for our trip this year.
4 episodes left of LOST.

"...then why the hell are you so sad?"

2010-04-05T13:05:00.003-05:00

That got your attention...more on that in a moment.

The week(s) that was (were):

2 weeks since the last update. I suck. Been busy with school and work stuff, the week before last I was playing all sorts of catch up from my trek to Philadelphia, and then some ministry stuff came up. The past weekend was great, spent time with my daughter helping her pick out a laptop for college in the Fall. (Yeah, the reality of that is sinking in, and quick). Sunday, we were invited to hang out with a neighbor for their family Easter ritual...it was AWESOME. The kids had an egg hunt, and we just visited with them for more than 2 hours. Last night there was no senior high group, so was at home with the fam for a great night. I finally got to see the beginning of the show "Undercover Boss".

Grad School:

I had last week off for spring break. Having all the extra free time showed me how much time I spend on school stuff. I'm in my final week of my first class, "Non-Profit Management." It has been a great class, I've learned a ton. Lot's of immediate application here at Eastview. Next up is "Cross-Cultural Ministry", which begins on Thursday. At the end of the month, I'm heading to Marion Indiana for a week to attend "Revivals and Revivalism in American Christianity". That will be a busy week, class from 8:30-5 Monday - Thursday, and then 8:30-noon on Friday.

Family Update:

Anne's tests and check-ups continue to come back clean, which obviously rules. Thanks for the continued thoughts and prayers. Katie continues to prepare for Lincoln Christian University in the Fall. Nate is still working at Fareway, with some early (5am) mornings before school. John is looking forward to summer, playing outside and looking forward to camp in June.

Running:

My knees continue to heal. Working the IT Band angle, and they both are improving. I got 4 runs in last week, including a killer Thursday-Saturday, 3 days in a row because I overslept on Wednesday. On Friday, Nate ran and John biked, and Saturday, John biked along. It was fun having people with me. Overall, last week was a 14 mile week. Started off this week with a 4.5-miler, hoping for a 16 mile week. On May 1, I'll be running the 5k portion of the Illinois Marathon and plan on the Cedar Rapids Run the Flood on June 12. We'll see what a half-marathon looks like in the Fall.

About that title...

The phrase comes from the Sheryl Crow song "If it makes you happy". Without going into a ton of details, I was on Facebook this morning and came across a friend's page. There are some personal issues going on right now, and the advice that they received was terrible.

"you are being true to yourself and following your heart! More people in this world need to do that with their lives!!"

"you have to live your life in a way that makes you feel happy and content."

Why is this bad? It runs counter to scripture. Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure." In Romans 8:5, Paul writes, "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance to the Spirit (God) have their minds set on what the spirit desires." Paul goes on to define the sinful nature of man this way, "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing."

A deceitful heart. A sinful nature. Doing what I ought not do. All symptoms of a disease. Sin.

Being true to ourselves is the complete and total opposite of the heart and mind of Christ. In Luke 9:23 Jesus says, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Jesus' cross and my heart are counter to one another. And...your heart and Jesus' are counter as well.

He continues in verse 24, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it...". I'll paraphrase it, "whoever wants to be true to themselves and follow their heart, to live their life in a way that makes them happy and content...will lose it."

If I set about to live my life simply making myself happy, I'd ignore my kids when they interfered with my joy. I would ignore the feelings of my wife. I would not show up to work on some days. I would simply do things the way I wanted to do them. Because it is all about me.

The Christian is called to live differently. We are not our own, but we were bought with a price. The cost paid is what we celebrated this past weekend.

Sheryl Crow says it best..."If it makes you happy, then why the hell are you so sad?"

Tuesday Update

2010-03-24T16:03:00.003-05:00

What a cuckoo-crazy week it has been.

The week that was:

Thursday of last week I flew to Philadelphia for the funeral of my Uncle Joe. Joe was a great guy. My favorite memory of Joe happened about 10 or 11 years ago, my dad and I drove to Philadelphia for a stroll down memory lane. I was still working at Best Buy, and Joe had the world's oldest television. While we were talking to him about possibly buying a new television at Best Buy, he looked at me and said, "...Best Buy? What is that...one of those 'clip joints'?" Not only did I meet and re-meet all kinds of family, but I got to hang our with my sister, took the subway to downtown and all sorts of fun stuff. I also got to rent a car and drive home from Detroit, thanks to the unhelpful airline staff there.

Been playing catch-up on school work and church work over the last few days, and am finally there.

Last night, we had our original pastor from LeMars, Todd Luce come and visit with us. He is out and about, raising funds for a church plant that he and his family are doing in Oregon. It was great to see him.

Currently Listening:

Lady Gaga has been my soundtrack.

Currently Reading:

In addition to Preparing for Change Reaction for school, I am actually reading a book casually, called Act of Treason. My dad lent it to me, and I'm most of the way through it.

Running Situation:

Vastly improving. Building my mileage back up, and I've brought my bike out, too. I'm going green!

The Monday Happenings

2010-03-15T15:12:00.004-05:00

First up....my "mousework" from the past few days...courtesy of IOGraphica. The lines are the movement and the dots are the mouse clicks.

The Weekend That Was:

For the first time in 2 weeks, I headed outside and put some mileage on. The weather has turned, the knees are healing so I went out. I believe that I have an IT Band issue, so in addition to my physical therapy routine, I've added a few things to work on that.

It was my first weekend home in 2 , so I did a lot of chilling out. Sunday was pretty good, Sunday School, a great message on "Loving Them Well" from our preaching minister and then a relaxing afternoon with out youngest watching Fellowship of the Ring. Youth group last night with our senior high students was awesome. Anne and Katie headed to NW Iowa for some time with Anne's folks for a few days, so me and the boys are living the life. I hear that there's a HALO marathon tonight after 24.

Grad School:

This is going great. I'm most of the way through my first class and am learning a ton. This weekend at our ministry team leader's meeting, I even get to apply some of it as we move forward as a church with some important things. It has indeed been a positive channel for my energy.

Running:

Started up again a few days ago. The training schedule for the Dam to Dam (June 5) is supposed to start this weekend. According to it, I should be hitting a minimum of 20 miles/week starting next week. No way. We'll see how the knee holds up over the next few weeks.

The 7 mile Cedar Rapids Run the Flood is scheduled for June 12, that may be more realistic.

Thankfully, there are some 5k's and 10k's between now and then.

Coming Up:

My dad is coming out from Virginia for the weekend, have not seen him in a long time, really looking forward to it.

Got a class at IWU at the end of April...be gone for a week. It will kill both a pre-req and an elective.

Haiti

2010-03-09T09:52:00.002-06:00

A friend of mine is a pastor in Haiti. Since the earthquake, God has used him to meet needs. I received an email from him the other day that I just tool the time to read. The email began with several scriptures, all examples of when God said "I will be with you".

They went to a town called Petit-Goave to hand out 300 cards that told people about a food distribution point. The card would be exchanged for a "family kit". I'll let Salonique tell it from here:

"At the distribution of cards, they led us in places where people were literally violent. Brother Abel and his team faced the biggest of all challenges, because the crowd basically wanted to tear him apart just to get the cards from him. He was in the middle of a crowd of hundreds people when he had left in his hand roughly 50 cards only. My team was distributing cards in another section of town when my phone rang. I picked it up, Murielle nervously tried to convey to me what was going on and by the time, I told her I will intervene, my phone rang again and this time it was for Jude the constructor. They told me that policemen arrested Jude. "Why?" was my question and the response was he was in the middle of a mob, but don't know why. Then they told me that the policemen are waiting for me at the police station. By this time, my phone went crazy. One of the calls was from bro. Micah, I had him gone to Jude while I headed toward Abel. Brief, only God could have made everything ended the way it did.
It turned out that the policemen pretended that they were putting Jude under arrest to make the crowd happy and to save Jude's life, because some were coming with knives and rods to fight for cards. Yes they are that desperate. Abel on his side took refuge in the small police station at the entrance of the city and when I went there I had the assistance of a couple policemen and it was with gun pointed out they escorted me, Abel, sister Lena and sister Widler to the police car to the bigger down town police station."

Here's the end of the email: "Just remember he said to His servants, "I am with you."

He is with us. Through earthquakes. Through cancer. Through the ordinary day. Through trials and temptations.

Help me, God. Help me to see you. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear. Forgive me when I ignore you.

Some post-SYMC thoughts

2010-03-02T09:07:00.002-06:00

This past weekend, I had the joy of attending the SYMC in Chicago. Attended some great workshops, got to know one of my sponsors really (or is it RRREEEEEEEAAAALLLLLLLYYYYY?) well. I even had fun at a Toby Mac concert on Sunday night.

Here is a sampling of the things heard (classes, workshops, songs) from the weekend:

"You're the defender of the weak...which is us."-Tim Timmons

"You'll never abandon me, you never will, you never will
You'll never forsake me you never will, you never will
You'll never disown me, you never will, you never will
You never will break your word."-Tim Timmons

"If we favor Outside-In (we go and get the unchurched) over Inside-Out (our kids bring them in) we may end up losing our jobs because Christian parents and clergy perceive us as failing. If we favor Inside-Out work over Outside-In, then we may keep the church happy but we may not achieve all we hope for in our outreach work." (29, God at the Mall, Pete Ward)

We are to pass on our faith. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 clearly communicates this to us. These verses (the Shema) teach us that:

There is one God.
We are to pass them on to the next generation. We do this by:
Practicing God's presence when we are at home, on the road, when we lie down and wake up.

