these are my church clothes

2010-08-02T16:52:00.002+01:00

The battle in the modern day church’s music department isn’t about music. Music is only the symptom of THE problem. The problem lies in the hearts of the people who refuse to be moved: moved by the call to mission. Moved by the call to community. Or simply moved by the Holy Spirit to worship the creator no matter what medium of “worship” is being used; whether music or simply spoken word; shouts of hallelujah, words of thanksgiving, heartfelt words of praise. These are at the heart of worship, lest we forget. Music is only a medium but in many churches, it has become the point. The very thing in which we worship and the only medium by which we are moved. Could it be that in many churches across the world, the musicians need to be asked to have a seat and a true worship leader needs to emerge who can lead a congregation in holy worship that isn’t music centric? To stop trying to patch the symptom and get down to truly performing emergency surgery on THE cancer that is killing so many churches?

Incidentally, when I speak of a refusal to be moved by the call to mission, I speak of those who refuse to allow the style of music to progress, but when I speak of the refusal to be moved by the call to community, I speak of those who insist that the music progress lest they exit the community.

the challenge of recession

2008-12-26T10:34:00.002Z

"The tottering economy gives faith groups new pastoral challenges, greater charity obligations and emptier offering plates. How they respond may define them for decades."
TIME Magazine, December 22, 2008

hollywood hair

2008-12-09T16:33:00.000Z

Today I went for a haircut. My normal barber is on holiday (and as he’s Greek, I’m betting he’s in Greece, which is not a good thing at the minute) so I had to find someplace else to go.

I landed in a Paul Mitchell’s which actually went by the name of Hollywood Hair. I had visions of running into Bret Michaels (as opposed to Brett DeMichaels….totally different guy) but had no such luck. Mind you, I’m not a Bret Michaels fan, still, it would have made for a very interesting haircut had he made it and I might have been able to get in a couple of digs on him for writing “Every Rose”. However, Bret Michaels was not needed because Hollywood Hair was tacky enough on its own.

I suppose they were going for “classy”. They offered me something to drink when I came in (one of those pretentious little drinks that Jamie and Becca….and pretty much all of my Americans friends love to mention on their facebook updates) and took my coat. Then, because there weren’t enough stereotypes in the place, they sent over an Italian man named Antonio to cut my hair. Antonio looked a lot like Russell Brand, if you’re familiar. He had long black hair, tight black jeans, lots of weird bracelets, an earring or two, and some groovy facial hair. He was on his game.

He came over, got a little too intimate with my head, and then asked, “How you like your hair?”, going on to make a few suggestions. I informed him that I was just looking for a simple haircut; number two on the sides and back, and even it out on the top. “You like it cut up to here?”, he said, motioning with his finger to describe how far up the side of my head he might use that number two. “Do whatever you do”, I said, “I’m not real picky”. And so the haircut began.

During the course of the haircut, I got the same questions I always get from somebody I’ve just met and am forced to spend some time with. “Where you from?” “You like George Bush?” “You vote for Obama?” “You like it here?” “Why you leave America?” “I would like to go to America.” “I have friends in (fill in the blank)” And then we usually cover one of the three major American theories; Who shot JFK? Did America really land on the moon? Do you think George Bush faked 911? Antonio also suggested some coloring. “It bring out your highlights”, he said. I wasn’t sure if he was referring to my gray highlights or what, all I new was, I wasn’t getting any coloring. I managed to make it out with only a haircut, a decent one at that, and a reminder of why guys like me don’t go to Paul Mitchell and why we definitely don’t go to places called Hollywood Hair. Still, I do think that I’m looking rather fabulous. At least from the ears up.

That’s all for now. More soon.

CHRISTmas

2008-11-12T14:39:00.001Z

Dear Church,

This is not an alarmist’s post! Let’s start with that. No doubt, like me, you’ve seen email forward after email forward warning of the dangers that the church faces by the cruel hands of everybody from liberals, to homosexuals, to communists, and beyond. Take heart, this is not another dire post!

But this is a challenge to be a people worthy of the name of Christ.

I read on CNN this morning that The American Humanist Association plans to unveil a bus campaign in Washington next week in which they will run a holiday add that reads the following:

“Why believe in god? Just be good for goodness sake.”

Now, my inbox will, no doubt, be flooded with emails over the next few weeks warning me to take up my Bible and my gun, and to lock myself inside the four walls of my church, and to not come out until those adds are taken down! I’ll probably also be encouraged to write my congressman asking him to personally see that those adds are taken down. I might even be asked to boycott buses which have those specific adds on the side. I, however, want to challenge the Christian community in a different way; How about we simply be Christ like about it?

First of all, how about PERSONALLY strive to “bring back the Christ in Christmas”? Not by boycotting certain stores, or picketing bus terminals, but by seeing to it that we follow Christ’s example over the Christmas season, that we honor God with our families, and that we serve our fellow man. As so many before me have already stated, Christmas has become a time where, at worst, we go into debt, stress ourselves out, and rise to our absolute materialistic peak! At best it’s become a time when we go into debt, stress ourselves out, and rise to our absolute materialistic peak…..to celebrate Jesus’ birthday! Want to celebrate Jesus’ birthday? Give to the needy. After all, when we give a Christmas present to the least of these, we give a birthday present to Jesus himself (Matthew 25)!

Spend this Christmas teaching your children about the real meaning of Christmas. Serve the needy, spend quality time with your family, and spend quality time with your family serving the needy. Which would mean more to you as a parent; your child having memories of Christmas with lots of presents? Or your child having memories of Christmas where, as a family, you made up food and gift baskets together, and then played secret Santa (or Jesus?), dropping those baskets off on the porches of families in need? Could there be a better way to honor the Savior this Christmas, and could there be a better way to spend the holidays with your family? Surely not!

For more information on how you can celebrate a more ethical Christmas (free from candies and presents made by child laborers), check out a new site called FreeChristmas.org. This site gives a lot of great information on ethical gift giving, and lots of great resources for families, churches, businesses, and even schools.

Want to put the Christ back into Christmas? Start in your own home and then spread those Christ like actions out into your communities. Do that and you won’t have to worry about “defending the gospel”. Your actions will do it for you!

Btw, thanks Lucy!

thoughts on politics UPDATE

2008-11-06T18:38:00.001Z

The article below is now being featured on Crosswalk.com.

thoughts on politics

2008-11-05T13:28:00.002Z

I’ve been trying to write a post on politics for weeks now, thus the silence on my blog. It’s so hard to do the 2008 election justice. And it’s so hard to write this post without bias. In the end, I’ve decided not to try. So the following are my thoughts, scattered as they may be, on what is a historic moment in the history of the United States, but also on the words and attitudes of my fellow Christians during this time.

First, I have known for quite some time that people believe what they want to believe. Is Obama really a socialist? Only if you believe that public schools, a military that fights wars on your behalf, infrastructure built for you, and social security are socialist programs. On the flip side, is John McCain the next George W. Bush? I wouldn’t call a guy who, up until two years ago, was pro-choice, was calling leading evangelical ministers “agents of intolerance”, was and is a war hero, opposes the torture of war prisoners, and would give his right eye to meet Bush out back in a dark alley the next George W. Bush. But people believe what they want to believe. And they do so to justify their own desires. I’m speaking in general terms here, but the majority of people I know don’t watch speeches to help form their opinion, they watch speeches to help them justify it, waiting and watching for any little phrase or slip up that can be used to validate their choice. I recently read the following by conservative columnist David Brooks in the New York Times and I couldn’t have said it any better myself:

"(Ronald) Reagan had an immense faith in the power of ideas. But there has been a counter, more populist tradition lately, which is not only to scorn liberal ideas but to scorn ideas entirely.”

Second, in the past few years my hope in the church has been gaining. Maybe it’s because my role has put me in touch with so many churches who are at the forefront of something new and who are looking to reclaim the prophetic social reform witness of evangelicals from the 19th century. But for the past thirty years, no thought has been allowed by the evangelical community when it came to politics. We were taught that there were only two issues when it came to God and politics: homosexuality and abortion. And while I do believe that these two issues are important, I also think that they’ve allowed us to pass the buck when it comes to our responsibility in loving our neighbor. This year I’ve watched as a great number of young and old Christians alike have risen up and voted for something different. Now before anybody gets upset at my suggestion that “voting democrat” is something positive in the life of the church, let me be clear in what I’m really saying; what’s positive about this is that the church is beginning to realize that there are many, many social issues that we are responsible to respond to. I believe that we are finally beginning to let loose of canned answers and really think through our faith and theology, and that gives me hope. In the end that may not cause us to vote for a democrat in every instance, and if we’re educating ourselves and paying attention, it shouldn’t. But as I stated above, a socially conscious church is a positive witness in an unjust world. I believe that if we were leading the way in all the social issues – human trafficking, the environment, fair trade, human rights, etc. – our stance on abortion would not be seen as an affront to people’s rights, but would be seen as a part of our consistent stance FOR the life and well being of others. It would be seen as loving our neighbor.

