The Prayer Of Jabez Falls Short In Africa

Here's a great article in Sojourners magazine about the calling that Bruce Wilkinson, the writer of the Prayer of Jabez, felt God had given him and why it didn't work in Africa. Very thought provoking.

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The Prayer of Jabez falls short in Africa
by David Batstone

Bruce Wilkinson, author of the best-selling book The Prayer of Jabez, made a big splash nearly four years ago when he announced his ambitious plan to help children suffering from AIDS in Africa.

Not everything for Wilkinson has gone according to plan, unfortunately. A page one feature in the Dec. 19 The Wall Street Journal captures the sad tale in a nutshell: "In 2002 Bruce Wilkinson, a Georgia preacher whose self-help prayer book had made him a rich man, heard God's call, moved to Africa and announced his intention to save one million children left orphaned by the AIDS epidemic. In October [2005], Wilkinson resigned in a huff from the African charity he founded. He abandoned his plan to house 10,000 children in a facility that was to be an orphanage, bed-and-breakfast, game reserve, Bible college, industrial park and Disneyesque tourist destination in the tiny kingdom of Swaziland. What happened in between is a story of grand hopes and inexperience, divine inspiration and human foibles. ¿[H]is departure left critics convinced he was just another in a long parade of outsiders who have come to Africa making big promises and quit the continent when local people didn't bend to their will."

It is not my aim to gloat at Wilkinson's failure. To the contrary, I mourn what this means for the millions of African children in crisis who apparently will not benefit from his efforts. I also want to honor Wilkinson's desire to help the least fortunate. It would have been easy for him to take the wealth he gained from his book sales and live a life of personal comfort.

This chain of events, however, should not pass without a moment of theological reflection. The "blessed life" that Wilkinson has helped to promote carries with it a number of assumptions about where God is present in the world, and how God acts in response to the prayers of the faithful.

The Prayer of Jabez is based on a passage out of the book of Chronicles, in which a devoted man named Jabez asks God for a favor: "Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from hurt and harm!" The fact that God honors Jabez' prayer and blesses him with great riches indicates to Wilkinson a God-principle. If we in pure heart ask God for a blessing - and do so using the very words that Jabez prayed - then God will bring wondrous gifts into our life. As The Wall Street Journal reports, Wilkinson interprets the wild commercial success of his books (roughly 20 million copies sold combined) as yet another proof of the miraculous power of the Jabez prayer. In other words, it worked for Jabez, it worked for Wilkinson, and now it should work for you. With the fiasco in Africa now behind him - and the full Journal report makes clear that fiasco is the appropriate term - I wonder if Wilkinson has reconsidered his theology.

Maybe because I spent so many years in poor regions of the globe I could never accept the prayer-in-blessing-out approach to faithful living. Straight to the point, I have known too many devoted Christians for whom life did not bring them material blessing. Their children still died of infectious diseases that plagued their village. They could not avoid the violence that dictators and ideologues so often use to cow the powerless. Their territory did not expand because their only path for survival was a daily labor with their hands. Yet they did not lose faith, or cease praying for God's blessing.

As I ponder on their lives, I find a more fitting theology for God's presence and action in the world to be laid out in the book of Hebrews. There we are encouraged to have "faith in things not yet seen," and are offered models of individuals who tried to lead devoted lives that honor God. We read that some of them did receive great material blessings, while others ended up in the dens of lions or stoned due to their principled living. We learn, in other words, that God does hear their prayers and loves them profoundly, but it does not always bring them material riches or expanded territory.

Wilkinson's doctrine in fact implies that social structures are immaterial. An individual reciting the right prayer can transcend an AIDS epidemic in his or her village or escape being bought and sold into slavery (like 27 million people on this planet yet today). Perhaps now that Wilkinson has immersed himself in Africa, he better understands that the curse of poverty is not a spiritual punishment, or an indication of a lack of faith. To bring blessings to the orphans and widows of Africa, a dramatic shift in values - political, economic, and personal - will be required. And that challenge cannot be owned by Africans alone; it falls squarely on the shoulders of us in rich nations, who enjoy such great material "blessings."

Just like the next Bible reader, I could pick out individual passages that seem to suggest that God will give us whatever we desire as long as we ask for it with a pure heart. "You can even move this mountain" with such a prayer, as Jesus teaches his disciples in the gospels. I do not summarily discount these passages, nor do I assume that we should never pray for rain in a time of drought.

But the weight of the biblical message balances heavily toward a prayer life that yields courage, love, and compassion to do the will of God. The expectation of material gain and miraculous blessings may even distract us on that pilgrimage. The passage in Hebrews calls us, based on past heroes of the faith, "to run the race in front of us," confident that devoting our lives to God's work is all the reward we will ever need.

A 39 Word Epitaph

Josiah, a king of Judah, became king at the age of eight, began seeking the Lord at sixteen, rediscovered the Scriptures (a great story), and brought about spiritual and moral reformation in the land of Judah.

Josiah had a couple of "biographies" (which is essentially what the books of 1&2 Kings and 1&2 Chronicles are), but the best biography of Josiah is written by Jeremiah and is only 39 words long.

"'He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?' declares the Lord." (Jeremiah 22:15b-16)

If my life was stripped down to 39 words, what would be said about me when I die?

The Disciple's Journal Character Trait #4: Friendliness

A man and his family stopped at a gas station just outside of the new small town they were moving to. As he was pumping gas into the car, he struck up a conversation with the old-timer who was hanging out nearby.

"So...we're just moving into town. What kind of people live here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, are the people in this town friendly or unfriendly?"

The old-timer thought about it for a minute and then asked, "Well, tell me - were the people in the town you moved from friendly or mean?"

The man replied, "Very unfriendly. They were mean-spirited and we never really got to know anyone because they were very standoffish."

The old-timer continued to chew on the piece of straw that dangled from his mouth. "Well, sir, I'm afraid that this town is very much the same way. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but good luck."

The man thanked him, got back into his car and drove away.

Ten minutes later, another car pulled into the gas station. A man got out, started pumping gas, and once again a conversation started between he and the old-timer.

"Hey, mister - my wife and family and I are moving into the upcoming town, and I was wondering if you could tell me what the people were like there. Are they nice, or are they difficult to get to know?"

"Well, tell me - were the people in the town you moved from friendly or mean?"

The man replied, "They were great! Very friendly, very open, very inviting. We enjoyed living there very much."

The old man smiled and said, "Well, good news then my friend. This town is full of people just like that."

The man smiled back, finished pumping the gas, got back into his car and drove away.

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It's hard to be friendly in this day and age. I don't think it's because we don't want to be friendly - I think it all boils down to one thing: we are too busy. I find this is the case even for me on Sunday mornings. I desperately want to strike up conversations with people around me, and often do so. However, there are so many things that I'm thinking about, so many things that need to get done, that I often find myself saying hi to people and moving on to the next project or crisis. Last Sunday, I decided to try and stop doing this, at least as much as I can. Not only was I leading worship this last Sunday, but I was also trying to film people for a video clip we're showing at the end of the month. Basically, I was running around like crazy. As a result, there were several people I wanted to talk to but couldn't because of what I needed to do. At the end of the second service, I was supposed to run back to where I was filming again - but a couple of people came up to me and started talking to me. One of them I had met on Friday, the other I was meeting for the first time. Everything within me wanted to tell them, "I've really got to go do this filming, I'm sorry, I've got to go", but I decided I really needed to talk to them and get to know them a little bit. So I did. And the funny thing is that the people who I was supposed to film didn't show up anyway.

Although friendliness is actually a spiritual gift (it's actually under the spiritual gift of hospitality), it's something that we all as Christians should strive to be. Especially as the reputuation of Christianity continues to erode in the minds of not-yet-Christians due to the mean-spiritedness that the world sees of us. Someone once said, "I would gladly become a Christian, yet every Christian I meet seems to be an undertaker." Roger told me of a scene in the movie Amistad where the slaves knew that a certain group of people were Christians because of the "frown on their faces". I want to be a more friendly person. Friendliness is disarming.

The verse that I am memorizing this week is Romans 12:13 - "Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality."

The self-evaluation questions were very good this week - here are some of them:

- Does my outward appearnce indicate friendliness?

- Am I friendly out of love for others or for my own personal gain?

- Does my friendliness depend on how friendly others are?

- Am I friendly at all times or only when I feel "on top of the world"?

- Have unpleasant encounters made me wary of strangers?

- Do I have a desire to be friendly but feel inhibited?

- Do my moods radically affect my friendliness?

- Am I cooperating with God to become a person who can be friendly to all people?