"Our kids come from a family system that is more influential than our Bible studies."- Jim Burns

"Small, non-glamorous, choices now lead to much fruit later."

"A life of baggage is not the abundant life Christ has promised us."-Skit Guys

"An adventure has three key components: danger, challenge and involvement."-Rick Lawrence

"Adult vs student ministry- at least the students cuss you out and talk bad about you to your face. Adults just do it behind your back."-Derwin Gray

"It is the responsibility of the local body as a whole to reach the lost."-Dave Rahn

"Don't let theology get in the way of ministry"-Jim Burns

"I hope that I will not be ashamed, but rather, be courageous, that Christ may be exalted in me"-Philippians 1:20

"Who is Jack Bauer?"-Guy sitting behind me

"A prophet is not welcome in his hometown"-Jim Burns quoting Jesus

"Ministry to parents cannot get too far until there are structures in place to minister to them"-Jim Burns

I am convinced, now more than ever, that it is the responsibility of parents to disciple their children. And...it is the responsibility of the body of Christ to equip parents and families to do so. This is the resolver of the tension between "Inside-Out" and "Outside-In" ministry formats. Family discipleship is the "both/and" to the equation.

If families are ministering to the 99, then we can go and get the 1.

Chicago/SYMC 2010 Day One

2010-02-26T08:20:00.005-06:00

Left for Chicago yesterday morning to attend SYMC. Went to the Art Institute "for free". I think it was amazing.

Out of Town

2010-02-25T07:37:00.001-06:00

I'm heading over to Chicago for the SYMC-that's Simply Youth Ministry Conference put on by Group Magazine. Be gone all weekend.

Follow the haps over at our ministry blog...here.

It's Tuesday...

2010-02-23T10:47:00.003-06:00

I'm at Panera, listening to U2's "How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" and working on some stuff for my non-profit management class. I'm 3 weeks in to grad school and feel like I know everything.
The Weekend That Was:

We had our 3rd annual Spaghetti Dinner/Dessert Auction/Talent Show and it was amazing. We had all sorts and kids and families there. God is doing some (just some) great things at Eastview. I'm wondering...when we will all see it.

Running:

Last week I got in about 16 miles. I was unfaithful with my physical therapy at the end of the week, and Saturday's 5-miler killed me. The snow and ice didn't help, but it was all me. The training schedule for the Dam-to-Dam in June starts next month.

What's next:

Going to Chicago at the end of the week for the Simply Youth Ministry Conference, I'll be gone Thursday-Monday. It will be a good weekend of learning and some opportunities for ministry. Looking forward to hanging out with some friends and making new ones. After that, we're taking some middle school students to CIY's Believe in St Charles, Missouri. This will be my son John's first conference, and I'm excited to see him there.

Reading:

Still in Ezekiel. I'm struck by God's insistence that we are to eliminate the idols in our lives before we can approach Him. This past Sunday, we shared God's Word with our students, the verses where God's response to us, even His willingness to hear and listen is dependent on our righteousness. Well, not OUR righteousness, but the fruit in our lives. When we willing place things before God, why would we expect for Him to listen? Yet, that's just what we do. This morning, I stumbled across the cartoon below:

I really believe that this is the perfect image of the American church. What we want is some sugary/feel good nonsense, something to make us feel good about who we are.

This is reflected in our bible study habits, when we approach scripture in a "thought for the day" way.
This is reflected in our prayers when seek to avoid pain and inconvenience.
This is reflected in our service when we serve and love on our schedule.
This is reflected in our evangelism, when we refuse to share what we claim is the "good news" because of a hole in the ceiling.

When we come to God in this manner, He gives us the only answer fitting our prayers.

"Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices."

Filled or Thirsty?

2010-02-18T09:13:00.002-06:00

Sitting in Panera on Collins Rd, drinking coffee, reading my Bible and getting ready to work on my rough draft assignment.

This morning, I read from Ezekiel 19.

¹⁰ " 'Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard
planted by the water;
it was fruitful and full of branches
because of abundant water.

¹¹ Its branches were strong,
fit for a ruler's scepter.
It towered high
above the thick foliage,
conspicuous for its height
and for its many branches.

¹² But it was uprooted in fury
and thrown to the ground.
The east wind made it shrivel,
it was stripped of its fruit;
its strong branches withered
and fire consumed them.

¹³ Now it is planted in the desert,
in a dry and thirsty land.

¹⁴ Fire spread from one of its main branches
and consumed its fruit.
No strong branch is left on it
fit for a ruler's scepter.'
This is a lament and is to be used as a lament."

How many Christians are like this vine? When they are close to the water (Jesus, John 4) they thrive, grow, bear fruit, stand tall. This closeness is marked by spiritual disciplines: scripture reading, prayer, fasting, giving, solitude, and worship, just to name some.

But the moment we withdraw, we become the vine uprooted and thrown. We dry up. Our fruit is burned off. We lie on the dirt, gasping for moisture.

Spiritual disciplines are not some checklist. They are the the work of God. And we would do well to participate in His work.

(I love the anonymous comments, btw).

Justice

2010-02-17T09:01:00.003-06:00

Read Ezekiel 18 this morning.

God's definition of a righteous man:

-does not worship idols
-does not defile women
-does not oppress anyone, but returns collateral
-does not commit robbery, but feeds the poor and clothes the naked
-does not lend at excessive interest
-has self-control
-judges fairly

This man lives.

If a wicked man turns from his sin, he will be saved. God is not pleased in the death of the wicked...he wants repentance. Yet...

People look to God and talk about his injustice. They throw words around like "fair". If God were "fair" then all would live. It is not God who is unjust, but us.

He sets clearly for us the "rules". He does this so that we may know what sin is. And, He judges us in accordance with our response, our "ways".

"Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the sovereign LORD. Repent and live!"

The 2-week update

2010-02-15T09:31:00.003-06:00

A lot has been going on over the past 2 weeks. I'm writing from the campus of Lincoln Christian University; I brought 2 students (1 is my daughter) here for a campus visit.

The weekend that was:

Got to hang out with all of my family this past weekend. On Friday, Anne and I took Nate out for lunch, and when we got home, Nate and I played some ODST online for a bit. We haven't done that in a while. After my ministry team meeting on Saturday, Katie, John and I went to lunch together, which was all sorts of fun. Saturday night, Anne and I went to dinner and a movie, La Camelia's and "Dear John". It was a great.

Services at Eastview yesterday were amazing. Great Sunday school discussion, good music, sermon was dead-on and the Tanzania trip commissioning, celebration and prayer time were all wonderful. There is so much good taking place right now, and people simply want to be a part of it. It's neat to see God doing what he does...taking a dry sprig and make it green.

Grad School:

I went and came back from Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion Indiana. My first class is "non-profit management", essentially a church growth class. My weekly format looks like this:

read a few chapters and respond to the reading on the class bulletin board
respond to the postings of at least 2 other people, and respond to the responses on both my post and my responses, and their responses to my responses, and my responses to their responses...etc.
write a paper each week on various topics, which will lead to my 16-18 page paper at the end of this course
repeat this process for the next 2 years

I also need to take a pre-requisite and 2 electives. I'm hoping to go back to IWU at the end of April for a week long intensive that well double-dip my pre-req and one of my electives. It is forcing me to be way more structured than what I'm used to, which is good.

Running:

15.5 miles in last week, my highest week since the knee injury one month ago. Physical therapy is going great and I'm feeling good. As much as I like running in snow and cold, I'm looking forward to spring so I don't have to gear up as much. Still on track to begin my training schedule for the Dam-to-Dam 12-miler in June.

Listening:

I watched the Olympic opening ceremony last week, and saw the "best" of what Canada has to offer. I was sad that Rush didn't make an appearance, so I added them to my iPhone and have been listening to that off and on. On the drive over to LCU yesterday, we listened to the "pop" station on the Pandora iPhone app. Pop music is my guilty pleasure...Black Eyes Peas, Rhianna, Kelly Clarkson, Christina A....it's all there and I love it.

Watching:

Last week's CIY: Miami episode (the space one) was pretty stupid. Has H jumped the shark?

Despite Bill Holley's problems...Jack Bauer is still saving the world, and is the reason why we enjoy $4 latte's, $2.56/gallon gas and our religious freedom!! So what if a thumb gets cut off in the process?

And really...does anything really matter beyond LOST?

Next:

Heading to Chicago for NYWC at the end of next week with some youth ministry-types. There will be much tom-foolery.
Heading to St Louis the weekend after that with 7 middle school students and one of our youth leaders for CIY Believe middle school event.

This morning, I read from Ezekiel 17. One verse (24) in particular stuck out. "All the trees of the field will know that I the LORD bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. "

God...if I am tall and green, bring me down and dry me up. If I am low, raise me up and make me flourish.

"I'll just ask one question"

2010-02-12T10:08:00.003-06:00

Well, more than one.