When all is said and done, I hope a few things for the church in its response to faith and politics:

I hope that it will grow in wisdom, and wisdom always involves the making of a decision based on as much evidence and understanding as possible.

I hope that the church in America will remember that WE are the church, and that WE are the kingdom, not our country. Am I proud to be an American? Let’s just say that I’m a little prouder today than I’ve been in quite some time. But my allegiance isn’t to a country, it’s to a King and a Kingdom. I’m blessed to have been born in America. Blessed beyond measure. But in the end, America is not the Kingdom in which I have placed my allegiance. It is simply my earthly home.

And I hope that we can be constructive instead of destructive. I’ve watched the rhetoric being tossed around over the last few days in relation to an Obama win, and it hasn’t been pretty. In fact, it hasn’t been very Christ like at all. Obama won’t be everything that the evangelical community would like in a President. But he will bring some issues to the forefront that we should be fans of. Take it from somebody who threw words like “socialist” and “communist” around in 1992 in relation to a possible Clinton Presidency; the four horseman are not in sight. Life will go on. And Obama will bring some issues to the table that we can get behind. And when it comes to those issues that we cannot get behind, we’ll need to stand up and make our voices heard. Just like we should have been doing for the past eight years.

Third, and as a member of the international community, I’m proud of my country today and hopeful for what this new presidency will mean for the world. I’ve never seen an international reaction to a U.S. President like I’ve seen to this one. And while there will be some cynics out there who will read this to mean that other countries see an opportunity to take advantage of America, the truth is that most of them now see an America who may not be so quick to take advantage of them. More importantly, they see the America that the rest of the world once believed in. I once heard Bono say that America is not a country, it’s an idea. In doing so he said what so many people have believed about America; that it represents the hopes and dreams of the world. That it SHOULD go without saying that all men are created equal. That race and birth rights should have no bearing in one’s right to the pursuit of happiness. To the rest of the world, if a black man can be President of the United States of America, then anything is possible. I join the international community in celebrating this hope that the world CAN be a better place.

And finally, I could not finish this post without a nod to the black community. I cannot imagine what many of you must be feeling right now. In my lifetime, I never thought I’d see a black President. In fact, Jamie and I have been discussing for years now which would be first; a black Vice President or a female Vice President. The discussion of a possible black President never even entered our minds (though at one time, I did hold out some hope for J.C. Watts). I celebrate with you today and also ecstatically celebrate the turning to a new chapter in our nation’s history. Racism in America is not dead. But we’re much further along than I realized. That gives me hope and, again, makes me very proud of my country. As I walk through London over the next few months, people can say anything they want about my country. But America is the first country in the world to have been able to set its racism aside enough to elect a black man as President. In the five years that I’ve lived in London, I have not advertised my citizenship. But you better believe I will today! Say anything you want! Walking on the moon and helping to win the World Wars pale in comparison to what we’ve accomplished this week. I’m so ready for this new chapter. And I’m so ready to raise my daughter in a country where she will be able to see a strong, educated black leader in front of her (possibly) ‘till the age of eleven. What can it do for the mind and heart of a young child to see a constant positive image of the black race in front of her from day to day? I grew up in a world where the black community was most often portrayed in a negative light. But to have such a strong positive representative of the black community in front of her throughout her childhood…gives me hope that maybe color (race) blindness IS possible? On the top ten list of gifts that I would love to give to my daughter, color blindness has a firm position.

For those of you who read the above thoughts and disagree, I do hope that you will be constructive in your dialogue, rather than destructive. We have a real opportunity to be a witness right now on the world stage. I do hope that we will take it and leave behind the temptation for bitterness and vengeful dialogue.

Dr. King, I wish you were alive to see this. One more underdog rises up.

brad reynolds - anyway

2008-10-17T20:10:00.003+01:00

I won't vouch for the music itself, but I love the lyrics. The second verse in particular, is one of the gutsiest verses I’ve ever seen in a Christian song. If you ask me, it ranks right up there with the best of Derek Webb and Larry Norman.

Your browser does not support ActiveX controls or the Windows Media Player.

He’s been sleeping on the sidewalk
Since the money went away
Can you love him anyway?
Really love him anyway?
He lost his mind but finds the time
To bum a dollar everyday
But my Jesus says to love him anyway

(chorus)
‘Cause love is the only evidence against us
That tells the world we’re guilty of a change
And there is not a one who lives among us
Who wasn’t lost somewhere along the way
But judgement turned to mercy
And mercy took our blame
When it all comes down to loving anyway

She did not want to be a mother
She still supports her right to choose
Can you love her anyway?
Really love her anyway?
She hates what you believe
And proudly shares her point of view
My Jesus says to love her anyway

So open up your heart and let them see
How it feels and what it really means

So drop that stone of condescension
And don’t forget to mention
That Jesus chose to love us anyway
Excuse me Mr. Christian
I sure hope you were listening
When Jesus said to love them anyway
‘Cause no matter who we are
Where we’ve been or how deep our scars
Jesus came to love us anyway
Hey there sister Christian
I sure hope you were listening
When Jesus said to love them anyway

tell me about your church

2008-10-03T18:08:00.005+01:00

Last week I was asked one of the best questions I’ve been asked in quite sometime. After reading a post on my blog concerning (what else) the church, I was asked what I specifically meant when I asked “what if things were completely different”. Specifically, this person wanted to know what “different” would look like? She put me on the spot. It was a great question.

We talk a lot about this don’t we? We want things to be different! We look around our church, see people going through the motions, see our churches being largely ineffective, secretly know that we could never actually invite our lost friends to “this version of church”, and want “change”. But when it comes down to it, can any of us really put our finger on what “change” would even look like?

I’ve been working with young people now for eighteen years. It’s very hard to believe. And over the course of those eighteen years I have taken several opportunities to sit down with groups of Christian young people and ask them the following question; if you could make church look anyway you wanted to, what would it look like? You might be fascinated (as I am) to know that in almost every case, the “church” they described to me was only a slightly more contemporary version of the church they were already attending. Better music, better message, some form of drama, and more young people involved. And believe me, I tried to drag more out of them. I was never satisfied with their answer. In fact, I’ve always been a little disheartened by their answers because I too want something different yet can’t seem to put my finger on what that difference would be.

But when I do think about it, it always seems to boil down to “authenticity”. I don’t want to be going through any motions. I want everything we offer the Lord to be authentic. To have real passion and meaning behind it. And I want it to be something that expresses something very important, relevant and (yes) authentic to a lost person. What difference does my style of “religion” really make to my own life and to the lives around me? When I get up and share my testimony, does it basically deliver the message that “once I was sad, but now I’m really happy!” I hope there’s more to it than that. I hope that my religion has compelled me to live differently and that that new lifestyle isn’t just inward focused. If my version of “spirituality” can only be seen by me, who cares? And if my version of “religion” only causes me to express my “spirituality” in ways that are strange and rather irrelevant to everybody else, it’s pretty useless except for a personal escape. We Christians make so much noise about the need to adopt our way of life, yet we continue to be inward focused, unhappy, involved in scandals, and generally not having much impact on the western world these days except to insist that everybody else adopt our moral stance whether they are a Christian or not.

Still, what would it look like to be “different”?

When people ask this, and when I’ve asked it in the past, I’ve generally been asking specifically about the corporate worship service. If you could change anything about it, what would it be? But maybe that question is the problem. Maybe the problem with our churches these days is that we can’t see beyond the worship service or see the need to be something more than the worship service. Consider this; when somebody asks you “what kind of church you attend”, what is your first response? When I ask this question of people, they most often draw from their worship service to come up with an answer. We are a traditional, or contemporary, or gen X, or blended congregation. What they mean is that they sing only hymns, or do a little bit of both, or have a rock band that leads them in worship. Their Sunday morning worship defines them as a church. Isn’t that a bit strange?

Do you see that sort of definition anywhere in the Bible? Certainly the Biblical Jews wouldn’t have described themselves in those terms. If you asked an ancient Jewish scholar to define himself in spiritual terms, he would have most likely drawn on his own personal understanding of theology. I am a Pharisee, or a Sadducee, or an Essene, they might have said. But they never would have described themselves in terms of their worship service. It’s a strange phenomenon and one that I fear has gotten us a bit off track when it comes to the mission of the church.

I really believe that our worship services should be beside the point. They shouldn’t be the point. And if that were the case, I truly believe that things would be “different”. In fact, if “being the church” were the point, I truly believe that people of all ages and backgrounds would be a lot less concerned with the particular “genre of music”, or “style of dress”, or any number of the other issues that we so often get caught up with in the church. If we were “being the church”, the particulars of the worship service would be seen just as they should; as a part of what we do as Christians. And if they were only a part of what we do, rather than the main thing, surely people wouldn’t fret when they were changed up a bit? And surely others wouldn’t look for their fulfilment in the song selection? Those types of things would be beside the point.