Movie Review #1: Primer

There's a guy at my church named Joe. He's a great guy. Not just because he's a Colorado Avalanche fan. Not just that he's married to a wonderful lady named Cindy. But also because he loves movies. Not just any movie, mind you. But good movies. For example, Crash = good movie. Pearl Harbor = cruddy movie. (Although I still haven't heard his verdict on a movie I let him borrow, one I like a lot called Pi.)

Anyway, I've seen a lot of answered prayers lately, which is a good thing. A real good thing. One of my prayers that I've been praying is that I would find someone else with a passion for good movies, movies that make you think, movies that cause your entire day or even week to be disrupted because you're still thinking about the doggone thing. Joe and I talked a week or two ago that it would be cool to get a movie discussion group going sometime in the near future. I like the idea a lot. We all watch the same movie, one of us comes up with some questions, and we talk about the movie. In the meantime (and perhaps even after this group starts up), I thought I would do some short movie reviews every once in awhile as I come across good, no great movies.

So - today is my first one.

Primer is a movie that I picked up about four months ago, but didn't watch it in its entirety the first time. The main reason why is that the sound editing in the movie is not that great. Of course, if you consider that this movie was made for $7,000 - yet still won a prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004, you let little irritations like sound editing slip. But because I couldn't hear it very well the first time on my T.V. downstairs, I didn't really get into it. So I picked it up again this week and this time I watched it on my laptop with headphones. This is how I like to watch my movies now - yes, I'm weird. It's amazing, though, what you pick up when you listen to a movie with headphones. It makes it a lot easier to pick up the plot and understand the dialogue.

Anyway, this movie is very good. It takes a familiar premise to movies - time travel - but rather than dealing so much with what takes place during the time travel (as the very cruddy movie Timeline did), or dealing with how the "time traveling device" works - this movie mostly deals with the consequences that take place when two guys react in completely different ways when this time travel is discovered. It's a "heady" movie, believe me - I still don't really understand how they really discovered a way to travel back in time. But I like the approach, the characters are good, and again - the fact that this movie was made for only $7,000 makes me hopeful for the future of movies. This kind of movie proves that you don't need a $100 million dollar budget to do a good movie about science-fiction related topics.

Time travel can be really cheesy in movies. This movie deals with this potentially cheesy subject in a great way: rather than the ability to magically transport back seven thousand years in the past or forward into the future - you can only travel back as long as the time that you spend in the machine. Once they have that figured out, there's another problem. If you travel back to that morning, you must have planned the day out in such a way that you don't run into yourself during that day. It also deals well with the so-called "grandfather problem" of time travel: if I go back and kill my grandfather, does that mean that I am not born in the future, so then I can't really kill my grandfather?

At first, these guys use this time travel to make money on the stock market. But then they start thinking about other things they want, or people they want to get back at: after all, if it doesn't work out, they can always go back and change it again. And that's when problems arise. These guys can swear themselves to secrecy, that they won't tell anyone else - but what if they go back in time, and their original selves find out about this time travel idea - what's to prevent them to tell anyone?

Yes, I know - it's heady stuff. It comes to an incredibly climactic ending that I had to rewind a couple of times just to understand what was going on.

Primer is a great movie - one that not everyone will like (the guy at Blockbuster told me he didn't like it because "nothing really happens in the first hour.") A lot happens in the first hour. I guess he meant that no one dies or goes postal or something. Anyway, I give Primer 3 1/2 flux capacitors out of 4.

Bono's Prayer Breakfast Comments

can be found here.

My favorite phrase from his comments is that "religion often gets in the way of God."

And I like how he referred to Jim Wallis' book "God's Politics". Great book.

The Present Future, Chapter One (Part One)

Wow.

After re-reading this chapter, that word kept on coming into my mouth. Wow. Simply, wow.

McNeal pulls no punches right from the get-go. As he said in his introduction to this book, his goal is to provoke and to frame conversations that lead to action, to risk, to rediscovery of mission. If his goal was to provoke, he hit his mark!

Each chapter of The Present Future is titled by what McNeal calls "new realities". So, chapter one begins with New Reality Number One: The Collapse of the Church Culture. If one reading the book wondered what McNeal meant by that, they only needed to look at the first paragraph in order to understand. The first paragraph starts out in this way:

The current church culture in North America is on life support. It is living off the work, money and energy of previous generations from a previous world order.

Provoking. McNeal then goes on to describe how much the world has really changed in the past thirty years or more, and how the church has refused to change with the world. McNeal is worried about the future of the church - he is not proclaiming the death of the church, but the "collapse of the unique culture in North America that has come to be called 'church'"

He goes on to say this:

In reality, the church culture in North America is a vestige of the original movement, an institutional expression of religion that is in part a civil religion and in part a club where religious people can hang out with other people whose politics, worldview and lifestyle match theirs.

and

As he hung on the cross, Jesus probably never thought that the impact of his sacrifice would be reduced to an invitation for people to join and to support an institution.

The collapse of the church culture can be demonstrated simply through demographic research. If you read those Barna books or even Gallup polls, you may be encouraged to find out that over fifty percent of the American population goes to church on a weekly basis.

They are wrong.

New research (church attendance numbers in different cities vs. population of those cities) suggest that Americans might be lying about their churchgoing habits. After several months of research, the actual number of weekly churchgoing American folks hovers around 26 percent. And the further you go down the generational food chain, the lower the percentage each succeeding generation goes to church (in other words, the senior citizens' attendance numbers are much higher than those of my generation, known as generation X).

McNeal adds some humor to this chapter by saying: "Armed with this information, of course, churches are launching an all-out effort to reach Generation X-ers. I wish! Most churches have written them off, waiting for them to grow up and learn to like what the church has to offer."

Humorous, but absolutely true. He also talks about a growing number of people who are leaving the institutional church, but not leaving Jesus. "(They) are leaving the church for a new reason. They are not leaving because they have lost faith. They are leaving the church to preserve their faith."

In each chapter, McNeal gives the wrong question that churches are asking, and then what the right question is that they should be asking. This chapter's wrong question is this: How do we do church better? He then talks about all the different methods that churches have used recently in order to make their church better. First it was the church and lay renewal movement. Then the emphasis switched to church growth. Then it changed to church health. He says this: "An entire industry has been spawned to help churches do whatever it is they decide to do..the suggestions are plentiful: offer small groups, contemporize your worship, market your service, focus on customer service, create a spiritual experience, become seeker-friendly, create a high-expectation member culture, purify the church from bad doctrine, return the church to the basics..."

Listen to what he says next, and tell me this doesn't cut to the heart: "All this actually anesthetizes the pain of loss. It offers a way to stay busy and preoccupied with methodological pursuits while not facing the hard truth: none of this seems to be making much of a difference."

Both ministry staff members and church members have suffered from this pursuit of "improving the church". For the "clergy", they are now expected to be managers, strategic planners, fundraisers, expert communicators, chief vision developers, ministry entrepreneurs, spiritual gurus, architectural consultants and more. I don't remember any Bible college class that prepared me for those different tasks, let me tell you. For the church member, "they feel like they have been sold a bill of goods. They were promised that if they would be a good church member, if they would discover their gifts, or join a small group, sign up for a church ministry...they would experience a full and meaningful life...the faithful, maybe silently or not so silently, wonder when their ticket is going to be punched, when they are going to experience the changed life they've been promised and expected to experience at church. In North America, these people have been led to believe that their Christian life is all about the church, so this failure of the church not only creates doubt about the church, it also leads them to all kinds of doubt about God and their relationship with Him."

The effort to fix the church misses the point. As he says in this chapter: You can build the perfect church - and they still won't come. Who are they? Unchurched people. "They do not wake up every day wondering what church they can make successful."

McNeil ends this section by saying: Church leaders seem unable to grasp this simple implication of the new world - people outside the church think church is for church people, not for them...the pursuit of the wrong question will continue to turn the wheel of the church industry, but it will do little to expand the kingdom of God. The need of the North American church is not a methodological fix. It is much more profound. The church needs a mission fix.

Next post: What is the tough/right question?

I Know A Guy...

The events that have recently taken place in Florida, where a 32 year old man plowed his truck into a car that then ran into a school bus and exploded, killing all seven children - yes, I said children - inside (the driver of the car was 15 years old), have really put me into a funk. Then I find out the grandfather of these kids died from a heart attack upon hearing the news. I don't know if I even have words to describe the thoughts and feelings going on inside me, so instead, I will post something that I got from some website who got it from some blog, who got it from...well, you know how it goes.

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I Know A Guy . . .
I've been pondering dogmatism lately; dogmatism defined as arrogant assertion of opinions as truths by The Random House Dictionary.