What are we about, anyway? Why do we spend so much time reading this book, if we don't do anything with it? We read about loving Him with all of who we are, but we all know that means when it is convenient for us. We read that we are redeemed, bought with a price, yet nothing changes.

I know. We're sinners. We are caught up in the "body of death", we're in the process of renewal, we "do the things we don't want to, and don't do the things we ought." Blah, blah, blah.

We speak about days inaugurated but not yet here. I teach that the Kingdom of God is both a present reality and a future one. I read this morning that godliness is beneficial because it speaks to both ages. but...then I simply have more questions. More "Why's?" and "How comes?".

And now I sit in Panera, reading my book for my non-profit management class, listening to JArs of Clay cover U2's "All I Want is You." Could it really be that simple?

To seek out the LORD my God with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength?

What if every waking moment, every thought, every action was run through the lens of seeking out God in that way? Not some ridiculous, trite platitude like "What Would Jesus Do?" as if He cares about the flavor of my coffee, but my heart, soul, mind and strength burdened and weighed down with the thought that God has a will and purpose for me that is not about what job I hold, or where I live, or any of the nonsense that I spend so much time dwelling on.

Dave Cripe told us this morning that the Apostle Paul's discontent was found in the fact that people did not know the grace of God. What if my, if our, discontent was found in the same place?

O God, break my heart for the things that break Yours.

Break me.

Break us.

Put us in a position that all we have to offer is us singing, begging and pleading, "All I Want is You."

"he put it in the bottle and he threw it out to sea
but the tide would not surrender and it floated to the beach
so the message of apology his love would never see
he walked around that island all shipwrecked, and heavy

the scars of early childhood stood showing on the skin
necessary enemy so healing could begin
from the message of apology his heart might soon break free
for now he walks that island all shipwrecked, and ready

low beyond horizon lines across the salty sea
a boat without a captain makes its way to some city
he prays that it would sail its course to lover or to kin
and fan a thirst for searching and finding him again

finding him again
finding him again"
-Ship Wreck, Jars of Clay

Super Bowl Advertising

2010-02-08T14:34:00.003-06:00

I caught the tail end of the Super Bowl last night, so I missed the commercials in real time. Here are my thoughts on the ones I sought out:

The Tim Tebow ad was a case of much ado about nothing.

Frankly, they should have been much more concerned about the satire found in this one.

2 Days at IWU

2010-02-04T19:22:00.002-06:00

I've been at Indiana Wesleyan University for a few days, beginning my Master's program in Ministerial Leadership. Tuesday night I hung out with Katy S, a friendship formed in San Luis Potosi Mexico a few years ago. Last night (Wednesday), I headed up to Markle to visit another old friend and fellow youth minister, Jason Frisch. Played some cards and Wii, talked with him and his wife and met some of his students. Jason and I are taking groups to Mexico in July. Tonight, I went out to eat with Lonnie Vandeventer, the alumni director here at IWU. He is an elder at the local Christian Church here in Marion, and my connecting point for housing while here. We ate a meal and he gave me a campus tour. Now, I'm just chilling in the student center, doing some reading for my first assignment.

My first class is "Non-Profit Management", which sounds mundane but is not. Basically, it's a church growth course. This morning for our devotional, our professor, Dr Bob Whitesel talked about the church growth principals found in Acts 2:42-47. He indicated that we can be responsible for (or is it "to"??) 3 of the 4:

Spiritual maturity-marked by devotion to the Word
Maturity in unity-marked by our fellowship and trust
Maturity in favor-marked by our service to the community

When those 3 take place, when we honor our responsibility TO provide opportunity FOR those things, God "does" number 4:

Maturity in numbers

This all has my my turning over and over again. I'm excited for how God is going to use this.

I'm heading back to Iowa tomorrow, hoping to leave very early as the weather could be an issue.

The Tuesday Update

2010-02-02T06:20:00.000-06:00

This shall be quick.

Reading: The Book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament.

Watching: LOST starts tonight. Does anything else even matter?

Listening: A lot of Derek Webb last week.

Running: Only got in about 13 miles last week. That's my least in more than a month (not counting the week I took off. I'm taking another few days off. My knees are feeling better, and I don't want to rush it. Going to try to get some mileage in this week at IWU.

Speaking of IWU: Today, I'm heading over to Marion, Indiana to begin my Master of Arts in Ministerial Leadership. I've got a few days of introductory stuff, and am going to see some old friends as well.

Next: Gone for the week. Back for a few, then gone to Chicago for the National Youth Worker's Convention with some friends.

Told you it would be a quick one.

I'll post more at IWU this week.

The Tuesday Update

2010-01-26T12:56:00.003-06:00

Reading:
I am in chapter 7 of the Old Testament book of Ezekiel. In chapter 2, God uses the words "rebellious" (5x), "rebelled" (1x), "revolt" (1x), "obstinate" (1x), "stubborn" (1x) and "rebel" (1x) to describe them. And now, He is done with them. According to chapter 7, God, "will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices." In short, God is just really, really pissed off at his people. There is just no polite way to say this. At the end of the chapter, He says, "I will deal with them according to their conduct, and by their own standards I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

Last week, I received my advance copy of Brian McLaren's new book, A New Kind of Christianity. The copy I have is an "Uncorrected Proof", which means, according to the cover page, my quotes must be compared against the final bound book. I'm about half-way through the first chapter. It is not my intention to write a hit piece against Brian or his book. I will say this, he is a gifted writer and definitely has a perspective worth listening to.

Something I agree with: "Unless the church wanted to become a small, isolated enclave that could only talk to its own, we needed to welcome people in from the non-church majority, with all their questions, uncertainties, skepticism, and honesty, which required first of all that we listen to them without judgment and understand them without condemnation" (5).

Why I agree with it: Basically, it's how Jesus handled things. He was patient, kind and loving, and even He relied on the Holy Spirit to change lives.

Something I disagree with: "Not everyone wants to join the quest for a new kind of Christianity. But that's okay. Skeptics' resistance, suspicion and opposition are actually a gift, and through their critique we on the quest will grow wiser and stronger" (13).

Why I disagree with it: I disagree because this is not in line with Brian's thinking. Time and time again on his blog he writes that "black and white" and "sides" are the way of modernity. No doubt, man has skewed Christianity throughout history, we have mis-interpreted scripture and done evil in God's name. but, that does not mean that Christianity as an entity is broken. Man is broken. And Brian should know better than to promote "wisdom and strength" as goals. The Pharisees and every other example that he cites in chapter 1 about the failings of Christianity bear witness to the utter failings of man's wisdom and abuses of man's strength.

Listening: I've "re-discovered" Jars of Clay.

Watching: 24, The Office (started last week in a mediocre episode), Conan all last week. I also watched the newest Star Trek movie on Friday night with the kids (Anne was gone all weekend to NW Iowa). Can't believe that LOST is back next week!

Running: Went to the physical therapist last week, for a 1.5 hour session. Talked about running, learned some exercises/stretches for my knees, and had some sort of electrical probe connected to my knees which conducted medicine into my skin. Basically, I took a 20 minute nap while being electrocuted. I got in 3 miles yesterday, fell 3 times on the ice, and walked about a 3/4 of a mile because of the ice. Overall, it was a miserable run, but I don't care because I was out.

Grad School: Leaving for IWU next week for 4 days, Tuesday-Friday. I have some introductory stuff on Wednesday and Thursday, so Tuesday/Friday will be my travel days.

Next: I'm in the pulpit on Sunday, preaching on discipleship. Meeting with the parent of one of our students tonight, and middle school youth group tomorrow night after a week off due to weather issues last week. So far, we've only met once out of three weeks because of weather.

Wednesday Update

2010-01-20T16:12:00.003-06:00

These are getting later and later in the week!

Reading:
Not much. I did pick up Schaeffer's "The God Who Is There" a few days last week. A highlight:

"What does a historic space-time Fall involve? It means that there was a period of time before man fell; that if you had been there, you could have seen Adam before he fell; that at the point when he revolted against God by making a free choice to disobey God's commandment, there was the tick of the clock. Take away the first three chapters of Genesis, and you cannot maintain a true Christian position nor give Christianity's answers" (132).

Yeah. Schaeffer just said that true Christians affirm the creation story as communicated in Genesis.

Listening:
White House Brief

Watching:

Running:
I got in 25 miles last week. But...at the tail-end of my Wednesday 7.5 miler, I felt some pain in my knees, and there you go. I got in another 7-something on Saturday, then went to the doctor on Monday. Both of my knees are "hyper-mobile" and I need to work my quads to help stabilize my kneecaps. So...I'm taking this week off, which is a bummer because of the 5k I had scheduled on Saturday.

Grad School:
Got an email today with a schedule of my time in Marion, Illinois at the beginning of February.

Next:
Middle School youth group is cancelled tonight because of a winter storm that never quite materialized. Better safe then sorry, I suppose.

High School youth group went great the other night. We had a ton of good discussion and learned a lot about where the group is spiritually.

Going to the Simply Youth Ministry Conference at the end of February in Chicago. Looking forward to a weekend of learning and relaxing with some friends.

Finally, my kids (even Katie) have been getting serious about NERF gun wars. Here's a picture from last night...

Continued adventures of the Prophets...