So maybe that’s where we start. When somebody asks you what kind of church you attend, be honest. What kind of CHURCH do you attend?

For more thoughts, check out this rewrite of the closing passage of Proverbs taken from Dave Jones blog, Mover of Sedition.

A good church – who can find?

She has a culture of honesty about her failings.

She desires to worship always. And in all ways.

Her sung, corporate worship is an expression of her joy in serving God in the community she lives in.

She values substance over style.

She desires practice over theory.

She is desperate to know God, to serve God and to love His people.

She upsets the comfortable and comforts the upset.

Her friends & allies are the poor, the outcast, the unlovely & unloved.

She does not seek change for change sake.

She is intolerant of pretence, preferring even the most painful truth.

She loves those who hate her and seek her destruction.

She cries at injustice, and poverty, and brokenness.

She wants to understand God's Kingdom. And make it real – here and now.

She is both admired and feared – usually by the same people.

She frequently finds herself in trouble.

She survives, even thrives, by seeking others' needs above her own.

She loves truth and will only sing truth.

She makes friends of the lowly & is regarded as an enemy by the elite.

She rejects earthly riches.

She fails in most, if not all of the above.

She carries on anyway – to stop trying would be the greatest failure of all.

All God's children will rise up & call her blessed.

I read those words today after I wrote this original post. They were so powerful, and so moved me, that I decided to tag them on to the end of my own. They will, no doubt, be words that I return to and even use in corporate worship for years to come. Thanks Dave.

organia

2008-09-24T12:11:00.007+01:00

I don’t know about you, but Jamie and I don’t have green thumbs. In fact, they’re not even a shade of green. Our house is where plants, of any kind, come to die. (except trees which destroy the foundations of houses, which seem to absolutely thrive under our watch)

The problem is that we wish we had green thumbs. We both love nature and love beautiful gardens. We’ve always wished we had the gift. And, on a number of occasions, we’ve talked about “planting a vegetable garden next summer”. It’s never worked out…….

Until this summer, that is. Many of you know that the lovely Becca has been living with us for two years now. Becca moved in with us to help with child care. I hope that it’s been equally beneficial, but I definitely speak for Jamie and myself when I say that our lives would not have been the same without Becca. She has truly become a part of our family and I don’t know how we would have kept two ministries alive and kicking over the past couple of years without her help. She’s been amazing. So, sometimes we indulge her “latest craze”.

Becca’s latest crazes have included everything from an espresso maker (Neither Jamie or I really drink coffee), to trying out to be on a game show (at a gay bar….I skipped that one). Becca is young, free, and slightly off balance and we’ve strived to make sure that our house was her house with all of the freedoms associated with it. So this spring, when she started talking “vegetable garden”, we figured it might be a mutually beneficial agreement. Becca could grow the vegetables, we would pay for the supplies, and we’d feel just slightly more a part of the organic chic community. And that’s always cool.

It’s hard to know when to plant a garden in England. In the States, at least where we’re from, you plant it when the weather starts getting warm. But that’s very hard to determine here. After all, “warm” is relative. But we finally got our start in June (mind you, my mother is already picking her tomatoes in June). We went down to the garden centre, picked out a few pots (£15), invested in several bags of “dirt” (£20), and picked out the finest sprouts we could find which included a couple of tomato plants(£7), several varieties of herbs (£5), a small green house starter kit (£10), and several different kinds of seeds (£4), including some form of chilli pepper. From the start things were working out beautifully. Becca was doing all the work, we were watching plants grow (especially the seedlings in the mini green house), people coming over for barbecues were commenting on our vegetable growing “prowess”, and we were taking all of the credit (kind of like raising Olyvia, actually). It was perfect.

Then came our summer holiday. Up to this point, we were pouring all manner of vegetable health care in the direction of our little garden. Everything from special “dirt”, to plant food (£10), to daily watering and pampering. I think Becca may have even been singing to the plants (do plants like death metal?) And they were growing with gumption. But after two weeks in France, we came home to a very different story. Though the weeds, flowers, trees, grass and every other manner of “plant” was growing like gang busters, the plants that we actually cared about hadn’t fared so well. In fact, several of them appeared to be making a steady pace towards “the light”. It was clear that several of them would not make it. Apparently these were house plants and could not be left outdoors to fend for themselves. But a few had managed to hold on and Becca began a valiant effort to nurse them back to health all with the hope that, in just a few short weeks, we’d be walking into our back garden for dinner. It was a glorious thought. I was prepared to get myself some kind of a “green” or “I’m organic” t-shirt and to look down my nose at all those still frequenting the local grocery story for their produce. Peasants.

Here’s where the false hopes lied (excuse the pun). Though we weren’t actually getting any tomatoes or peppers, the plants were indeed flowering. And, according to the garden centre guy, those flowers would one day turn into glorious, home grown, organic “we’re better than you” vegetables!

Finally, they started to turn. First one, then two, and pretty soon we had three or four little buds that would one day be peppers and tomatoes. I was already feeling superior to everybody else. Things were turning out just as I’d hoped. Everyday we would walk out to the back garden and attempt to wish our vegetables into ripeness. We were nearly there!

Then came the storm. The first thing that happened is that our tomato plants were blown from their perch. We examined them closely, however, and nothing seemed to be the matter. Hearty little suckers (and considering the amount of money we’d spent on “dirt” and plant food, they’d better be!) But, in a move that will, apparently, forever be referred to as “proof that Tim is an idiot”, I decided to try and offer our tomato plants some physical support in the way of some tent stakes. I gently pushed the stakes into the ground and tied the tomato plants to those stakes using our special green twisty (£5) bought from the garden centre. An hour later the wind blew and our tomato plants began snapping at exactly the point that those stakes ended. What we later realized was that, instead of those plants having complete flexibility to bend and sway with the wind, the first six inches of those plants were kept perfectly stable by the stakes, but the rest of the plant was left to continue bending and swaying in said wind. The combination of the two caused said plants to snap off at the point where they were no longer flexible. Who knew?

Becca was away on this particular weekend, however, so I did my best to make it look like the wind’s fault. I also did my best to “bandage” the tomato plants in an attempt to somehow keep them alive. After all, by this time we actually had some green tomatoes tempting (read “mocking) us and I was bound and determined to eat those things!

Finally the day came. One single tomato finally ripened. It is picture above from several different angles. I cut the tomato into fours and we each had a sliver of the most expensive tomato any of us had ever eaten. Whole Foods, eat your heart out! You think you sell expensive tomatoes? Try £67 a tomato! That’s $142 if you’re keeping up with the market.

Since that day we’ve managed one other ripe tomato, but it fell from the plant, split open, and was immediately attacked by pigeons before we’d even had our espresso for the morning. Today five green tomatoes mock us from their perch atop our tomato plants, and we’ve picked one tiny pepper (literally smaller than your smallest finger nail) which was so hot that Jamie and Becca spent the next two days trying to figure out ways to get me to try it. We’re still waiting on the rest of them to ripen.

Next year we’re considering chickens which will be dropped off at a local dog spa and raised for the low, low cost of £20 a day. In three short months they should be ready to eat. Can’t wait!

rules for future suitors

2008-09-20T15:28:00.001+01:00

Rule One: If you pull into my driveway and honk you'd better be delivering a package, because you're sure not picking anything up.

Rule Two: You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long as you do not peer at anything below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or hands off of my daughter's body, I will remove them.

Rule Three: I am aware that it is considered fashionable for boys of your age to wear their trousers so loosely that they appear to be falling off their hips. Please don't take this as an insult, but you and all of your friends are complete idiots. Still, I want to be fair and open minded about this issue, so I propose this compromise: You may come to the door with your underwear showing and your pants ten sizes to big, and I will not object. However, in order to ensure that your clothes do not, in fact come off during the course of you date with my daughter, I will take my electric nail gun and fasten your trousers securely in place to your waist.

Rule Four: I'm sure you've been told that in today's world, sex without utilizing a "Barrier method" of some kind can kill you. Let me elaborate, when it comes to sex, I am the barrier, and I will kill you.

Rule Five: It is usually understood that in order for us to get to know each other, we should talk about sports, politics, and other issues of the day. Please do not do this. The only information I require from you is an indication of when you expect to have my daughter safely back at my house, and the only word I need from you on this subject is: "early"

Rule Six: I have no doubt you are a popular fellow, with many opportunities to date other girls. This is fine with me as long as it is okay with my daughter. Otherwise, once you have gone out with my little girl, you will continue to date no one but her until she is finished with you. If you make her cry, I will make you cry.