I blogged recently about the church needing to get out of the judgment business, but I find myself failing to heed my own advice. I recently opined to my friend Dennis that Pat Robertson was only concerned about money, power, position, and prestige. He wisely responded that he wasn't sure about that. Not only did I feel convicted for "judging the judger" (I constantly battle this), but it caused me to reflect on how healthy it might be to be "unsure."

Yes, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that the only way to have a relationship with Father God is through faith in His son. I believe God loves me. I believe that when I die I will go to heaven. I believe scripture is God's holy truth.

But . . .

I know a guy . . . let's call him Tom. Tom is a lower income beautician raising a son by an earlier marriage (his first wife turned lesbian) and a son adopted by himself and his current wife. I'm not sure whether Tom is a Christ follower or not. He doesn't seem to "follow," but he claims to "believe." Tom is addicted to pornography. Tom was accused, but acquitted of child molestation. Tom used to cut my hair.

In two days, Tom will travel to a hospital and have his penis cut off in the hopes of keeping his particularly aggressive form of cancer from spreading. The doctor will leave just a little skin on the off chance a day comes when Tom is able to raise the money to have reconstructive surgery and the hopes of a little normality. Tom has no insurance. Tom will now have to pee sitting down. Obviously, there are other activities Tom will no longer be able to perform. Tom is 38 years old. I like Tom. Please pray for him.

Is God judging Tom? Is this an example of sowing and reaping? Is it just life and would have happened no matter what? Is this God's love displayed in a way that is far beyond my understanding? If he is a believer, will this work out for his good? If he is not, will this propel him towards a relationship with God?
I don't know. I'm not sure.

I know a guy . . . let's call him Fred. Fred has a college degree and a successful career and works in an office right next to mine. Fred is the proud father of three kids, all in college. Actually, now only two are in college. His youngest daughter recently came down with an undiagnosed disease that has caused deterioration of her mental capacities and brought her to the brink of death three separate times so far. Sometimes she seems to be recovering, other times regressing. She has been taken to several doctors, including a few at the Mayo clinic. She is currently at home. She is nineteen years old and she wears diapers. Fred doesn't know how to help her.

Fred worries about his daughter. Fred worries about his job. His daughter's medical bills have contributed to the company's rising health care costs and that's not good. His latest performance review was poor and he's afraid he's being set up to be fired. Fred can't afford to lose his job as he just bought a new home, has kids in college, and supports his mother-in-law. Fred sometimes goes to church. Fred sometimes cries in the privacy of my office. Most times I don't know what to say. Please pray for Fred.

I know God loves Fred. I know God loves his daughter. But could this happen to me? Would I keep my faith? What would I do?

I mentioned earlier that being unsure could be healthy. When I'm unsure I have to lean more heavily on God. When I'm unsure I have to hold tightly to my faith to get through. Yes, I prefer wrapping myself in the security of being right, yet I'm realizing that that security is really the dirty rags of my own self-righteousness. I've noticed that when I'm unsure I'm neither critical nor judgmental.
Maybe being unsure isn't so bad sometimes.

I know a guy . . . his name is Jesus.
"That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day." 2 Timothy 1:12 (NIV)

The Disciple's Journal Character Trait #3: Courage

Courage:

- the state of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger or fear with confidence and resolution.


Courage is one of those qualities that shines bright - whether it be in the spotlight (we always read and hear about courageous acts by people; my grandmother yearly subscribes me to Reader's Digest, and every month there are stories about acts of courage) or in secret.

One of the greatest examples of courage died this past month. Rosa Parks' act of defiance - refusing to give her seat up to someone else simply because she was black and they were white - helped blast a hole in the segregation laws of the South. What an inspiration. I wonder how many of those powerful moments simply happened because a regular person found within them a little courage to do what is right.

Another example I just recently read about over at the Real Live Preacher Blog is a man by the name of Foy Valentine. He says this about Foy:

- "He was a Christian ethicist who worked for the Southern Baptist Convention years ago. Foy's job was to speak the truth to those in power. And that he did. He received a lot of hate mail over the years from Baptists whose world was not large enough to hold truth. And he was labeled many things: A liberal, a radical, a nigger lover, a troublemaker.

But in my research I found the voice of one crying in the wilderness of the sins of my own people. It was a notation in the official record of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting of 1968. The record indicates that a man named Foy Valentine stood up on the convention floor and pleaded for his brothers and sisters in Christ to confess the sin of our racism and embrace people of all colors. He was the same age then that I am now. He was in his 40s and employed by those very Baptists to whom he spoke on that day. He had a wife and children and a lot to lose.

Apparently, truth meant more to Foy than comfort and security.

His remarks were not well received, to say the least. It would be another twenty years before the Southern Baptist Convention would confess that particular sin."

I think of the times where I displayed courage, and the times I did not. One time where I failed still haunts me to this day. In fourth grade, there was a mentally challenged girl in my class named Mandy. She was deathly afraid of boys, and anytime she was approached by a boy, she would just start screaming. In fourth grade, at least back then, most of the boys still hung out together regardless of how cool or nerdy you were; it wasn't until fifth grade that the classification started taking place. But everyone still wanted to fit in. I was one of those who wanted to fit in, especially because I was the most popular boy in my class - I was voted "class leader" and was chosen to make a speech on George Washington in front of the whole school and everything (in my case, until tenth grade, this was the last grade for me to be known as popular or cool - in fifth grade, I was classified as a nerd and a loser. But that story is for another time). Well, we were out on the playground, and someone saw Mandy and thought it would be funny if we all went up to her and told her that one of us wanted to "go out" with her. I didn't like the idea, because I knew she would freak out. But I went along anyway, and she screamed bloody murder, and we all laughed, and I'm still ashamed of it today. In the great scheme of things, it wasn't a big deal - but if I'm still ashamed of it, doesn't it make it a big deal? I wish I had the courage to stand up for Mandy.

I saw Mandy a few years ago when I was a youth minister at my home church. She loaded my groceries into the bags. I wanted to say something to her, but I was sure that she didn't remember the incident, so why bring it back up? And if she did remember it, she wouldn't recognize me anyway, at least I don't think she would. I said thanks to her, picked up my bags and left.

When I think of a biblical example of courage, immediately Paul comes to my mind. Just the definition of courage applies to who Paul was: he had the state of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger or fear with confidence and resolution. One of my favorite stories in the Bible is about Paul and how he was at Lystra with Barnabas. The crowd was confused and thought that Barnabas and Paul were the Greek gods Zeus and Hermes. Paul tried to clear up the confusion, but it wasn't working. To make matters worse, some Jews came over from another city and won the crowd over, so Paul was stoned. Not in the marijuana way, but in the "we're going to throw a bunch of pointy rocks at you and then when you fall down, we will take a large rock and break your back with it and continue throwing stones at you until your dead" kind of way. They drag him out the city and leave him for dead.

All that is interesting, but the most interesting part is what happened next: "But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe."

Did you catch that? If I was Paul, I think I would have taken a couple of days off. "Hey Barnabas, let's find a Club Med around here and let me heal up for a week or so. A little R&R would do us some good, and we'll be ready for the next city." Paul went the next day to another city, where he could possibly face the same thing as he faced in Lystra. That is courage. May God grant us all just a little bit of the courage that Paul had!

Here are some questions from The Disciple's Journal to think about:

- Does my courage depend only on my past success?

- Do I often have to stand alone for what I believe?

- Do I look for opportunities to show courage?

- Do I choose to be "one of the gang" when I should stand alone?

- Do others look to me for strength when danger threatens?

- Am I confident that fears I now have will eventually be dealt with, or do I expect them to plague me the rest of my life?

- Do I believe God has specific answers for the struggles I face?

Well, I guess it's official...

Emergent/Postmodern 93% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 71% Neo orthodox 68% Charismatic/Pentecostal 54% Fundamentalist 43% Classical Liberal 25% Reformed Evangelical 25% Roman Catholic 25% Modern Liberal 21% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.

The Present Future by Reggie McNeal - Introduction

I am in the process of reading two books right now - well, actually three - but two of the three books pretty much deal with the same issue: that the church of today is, as the saying goes, barking up the wrong tree. The two books are The Shaping Of Things To Come by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, and The Present Future by Reggie McNeal. Both books are, in my opinion, revolutionary. I was telling Rochelle one Sunday about these books and how I almost hold them as I would hold a rattlesnake - ready to throw away from me at any moment because of the danger involved. The danger in these books is that if you actually take to heart the deconstruction of the church these authors offer in these books, you cannot stay the same. You cannot think of church the same, and you cannot think of the role of leadership in the church the same.