2010-01-14T09:23:00.002-06:00

I finished Zechariah yesterday, and on the basis of this article, today I started Ezekiel. This morning, I read the intro to the book from the NIV Study Bible. Here are some highlights:

"Though Ezekiel lived with his fellow exiles in Babylon, his divine call forced him to suppress any natural expectations he may have had of an early return to an undamaged Jerusalem. For the first seven years of his ministry he faithfully relayed to his fellow Jews the harsh, heart-rendering, hope-crushing word of divine judgment: Jerusalem would fall...The only hope the prophet was authorized to extend to his hearers was that of living at peace with themselves and with God during their exile."

This makes me ask a whole bunch of questions:

Am I putting my "natural expectations" into my messages, or am I sticking to the story?
In some way, are all Christians to teach the story of our own personal destruction? Isn't that what "dying to self" is?
Like the Israelites, we too have been exiled...us by our sin and constant rejection of God. Christians have indeed been forgiven, but we are living in the now but not yet...we are in process of renewal and sanctification which will not be completed until Christ Himself returns. Knowing that we are not yet (exhaustively-as Francis Schaeffer might say) new in practice, how should we live now? Should we look for deliverance from this present darkness, never deal with pain, sorrow, disappointment? Is happiness REALLY our goal? Or is our hope simply to be found in being at peace with God through a relationship with Jesus during this time?

"Once news was received that Jerusalem had fallen, Ezekiel's message turned to the LORD's consoling word of hope for his people--they would experience revival, restoration and a glorious future as the redeemed and perfected kingdom of God in the world."

Notice when the revival, restoration and glorious future is revealed in practice...after the destruction, for us, the death to self. I think that we get so caught up in wating those things NOW (which I would say is beyond the scope of our prophets to teach AND is fully in-line with our own "natural expectations" of and early revival, restoration, etc.

"The OT in general and the prophets in particular presuppose and teach God's sovereignty over all creation, over people and nations and the course of history."

This pre-suppostion is gone, lost on 21st century man. There is zero reference point for this kind of thinking. God is dead, and we have killed Him. This deadness is exactly why it must be taught in our churches. Take a look why this sovereignty of God is so key:

"God is free to judge, and he is equally free to be gracious. His stern judgments on Israel ultimately reflect his grace. He allows the total dismemberment of Israel's political and religious life so that her renewed life and his presence with her will be clearly seen as a gift from the LORD of the universe."

The 21st man thought process (which is quite prevalent in the Church) is as follows: "Because God is dead (not sovereign), is is free to neither judge nor extend grace in the manner that He wishes. The dismemberment of our lives is due to random chance, bad karma or dumb luck. Because we just believe what we want (a rejection of Truth) no one can judge me or have any expectations of me. When we do have renewed life, it's not due to God but to the work of our hands, so my time, treasure and talents are just that...mine."

I've been listening to a message series by Timothy Keller over the past few months. In one of his messages, he speaks about this hopelessness, he tells of a parishioner coming to him and talking about it...she said something to the effect of, "I don't understand why we don't have people jumping off bridges in droves." The answer to that question is quite simple; it is found in Francis Schaeffer's "The God Who Is There". Most people reverse the movement over the line of despair, they go from the bottom floor to the top because living below it is too awful for them to comprehend. It's TOO hopeless to contemplate, even for suicide.

I've gone way beyond the scope of my original intent for this post.

Rest easy friends. God is indeed sovereign over creation, over people and nations and the course of history. His "...faithfulness to his covenant and his desire to save were so great that he would revive his people once more, shepherd them with compassion, cleanse them of all their defilement, reconstitute them as a perfect expression of his kingdom in the promised land under the hand of David, overwhelm all the forces and powers arrayed against them, display his glory among the nations and restore the glory of his presence to the holy city."

The Beginning of the Week Update

2010-01-12T14:20:00.002-06:00

Reading:
A ton of web posts.
The Myth of the Perfect Parent
Interview about a recent Time Magazine article on race and megachurches (more on that below)

Listening:
About the same as last week...Beatles Rock Band.

Running:
Got 21 miles in last week. Still hoping to get the Amana Colonies 5k in next Saturday. Going to be a scheduling issue.

Grad School:
Waiting to hear from Indiana Wesleyan. Heard from Financial Aid, but not Admissions.

Next:
Middle school youth group did not meet last week due to snow, but high started this past Sunday and went well. Had 4 kids mention the "d-group feel", which to me is a win.

Back to this interview...
To be fair, the article is about ethnic differences within the church, specifically mega-churches. The Time Magazine article is here. I read it last week and thought it was pretty good. Over at Sojourners (sit down...I'm about to compliment them), there is a great interview with the author of the Time piece. In the middle of the interview, comes this:

"Do you think the 20% minority threshold that you talk about in the article is a valid measure of what determines whether a church or institution is truly integrated?

My answer would be no, and I’m not sure Michael Emerson meant it as a determining marker of a successfully integrated church. I think the 20% figure is the tipping point where a church begins to move to the point of no return. The reason that Emerson uses that number is that he, and other sociologists, determined that at 20% it becomes extremely hard for the majority members of a congregation to ignore the minority population. At that point, they have to deal with them, one way or the other. At that point, the congregation really has to make some decisions as to whether it wants to keep moving in that same direction, because I think if a predominantly white congregation moves to a situation where it’s 49% white and 51% other, this might not create total multi-ethnicity in the culture of the church, but it would certainly create some big changes. So, looking at it optimistically, I think what we’re listening to here with that 20% figure is the opening bell for genuine progress. It becomes difficult to move backward at this point. With that number, it becomes very hard for a Bill Hybels, who really has been talking the talk on this stuff ever since he read Emerson’s book, to walk backwards."

I know fully that this piece is about ethnicity, but I am intrigued by how else this 20% figure could be applied. Here are some (not-so) random questions:

What happens when 20% of the people that show up in Sunday service are kids?

What happens when 20% of the people that show up in Sunday service are non-churched kids?

What happens when 20% of your attenders are not the "normal" people that have always attended, but are different socially? Economically?

My head hurts.

Wow.

2010-01-11T15:50:00.003-06:00

"And whether they listen or fail to listen--for they are a rebellious house--they will know that a prophet has been among them."

-Ezekiel 2:5

I am a glutton for punishment

2010-01-06T09:32:00.003-06:00

Like a dog returns to its vomit, I continue to visit both the Sojourners blog site and Brian McLaren's webpage.

No doubt, it's only a matter of time before I am again blocked from posting on Sojourners. The last time, it was for simply asking a question. I'm currently engaged in a debate here.

Despite what B-Mac says here, comments are not allowed on his site. In other B-Mac news, he's heading to Africa. Apparently being "all in when it comes to commitment to environmental stewardship" doesn't include not flying to Africa and poisoning the air that you and I breathe. Plus, that $3300 you're about to spend could buy almost 3 cows.

On this post, Brian writes, "A search for a new kind of Christian faith can’t be reduced to another list of propositions about which debates rage and over which debaters indulge in hostile polemics."

The source of this quote? His new book called "A New Kind of Christianity: 10 Questions That are Transforming the Faith."

For those of you in public school, I'll put the cookies on a lower shelf. B-Mac said that the last thing we need is a new list of things to argue about...in a book...made of a new list of things that we will argue about.

Somehow, I don't think I'm going to be winner of this contest.

The First Tuesday in January

2010-01-05T10:04:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, Bill told me that he has not seen many postings lately from my jaunt through the minor prophets, so this post is for him...

I'm but a few short chapters away from finishing Zechariah, in the Bible's Old Testament.This morning, I read from Zechariah 8; God is explaining that the remnant of His people will soon be returning to Jerusalem, and that it will be ok for them to fast again (this is a follow up from chapter 7), but there was also a reminder to do the following: "Speak the truth to each other, and render sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this."

The result of this justice and these commands will be that, "Many peoples and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, 'Let us go at once to entreat the LORD and seek the LORD Almighty. I myself am going. And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the LORD Almighty."

And then, check this out..."In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, 'Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you."

Here's the import of all of this...God does not want empty ritual for ritual's sake. He wants His people to love one another and others, and when this happens, it will indeed be evident to those around us that God is with us. And they will clamor to join us. They will beg to come along.

Speak the truth to one another.

Render true and sound judgment in your courts.

Do not plot evil against your neighbor.

Do not love to swear falsely.

Sounds like a plan.

The Monday Update

2010-01-04T08:58:00.003-06:00

I'm going to attempt to be more consistent with these.

Reading:
Francis Schaeffer's "The God Who Is There"

"At the end of his book What is Philosophy? he (Martin Heidegger) says that in our modern day this use of language is found particularly in the poet. So the conclusion of this view is that we are to listen to the poet. This does not mean that we are to listen to the content of what the poet says, but to listen to the fact that there is a speaking which exists. That is all" (93).
The whole of chapter 5 describes Brian McLaren perfectly. To the people on the quest to find the historical Jesus, "The biblical accounts are just the faulty cultural expression of that day. This way of looking at history is closely related to what the new Heidegger (above) said about the mystique of language. These new theologians, both Protestants and some in the Roman Catholic Church, attempt therefore to manipulate biblical language as a help towards present existential experience. To these men language is always an interpretation, and therefor the words of the Bible are already an interpretation of the unknowable thing which occurred" (108). We see this when our Emergent Church friends (Schaeffer calls them "New Theologians") talk about Paul's unfamiliarity with such "modern" constructs of homosexuality, gender, etc so we can ignore the content of his message.