Rule Seven: As you stand in my front hallway, waiting for my daughter to appear, and more than an hour goes by, do not sigh and fidget. If you want to be on time for the movie, you should not be dating. My daughter is putting on her makeup, a process than can take longer than painting the Golden Gate Bridge . Instead of just standing there, why don't you do something useful, like changing the oil in my car?

Rule Eight: The following places are not appropriate for a date with my daughter: Places where there are beds, sofas, or anything softer than a wooden stool. Places where there is darkness. Places where there is dancing, holding hands, or happiness. Places where the ambient temperature is warm enough to introduce my daughter to wear shorts, tank tops, midriff T-shirts, or anything other than overalls, a sweater, and a goose down parka -- zipped up to her throat. Movies with a strong romantic or sexual theme are to be avoided; movies which features chain saws are okay. Hockey games are okay. Old folks homes are better.

Rule Nine: Do not lie to me. I may appear to be a potbellied, balding, middle-aged, dimwitted has-been. But on issues relating to my daughter, I am the all-knowing, merciless God of your universe. If I ask you where you are going and with whom, you have one chance to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have a shotgun, a shovel, and five acres behind the house. Do not trifle with me.

Rule Ten: Be afraid. Be very afraid. It takes very little for me to mistake the sound of your car in the driveway for a chopper coming in over a rice paddy near Hanoi . When my Agent Orange starts acting up, the voices in my head frequently tell me to clean the guns as I wait for you to bring my daughter home. As soon as you pull into the driveway you should exit the car with both hands in plain sight. Speak the perimeter password, announce in a clear voice that you have brought my daughter home safely and early, then return to your car -- there is no need for you to come inside. The camouflaged face at the window is mine.

grace

2008-09-18T13:47:00.001+01:00

Today I spent about fifteen minutes talking to an orthodox Jewish woman. She was a no-nonsense sort of gal and really gave me some great insight as to where all of the “anti-Semitism paranoia” comes from concerning Jewish perceptions of the church. It seems that, while many Jews see American Christians as allies, the same can’t necessarily be said of European Christians. Through some recent study, I’ve come to recognize a little of the church’s anti-Semitic past. Still, it was interesting to hear it from her perspective and also a good chat in general.

In other news, this past weekend, while teaching a couple of sessions at a retreat, I was approached by a thirteen year old Dutch girl who asked me simply; “Have you ever heard of The Beatles?”

Now listen, in case you don’t know me well, I’m a little sarcastic. As a friend recently commented a couple of posts down, a “sarcasm key” would come in very handy for me. You know, somewhere right below the “Shift” key. Just something to make it clear that “I’m being sarcastic right now!”

Sarcasm is something that I use throughout the day and, to my own detriment, something that I often think translates over the internet. In fact, a few months ago I posted an article on what I dubbed “Canadian Rage” and set off a windstorm that eventually landed me in the head cheese’s office trying to explain why a Christian leader would condemn an entire Country. It took me several minutes to convince “the cheese” that it was, in fact, a joke written specifically to several very dear Canadian friends of mine. (though, for the record, the fact that I even had to have this meeting sort of proved the point of my “Canadian Rage” claim, but I digress).

All that to say that it was every thing I could do to bite my tongue and simply say, “Um yeah, I’ve heard of them” without any sort of follow up and without stressing the “YEAH” and making it come out as more of a “YAH”. It was painful, I admit.

In another Random happening, I met a girl named “Jade” yesterday. She was a waitress. To give a little bit of background, there’s a slightly infamous B celebrity over here by the name of Jade Goodey. She became famous by appearing on Big Brother (“reality” show) and making a racist remark towards an Asian girl. So I see this waitress named Jade (who happens to be black) and I say to her, “Wow! You’re name is Jade? Did you put up with any flack when that Jade girl made that racist remark on Big Brother?” To which she replied, “No.”. Then silence.

Ok.

My problem is that, when I get in an awkward situation like that, I believe that I can somehow keep pushing and turn the situation from being awkward into being funny. It’s only a theory, however, as I’ve never actually been able to accomplish it. It’s like nuclear fusion. Scientists “know” that it’s possible, but nobody’s ever been able to prove it. The same goes with my “keep pushing and offending and eventually it will become humorous” theory. To my wife’s horror, however, I always keep trying. The things I sacrifice in the name of science (in this case, my pride and my wife’s respect for me)! Anyway, you’ll be glad to know that, in this case, I decided not to try and prove my theory true.

In other news, I was speaking to a friend this week about her newly divorced daughter. My friend is a Calvinist and the divorce didn’t go down well at all. It was a tough conversation.

It’s strange the things that sit before our very eyes when it comes to religion/faith/Christ, yet go unnoticed. I think one of the major themes has to be grace. Jesus was pretty harsh with religious leaders, but for the most part, Jesus never condemned and never seemed to be short on grace. Consider a few examples:

- a prostitute is brought to Jesus for stoning. Jesus invites any sinless person to step forward and get the festivities rolling. Nobody does. Jesus then looks at the woman and states that He too has no condemnation in his heart for her. Pretty big deal.
- After travelling with Jesus for three years, and after once suggesting that he should sit at Jesus’ right hand in glory, Peter then goes on to not only deny any affiliation with Jesus, but also to denounce him outright. Jesus even predicts that Peter will do this! Yet the first thing Jesus tells Mary and Martha to do after He rises from the dead is to go and tell Peter “it’s cool”. What the…!!!
- A Samaritan woman (reviled among the Jews as dirty pagans…and they were indeed, pagans) asks Jesus which temple and on which mountain she should worship. Jesus’ reply? The time has come where that no longer matters. God has come to live among you and no longer resides in a building. You are now free to commune with God on your own behalf, any time, and any place.
- And then of course, there’s the ultimate act of grace. An act so ridiculous that it largely goes misunderstood and overlooked. I know that we talk about it and sing about it, but let’s face it, few of us really have any understanding of the act. It’s like trying to understand the horrors of war when you’ve never been to war. You can’t. In fact, when you’ve never been to war, war can actually seem rather glorious. The same is true of the crucifixion. We simply don’t understand. And yet Jesus went through it for the sole purpose of redeeming us. He even offered that same redemption to the very people who carried out the physical act of the crucifixion. And yet we condemn our brother. We’re dumb.

All that and yet my friend is quite certain that her daughter is going to be condemned for her divorce. Jesus forgives prostitutes, eats lunch with bullies, befriends those who crucify Him, forgives those who murder his people, and lays down his life for all of mankind, including pagans, but for some reason He may not be able to forgive my friend’s daughter. ???

That isn’t to say that divorce is no big deal. I’m sure it breaks the Father’s heart. But I’m also sure that it mostly breaks the Father’s heart because of how it breaks ours. Our Father hates to see us broken and hates the things that often leave us broken. In this case, I have no doubt that the Father’s heart is broken for my friend’s daughter. But, as I’ve mentioned before, His plan is to pour out His grace on her daughter through us. And I’m sure that the mother is part of that plan.

Why do we find grace so difficult?

all of my days

2008-09-15T18:55:00.004+01:00

Ok, here’s my disclaimer. I recorded it in my garage with a microphone, guitar, and a laptop. I recorded the guitar and vocals separately and, for some reason, can’t get the timing of the two tracks to line up properly. It’s annoying the heck out of me, but I’m about to pull my hair out trying to fix it, so whatever, you’ll just have to imagine perfect timing. While you’re at it, imagine some amazing toms pounding in the background, a heavy bass synth, and a girl who can wale on the alto part. Then imagine Rick Rueben has produced it, there are nine other great songs surrounding it, and that the cover art has been designed by Dan Mumford who’s decided to rip off Pink Floyd and stage a photo with a big pink blow up version of me floating over the Battersea Power Station.

Now how does it sound? Btw, you'll probably want to pause the music to the right before you press play below. Then again, maybe not...

Your browser does not support ActiveX controls or the Windows Media Player.

I know a Spirit that lives in my soul
I know a God who’s wherever I go
I know a Saviour whose blood covers me

I know a fount that makes dirt white as snow
I know forgiveness like I’ve never known
I know redemption that changes my heart and my soul

And I know a faithfulness that never ends
A God so devoted he loved me while still in my sin

I know a promise to never let go
No matter the storms or the trials or how hard the wind blows
I’m deep in His hold

And I’ll hold to these things no matter what may
I’ll hold to these things for all of my days
Hold to the promise that one day my soul He will raise

And I’ll love the One who first came to me
And offered His life so that I might go free!

All of my days
I’ll sing your praise
My hands I will raise
For I am amazed
The extent of your grace
Causes me to embrace
And sing out your praise
All of my days

I know a healer whose breath gives me life
Who binds up my wounds and gives sight to the blind
Whose death changes hearts and whose life changes minds

And I serve a God with a purpose for me
A plan that I might prosper and I might be free
So I stand and believe

Believe in the One who breathed life into me
Life not just here on this earth but eternally

a white kanye west?