I chose to "deconstruct" McNeal's book first, because although I started reading the other one first, I really got into The Present Future because it was straight, to the point, and hit me like a brick. So, without further adieu, let's talk about the introduction.

I am always intrigued when authors admit that they really didn't want to write the content of their book. To me, it's much more disarming than to have someone write "I have all the answers and I know what I'm talking about." From the first couple of paragraphs, you find out that McNeal really didn't want to write this book. He was scared to, because he knew the consequences it could have, the impact, and yet also the pushback from comfortable Christianity.

After the first two paragraphs, the third paragraph starts out in a rather chilling way:

- "I'm talking about the church world in North America. A world that has largely forsaken its missional covenant with God to be a part of kingdom expansion. It has, instead, substituted its own charter of church as a clubhouse where religious people hang out with other people who think, dress, behave, vote and believe like them."

Ouch.

Later on, he talks about the different assumptions about the church and mission that he challenges in the book:

- If you build the perfect church (the way we think about church), they will come.

- Growing your church will automatically make a difference in the community.

- Developing better church members will result in greater evangelism.

- The church needs more workers (for church work).

- Church involvement results in discipleship.

- Better planning will get you where you want to go (in terms of missional effectiveness.)

He writes a little later on that "many church leaders are preoccupied with the wrong questions." After reading this book, I agree wholeheartedly. Well, next post will be on Chapter 1 - the first tough question.

Village Idiots Aren't Supposed To Be Working At The Village Library...

Martin Luther King = dark-skinned preacher who was the leader of the reformation of civil rights here in America in the 1960's.

Martin Luther = light-skinned priest who was the leader of the reformation of Christianity in the late 15th/early 16th centuries.


It's not that hard. Really.

To Be Alone With You

You gave your body to the lonely.
They took your clothes.
You gave up a wife and a family.
You gave your ghost.

To be alone with me.
To be alone with me.
To be alone with me,
you went up on a tree.

To be alone with me,
you went up on a tree.

I've never known a man who loved me


To Be Alone With You - Sufjan Stevens

Create Your Own Caption #5

The Disciple's Journal Character Trait #2: Patience

Patience:

to endure hardship without complaint; calmness, self-control and the willingness to tolerate delay.


As I look at my life, especially during this time of the year - the new year - when we evaluate what has happened this past year and what we look forward to in the next year - I'm encouraged by some of the baby steps I've taken in several areas of my life. I have seen some good progress in some of the things I want to accomplish and in who I want to be. What is discouraging, however, is when you see an area that at one point in your life was a strength deteriorate into something that is a weakness. For me, that character trait I've seen decline over the years is patience. I can honestly say that if you asked my family and close friends five years ago to give you a characteristic about me that is a good one, patience would have been at the top of the list. Back then, I was patient in both senses of the definition above: through the hardships I've had in my life, I've taken them in stride for the most part (although I have done some complaining over the years). And I've exhibited calmness, self-control and the willingness to tolerate delay. The only area back then where I struggled patience-wise was in the car. I have never been a very patient driver.

But now, I look at who I am, and I have become very impatient in my life. It has extended beyond drive time and it has permeated most of my life. I have become more defensive, and I think part of it has to do with impatience with situations and people.

When I think of the word patience, the Bible character who immediately comes to mind is Joseph. Here was a guy who was mistreated by his brothers and sold into slavery, and then later on put into prison for something he did not do. If I was in Joseph's situation, I would have immediately become defensive and tried to prove to people that I was in the right. But Joseph endured through it all and patiently waited in prison until God intervened. What a great example of patience!

To me, patience and perspective go hand in hand. If you have the right perspective on life, and in situations, you can be patient because you know that "in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose." This doesn't mean that everything will turn out right in our lives, and that life will be smooth sailing. What it does mean is that we need to be patient and see how God is working through our situations to produce good. For example - when I was in my early twenties, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor (benign) and had to have a couple of surgeries to get rid of it. For the longest time, I questioned God as to why I had to go through all of that. A few years later, one of my youth coaches invited me to come to the school library where she worked and read to an elementary school class. I was excited about it, because not only was it at the same school where I started elementary, but it was even for the same teacher that I had in third grade, who was retiring that year. I chose to read The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (shortened version with pictures). After I had read to them, everyone got a chance to go into the computer lab and write a summary of what I read. I noticed that one of the kids kind of was by himself, not talking to anyone. I asked my youth coach why, and she told me that he never talked to anyone. You see, he had a brain tumor and felt like no one understood what he was going through. At that moment, it was almost like God came down and spoke to me. I realized that this was a reason why I went through what I went through. I went up and started talking to the boy, and told him that I could relate. I told him about my brain tumor and how I had to go to the hospital all the time too. We talked for two hours that day. I never got a chance to go back (I moved to Texas that same year), but for a couple of years after that, I would receive a note in the mail from my youth coach with some pictures that the little boy drew.

Perspective is key to patience. Perspective reminds us that when we are driving, and there is a slow person in front of us, it really isn't that big of a deal in the scheme of things. Perspective reminds us that when we go through trials here on earth, that this earth and this life isn't the only thing we look forward to. Perspective reminds us that when we are punished for simply doing what is right, that our heavenly Father sees what we do, and that makes it okay. Not fun, but okay.

The verse I chose to memorize this week is Romans 12:12: Be joyful in love, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Please pray for me as I try to develop patience in my life again and try to gain the proper perspective in each situation.

Some Self-Evaluation Questions about Patience:

- Am I able to accept unfavorable circumstances calmly?

- Do I complain when plans do not go my way?

- Is my life being lived out at a pace I can relax with, or do I always seem to be in a hurry and just a little behind?

- Can I handle red lights, long lines, short delays, or do I quickly get angry or irritated?

- Do I wait until I have enough money to buy something or am I constantly borrowing?

- Am I more concerned about God's will to be done than my own desire to be fulfilled?

- Am I willing to go through trying times in order to develop patience?

- Do I recognize obstacles as opportunities for God to build His character into me?

You're Guaranteed A Good Laugh On This One

I definitely needed a good laugh this morning when I woke up at 6 a.m. to try and get everything done for this weekend and beyond.

My friend John posted a link to what could be called The Greatest Blonde Joke ever. Enjoy!

Pet Peeve #1

Brangelina.

Bennifer.

K-Fed.

Will the media please just use the actual real names of celebrities and stop either combining names or shortening them? You're beginning to sound like a thirteen year old posting on a message board: "hey u im a noob this site roxor!?!"

Liar, Liar, Oprah's Book Club Is On Fire

Well, it looks like we may have found another liar.

There is a book that has been very popular, especially ever since Oprah featured it on one of her shows. It's a book called "A Million Little Pieces" written by James Frey. It's a memoir of the years that Frey spent as a drug-addicted "Criminal" (he always capitalizes the C in criminal in his book, reportedly) and has drawn rave reviews. I have not read the book, but my sister-in-law just finished it and she couldn't stop raving about how great it was and how moving and everything.

The Smoking Gun, a very interesting website, has been researching Frey's life for the past several months and has found several inconsistencies and downright lies about it. A lot of things just don't match up in the book. Frey has refused to talk to them any longer, and has hired a lawyer to protect himself and to threaten legal action against The Smoking Gun, which hasn't deterred them at all. (You can read the full article here.)

It reminds me of someone in the Christian world who was caught in a lie after selling boatloads of his memoir. You may remember him, his name is Mike Warnke. The name of the book was The Satan Seller, and I remember growing up in my home church and talking about the book and satanism in my high school Sunday School class. Cornerstone magazine did an expose on Warnke's life and found out that he basically made up everything about being in a satanic cult, being a drug-abuser, and other strange stories in his life.

I can't imagine what it would be like to make a ton of money off of a memoir of made-up events and situations that never took place, and then try to backpedal your way out of the lies and deceit. I haven't heard about Warnke, who was a very successful Christian comedian, for years - what will happen to James Frey?

These stories remind me of two passages in the Bible. The first one is Proverbs 10:9, which says "A man of integrity walks securely; but he who takes crooked paths will be found out." True. I can think of times in my life when I took a crooked path - whether it had to do with lying or some other type of situation - and I remember how worried I was that someone was going to figure it out and "call me on the carpet". Life is much easier and less stressful when you are attempting to live a life of integrity.

The other passage is also found in Proverbs, chapter 6 to be exact. In Proverbs 6, there is a list of seven things that the Lord hates. I've always found it interesting that two of the seven things have to do with lying. All the other ones are different, yet lying makes its mark twice. Now I don't know if it means that God hates lying twice as much as the other things, but I think it's a good warning to consider. In the words of SNL, double true.