Listening:
We got our kids Beatles Rock Band for Christmas, so I've been playing that quite a bit. "Helter Skelter", "I Am the Walrus",and "Paperback Writer" fill me with joy.

Running:
December mileage: 74 miles. My previous monthly high was 47, which was November 2009.
2009 mileage: 420-something miles
The Amana 5k is January 23rd; it will be my first 5k. I'm excited about it.

What's next:
Our regularly-scheduled youth programs begin this week. Middle school youth group is this Wednesday, and high school youth group starts next Sunday night. I'm excited about both.

In February, I'll begin Graduate School at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana via their distance learning program. When done, I'll have an MA in Ministerial Leadership. It will take just under 2 years. I'm both excited and a little nervous.

Anything else?
I'm in the pulpit on January 27, talking about the Bible and it's role as teacher, rebuker, corrector and trainer in righteousness.

Define it

2010-01-03T17:15:00.001-06:00

How would you define a disciple of Jesus?

Life-changers

2009-12-26T09:53:00.003-06:00

Last week, I was hanging out with a friend of mine, another youth pastor here in CR. We talked about all sorts of things, running, ministry, and then he asked me what apps I had on my iPhone that "changed my life". We had a good time talking, and traded ideas.

This morning, I was reading from the book of Zechariah, the second to the last book in the Bible's Old Testament. To make a very long contextual story short (and I'm over-simplifying as well), God's people had been disobedient to the point that God was going to allow the Babylonian Empire to overrun His people, and then take many of the Jews back to Babylon. At some point in the story, God softens the Babylonian king's heart and allows two men, Ezra and Nehemiah, to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city walls and the city. Histically later, Zechariah's role as priest was to encourage the people to complete the task that had begun years earlier. One of the main themes running through the books of the Minor Prophets is the faithfulness of God, despite appearance and circumstance to the opposite. Very close to this is the idea that God always completes what He begins, one His time, not ours.

In the midst of the rebuilding of the temple, people began to lose heart. It was taking too long. The work was too arduous. The cost too high. Frustrations mount. Anxiety is high. The people wanted to see something big. And then...life is changed.

"Then the word of the LORD came to me:' The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this templs; his hands willl also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. Who despises the day of the small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.'" -Zechariah 4:9-10.

What does all this mean?

Simple. What God begins, he completes. The fact that Zerubbabel shows up that day with a tape measure should be proof enough for the people that God is going to do what He said. We are so caught up in the big picture, the meta-narrative of the God, that we cannot see what He is doing. We get so frustrated when God "only" gives a "little" to us.

A plumb line is, on appearances, a little thing. But, it ensures that walls are straight.

A serpentine belt for an automobile is a little thing. But, without it, the water pump in your car fails, and it gets cold quickly when you are in the middle of "Nowhere, Minnesota" at 1:30am on Christmas morning.

"Who despises the day of small things?" God asks.

Why would we? God shows up. And that promise is enough.

Christmas Eve Eve

2009-12-23T08:58:00.005-06:00

I'm sitting in the Panera on Collins Rd in Cedar Rapids, reading my Bible, listening to Sufjan Stevens and having some coffee. It's a bit early to post the year-end reflections, so I'll just give an update since last week.

Reading:
Francis Schaeffer's The God Who Is There

"We usually divide cinema and television programs into two classes-good and bad. The term good as used here means 'technically good' and does not refer to morals. The 'good' pictures are the serious ones, the artistic ones, the ones with good shots. The 'bad' are simply escapist, romantic, only for entertainment. But if we examine them with care, we notice that the 'good' pictures are actually the worst pictures. The escapist film may be horrible in its own way, but the so-called 'good' pictures have almost all been developed by men holding the modern philosophy of no certain truth and no certain distinction beteen right and wrong." (60-61). Exhibit A would be Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds".
"With Hegel and Kierkegaard, people gave up on the concept of a rational, unified field of knowledge and accepted instead the idea of a leap of faith in those areas which make people distinctive as people-purpose, love, morals and so on. "It was this leap of faith that originally produced the line of despair." (63). Translation: Because we have killed any sense of Universal Truth, all we are left with is discovering our own purpose, our own methodologies of love, our own morals, etc. Which eventually leads to despair because in the end, I'm simply living for me. Emptiness!

Listening:
Mostly Sufjan Stevens' Christmas music, although I've re-discovered Arcade Fire.

Running:
I did it. this morning, I hit the 400 mile mark. I ran 5.52 this morning, which put me at 58.5 for the month and 401.9 for the year. There's a 5k in Amana I want to run in January, the Dam to Dam in June, a half-marathon in the Fall and then a full sometime in 2011.

What's next:
Our family is heading to NW Iowa for several days for the Christmas trek. All of Anne's family is up there, so it will be some great family time. Our youth programs have taking a break for several weeks.

In February, I'll begin Graduate School at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana via their distance learning program. When done, I'll have an MA in Ministerial Leadership. It will take just under 2 years. I'm both excited and a little nervous.

Anything else?
A family in our church was kind enough to give us their few-year-old iMac for use at home. The HP that we had has been on the fritz (I'd call the problem "Windows") for many, many years, so my wife is experiencing life with a Mac. So far, she loves it.

"Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary."
-What Child is This, Anyway?

Tuesday in December

2009-12-15T10:44:00.002-06:00

Almost got run over this morning on my run. Details here.

Air temp was -2 and windchill at -20 this morning. I thought my face was going to freeze off.

I have a church newsletter article and annual report to write by tomorrow.

Middle school youth group Christmas party is tomorrow night at Eastview.

High school Christmas party is Sunday night at our house.

Where will I be on June 5, 2009? Running the Dam to Dam.

"If we are unexcited as Christians, we should go back and see what is wrong."
-Francis Schaeffer, The God Who Is There

Some random thoughts

2009-12-11T09:34:00.003-06:00

Running:

Yesterday, I was over at Runners World's site, and came across this post about running in icy and snowy conditions. So...I tried the "Screw Shoes" idea. I put some 1/2 inch sheet metal screws into the bottom of my just-about-worn-out Asics GT-2140 (I have some new Nike's on the way). This morning, I went out and ran a 3.6 miler on ice-covered streets. My pace was only :30 off my average pace from the last 30 days. I'll just blame it on the -2 temperature.

Christmas Music:

My fave is the slow, mournful stuff (shocker). Click here to listen.

Aimee Mann's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
Enya's "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"
Feist's "Lo, How a Rose E're Blooming"
Low's "If You Were Born Today"
Pedro the Lion's "The First Noel", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"

Quite possibly the most hopeful scripture I've ever read:

"For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Thought it lingers, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay...But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him." -Habakkuk 2:3, 20

My Running Gear

2009-12-09T09:30:00.011-06:00

The air temp was 25, and wind chill was 7.

First, a snow picture, which does not show the 22mph NNW wind:

Here's what I had on this morning as I ran my 4 miler:

Garmin 305 Forerunner with heart-rate monitor:

Nike Pro Insulated Base Layer Tights:

Starter Polyester Shorts (from Wal-Mart):

Nike Pro Insulated Base Layer Top:

Tek Gear Technical Polyester Shirt (also from Wal-Mart)

Flashing LED Light on armband

Old Navy Hat (.50 on their clearance rack):

Nike Gloves:

Wellco Desert Tan V-Trax Combat Boot (these could be the weapon of choice over the next few days of snow and ice):

Cotton Gold-Toe socks (I know...cotton is a no-no):

I usually wear these, Asics GT-2140's (these are about worn out, I have a new pair of Nike's on the way):

You can check out my run here. As I ran north from Daleview Dr to 1st Ave on 22nd St, I was in a 22mph headwind (a little less than 3/4 of a mile). Most of that I ran with my eyes closed because of the snow and ice in my face (my right eyeball is still aching), and a left cheek covered in ice. From 2.59 to 3.03 was the same (another 1/2 mile). From 3.03 to 3.67, I had an ice-covered right cheek, some of which you can see here:

The beard is staying through winter.

Weather notwithstanding, it was an amazing run, my pace was way slow, but I am pleased with it.

On hating God and receiving mercy

2009-12-05T09:48:00.003-06:00

Picking up where we left off...God comes against Israel for her sins. He tells her what He's going to do them in Micah 6; Micah 7 begins with how sucky it is to have God against her: people cannot be trusted...no one. Sons against fathers, daughters-in law against mothers-in law, "a man's enemies within his own household". I immediately thought of Derek Webb's "A King and a Kingdom":

"But nothing unifies like a common enemy
 and we’ve got one, sure as hell.
 He may be living in your house,
 he may be raising up your kid,
s he may be sleeping with your wife .
Oh no, he may not look like you think"

And then...in verse 7, the sun begins to rise. Despite the sins, despite the hatred toward God...something happens.

"But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me."