2008-09-13T18:43:00.003+01:00

It’s pronounced boofey (buffet) here. I wasn’t aware of that. However, they don’t pronounce fillet with the same “ey” on the end. They pronounce it with an “et”. Fillet. I’ve mentioned several times that it’s a French word, that France, is the next state below us, and that there’s really no excuse on this one, but they’re going with it anyway. And so I still call it football, despite the fact that we don’t play it with our feet.

I’m on a train this evening coming back from York…or somewhere up north. I’m never quite sure where I’m at on this trip. I was asked to speak at this retreat last year and had no idea where I was. In the span of a year I’ve still not bothered to look it up. All I know is that the views are magnanimous (I do not think that means what you think it means). The retreat centre itself is made out of an old church. Beautiful. Incidentally, why are British trains so hot? Are they familiar with the green house effect? A building, with lots of windows, but no ventilation, equals the kind of environment where plants mass produce in a matter of hours, but where mammals die of heat exhaustion. That’s this train.

This week a friend called to tell me that, after watching the VMA’s, she and her husband had come to the conclusion that I looked like a white Kanye West. Not in the way I dressed. And not in the way I rapped, or even in my stage presence. But literally from the neck up. I’m thinking about sending she and her husband money because they’re apparently too poor to afford glasses. And that is sad.

I just finished up two 90 minute sessions. The first was on the story of the Bible. The second was on what it means to be a disciple. Pretty easy stuff really. Hopefully they’ll ask me back next year to do a short session on Revelations-the prophecies fulfilled and yet to be fulfilled. The thing about both of those topics is that you either only need thirty-seconds, or you need a week.

In thirty seconds I can tell you that the Bible is the story of God trying to re-commune with the human race. That the so-called “Old Testament” is not just the story of the Jewish people, but that it’s an allegory meant to represent what sin leads to and our need for a savior. The so-called “New Testament” is the climax of the overall story. I’ll get back to that in a second.

On being a disciple, I can tell you that it really comes down to two questions. If the goal of a Biblical disciple was to “be like” their Rabbi, then all you have to figure out is what that Rabbi spent his time doing and saying. Then do and say those things. The same is true for Jesus. Jesus narrowed down the entire “Old Testament” by telling us to love God and love our neighbour. So do that.

Ok, I actually need less than twenty seconds to cover both of those topics. Or again, I need a couple of weeks.

Back to the topic of the so-called “Old Testament”. I was thinking the other day, while preparing for this session, that if nothing after the gospel of John had been written, surely there wouldn’t be an Old and New Testament? And surely there’d be no page in our Bible separating the two. Instead of seeing the “Old Testament” as an obscure book full of crazy stories about death, war, slavery, and the wrath of God, we’d see the entire Bible as the story of God trying to reconnect with mankind. The gospels wouldn’t be something “new”, but would simply be understood as the climax of the story, which is what they are. Mankind was separated from God (because of women), God put a plan into motion to reconnect with mankind, and the plan was ultimately achieved through Jesus. Instead we have this strange separation where the “Old” Testament is seen as this collection of stories, with some spiritual and personal significance, but as being old, dated, and over. Too bad. We miss out on a lot when we understand the Bible from that disjoined perspective.

(good grief, I had one small bag of chips – crisps- and I’ve got heartburn.)

I was also thinking about the misunderstanding that exists concerning the story of the flood. It’s a hard one to share with my daughter at her age. “And then God wiped out the entire planet, except Noah and his family. Goodnight Olyvia, and remember, God loves you!” Without a little more thought, you end up with a God who absolutely hates the human race. But consider this…

God could have simply wiped out the human race. Clearly he felt no guilt in doing so. After all, he wiped out all but eight people. But He didn’t. For some reason, as disgusted as He was by our “wickedness”, he still really wanted to save the human race. So He did. Pretty remarkable when you think about it from that perspective. And quite a different understanding from the one where God simply destroys the planet. We were awful. But God - for some reason! - really wanted to heal us, redeem us, and then reconnect with us.

Wow!

(disclaimer: the “because of women” comment was “sarcasm” which, I’ve discovered, is often mistranslated over the internet. It was a joke, Palin supporters. It was a joke.)

(disclaimer: the “Palin supporters” comment was also “sarcasm”.)

I’ve been offered “cheap sandwiches” five times now. I don’t know about you, but there’s nothing more enticing than the phrase “cheap sandwiches”. I only have a few pounds with me tonight, though, so I’m holding out for the stale Coke. Hopefully it will be offered soon.

Finally, if you find out that I was arrested today, it’s because I punched the guy behind me for talking on his mobile phone too loudly. Unfortunately, and since I typed out my intent on this blog ahead of time, I was also found guilty of “premeditated assault”, which means that this will be the last you’ll be hearing from me for a long time. Just know that it’s all politics, he had it coming, my British lawyer screwed me, and the judge had it in for me from the very beginning for making fun of his white wig. What can I say, it looked stupid!

(almost as dumb as that guy in the bow tie............I can’t let it go.)

updates

2008-09-12T11:35:00.000+01:00

It’s been a while since I’ve updated the links in my blog. Some have fallen out of date while a few have needed adding for quite some time. If you’ll check out the right hand column I’d like to point out several new and old links of note;

We’re two short months away from the U.S. Presidential elections. Many of us have come to the conclusion that there is not one party that represents God or the church. However, as a response, many of us have automatically jumped to the other party. Think about that for a minute. Does that make any sense at all? If there is no one party that represents God or the church, then why would we automatically jump to the other party? The truth is that we need to be educated and aware of who we support as Christians. To the right you’ll notice a link for a site called “Vote The Issues”. A quick quiz will let you know which candidate (for any of the elections) that you most closely agree with. Sadly the candidate I most closely agree with agrees with me on only 44% of the issues still, it’s important to know the facts. Incidentally, many will look at the quiz and think to themselves, “I don’t really know much about that issue”. Their next move will be to move on but what this should really tell you is that you need to educate yourself. You’ve got two months to do it! Get started today!

As always the spiritual gift assessment and description sheets are linked and I’m thrilled to say that I get regular letters from people who are accessing this information and discovering their spiritual gifts. Hopefully you’re then putting them into practice!

Next is the “Get Involved” section of my blog. I’m always on the look out for websites that give practical information on ways that you can personally get involved. You’ll notice a new link to a site called “Kiva”. Kiva describes itself as a site that “lets you lend (money) to a specific entrepreneur in the developing world-empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty.” I don’t normally plug ministries/agencies looking for financial gifts. Mostly because I personally find it difficult to actively engage in mission and social action if all I’m doing is writing a check (a check???). But Kiva is different and, I believe, will end up being as addictive as Ebay. Sign up for an account and look through the different people throughout the developing world who are trying to start a business in an attempt to lift themselves, their families, and often their communities up out of the ashes. Each will have a financial figure that they’re trying to raise, and you are welcome to give everything from $1 to the full amount! Once you become a partner you have regular contact and updates from the person you’re funding and who knows where those conversations might lead. This is basically micro financing only on a scale that makes it possible for people, other than millionaires, to get involved. 97% of the loans that have been made through Kiva have been paid back by the people who originally got the loan. That’s a staggering figure. Once the loan is paid back, it goes back into your account where it is then available for you to loan back out again to another entrepreneur from the developing world or, if you should choose, to withdraw back into your own bank account. The site even keeps track of your “portfolio” which is very motivating to see. Imagine, after a few years of giving and getting repaid, you could actually have a pretty large lump sum collected to give out. Again, though this is a financial way of getting involved, it is rather engaging and, through the process, really educates people on the realities of life in the developing world as well as just how blessed so many of us are to have been born in the West. I can also see this being an amazing tool for the family. A good way to educate kids and a great thing for families to do together. Why not create a family portfolio! (btw, I don’t work for Kivo. It just sounds like I do.)

Finally are several new blogs added to the list of blogs that I regularly keep up with and that you too might find interesting.

The first two are of my lovely daughter and wife.

The next two are written by Christian activists and are full of good information and education for the Christian community in relation to social justice.

Urban Army is written by the guy who actually got me started in the blog world. A good guy with a real heart for the lost.

The next is written by a friend who, like me, is pretty passionate about music and rock history. He spends a lot of time discussing the spiritual search that often takes place through artists and their music.

Hoodlum Pastor is written by a pastor in Tennessee. He’s actually my parent’s new pastor and is pretty radical yet sound in his theology. He writes some really challenging posts.

The next is written by an activist friend of mine here in London. We don’t see eye to eye on everything but she is constantly challenging me on what it means to be a Christian and so deserves a place on that list.