A Reminder

More than 840 million people in the world are malnourished — 799 million of them live in the developing world.

More than 153 million of the world's malnourished people are children under the age of 5.

Six million children under the age of 5 die every year as a result of hunger.

Malnutrition can severely affect a child's intellectual development. Malnourished children often have stunted growth and score significantly lower on math and language achievement tests than do well-nourished children.

Lack of dietary diversity and essential minerals and vitamins also contributes to increased child and adult mortality. Vitamin A deficiency impairs the immune system, increasing the annual death toll from measles and other diseases by an estimated 1.3 million-2.5 million children.

While every country in the world has the potential of growing enough food to feed itself, 54 nations currently do not produce enough food to feed their populations, nor can they afford to import the necessary commodities to make up the gap. Most of these countries are in sub-Saharan Africa.

Most of the widespread hunger in a world of plenty results from grinding, deeply rooted poverty. In any given year, however, between 5 and 10 percent of the total can be traced to specific events: droughts or floods, armed conflict, political, social and economic disruptions.

----

The photographer who took the above picture of a starving Sudanese girl struggling to make it to a food distribution center while a vulture waits for her to die won the Pulitzer Prize for this picture. He also committed suicide two months after he won the prize. I wonder if he took this picture without helping the little girl and felt guilty about not doing so - we don't know if he helped her or not, so it's just speculation.

I thought that a blog entry by someone I know summed up my thoughts exactly as I took a look at this picture for the first time:

I sometimes feel like that is what I do in my faith. I am the cameraman speaking to and documenting the injustice in this world and yet doing little to actually change anything myself. Hiding behind the camera, I so often sit and watch as the physically and spiritually weak and wounded struggle to find the feeding center and all I do is shake my head and cry while trying to remember the details of the story for a good sermon illustration later. If I speak with conviction, or simply loud enough, someone will hear the plea and act. I standby haplessly, hopelessly wanting someone, anyone to do something to change the circumstances. Crying out to God I ask, "Why, why can't things be different?" not recognizing that the answer lies with my own two hands. Oh, I preach about injustice, blog about the wrongs, and try to expose the truth that our world is desperately in need of something more, but too often allow that to be the end instead of the means by which the world is changed. Sadly, I don't think I'm alone.

It is so much easier to notice, and even hurt, for those who are physically and spiritually weak and injured. Our hearts and minds may be moved, but our hands and feet stay still. Why is it so easy to forget that "faith without works is dead?" Yes, love the Lord with all your heart, yes, love the Lord with all your mind, yes, love the Lord with all our soul, but the hardest yet may be loving the Lord with all your strength. Don't get me wrong. There needs to be people who speak, share, expose truth, and preach. Kevin did an amazing thing with this picture by sharing the plight of the Sudanese people with the world. There is not doubt in that. But if it that picture is the end of what happens then we have failed.

The Disciple's Journal Character Trait #1: Perseverance

As I posted right below this one, I am attempting to go through The Disciple's Journal this year, which features 52 different character traits/commands or promises of Jesus. So far, I have "persevered", but I know this will be difficult as the year goes by.

The first character trait is perseverance, which is a good one for me to start off with because I think perseverance is a trait that builds consistency in one's life - something I definitely need. I'm one of those kind of people who are good at dreaming dreams and visions and knowing what I need to do to improve my life and direction in life - but then I forget about those things or hardships come up and I drop those dreams and goals immediately. This one was also good for me to start off with, because it just happened that this past week I had a major project I had to finish with a firm deadline, and I needed to persevere through all of the challenges (waiting on other people to give me things I needed for the project, one of my family members being sick, still having to do all the normal weekly stuff, etc.). Thankfully with God's help, I was able to persevere and finish the project.

When I think of perseverance, two immediate images come to mind. The first is a picture I once saw. I tried to find it, but to no avail. It's a picture of a little tree that is growing on a mountainous rock that has nothing else on it. It doesn't look like there is any soil or nutrients for this tree to survive on, and there is no shelter from the elements either. Yet the tree continues to grow even though everything is against it. The other image that comes to mind is of the British sprinter Derek Redmond from the Olympics a few years ago. As the race started, Derek immediately tore a muscle in on of his legs and collapsed to the track. Obviously he wasn't going to win the race. But he wanted to finish the race, so he got up and started hobbling towards the finish line. His dad saw him start to do this, ran out onto the track, and helped his son cross the finish line.

In life's challenges, it's hard to continue on the journey that God has called us to walk. But when we look at some of the examples in the Bible of people who persevered through incredible hardships - Noah; Joseph; the list of the cloud of witnesses found in Hebrews 11 - we are spurred on and encouraged to not give up. To continue fighting.

I have committed to memorize a verse each week that has to do with whatever I'm studying, and this week, I chose 1 Corinthians 15:58: "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

This is a great verse for me personally, because when there are extreme challenges in my life, I can be reminded that what I'm doing for God is not in vain and that he is with me every step of the way. If I trust in him, he will see me through whatever I face.

Let me close this post with some of the great evaluation questions that are given in The Disciple's Journal every week (different ones based on the theme of each week):

- Do I finish books I begin reading?
- Can others depend on me to carry out an assignment to its completion?
- Have I established clear goals for my spiritual life?
- Am I able to set aside distractions in order to reach those goals?
- Do my goals affect my daily life in a perceptible way?
- Would people close to me consider me a persevering person?
- Do pressures challenge me to motivation or do I feel like quitting when things get difficult?
- Am I cooperating with the One who endured the cross to give me the spirit of endurance?

And my favorite one, and one I've really been thinking about: Do I have a goal in life I am willing to die for?

The Disciple's Journal

One of my personal goals for 2006 is to spend daily time with God in prayer, Bible study and journaling. You would think that as a minister, that this would be something that is just ingrained into my life, as well as into the lives of other ministers. You would probably be surprised then that it is not. I'm afraid that ministers get busy too and bow down to the altar of the tyranny of the urgent - there's always something to do, always a phone call/email to reply to, always a song/message to prepare.

Anyway, I've been trying to locate some items in the past that have been helpful to me in my daily walk. One such item is called The Disciple's Journal. I believe that I picked this up at the Christ in Youth Conference one year, when I was a youth minister in Colorado. I also believe that I have another 5 or 6 copies somewhere, so I'll try to dig them up if anyone wants one. It's a great discipleship journal, because each week you go through a character study or the commands/promises of Jesus. There's also a daily journal entry section (which I use as a place to put what I'm praying about, because I already have another journal I write in).

My goal is to also blog about each character study every week so that I can pass on what I have learned, as well as it will help me process the character study.

Sometime this week, I will post on the first character study - perseverance.

By the way, if you want to check out the company who puts out The Disciple's Journal, you can find them here.

I Received A Belated Christmas Present

today...to myself...okay, that sounds kind of dumb. Anyway, the Amazon fairy came to my house and dropped off four books, all of which I am excited to read. I am almost done with the book I've been reading, called No Perfect People Allowed. It's been a great read, I'll post my thoughts on it later on this week.

The four books I received are:

- The Externally Focused Church by Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson. Rick Rusaw is a senior minister at a church in Colorado that I'm very familiar with. John Chandler grew up in that church, back when it was called First Christian (now it's called LifeBridge Christian Church). Anyway, I've heard good things about this book, including from John.

- The Present Future: Six Tough Questions For The Church by Reggie McNeal. I've also heard good things about this book, but don't know much about it, except that I got a good deal on it because I ordered it with The Externally Focused Church.

-Everything Belongs: The Gift Of Contemplative Prayer by Richard Rohr. I think I will start with this one, because it goes along with one of my personal goals for 2006 - to pray more.

- The Shaping Of Things To Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch. Another book I don't know much about, but was highly recommended by several people.

So, lots of reading to do! I'll let you know my thoughts on them. For a good primer on Everything Belongs, go to the link above that has John Chandler in it. He has posted several quotes from the book.

Create Your Own Caption #4

One Last Shot At The War Against Christmas...

The following is a letter I found at this blog. I thought it was pretty good, and a good way to end all of this war against Christmas bloo-hooey.

Letter From Christ

Dear Believers,

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking my name out of the season. Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of your predecessors that decided to celebrate my birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate my birth just, GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Now that I have that off my chest let me go on:

If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting my birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity on your own front lawn. If all my followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be one every few feet all over town.

Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a "holiday tree" instead of a Christmas tree. That tree never actually symbolized me anyway. The tree was a part of an old pagan ritual people just started calling it by my name, then a few folks added an angel on top and a Nativity at the bottom to remind them of my birth.

If you want to give me a give me a present in remembrance of my birth here is my wish list—just choose something from it.