Micah tells the enemies of God's people not to take too much joy in Israel's downfall. Why? Because God's people are simply being punished for her sin. Despite this fact, despite the darkness, despite their hatred of, for and towards God, the LORD is their light. Because they know that they deserve this wrath, they bear it, but only for a time, only until the LORD "pleads their case" and establishes them in HIS righteousness. And, people, the enemies of God's people will simply not know how to respond. They will be dumbfounded, enable to speak or to hear. They will fear God, not merely for His judgment and power, but because He can forgive sins, because He shows mercy and destroys our sins and separation.

Over the past few months, I've really been struggling with the concept of grace. I think at the root of this struggle is a hatred towards God. I'm not sure what to do with that...do I REALLY hate God? What does that even mean? What else explains my bent toward sin? Is is just the unredeemed and unregenerate parts of me being filtered out? Perhaps a "better" question is, "Do I REALLY love God?". Recently I was asked how I can rectify my hatred toward God and my continued hope in Him? Simple.

Micah 7:8b-9: "though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit int he darkness, the LORD will be my light. Because I have sinned against him, I will bear my LORD's wrath, until he pleads my case and establishes my right. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness."

Why do I hate God?

Psalm 130:3-4- "If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O LORD, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared."

Micah 7:17c-19- "They will turn in fear to the LORD our God and will be afraid of you. Who is a God like you, who pardons sins and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea."

I am God's enemy because of His power, His power to be kind and merciful. His power to forgive. His power to love in a way that I can neither fathom nor express.

God is judge, jury, prosecutor and executor. He is also Defender. And I, despite my constant rebellion against the very one who saves me, am righteous because of Him.

Because if this is not true...we are doomed beyond belief.

It's been a while

2009-12-04T08:54:00.002-06:00

I'm continuing my read through the minor prophets. In Micah 6, God makes his case against his people. He acts as prosecutor, jury, judge and even executioner. My western sentiment is quick to cry "foul", but then I remember that He alone is God. If what is written in the Bible is indeed true, He makes the rules, and should I want to be in a relationship with Him, I need to submit.

He delivered me from a slavery to sin.
He has brought me on an amazing journey.
All of this was for me to see His righteousness, His love for me, undeserved, I might add. Why?
My violent bent, my lying and deceitful tongue. My lack of justice, mercy and humility.
While I wait for Him, for the Hope song,
I am eating without being filled, planting but not harvesting, storing up treasures on earth, and following observations and practices of the wicked all around me.

But...He is also our defense.

"When all seems lost
When we're thrown and we're tossed
We remember the cost
We rest in Him
Shadow of the cross"

-Shadows, David Crowder*Band

The Hope Song

2009-11-23T10:27:00.004-06:00

Cover your eyes, little ones...

Ok. I cannot find the link. A few weeks ago, a blogger commented on seeing Derek Webb in concert and wrote that Derek ended the show with the song, "American Flag Umbrella". The song includes the following line:

"In the end it will all be ok
That's what the wise men tell us
So if it's not ok then it's not the end, oh my friends
There's hope for everyone".

The blogger called it, "The Hope Song". This is an interesting concept, one I've thought about before. David Bazan (and Pedro the Lion) has used this throughout his career.

On 2000's "Winners Never Quit", Bazan takes us through hell, in graphic detail:

selfishness of faith, looking out for self
extra-marital sex
alcohol abuse
murder of a spouse to prevent deceit from being revealed
the justification of sin
the justification of the means for an end
personal success being equated with God's happiness
and then, the hope song, called "Winners Never Quit" which ends with:

"Count it a blessing
That you're such a failure
Your second chance might
Never have come"

On 2002's "Control", we find similar themes:

the hopelessness of divorce
the emptiness of materialism
the meaninglessness of extra-marital sex
deceit, lies, murder of a cheating spouse, the questioning of faith
And then...the hope song, fittingly called, "Rejoice"

"Wouldn't it be so wonderful
if everything were meaningless
But everything is so meaningful
And most everything turns to shit
Rejoice"

Bazan also did this in concert; both times I saw him twice in 2004, he ended with the song, "Secret of the Easy Yoke". Here's the closing chorus from the Omaha show:

"If this is only a test
I hope that i'm passing
cause I'm losing steam
and I still want to trust you

peace be still

and in a moment, I'm alive again
and now I want it all the time
and in a moment, I'm alive again
and now I want it all the time"

The hope song is key to us as believers.

What is your hope in?

"Countdown..."

2009-11-18T11:21:00.003-06:00

Over at B-Mac's place, he's doing a countdown to the release of his new book, A New Kind of Christianity.

Here's today's gem:

"People would visit the church for a few weeks or months, listen intently, and then come to see me with their questions … I would give them my best answers, but often, after they left, I felt hollow. If they “bought” my answers, I was strangely disappointed. If they pushed back and told me my answers still made no sense to them, I though, “Good for you, because some of them don’t really make that much sense to me either.” (6)"

Perhaps...and I'm just sayin', he could have used the Bible, rather than his "best answers".

And to think that this guy sells books.

Some thought-provoking articles

2009-11-12T17:34:00.002-06:00

Here are some interesting articles on the theology of r-rated movies.

"The R-Rated Film We're Not Supposed to Call Christian"

Articles linked within that article

"Naked Truths"

"Giving a &*%$"

"Do Movies Kill People?"

CC Deville, on grace

2009-11-11T13:38:00.002-06:00

I saw Poison open for Ratt in 1987. CC Deville was definitely NOT talking about Jesus then,

"that's pretty funny"

2009-11-10T21:12:00.003-06:00

It is interesting when the same types of conversations take place over the span of just 3 days. Actually, it's pretty funny.

While coming back from OCC over the past weekend, at the very end of the trip, with just 2 hours left in the car, we began a very detailed conversation about the "theology of cussing, music, movies" and even things like alcohol consumption and smoking.

Fast forward to today; I was in Cedar Falls for the camp dean's meeting to discuss next year's camp season. Again, alcohol and smoking, this time cigar smoking, came up.

Which brings me to scripture.

From Colossians 2:
"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ...Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come, the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head (that's Jesus, btw), from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews grows as God causes it to grow. Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules? 'Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!' These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based in human commands and teachings. Such regulations have the appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgences."

Translation: Philosophies and ideas about these things which are based on human tradition (I don't drink, smoke or chew, or go with girls that do) are hollow and deceptive. Why? because they are worldly. They cause us to lose connection with Christ because of their false humility and worldly righteousness.

Here's another verse for you, this one from Isaiah 64:6:

"All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags..."

Translation: The original Hebrew for "filthy rags" here refers to used menstrual cloths. You read that right. God says that the righteousness of man (described perfectly in Colossians by Paul) has as much value as a used tampon, to be thrown on the trash heap, cast as far out of the camp (and out of God's presence) as possible.

Here's the bottom line (for now)...we are righteous only because Christ died for us. Not because we didn't drink alcohol, or smoke a cigarette, or not watch an r-rated movie. Not because we didn't look at porn today. Not because we showed up at Sunday school 50 out of 52 weeks.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and cautiously state that God doesn't give a rip about any of that stuff. We can clearly do all the right things, we can be baptized, we can even feed the hungry and clothe the poor. But if we're not living in the righteousness that He provided, He's going to tell us to depart from Him, for He never knew us.

And...it's high time we stopped pretending otherwise. We need to cease this nonsense of trying to earn our salvation through all of this σκύβαλον.

More thoughts from Amos

2009-11-04T09:26:00.002-06:00

I'm up to Amos 6; God is going cuckoo...via Amos He's listing all of the offenses of His people. they've ignored the poor for their own gain, and justice, God's justice, has become a mockery. They've become fat and happy, satisfied in their "place" as the people of God, just enjoying what this life has to give.

Here's the hammer that God brings: He's going to allow His own people, His nation, the ones that He delivered from Egypt, to be given over to other nations.

"For the Lord God almighty declares, 'I will stir up a nation against you, O house of Israel, that wil oppress you all the way from Lebo Hamath (in North Lebanon) to the valley of the Arabah (near the Dead Sea).'"

As I think about this, I have to ask why God has not abandoned me like this, why He has not given me over to destruction of this magnitude.

The selfishness, arrogance and pride within me tells myself that perhaps I'm not this bad, that somehow these people are worse than me.

But, then I re-read the list of sins, and find myself in the midst of them.

The fact is, I AM THIS BAD. My heart is wicked. My thoughts are mostly not of God. My actions demonstrate these facts, every single day. Why then, the lack of abandonment? If I'm not better, what is it? As someone said at CIY...it's not that God doesn't care about my offenses...He does. He despises my sin. It disgusts Him. He cares about me that much that He will always remain faithful in trying to return me to Him.

Grace. God loves me despite the fact that I am a poor, miserable and despondent sinner. This morning around the breakfast table, we read Revelation 3:14-22. I'm that church, on my own I'm wealthy, and have need of nothing, but the fact is that I am poor, wretched and blind.

And I need Jesus.

Thank you God, for the grace that I constantly mock and take advantage of, for the mercy that I daily scorn and deny.

Monday Update

2009-11-02T09:33:00.006-06:00

It's been a long time since I've done an actual Monday update.

Running update:
Last week, I got my needed 10 miles in, making October a 42 mile month, my highest yet. November started off today with a 3.77 miler, which means I'm shooting for 50 this month.