Questionable Content is written by a guy I’ve known since I was ten years old. He is a former Pentecostal professor who has recently become a Methodist worship leader and is undergoing the process of ordination through the Methodist church. Besides being a dear and very old friend, his story is a fascinating one to read as her tries to come to terms with where God is leading him. His struggle to find balance with the doctrine of his youth verses the doctrine of his current ministry is one that I identify with. I appreciate his openness and think his struggle is one that every Christian should work through.

The next five belong to personal friends who are all asking similar questions; the church I grew up with isn’t all that relevant so how do we once again become relevant and still stay grounded? Relevant Magazine’s site continues this theme.

The final two are websites, written by Christians, which tend to have rather biting commentaries on the church. The first is called Asbo Jesus and has a lot of cartoons which reference the state of the church. The cartoon featured above comes from that website. The other is called Ship of Fools and is a lot like The Onion only written specifically to the church. It describes itself as “The Magazine of Christian Unrest” and tends to address a lot of the issues surrounding politics and the church. It also features a section called “Mystery Worshipper” where people actually write in and review different churches they’ve visited. More than one of my friends’ churches have featured in this section; some good, some not so good.

At some point I need to update my books list but this will have to come at a later date. Until then, if you click on one of those links, you will be taken to a site that allows you to read the first chapter of that book online. I love this because it’s like going to the bookstore, looking over a book, but never ever having to get up off your couch or have any human interaction whatsoever! I’m so thankful for the internet. Now if somebody would just create a way to use the bathroom without having to leave the living room. Come to think of it, I think somebody has. It think it’s called an “efficiency apartment”. Shaun, can you give us any insight?

Incidentally, I realized this week that I have three close friends named Shaun, Sean, Shawn, and none of them spell their name the same. If I ever have a son, I’m definitely naming him Timm.

listen to the sound

2008-09-11T11:31:00.004+01:00

If you’re a reader of my blog at all, you’ll know that one of my soap box topics is the church’s need to listen to rather than protest the world’s resistance to the church and God. You’ll know that I believe the world’s resistance to God to be largely related to the actions of the church. And you’ll know that I believe the best form of action to be to listen to what they have to say, see if there’s any truth in it, and then act accordingly. In my opinion, there often is a lot of truth to it. Consider the following lyrics from a Marilyn Manson song;

The beautiful people, the beautiful people
It’s all relative to the size of your steeple
You can’t see the forest for the trees
You can’t smell your own sh** on your knees

When this came out many in the church reacted. For some reason they felt they had a right to be angry. I never quite understand this. What we should have done was listen. From a practical standpoint, if the church’s reaction had been to ask Marilyn why he felt that way, it would have all been over. Can you imagine? If the church’s leaders had said to the media something along the lines of, “We’re heartbroken that Marilyn feels this way”, and left it at that, it would have been over. I mean, do you think Manson would have kept writing songs about how much he hates the church? No way! There’d be no controversy in that. Instead, our actions have helped to sell millions of Marilyn Manson albums. That’s how controversy works. But more importantly, and from a spiritual perspective, it was a very ignorant and Peter like reaction. Peter also believed that it was his job to defend Jesus. What a ridiculous notion. Peter was going to defend the Son of God. What’s mind blowing to me is that the same people who react this way to a lost world, never manage to connect the dots when a Muslim does the same thing concerning cartoons of the prophet Mohammed. Both are wrong. Both are arrogant. And both are ignorant, in my opinion. But more importantly, both miss a huge opportunity to change the perception of the world around them. And if we change the world’s perception of the church, then we make great strides in changing the world’s perception of God. After all, and for many people, their perception of God is tied to their perception of the church. And that’s the biggest problem.

Anyway, I didn’t sign on to talk about Marilyn Manson this morning, I signed on to share a few lyrics from Oasis’ latest single. I’ve become a big fan of this band, despite their rock star attitudes and the infighting they are known for. They make great classic rock and, more than any other musical discovery I’ve made since arriving in the UK, they’ve provided me with a wealth of back catalogued music. Great music. I have no idea why they’re not more popular in the States.

Their latest single is called Falling Down and includes the following lyrics;

A dying scream
It makes no sound
Calling out to all that I've ever known
Here am, lost and found
Calling out to all

We live a dying dream
If you know what I mean
All that I've ever known
It's all that I've ever known

Catch the wind that breaks the butterfly
I cried the rain that fills the ocean wide
I tried to talk with God to no avail
Calling my name from out of nowhere
I said "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time"

Listen.

The world is constantly sharing its deep desire for communion with God. Put down your picket signs and listen to the sound of the world calling out and asking God if He’s really there.

John Wesley believed in a doctrine he called “Means of Grace”. The Means of Grace are the ways in which God pours out grace on mankind. Wesley believed there were two; Jesus’ death and resurrection, and what he called “acts of piety”. “Acts of piety” were any way in which a believer actively loved and served someone else. Through these acts of piety, John Wesley believed that God’s grace was, quite literally, poured out on mankind. Mind you, neither John Wesley nor I am suggesting a salvation by works. What he was suggesting, however, is that if mankind is to physically see God’s grace in the present day, then it is up to believers to show it. That is our job and that is God’s plan until His first means of grace, Christ, returns.

It’s a heart warming doctrine but also a heart breaking one because, if it is true, it puts an awful lot of responsibility into the hands of a church that, in the last several decades, has largely shown nothing but anger and contempt towards the very people we’ve been charged to actively show love and grace to. We must change that.

Listen to the sound of the world calling out and asking God if He is really there…….

……….and then act accordingly.

spiritual gifts 2

2008-09-03T18:59:00.000+01:00

Does it bother me that, though more than twenty-five people a day read this blog, only one person responded to my post on spiritual gifts? Yes. It does. It concerns me a great deal and confirms my biggest fears but also what I know about a large portion of the church. People don’t even know that they’re UNAWARE of their spiritual gifts!
I’ve been preaching this sermon a lot over the past year or so. In fact, in one case, I preached the identical sermon twice, within the same church, within the course of the same year! It’s something that I’ve never done before. In fact, though I’ve been touching on this same theme a lot over the past year or so, I’ve never even preached the same sermon in two separate churches before. But in this case I really felt led to do it. It’s a church full of people who should be great leaders, but hardly any of them are actually involved in the ministry of the church. After the first time I preached it, the pastor came up to me and asked me why I didn’t stick to the subject he had given me to preach on (for the record, I thought I had). After the second time, he came up to me and suggested that it was exactly what the congregation needed to hear, with no mention of the fact that I had already preached the same exact sermon there less than a year before.

What is it about spiritual gifts that have us all jumpy and/or apathetic? I’ve heard many stories about modern non-charismatic churches who once enthusiastically embraced spiritual gifts, even the “crazy ones”. I’ve heard these stories about the Salvation Army AND the Baptist church, for the record. So what happened? When did these gifts cease to be recognized in our churches and for what reason?

This is one of those topics where people nod along and think to themselves, “yes, that is exactly right”, all while they sit there not having any idea what their gifts are and, it goes without saying, not putting any of their gifts into practice.

I think a lot of people think of “talents” when the word “gifts” comes up. Some people sit there thinking, “I sing. Therefore I use my spiritual gift.” But singing isn’t actually listed among the spiritual gifts. So WHAT DO YOU DO??? WHAT ARE YOUR GIFTS??? AND HOW DO YOU USE THEM IN YOUR LOCAL CHURCH???

I ask the question again; does it bother you that so many of our churches seem completely void of so many of the gifts? Does it bother you that many of us NEVER see the gift of tongues, or interpretation, or prophecy in our churches? Do you believe that these gifts have gone away? (and if you do, can you in any way back that up with scripture?) And if you don’t believe they’ve gone away, then what is your explanation for their absence in your congregation?

Believe me, I’m including myself in that question. Tongues, for example, isn’t a gift that’s been looked upon too kindly in most of the congregations that I’ve been a part of. Admittedly, I tend to stick to “non-charismatic congregations” when it comes to leadership. And I don’t profess to have the gift of tongues myself. But it does bother me that I’ve served in so many churches where spiritual gifts are barely touched upon. Shouldn’t spiritual gifts pretty much be a monthly topic? Whether it be through the sermon, Sunday school, or some other Bible study? Don’t spiritual gifts pretty much sit near top the priority list of topics??? Somewhere just below “salvation”? Yet when is the last time you heard it spoke on? And when is the last time that speaker touched on specific gifts and included tongues and prophecy?

I’m beginning to sound charismatic. Let me be clear. Like Paul, I believe that tongues is the least of the gifts. But I do believe it exists! Yet I rarely ever see it used and hardly ever in the congregations where I serve? Why is that? How can that be???

all the reasons we're fat

2008-09-02T20:00:00.002+01:00

Ok, below I outlined my problem with “RENT ME” limos. Among them was the girl hanging out the window, who is desperate to be seen. Today, while watching Fox News, I noticed the male equivalent of the limo girl. He’s the guy who rocks the bow tie. Bow ties aren’t cool and it’s going to take a major celebrity to ever make them cool again. Right now I’m looking at some fat, white, Republican, 30 something year old, wearing a plaid shirt and a polka dotted bow tie. The fact that the word “polka” is in there should probably tip you off that something here’s not cool. It’s your tie. Take it off.