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way my birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing George complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up, it will be nice hearing from you.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of my birth. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5. Pick someone that's hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.

6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt take their own life this season because they are feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile—it could make the difference.

7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word.

8.If you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to me,then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in my presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.

Finally don't ever forget that I'm God. I can take care of myself. All you need to do is obey my commandments and let me take care of the rest.....

Random Top Ten: Top Ten Weezer Songs

Agree? Disagree? Don't care? Let me know.


10. Why Bother? - off of Pinkerton

9. We Are All On Drugs - off of Make Believe

8. My Name Is Jonas - off of the Blue Album

7. Keep Fishin' - off of Maladroit

6. Perfect Situation - off of Make Believe

5. Say It Ain't So - off of The Blue Album

4. Hash Pipe - off of The Green Album

3. Dope Nose - off of Maladroit

2. Surf Wax America - off of The Blue Album

1. El Scorcho - off of Pinkerton

Create Your Own Caption #3

Started A Great Book This Week...

called "No Perfect People Allowed: Creating a Come As You Are Culture In The Church" by John Burke. So far, it's a great, great book. Especially because it hits right where Southwest Church is striving to be: a church that reaches unchurched people. Here are a couple of quotes from the first couple of chapters that hit me right between the eyes:

- "As Christians in a post-Christian society, our job is to become cultural farmers. Church leaders, ministry leaders, and small group leaders must come to trust the God who is already at work all around us, making things grow. Our responsibility is not to make people grow or change. Our task is to create the right soil, a rich healthy environment, in which people can grow up in faith until the invisible God is made visible through His Body, the Church." (page 22)

- "During the first two years of Gateway's existence, I consistently was asked two questions by spiritual seekers more than any other questions: 'What do you think of other religions?' and 'How do you feel about gay people?' I've discovered the real question they are asking is: 'Are you one of those narrow-minded, bigoted, hate-filled, intolerant types of Christians I've heard about?' What they really want to know is whether we promote love or hatred." (page 39)

- "I find our generation incredibly open to spiritual truth and dialogue, but they have grown up in a world of competing beliefs. People just check out when they feel that Christians are arrogant and unwilling to consider the "truth" claims of others as well. But they are very open to hearing expressions of truth and stories illustrating why God's words are true. They long to experience something firm and solid that "feels" true. They don't resist truth; they resist arrogance. But there is a humble way to express truth..." (page 42)

- "Generally, emerging generations do not ask, 'What is true?' They are primarily asking, 'Do I want to be like you?' In other words, they see truth as relational. 'If I want to be like you, then I want to consider what you believe. If I don't see anything real or attractive in you or your friends as Christ-followers, I don't care how 'true' you think it is, I'm not interested.'" (page 42)

- "Broken people are wounded people. Like abused puppies, they often run from those attempting to help them. Leaders must create a safe climate, so the healing work of God can begin in their lives. It will take patience and time. People will come and go, walking toward the light of freedom, then plunging back into darkness. But they must see the church as a lighthouse; always there to lead them into the safe harbor of God's grace." (page 44)

- "Emerging generations, like never before, crave this sense of community inside a spiritual family. If they don't experience hope for authentic relational support, I don't care how hip the service, or how rippin' the music, or how vintage the bive...they won't stick. The challenge for leaders is first learn how to live in community with others, and then to provide ways to ensure that nobody stands alone." (page 46)

- "But how many people outside the family of faith never feel safe enough to even come close? How many people have the stereotype that Christians "love" them only if we sense we can get them to be like us or believe what we believe? Is that what it means to be like the Father, who loves even those who are his enemies and seeks to do good toward them? How do we engage and convince the world that the reason to believe is not to avoid hell but to know the love of a Father, a love that transcends all cultures and all hostilities?" (page 52)

This book is great so far. I can tell this is one I will be rereading immediately after I finish it.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm....

From an AP report a couple of hours ago about people picketing Wal-Mart because of the Happy Holidays "scandal":

Dick Otterstad of the Church of the Divide donned a Santa Claus costume and greeted shoppers with the message: Don't forget about the meaning of Christmas.

What? Does that make sense to you? It doesn't to me.

Create Your Own Caption #2

Create Your Own Caption #1

Scared Of Santa

This is my daughter's first year of really understanding Christmas, and it's been a lot of fun watching her excitement and joy as Christmas approaches. One of the things that a parent always wonders about when their child is old enough to "get it", is how their child will deal with Santa. Noelle was great. Everytime we went to the mall in December, she wanted to go see Santa. We would stand outside the picture-taking area, and she would stand there for a long time, watching what Santa was doing. One of the first times, Santa had to go to the bathroom, so he walked away from his chair and walked right up to Noelle. I didn't know how she would react to see him that closely, but he came up and shook her hand, and she's been fascinated with Santa ever since. Of course, there are those children who are deathly afraid of Santa, and when we had Noelle's picture taken with him (she did great), there were several kids in line who did not do so great.

So in celebration of these children, I offer this link, which contains many a picture of kids scared of Santa. Enjoy!

A Minister And A Rock Star Start Discussing Theology...

No, it's not the beginning of a joke.

I want to promote a great podcast in my blog - you can find it at www.theohacks.com. The podcast consists of two guys who discuss theology, spirituality, the church, and more. One of the guys is someone I've known for a very long time - his name is John Chandler (his blog can be found here). We grew up in Colorado, and although he lived about 45 minutes to an hour away from me, we saw each other quite a bit through junior high and high school because of a program we were in called Bible Bowl. We also went to Pacific Christian College at the same time. (EDIT: John reminded me that we were roommates our first year, but now that I think about it, it was two years.) He was a student minister at a large Christian church in Mesa Arizona for a long time, but has recently moved to Seattle with his wife and family to help plant a church there with another guy I know from PCC and Mesa named Dean. The other guy (that would be the rockstar) is named Zach Lind, and he is the drummer for the band Jimmy Eat World (my second favorite band, if you saw my "Favorite Music" list). You can find his blog here.

Anyway, they are just starting this podcast, and if you are interested in the emerging church movement and perhaps non-traditional ways of approaching church, spiritual life and more, check it out. Podcast #2 is up, and I'm listening to it right now.

Best Top 25 Post Ever

I used to be really into debating Calvinism vs. Arminianism (me being the latter). I would spend hours with my nose in theology books, trying to find the right argument for a debate I was having with a Calvinist. I actually thought I was doing a lot of good when I was into this.

It was sucking my soul dry. Thankfully, I left the debate and have never looked back with regret once.

But it's great when you find something funny concerning this debate. And here you can find a great top 25: Top 25 Signs That You're Becoming A Hyper-Calvinist.

I was surprised to find out that Derek Webb was no longer the poster boy for Calvinism. No wonder I like him better as a solo artist.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things (Music)

I've been thinking about this for some time - I want to post some of my favorite things. I think it could perhaps help you understand a little better who I am and what I'm about. I have a hard time ranking some things, so if there is no number beside each item, it's because they are equally my favorite. For this post, I will focus on music. Well, here goes:

My favorite music videos:

1. Johnny Cash - Hurt
2. Weezer - Buddy Holly
3. Coldplay - The Scientist
4. Michael Jackson - Thriller
5. The '85 Chicago Bears - Super Bowl Shuffle (the greatest comedy video ever made)
6. Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight
7. Fatboy Slim - Weapon of Choice
8. Beastie Boys - Sabotage
9. Danielson Famile - Rubbernecker
10. Metallica - One

My favorite concert DVD's:

1. U2 - Elevation Tour Live In Boston
2. Coldplay - Live 2003
3. Matt Redman - Facedown

My favorite bands:

1. U2
2. Jimmy Eat World
3. Coldplay
4. Weezer
5. Smashing Pumpkins

My favorite CDs of 2005:

1. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
2. The Decemberists - Picaresque
3. David Crowder* Band - A Collision
4. Coldplay - X&Y
5. Sigur Ros - Takk
6. Stars - Set Yourself On Fire
7. Eisley - Room Noises
8. Weezer - Make Believe
9. John Davis - self-titled
10. Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations


My favorite all-time CDs (these go to eleven):

1. U2 - The Joshua Tree
2. The Juliana Theory - Understand This Is A Dream
3. Jimmy Eat World - Clarity
4. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
5. Jars of Clay - self-titled
6. Five O'Clock People - The Nothing Venture
7. Weezer - The Blue Album
8. Coldplay - Live 2003
9. Cool Hand Luke - The Fires Of Life
10. Steve Camp - Doing My Best Volume 1
11. Chasing Furies - With Abandon

My Favorite Musical Artists To Make Fun Of:

Radiohead
pretty much all hip-hop
every country music artist from 1990 on
Nirvana
The Beatles
Glam metal artists trying to make a comeback

Favorite Guilty Pleasure Artists:

Simon and Garfunkel
Neil Diamond
Kelly Clarkson
System Of A Down
Stryper
The Carpenters
MxPx
Lisa Loeb
Fiona Apple
Bjork

The Responsibility Of A Minister

There are basically three types of readers: the first group are those who read books when they were in school because they had to, but now that they are out of school they haven't read a book in years. The second group consists of those who "dabble" in reading. They may read a newspaper everyday, they may pick up the latest Grisham or Clancey novel, but they never really get into reading. Reading is something that may or may not happen each day. Then there is the third group, of which I am a part of. This group devours books like they are eating their last meal. They savor every letter, every word, every page. This group may have fast readers or slow readers, but for them, reading isn't a chore. It's an adventure. It's an opportunity to learn just a little more about a subject that excites them, an opportunity to once again delve into a different world (as I am doing right now, reading the entire Chronicles of Narnia again. I just started The Silver Chair.). It's an opportunity to learn about a new subject, something unfamiliar but becomes more familiar with every page turned.