Ministry Update:
This past weekend we had our first Fall retreat. We took a group of about 30 (students and adults to Camp Waubeek, which was an awesome place for a retreat. We had a ton of great food, fellowship and game time, as well as time in small groups and study. Coming up this weekend is a trip to Ozark Christian College for "The Event". We're taking 3 high school students to what will be a great time. This week, we're starting our "Crime Scenes of the Bible" series with our middle school youth group. Here's the intro video that I made last week:

What I've been reading:
Last week I started the book of Amos, in the Old Testament. It's an old-fashioned visit to the woodshed for Israel.
Also sitting on my desk are the books Shift, by Bryan Haynes and Christless Christianity, by Michael Horton.

What I've been watching on tv:
ABC's Flashforward, NBC's The Office (of course), ABC's NCIS (I just got into this a few weeks ago), re-runs of The Unit on Wednesday nights after middle school group, and all the college football my family can tolerate on Saturday afternoons.

What I've been listening to:
Timothy Keller
David Crowder Band's "Church Music"
Derek Webb's "Stockholm Syndrome"

God and sin

2009-10-26T08:57:00.002-05:00

I began to read Amos this morning. From the Intro in the NIV Study Bible:

"Israel at the time was politically secure and spiritually smug...The nation felt sure, therefore, that she was in God's good graces. But prosperity increased Israel's religious and moral corruption. God's past punishments for unfaithfulness were forgotten, and his patience was at an end--which he sent Amos to announce...Amos declared that God was going to judge his unfaithful, disobedient, covenant-breaking people...The shrines at Bethel and other places of worship were often paganized, and Israel had a worldly view of even the ritual that the Lord himself had proscribed. They thought performance of rites was all that was required, and, with that done, they could do whatever they pleased--an especially pagan notion."

Amos chapter 1 is God pronouncing judgments on the other nations for their wickedness. No doubt, as the Israelites heard these judgments, they were all for them. No doubt, this added to their smugness, to their self-assured feelings that THEY were the people of God. I can only imagine the pride swelling within their chests as the lists of offenses piled up.

Little did they know what was coming.

It is so easy to judge others. Even this morning it happened within our own home. It's easy to find security in our rites, our ritual, our prosperity. But, God does not ignore sin...for three sins...even for four, God does not turn back his wrath.

Guilty.

Guilty.

Guilty.

Again

2009-10-24T09:58:00.002-05:00

How long will I waver
between the two?
You call, but she screams.
Over the din, you are lost.

The choice never clearer.
Truth and lie.
Death and lie.

Defeats pile up
like wood stacked for fire.
Grace enters and lights the tinder.
The flames burn.

Ash remains.
The last vestige of the pain
that seems eternal.

Snarky

2009-10-16T10:25:00.003-05:00

Since I was recently banned from posting on the Sojourners blog site for questioning what a "European American" was, I thought I'd just respond to their stupidity on my own site. Of course, anyone is welcome to post here.

Apparently yesterday was "Blog Action Day" on climate change. I cannot believe that I missed it.

Anyway, Elizabeth Denlinger wrote a post entitled, "Paying Attention to Climate Change" that had the following quote, "The video is part of the Day Six campaign to focus the attention of people of faith to the human impact of U.S. climate change legislation. The campaign name “is a reference to the creation story in Genesis, when God made human beings stewards of creation." There was a brilliant response from a guy who calls himself "Hannity2". He wrote, "Interesting name considering most progressive Christians seem to believe in evolution."

Holy crap...that's funny.

The article, "Caught Between Two Worlds" by Aaron Taylor was well written. In the comments suggestion, a person with the handle, "WaveTossed", who no doubt misses the irony of their name, writes,

"I do believe that Jesus is God. And I don't see this belief as being mutually exclusive from the belief that other religions might (or might not) be equal paths to the same truths."

This sentence is an incoherent mess. Let's break it down:

I do believe that Jesus is God.

Good.

And I don't see this belief as being mutually exclusive

Which goes against John 10:1-18.

from the belief that other religions might (or might not) be equal paths to the same truths.

I would think some clarity from Jesus (who is God) might be important here. You know....whether or not Islam leads to the same God. And, if they all lead (or don't) to the same place, then what's the point of believing that Jesus is God?

Let's continue:

Then I see the phrase "biblical orthodoxy." Whose Biblical orthodoxy? What exactly is "Biblical orthodoxy?" In the Episcopal Church, we read the Bible at each service and my pastor regularly conducts Bible study classes. We recite the Nicene Creed at every service, which states explicitly that Jesus is God and our Savior.

Nice Work.

And yet, at our General Convention, the Episcopal Church made changes in our policies and beliefs that has made many evangalicals see us as "straying from the Bible" and "ignoring the Bible as God's Word." I'm sure that by now, most people will surmise that I'm bringing up the huge "G" word, as in "Gay/Lesbian." The Episcopal Church doesn't interpret the Bible the way that many evangelicals do, especially on the subject of Gay/Lesbian people: therefore, say some of them, we are "jettisoning Biblical orthodoxy."

Well, the definition of orthodoxy is "authorized or generally accepted theory, doctrine or practice". From the start (you know...the whole Day 6 thing), homosexuality was against God's original intent. The men and women who wrote the Bible picked up on God's wishes and wrote those things in the Bible. At some point in history, the Bible came to be called "God's Word". For about 1700 years now, that compilation of books has indeed become "orthodox", as in, ""authorized or generally accepted theory, doctrine or practice". So, when you go against that, it would be right to accuse someone of "jettisoning Biblical orthodoxy". Just sayin'.

But maybe it's also the orthodox concept of evangelicism that separates the Episcopal Church from those who consider themselves to be "Evangelical."

Nope. I'd say it's the jettisoning of Biblical orthodoxy by your team that is separating us.

What about evangelicizing by works, by examples, by showing rather than by explicitly telling?

Something about filthy rags.

Finally, same post, but a comment from Joe_Allen_Doty.

Before you share the "Living Bread of Life" (aka Christ Jesus) with people who are hungry, homeless, poorly clothed, sick, etc., you need to meet their earthly physical needs first.

Then why did Jesus forgive sins BEFORE healing in Luke 5:20, and rebuke Satan Luke 9:42?

Oh, Brian...

2009-10-15T14:06:00.006-05:00

Over at B-Mac's place, he posted a letter to our Dear Leader and Nobel Laureate, President Barack H.Obama.

"I am a loyal supporter of your presidency. I worked hard in the campaign and have never been as proud of my country as I was when we elected you."

This should come as no surprise to anyone.

"I'm writing to ask you to find another way ahead in Afghanistan. I wrote a similar letter to President Bush when he was preparing for war in Iraq"

Click on the link to read the letter. Especially the first part when he says "The ballots finally revealed you as our nation's 43rd president" part...you know selected, not elected.

"I believe now, as you and I both did then, that war is not the answer. Violence breeds violence, and as Dr. King said, you can murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder. As the apostle Paul said, evil must be overcome with good, which means that violence and hate must be overcome with justice and love, not more of the same."

And obviously, BHO and B-Mac were right!! Afghanistan was a war of necessity, but Iraq was one of choice, right? I find it humorous that B-Mac quotes Paul here...he generally has a low regard for Paul especially when he goes all "right-wing" and calls homosexual activity a sin.

"Obviously, you know things the rest of us don't know. And you have pressures and responsibilities the rest of us don't have."

Funny, I can't imagine him saying anything like this to President Bush. Let me re-read that letter to Bush...Ummm....nope.

"But we have based our lives on the moral principles that guided leaders like Dr. King, Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela. We share a profound faith in a loving, non-violent God. We share a commitment to live in the way of Jesus the peacemaker."

"Non-violent God"? Somebody should read the Old Testament. I forgot...Brian's an English teacher, with no formalized religious training.

"That's why escalation is not a change we can believe in."

That old chestnut. Let me get this straight, sending 21,000 troops 5 months ago was consistent with "hope and change", but now, it's not?

I don't argue for leaving Afghanistan high and dry as we've done too often in the past. Evil can't be overcome by passivity or abdication, but only by positive good and creative action.

So the firebombing of Tokyo or Dresden was "positive good and creative action"?

In that spirit, I offer this humble proposal:

1. Take the 65 billion we would have spent there in the coming year and turn it into an aid and development fund. If you want to go farther, you could put a value on the cost of American lives that would be lost there (I have no idea how this inestimable cost could be calculated), and add that sum to the fund. 65 billion could build a lot of peace-oriented schools and hospitals in Afghanistan. It could serve as start-up capital for a lot of new businesses and it could pave a lot of roads. It could train a lot of police officers and it could enhance a lot of social infrastructure. It could give hope to a lot of women and girls who currently don't have much hope, and it could provide a lot of constructive outlets for men and boys who right now don't have many options besides picking up a machine gun and joining a warlord.

Two words come to mind: "Shovel Ready".

2. Other nations might contribute to this fund as well, and the fund could be extended into the future based on the number of years our military would have been engaged in Afghanistan. The fund could be administered by the US, or better (in the spirit of international cooperation), an IAEC-like agency could be created, subsidiary to the United Nations, to monitor progress in Afghanistan.