In other news, I wish the newscasters would move on to other news. I’m not a particularly big fan of Sarah Palin for VP, but I wish the newscasters would move on about her pregnant 17 year old daughter. Nobody wants to talk about it, not even the Democrats. Are people tuning in to see this? This isn’t like the OJ thing where everybody was sick of it, but kept watching is it? People don’t really care about this do they? We got it all already. Her 17 year old daughter is pregnant, is keeping the baby, and nobody wants to talk about it! Not even the Democrats! So why are you still talking about it?!

Why too must I look at the empty convention center where the Republicans WERE going to hold a several day convention? For three days they’ve been showing it and for three days there’s been nothing to see but ten or twenty people mingling around. There’s nothing going on! It’s like watching a webcam or Big Brother at 5:00 a.m. Go back to the guy in the bow tie at least!

Finally, I took this photo while I was in the U.S. for my grandmother’s funeral a few months ago. Notice the white house on the left, and the blue truck on the right. They belong to the same person. Everyday that lady gets in her blue truck, and drives to work…………right across the road there. I’m not kidding. She drives thirty yards to work! As I’ve said before, Americans aren’t fat because of our food. Americans are fat because our portions are too large and we drive everywhere! And I mean EVERYWHERE!!!

observations from Camden

2008-09-01T10:20:00.000+01:00

Doesn’t it kind of destroy the “limo vibe” when it says “1-800-2RENT-ME” on the side of it? I guess I’ve always thought that a limo was supposed to give the impression that you were either so filthy rich, or so unbelievably popular, that you either owned your own limo or were provided one by the people you’ve graced with your presence. When I see one with “RENT ME” on the side of it, the only thing I can ever think is; “You spent $500 to rent a limo for the night? That’s a HUGE waste of money!” And also, in case you’re actually considering a limo rental in the near future, when you hang out the window, everybody knows you’re looking to be “seen in a limo”. ??? Am I the only one who thinks limos have become tacky? Were they always tacky and I just didn’t know it? It seems to me that limos are for prom kids and even then, they’re tacky.

Having just gone back and read over that paragraph, I can see that I’m really just coming off as somebody who’s bitter that he’s not getting to ride in the limo. Sigh. It isn’t true.

Yesterday I attended a fantasy football draft in Camden. In case you’re not familiar, Camden is where the punks hang out……and also where Amy Whinehouse lives. To live or hang out in Camden, you must have at least two of the following: face and/or neck tattoos, coloured hair, a non-traditional hair cut, at least one leather article of clothing, multiple piercings (earlobes don’t count), boots, florescent accessories, and/or several visible scars.

So as I’m walking through Camden yesterday in my number twenty-six, Rod Woodson, Steelers Jersey, I’m feeling like I have a sign on my chest, back, and forehead, that reads “please kick my *&%”. In my normal job setting, I have to admit that I usually feel like the coolest person in the room. By far. I’m just being honest. And it’s been that way for quite a few years. But there are days when that suddenly and dramatically changes in an instant. I get on the train, feeling good, headphones firmly planted in my ears and pounding out a great soundtrack, and then come up out of another tube station and feel like I just put on twenty-years, forty-pounds, and any article of clothing from my father’s closet. It isn’t a good feeling. I keep telling myself that it has nothing to do with getting older; that I wasn’t cool in high school either. Still, one has to wonder; when is it officially safe to call it a mid-life crises? I’ll never be able to afford a Vet, so this may be as good as it gets. Anyway, I should really wrap up this post. I think the peroxide has probably set by now.

where are all the spiritual gifts in your church?

2008-08-31T00:33:00.003+01:00

So which is harder? Helping a church which has not been practicing its spiritual gifts to start practicing them, or helping a church which seems to be using the term “spiritual gifts” rather loosely to reel those practices back in? This is the question that Jamie and I have been asking lately.

There doesn’t seem to be much balance where spiritual gifts are concerned. Either a church doesn’t practice them at all (outside of preaching, teaching, evangelism, and pastoring) or, in my opinion, they manufacture them and throw in a couple of extra gifts to boot.

But let me pick on the churches that I'm most closely associated.

If you’re in a church which does not see outward manifestations of spiritual gifts much, does that alarm you? Does it alarm you that nobody in your congregation speaks in tongues? Does it alarm you that nobody in your congregation has ever spoken a word of prophecy? It should. The New Testament tells us that those gifts exist and that they’re to be used to make the church effective. So how is it that so many churches continue to exist without so many of the spiritual gifts? Again, it isn’t as if those gifts don’t exist. In fact, it isn’t even likely that those gifts don’t exist within your congregation! It’s just that they’re not being used. In fact, the people in your congregation who have those gifts may not even know it! And that should bother you.

To be clear, I am not a “charismatic”. At least not in the traditional sense. I have never spoken in tongues, nor have I ever translated a message that was delivered in tongues. But I do believe in the gifts of the Spirit and I find it alarming that so many churches seem to be completely void of so many of the gifts. How can that be and why aren’t more of us questioning that fact? No wonder so many of our churches are ineffective. Without the gifts to make us effective, what did we think would happen?

These questions have been on my mind a lot over the past couple of years. In fact, it all started when I moved to London and began following the resurgence of the Anglican Church (The Church of England). Mind you, the Anglican Church is a traditional and liturgical church. They like robes, collars, incense, and weekly communion. In fact, I’ve always described the Anglican church as existing somewhere between Protestants and Catholics (kind of like a group of people who loved the traditions of the Catholic Church, but not the doctrine). With that in mind, you’d think that the Anglican Church would be fading fast. But not so fast! Over the last ten to fifteen years, the Church of England (in particular) has been experiencing a huge resurgence in membership and attendance. In fact, it’s become a young people’s movement. But what I found most remarkable as I began to pay more attention to the movement was that it is almost exclusively charismatic in nature! Imagine that! A former high brow, very traditional and “orderly” denomination is becoming increasingly charismatic. And to be clear, it’s largely only the charismatic congregations of the Church of England which are experiencing this revival!

What does that say? Again, I would not consider myself a charismatic nor would most people who know me, but as somebody who is deeply passionate about the local church and its mission to the lost, how can I ignore this movement that is not only sweeping across England, but also the world. In fact, many church statistics suggest that the only denominations still growing across the world are charismatic in nature. The rest of the church growth is happening through non-denominational churches (especially in the West).

Those of us who stand strong in our effort to not be charismatic must take note of this. Ignorance is not a good excuse. What gifts are present in your church but are not being used? Do you regularly see manifestations of the Holy Spirit through the spiritual gifts of your congregation. If not, why not?

In my right hand column are links to a couple of files on spiritual gifts. One is an assessment quiz which allows you to identify what your gifts are. The other is a sheet that helps explain the gifts and also gives you some scriptural warnings concerning each of those gifts. Those who have taken the time to fill out this assessment all come back with the same response; it is very affirming and encouraging.

One little disclaimer, however. As gifts like tongues and healing tend to be pretty obvious, they are not included in the assessment. The people who wrote up the quiz figured that anybody who had those gifts wouldn’t need a quiz to tell them so. The problem is that, with congregations of hundreds and even thousands who are not open to these gifts, it is possible that you may have one of them and simply not know it. And I must confess that, as one who has neither of these gifts, I have no good advice on how to figure out if the gifts lay dormant in you.

Still, at the very least, I pray that study and assessments like these will begin to open our minds to the gifts that God has provided for the church. Gifts meant to make us incredibly effective in our mission and gifts that, if left unused, will leave us incredibly ineffective!

Btw, the picture above is of the best church marquee I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s in the Stepney area of London and this is the front door of a church located in a community that has a very high population of Muslims.

the fine line between "risky" and "ill conceived"

2008-08-29T21:27:00.001+01:00

I have to admit, when I first heard that McCain had made Sarah Palin his running mate I thought, “Gutsy move.” No longer would the Obama campaign be the obvious choice for “change”, or “something different in Washington”. In fact, it might not even be the obvious choice for the youth vote anymore. Sarah is young, beautiful, and the opposite of nearly every politician I’ve ever seen in Washington. “He may have evened the playing field with that move”, I thought.

But upon further review…

Check out what a Republican political strategist (Ed Rollins) has to say concerning her qualities:

She is young
She is articulate
She is smart
She is tough
She is pro-life
She is a mother of 5
One of her sons is going to Iraq
Her youngest son has downs syndrome
She played on a state champion basketball team
She is a hunter
She is a pilot
She is a lifetime member of the NRA
She is blunt
She is outspoken
She is charming
She is a great debater
She was runner-up for the Miss Alaska title
She won Miss Congeniality in that contest
She plays the flute…???