There are times when I read a book, and it just doesn't hit me. When a book hits me, I will find myself stopping, closing the book for a couple of minutes, and chewing on what I just read. But sometimes, I'm just not in the right frame of mind, or the subject matter doesn't seem applicable at the time - and when I'm done reading I may appreciate the book but it won't "stick" with me. However, days...months...even years later, I pick up that book again, read it and find that this time it hits me.

I'm reading a book called The Contemplative Pastor by Eugene Peterson. I purchased three books in a series by him, all about being in the ministry. One is called Five Smooth Stones, the other has something to do with angles. (My office is too dark and I'm too tired at this point to look at my bookshelves and try to find the book.) I remember reading this book in 2004, but it wasn't the right time, I guess. Nothing stuck. But this time, as I started reading it again last night, (honestly, I have probably passed over it a hundred times in favor of a different book, but last night it seemed appealing to me again) every page seemed to drip with incredible truths that I needed to think about at this time in my life and ministry. Even the preface of the book, which is more of an interview with the author (I don't know if I've ever seen a preface like this) spoke to me in many ways. And that's what this post is about. Something that Peterson said resonated within me in a huge way:

Interviewer: As a pastor then, you see grace in some unlikely situations.

Peterson: Yes, and my job is not to solve people's problems or make them happy, but to help them see the grace operating in their lives. It's hard to do, because our whole culture is going the other direction, saying that if you're smart enough and get the right kind of help, you can solve all your problems. The truth is, there aren't very many happy people in the Bible. But there are people who are experiencing joy, peace, and the meaning of Christ's suffering in their lives. The work of spirituality is to recognize where we are - the particular circumstances of our lives - to recognize grace...sometimes I think all I do as pastor is speak the word "God" in a situation in which it hasn't been said before, where people haven't recognized his presence. Joy is the capacity to hear the name and to recognize that God is here. Ther's a kind of exhilaration because God is doing something and, even in a little way, it's enough at the moment.

I think one of the reasons why this hit me is because it sounds very similar to what Henri Nouwen's mantra was when it came to the role of a minister. He wrote this in one of his classic books, called "In The Name Of Jesus":

- I am deeply convinced that the Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her vulnerable self. That is the way Jesus came to reveal God's love. The great message that we have to carry, as ministers of God's word and followers of Jesus, is that God loves us not because of what we do or accomplish, but because God has created and redeemed us in love and has chosen us to proclaim that love as the true source of all human life.

I think people are looking to those who are called by God to ministry to, as Philip Yancey says, dispense grace. To demonstrate through example how to recognize and thank God for the grace moments that are present at all times in all of our lives. No matter what we are going through, no matter what we've been through, grace is present. Grace is a reality. And recognizing grace in our lives is hard work sometimes. Thank you, Eugene Peterson for reminding me what I'm supposed to be about.

The War On Christmas

This article came out Wednesday. Because the President didn't put Merry Christmas on the card he and his family sent out, people are up in arms. "They're taking Christ out of Christmas, and now even the president is involved" is what some Christians are saying.


Although I have mixed feelings on the fact that more and more retail centers are shying away from a Merry Christmas theme and adopting more of a Happy Holidays theme, I do think this is a perfect way for Christians to get distracted from what we should really be doing during the Christmas season: worshiping God, thanking Him for Jesus, and being a light to the world. It seems like we are always defending ourselves against something, rather than showing the world what we are for. There are several responses one could take as a Christian this year:

1. BOYCOTT ALL RETAIL STORES THAT REQUIRE EMPLOYEES TO SAY "HAPPY HOLIDAYS" INSTEAD OF "MERRY CHRISTMAS" AND WHO DO NOT INCLUDE THE WORD CHRISTMAS IN THEIR MARKETING CAMPAIGNS OR CIRCULARS.

- Boycotts don't work. And they are dumb.

2. WHEN SOMEONE SAYS "HAPPY HOLIDAYS" TO YOU, FIRE BACK WITH A QUICK "MERRY CHRISTMAS".

- This is fine, as long as it's done with a good attitude, and not mean-spirited.

3. DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.

- My plan of action. If I truly thought that themes and slogans save people's souls, you would see them on bumper stickers all over my car. The only sticker I have on my car is to remind Red Wings fans of who the best NHL team is: the Colorado Avalanche, of course.

I don't think it's an ACLU/Liberal/Communist conspiracy to take Christ out of Christmas. I just think it might have to do with political correctness: there are other religious holidays being observed at the same time. It doesn't bother me - I don't like Christmas and consumerism/commercialism lumped together anyway.

The Worst Christmas Songs Ever

Through perusing other weblogs, I came across this list of the worst Christmas songs ever - in his opinion, of course. I of course agree and disagree with the author. Here's the list, along with my agree/disagree comments.

(Dis)Honorable Mentions:

- Santa Baby by Everclear: the contention being that no man should ever sing a song called "Santa Baby". I agree. It's kind of creepy.

- A Wonderful Christmas Time by Paul McCartney: his contention is that he heard it too much while he worked retail. I think the song is kind of catchy. But I would go with the Earthsuit version of this song over McCartney's version - which you can find on Happy Christmas, Vol. 3.

- Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, any version: I personally like this song, but I do agree with his point that if we're supposed to have a merry Christmas, why does it have to sound so depressing? I personally like Joy Williams' version off of the new WOW Christmas, or even Amy Grant's version is nice too.

- The Christmas Song by anyone not named Nat King Cole: I had to listen to this song to see which "Christmas song" is actually being talked about. Oh yes, "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire." I like John Jonethis' lounge version of this song off of The Ultimate Lounge Christmas with John Jonethis. Or better yet, give me Andy Williams.

Okay, now for the top (bottom) five:

5. Carol of the Bells by Tran-Siberian Orchestra: I disagree on this one. Since I used to listen to heavy metal back in my high school/early college days, I can appreciate the mixing of heavy metal with classical music. Although I'm not a big fan of everything TSO does, this song is their most well-known one, and for good reason. It's good.

4. Here Comes Santa Claus, with verses 3 and 4: I have never heard a version of this song with those verses included, but when I read the verses, I couldn't believe what I was reading!

Santa knows we’re all God’s children
That makes everything right
So let’s give thanks to the Lord above
‘Cause Santa Claus comes tonight

I wholeheartedly agree with what the blogger says: "That’s right kids! Give thanks to the Lord, not because the Messiah’s born or because our eternal salvation has been enabled, but because a fat guy’s going to bring you wooden toys! Lovely message for the little ones."

3. Winter Wonderland by Annie Lennox: Never heard it. But since I avoid Annie Lennox's voice like the plague, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't like it either. When I'm in a store and her song "Broken Glass" starts playing, I look for the closest sharp instruments I can find and shove them into my ears. I like John Jonethis' version of Winter Wonderland, but I would also recommend Stryper's version as well. (Yes, it's cheesy, but it reminds me of high school.)

2. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town by Bruce Springsteen: Agree, agree, agree. I heard this the other day, my first time this year, and I just hate it. Of course, I'm not a big fan of changing the melody of a Christmas song anyway (see Third Day's horrid version of O Come Emmanuel), but this is horrid. I especially hate how he tries to interact with the crowd and no one seems to care. That should have been the first clue, Bruce. Don't play the song, please.

And number one (drum roll please):

1. The Christmas Shoes by Newsong: There was a family in my home church who was related to one of the Newsong vocalists, the old guy. After hearing this song, I felt really, really sorry for this family, because I'm sure that every Christmas their famous Christian artist probably sang this song to them and made them lose their Christmas dinner. This song is so filled with syrupy gooshy ickiness, it deserves an award. I give it the "Butterfly Kisses" award for too much forced sentimentality in a song.