"Might". Great word choice. I think we should ask North Korea, Iran and Venezuela to help. And the UN? Food for Oil worked so well last time.

3. Then a set of benchmarks could be set, and the money could be released for development in Afghanistan as the nation reached appropriate benchmarks. This fund would be an enticement to mobilize public opinion in the direction of peace and justice, as people would know that their lives could be substantially improved if their factionalized leaders would start collaborating nonviolently for the common good.

Interesting. I remember hearing about the factionalization as a reason NOT to invade years ago. The people were too split up to join.

4. With this kind of approach, the people of Afghanistan (and Pakistan) would have two clear choices. Al Queda and other extremists offer violence and unrest. But the international community would be offering support for order, rebuilding, collaboration, justice, and peace. This choice is a much clearer and better one than the choice between two groups of leaders who both depend on violence to achieve their aims.

The terrorists also offer this bit of encouragement...they'll kill you if you don't support them. Only under B-Mac's plan, there will be no soldiers around to keep that from happening.

5. Conservatives could support this kind of approach because it emphasizes personal choice and responsibility among the Afghan people..."

B-Mac and his dichotomies. Conservative vs Progressive. I thought he was against this kind of thing?

"It would come alongside them in their own nation-building efforts at their own best pace, rather than trying to impose our own nation-building on them at a pace we determine..."

Wait...didn't Brian just set the pace for them in steps 1-4?

"Progressives could support this approach because it changes the role of the US in the global neighborhood - from reactive bully or intentional dominator to responsible neighbor and partner for the common good."

Brian forgot, "And the country that everyone calls when there is a natural disaster."

"Mr. President, you have my respect and my prayers at this important time. I believe you have the intelligence and insight to find a creative way to use a new kind of force in the world..."

Just look at what he's done with the economy.

"something far more powerful than bombs, guns, and bullets: the generative force of creativity, of justice, of collaboration, and yes, of hope. Can we find a new and better way to help Afghanistan rise out of chaos and complicity with Al Queda? You know the answer many of us will shout and chant: yes, we can."

I'm betting that there will be significantly less voices than the 55 million idiots that voted for him.

With respect and hope,
A citizen"

Brian's hope is built on nothing less than BHO's...oh, nevermind.

Walk of shame

2009-10-13T09:53:00.004-05:00

So, this morning I headed out for what I was hoping to be at least a 3-miler. About 2 miles in, the outside of my right calf really began to cramp. Thinking I could push through it, I kept running....farther and farther away from home. Big mistake. I soon found myself walking. 29 degrees is awfully cold to be in shorts and sweaty. It was a long, cold walk home. What Luke Reid told me about running outside versus on a treadmill is true...when you run outside, and you run away from home, you have to get back. And today, getting back sucked.

As I ran, I listened to *Arcade Fire's "Funeral". The fourth song is called "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" and I really took the words in.

"I woke up with the power out,
Not really something to shout about.
Ice has covered up my parents' hands.
Don’t have any dreams, don’t have any plans."

Have you ever seen people spiritually empty?

"I went out into the night,
I went out to find some light.
Kids are swingin’ from the power lines,
Nobody’s home, so nobody minds."

In this case, it's the leaders who are spiritually empty, and people are looking for "light" anywhere they can get it...even from dangerous places.

"I woke up on the darkest night,
Neighbors all were shoutin’ that they found the light.
(”''We found the light!''”)
Shadows jumpin’ all over my walls,
Some of them big, some of them small."

When the light is found, there is rejoicing.

"I went out into the night,
I went out to pick a fight with anyone.
Light a candle for the kids,
Jesus Christ, don’t keep it hid!"

There is also anger, especially when the light is so prevalent and available. We wonder why people would "keep it hid".

"Ice has covered up my parents' hands.
Don’t have any dreams, don’t have any plans.
Growin’ up in some strange storm,
Nobody’s cold, nobody’s warm."

But, there are the leaders...un-moved, unwilling to see what they have. And unwilling to do anything.

"I went out into the night,
I went out to find some light.
Kids are dyin’ out in the snow,
Look at them go, look at them go!"

People are dying without the power, without the light. Look at them. Look at them.

"And the power’s out in the heart of man,
Take it from your heart, put it in your hand.
What’s the plan?"

When we feel like the power's out...when we "feel" empty...what should we do? Act. Love. Serve.

"Is it a dream? Is it a lie?
I think I’ll let you decide.
Just light a candle for the kids,
Jesus Christ, don’t keep it hid!
Cause nothing’s hid from us kids!
You ain’t foolin’ nobody with the lights out!"

Our kids see who we really are. When we really live out our faithful. When we hide the light from them. When we act like the light is on, but it has been off for so long. When we use fake light.

"And the power’s out in the heart of man,
Take it from your heart, put it in your hand.
And there’s something wrong in the heart of man,
You take it from your heart and put it in your hand!"

Faith without works is dead.

"Where’d you go?"

When, oh when, will we kick the lights on?

*To be clear, I don't know where the gang from Arcade Fire stands spiritually, but with much of their lyrical content...they speak to the human condition.

Oh, Michael Moore...

2009-10-05T10:14:00.005-05:00

Huffington Post has a nice letter from Michael Moore about Christians and capitalism.

Friends,

I'd like to have a word with those of you who call yourselves Christians (Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Bill Maherists, etc...

You know, because all religions are really the same and teach the same things. They're all anti-capitalist.

...can read along, too, as much of what I have to say, I'm sure, can be applied to your own spiritual/ethical values).

What if my spiritual/ethical values are capitalist? You won't try to get me to join you, will you?

In my new film I speak for the first time in one of my movies about my own spiritual beliefs. I have always believed that one's religious leanings are deeply personal and should be kept private...

"Always believed"-until now of course.

After all, we've heard enough yammerin' in the past three decades about how one should "behave," and I have to say I'm pretty burned out on pieties and platitudes...

Like telling us that the earth is going to explode if we don't change all of our lightbulbs...TODAY!

considering we are a violent nation that invades other countries...

So that whole foray into France in 1944 was a mistake?

and punishes our own for having the audacity to fall on hard times.

"Audacity?" Where have I heard that word before...

I'm also against any proselytizing; I certainly don't want you to join anything I belong to.

This is a lie, pure and simple. Want proof? Watch any Michael Moore movie. Or, read this letter.

Also, as a Catholic, I have much to say about the Church as an institution, but I'll leave that for another day (or movie).

An anti-Catholic movie? No way!

Amidst all the Wall Street bad guys and corrupt members of Congress exposed in Capitalism: A Love Story, I pose a simple question in the movie: "Is capitalism a sin?" I go on to ask, "Would Jesus be a capitalist?" Would he belong to a hedge fund? Would he sell short? Would he approve of a system that has allowed the richest 1 percent to have more financial wealth than the 95 percent under them combined?

Perhaps if you read the bible, you'd see that Jesus had no money. And, he was way more interested in the Kingdom of God than he was in changing the geo-political systems of the day. But I digress.

I have come to believe that there is no getting around the fact that capitalism is opposite everything that Jesus (and Moses and Mohammed and Buddha) taught.

Everything? Funny, Jesus uses capitalistic analogies to prove a point. Just read the parable of the talents. Or the parable of the man building a house and only finishing the foundation because he did not have enough money. Or rendering to Caesar what is his.

All the great religions are clear about one thing: It is evil to take the majority of the pie and leave what's left for everyone to fight over. Jesus said that the rich man would have a very hard time getting into heaven. He told us that we had to be our brother's and sister's keepers and that the riches that did exist were to be divided fairly. He said that if you failed to house the homeless and feed the hungry, you'd have a hard time finding the pin code to the pearly gates.

I think Michael should take some of Mohammed's writings and sayings, an de-contextualize them in the same way he does to those of Jesus.

I guess that's bad news for us Americans. Here's how we define "Blessed Are the Poor":

I think that we should stick with Jesus' definition...they were poor in spirit. As in humble.

We now have the highest unemployment rate since 1983.

Wait, I thought that the stimulus package would take care of that.

There's a foreclosure filing once every 7.5 seconds.

Thanks to interest-only loans, Fannie Mae and John Conyers.

14,000 people every day lose their health insurance.

Do the math...5 million people per year? Is that on top of the 45 million? Or it is 37 million?

At the same time, Wall Street bankers ("Blessed Are the Wealthy"?) are amassing more and more loot -- and they do their best to pay little or no income tax (last year Goldman Sachs' tax rate was a mere 1 percent!)...

Question(s)...how much money do you have Michael? Do you take advantage of the tax code? When you film your movies, do you get tax breaks?

...When you are in church this morning, please think about this. I am asking you to allow your "better angels" to come forward.

What does this even mean?

And if you are among the millions of Americans who are struggling to make it from week to week, please know that I promise to do what I can to stop this evil --

By making more movies.

Thanks for listening. I'm off to Mass in a few hours. I'll be sure to ask the priest if he thinks J.C. deals in derivatives or credit default swaps.

Please tell us what he said.

I mean, after all, he must've been good at math. How else did he divide up two loaves of bread and five pieces of fish equally amongst 5,000 people? Either he was the first socialist or his disciples were really bad at packing lunch. Or both.

Because socialists do such a great job of feeding their people. Look at North Korea, or Cuba, or the former Soviet Union.