As for others I would add to this list, I would say I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus ranks right up there. I used to not like Kay Thompson's Jingle Bells, but it's grown on me. The only way I can stomach The Twelve Days of Christmas is to hear the Muppets' version. Now that was genius. EDIT: after just hearing Andy Williams' version of 12 Days of Christmas, except redone as A Song And A Christmas Tree - I have to add it to my list. Ugghh.

Have a Holly Jolly Fair Trade Christmas

I've been thinking a lot recently about Christmas and what I and my family are going to spend this year. Money is tighter this year than usual - in the past, my wife has worked a part-time job along with my full-time ministry. In moving to Ohio, we have made the determination to have her stay home and take care of our daughter; which has been great from a family standpoint, but from a financial standpoint, it's been interesting to say the least.

Christmas spending is projected to be at an all-time high this year, which is surprising to me because of all the things that have happened this year: the oil prices have shot through the roof (I've surprised myself recently for being happy that the gas prices have hit the low $2.00 range again), the hurricanes and natural disasters in our world have prompted people to give some of their savings to disaster relief, and many people spent money on big vacations this summer as the travel fear after 9/11/01 has generally dissipated.

I have read a couple of very good articles from Time Magazine this year concerning the operations of some of the retail centers that my family likes to frequent for the good deals we get, and it has caused me to rethink my shopping values and strategies, and so this Christmas I'm considering doing something a little different: I'm going to try and buy my Christmas presents from companies that participate in Fair Trade. You may have seen this term in the news recently; if you're a Coldplay fan, you've at least seen Chris Martin's mantra "Make Trade Fair" written on his arm or on his piano. He even says it at the end of each concert.

It just makes sense to me. If I made items to be sold in the market, I would hope that I would have a voice as to how much and to whom these items can be sold. Unfortunately, around the world, business does not work this way. One woman says it this way:

- “Not only does it [fair trade] give [the artisans] opportunities for their families to be lifted out of dire poverty, but it also gives them the dignity of having a safe working environment and also an environment that is democratic. While most imported goods come from manipulative factories, fair trade cooperatives are owned by the artisans and allow every person a voice in decision making. This is especially significant for women in cultures where females typically are not included in decision-making processes. Fair trade groups also offer reasonable wages and support systems for the oppressed."

It's going to be hard, I think, to find everything made by a Fair Trade company. (Do any Fair Trade companies make Dora the Explorer toys?) But I'm going to give it my best shot and see if it's possible.

Let It Snow...

Yes, I know I'm not jaded about Ohio weather yet. Yes, I know that in February my view on Ohio winters will probably change. But for now, I love it!

Closed For Christmas

There has been quite a brouhaha about the fact that several churches are closing their doors for Christmas this year. This is the first year in eleven that Christmas is on a Sunday morning, (in 1994, I was in my first year with my home church in Colorado, and I don't remember Christmas being on a Sunday at all) and several notable megachurches are not going to hold services on that day. This news has made several papers, and there has been some backlash. The reasons for these megachurches closing down on Christmas are pretty easy to understand: in a megachurch, you enlist the help of thousands of volunteers to pull off a Sunday morning, and because Christmas is a time where most families like to stay together, there would be a shortage of volunteers and these megachurches would not be able to pull off what they normally do. Most of these churches have added other services (Christmas eve and even December 23rd) to their schedule, so they aren't really taking anything away service-wise.

Thankfully, this problem won't resurface for several more years (2011 to be exact). Yet I am thankful that Southwest Church is having one service on Christmas Day. Although we will most certainly be down in numbers, I think it will be a great service for all involved as we celebrate the birth of Jesus and worship Him this Christmas Day.

Here is a great article from The Internet Monk about the craziness of Christmas this year.

Spiritual Disciplines Your Momma Never Taught You, Part Two

Okay, back to Gary Thomas' book Authentic Faith. It's been awhile, so let me refresh your memory regarding my post on the first spiritual discipline - which Thomas called "selflessness". In that chapter, Thomas gives four examples of selfless living throughout history. The first was Paul the apostle, the second Augustine, the third C.S. Lewis, and the fourth Orel Hershiser. I would say that living a selfless life could possibly be the hardest thing a person could ever do. I mean, our world revolves around living for ourselves - the advertisements, the marketing, even the way church is structured.

The second discipline could be just as hard.

I've been thinking a lot about 1 Corinthians 13, where Paul talks about how when he was a child, he thought like a child and acted like a child - but when he became a man, he put childish ways behind him. I've been thinking about that verse, and then also thinking about the ways that we as adults still act like we're children. The first way I thought of was the fact that when we are kids we aren't very good at sharing. We try to horde all of our toys and protect them from any other child who comes to our house - and we also try to take other kids toys and make them our own too. As adults, a lot of us never grew out of that stage. We continue to want more and more "toys", and we certainly don't want to share our stuff with anyone else. Another way we continue to act like children is the "Lifeboat" game that some of us had to endure in class with teachers who I guess aspired to be Adolf Hitler or something. In this game, we supposedly learned values clarification (to repeat the phrase from Steve Taylor's excellent song "Lifeboat") and we decided if certain people were on a lifeboat and one had to be thrown overboard, who would be the one that would be thrown over. I guess the final decision was usually made on who had the littlest value to society. I think usually it was the person who had the lowest IQ (represented usually as mentally challenged) that ended up being thrown overboard. Stupid game, yes, but yet some of us adults still live our lives that way. We don't value other people equally - we base their value on what they can offer us, usually.

The main way that we adults still act like children, however, is this in a nutshell (if a nutshell means two words): instant gratification. When we were kids, we always wanted everything now. Unfortunately, this is one childlike trait that most of us don't grow out of. My grandmother and I were talking about my parents divorcing when I was little, and I asked her what she thought was the main reason for them getting the divorce (since I was around four at the time, I don't remember anything about it). She thought about it for a moment and then said, "I think it's the fact that your mom and dad wanted to have everything right away - a house, new cars, new furniture, etc. And then they had money problems because they bit off more than they could chew." In other words, it all stemmed back to the fact that they wanted everything now. Instant gratification.

It's a serious problem in today's society. Why is the credit card debt so outrageous in our country these days? Because people want what they want now, and rather than saving up to get what they want (taking time to do so), they figure that they'll just put it on a credit card and pay it off soon enough. A lot of time that doesn't happen, unfortunately.

Gary Thomas' second discipline in his book "Authentic Faith" offers a solution to this sickness of instant gratification. It's a rather simple answer, but I think it takes a lifetime to truly understand and hold onto: the discipline of waiting. Waiting is hard. For some, waiting is impossible. Yet waiting is exactly what we need to do sometimes - no, most of the time. When we look at the different characters in the Bible, we see that they were ordinary people who were used by God because they were available to God, but at the same time God had developed character in their life over several years. Moses was eighty before he tackled the huge responsibility of taking on Pharoah and the nation of Egypt. Joseph was in slavery and in prison for several years for things he did not do and was not worthy of suffering punishment for, but Joseph came out of prison ready to lead a nation to stock up supplies for a seven year famine. Jesus didn't start his ministry until he was around thirty years old. As these characters waited, God developed them in time to be teachable and useable.

He brings up two areas that God calls us to wait in: spiritual growth and prayer. I can attest to struggling with waiting in my own spiritual growth. There are areas in my life that frustrate me because I continue to struggle in them, attitudes that I have developed over several years. Thomas makes a great point: "If we have spent ten, twenty, or even thirty years pounding a sinful habit into our lifestyle, we shouldn't be surprised if the residual elements take a long time to be rooted out." I need to be patient with myself and allow God to slowly work in those areas of my life that need to change, celebrating the small steps of growth over the years until He is finished with me - which in our case, is never. Prayer is another area where I struggle in waiting. I'm one of those people who get frustrated if my prayer for something isn't answered. Plus I'm a rather forgetful person, so there are times when I forget to continue to pray for a person or a situation, and then when I am reminded of the situation, I can't believe that the prayer hasn't been answered. I am reminded of when the iron curtain fell in Europe, and communism and oppression in many countries were defeated. Some of the Christians in these countries had been praying for fifty years that God would work in their lives to bring about change in their country; fifty years later, their prayers were answered. Can you imagine the feelings these people had when they stood on the Berlin Wall, or saw their dictator fall from power?

Instant gratification is hard to overcome, no doubt. But God is asking me to be patient with myself and with others around me and to allow Him to change what needs to be changed over time.