Now listen, I’m open to some better qualifications coming along, but so far, not so good. This is, after all, the women second in charge to a 72 year old man who’s had cancer no less than five times! If ever there was a reason to care about a candidate’s running, mate, it’s right now! Let’s be honest. There’s a better than average chance that, should McCain win the presidency, his running mate will spend some time in charge.

McCain’s argument against Barak has been the fact that Barak has “very little experience”. Then he goes and chooses a running mate who’s been in serious politics for less than two years! What in the world…???

Admittedly, Obama’s choice for a running mate was pretty disappointing. I suppose he needed to go the safe route, and another old white guy certainly fit that bill. But I was hoping for something more from Obama. Still, you’ve got to feel safer about Obama’s choice than you do McCain’s choice.

For the record, I’m not a McCain hater. Two years ago, when McCain and Hillary seemed like a lock, I was feeling pretty good. I think Hillary is a very intelligent woman who would probably make a great President. And McCain was always a bit of a maverick, voting against his own party for what he believed to be the greater good of the nation. I like that in a candidate and really felt good about either one of them. And for the record, I don’t believe that McCain is another George Bush. That’s ridiculous. In fact, McCain has had to work very hard over the past two years to appear conservative at all. And, despite the fact that he believes in “staying the course” in Iraq, had McCain been president in the first place, I don’t believe the United States would have even gone to Iraq. But I’m disappointed in the pandering that McCain has done over the past two years. He’s gone from Maverick to push over. He’s gone from “the best Republican candidate in years” to “just another old white republican candidate”.

That said, I still have hope when it comes to John McCain. My biggest hope is that, once he’s won the election (if that were to actually happen), he’ll go back to telling the Pat Robertsons of the world where they can stick their “world leader assassination suggestions”. But the last two years, along with his vice-presidential nomination, have me wondering if he’s really prepared to be President or if, like an old sports star that’s long past his prime, if he’s still running simply because retiring without having won the Presidency would leave an awfully unfulfilled hole in his retirement party.

Seriously, if he doesn’t win, how long do you think it will take him to retire?

fix

2008-08-28T00:30:00.004+01:00

I’ve been asking myself the following question/s tonight: What church would admit that it doesn’t want to reach new people? When a church says that it wants to “change” or “move forward” to reach its community, what in the world does that actually mean? Give me something tangible.

Does is mean that they now have a new rotating list of door greeters in case a visitor comes? Does it mean that they will be friendly to any visitor that comes? Does it mean that they’re really hoping and/or praying that new visitors come? Does it mean that they’ve cleared out some space and put in a pool table, in the hopes that a visitor will come? In short, does it all revolve around visitors coming…and then somehow finding something about that church that relates to their needs?

I’ve been talking to a lot of churches about this lately. It seems that everybody wants to grow. They want to move forward. They’re open to the changes necessary to see growth happen. But are they really? I’ve quoted an old friend of mine many times on this blog who once said to me; churches say they want to reach lost people, until they figure out what that means.

For Jamie and me it meant stepping WAY outside the box and probably also our comfort zone at the time. It meant that church might not look a lot like the church we once new. And it certainly meant that our ministry path would not take any of the traditional routes. And in the end we met more lost people than we ever had inside the box. So why would we ever get back in?

Every church says that it wants to reach lost people, but what does that mean? I think it means that they want the excitement that new people bring. I think it means that they don’t want their church to grow old and literally die. But I think very few churches are really open to the changes that might be necessary to make that happen. I think some churches think they’re open to those changes. But I don’t think they really even know what those changes are. Again, it’s more than just a new door man, or a new “blended worship service” (which is a really….weird word to use in that context), or a pool table downstairs in the basement. And it means more than just hiring a new youth minister who will “go out and get those kids” and then somehow, in defiance of sociology, psychology, relevance, and possibly even the gospel itself, talk those kids into wanting to attend a weird concert and short (or sometimes really long) lecture every Sunday morning.

A number of years ago I was serving in a church that will, for the purposes of this post, be known as Church X. I was really struggling. It was a very traditional church that had all but lost its young people. Unbeknownst to me, I had been hired to reverse the trend. The trend was that the church was now out of touch and hadn’t successfully and meaningfully discipled anybody in years. So even the adults who had managed to stay were of no help and, in their current state, and as harsh as it is to say, were also of no use. Again, I was really struggling.

Finally one day, after the pastor and I had had it out, he stepped into my office and suggested that maybe I wasn’t doing my job. That maybe I hadn’t accomplished what I had been hired to do. And before I could even think about what I was saying, I blurted out; “Of course I’ve not done my job! You’re asking me to perform miracles here! You’re asking me to fix two decades of total failure on your part!”

It was an awkward moment. As soon as I said it, I thought “Oh no! What did I just say!” It was like referring to the huge pink elephant in the room that everybody had worked so hard to ignore. But instead of giving me a verbal bashing, he just stood there, looked at me, blinked, and after a minute, finally suggested that we had to figure out a way to get along.

If you can look over the course of your life and pinpoint turning points, those two minutes were a turning point for me. After he left, I sat down at my desk and realized that, as crazy as it might have been to say what I’d said, what I’d said was true. And it was true for a lot of guys. And it was going to be true for a while.

We now live in a day and age when churches hire professionals to do the foot washing. And after years of complete and utter failure on the church’s part to disciple, be relevant, and to evangelize, they go out and hire twenty years olds to fix things. And when those twenty year olds suggest something as crazy as, say, an after game dance in the fellowship hall, the pastor/deacons sit down with him to discuss how he might model his youth ministry and own personal style on the adult congregation’s model and style…which had been doing so poorly that they had to go out and hire a “professional” to help them fix it.

What do churches really want?

What they want is for their methodology to work. They want to be able to somehow appease the older people in the congregation, and for that same methodology to be relevant to the needs of youth and young families. They want to turn back time. But they can’t. So what in the world are they going to do?

Again, what in the world are they going to do???

ever faithful

2008-08-04T13:15:00.002+01:00

So it has been a while and much has taken place since the last time I wrote.

Among other things, I just spent two weeks leading worship in France. It was a solid two weeks where we got to sit under some fabulous teaching and where I also got to introduce three original songs that went over very well. I’m currently in the process of trying to lay down some very rough tracks. Some interest has been expressed so we’ll see where that goes.

In other news, and after two years of waiting and searching, our divisional leadership has decided that, in one year’s time, I should leave my local ministry and take on the divisional leadership role full time. At the moment we are praying through the situation and asking God to provide us with direction and would truly appreciate your prayers as well. It would obviously mean a huge change for us, both in calling and in heart.

In even more news, I’m currently working on an essay entitled “The Disneyfication of the Church”. My head is about to explode.

In some ways, very uncertain times lay ahead of us. We have no idea where we’ll be this time next year. In other ways God has been reminding me of my history with Him. Throughout the life of the Israelites, there seemed to be this never ending pattern. God provides/raises them up, they are really thankful for a while but eventually begin to grumble and wonder where God is. Though God always sends somebody to remind them of their history (the prophets), He also allows them to succumb to their own lack of faith. And then the cycle begins again. I have a similar history where God provides and specifically directs me but where I also, when the times feel uncertain, find myself asking where God is in all of this. It’s a weak area of my life and the enemy knows it. With that in mind I’ve just started reading the Old Testament, starting with Genesis (in case that wasn’t obvious), with the goal of reminding myself of the history of God and his people and the specific history of God and myself.

God has always been faithful to provide and direct in His own perfect timing. I have not always been so faithful at trusting him and learning the lessons that He’s asked me to learn. I hope to break that cycle this time around.

Incidentally, below are the lyrics to the most popular song of the past two weeks. I actually wrote it several months ago. Little did I know how perfect the message would be for me several months later. Hopefully I’ll be able to post the tune soon. I've still not decided on a title. For the past few weeks it has been known as I Know but I've never really liked that. Suggestions are always welcome!

(verse 1)
I know a Spirit that lives in my soul
I know a God who’s wherever I go
I know a Saviour whose blood covers me

I know a fount that makes dirt white as snow
I know forgiveness like I’ve never known
I know redemption that changes my heart and my soul

(bridge 1)
And I know a faithfulness that never ends
A God so devoted he loved me while still in my sin

(verse 2)
I know a promise to never let go
No matter the storms or the trials or how hard the wind blows
I’m deep in His hold

And I’ll hold to these things no matter what may
I’ll hold to these things for all of my days
Hold to the promise that one day my soul He will raise

(bridge 2)
And I’ll love the One who first came to me
And offered His life so that I might go free!

(chorus)
All of my days
I’ll sing your praise
My hands I will raise
For I am amazed
The extent of your grace
Causes me to embrace
And sing out your praise
All of my days

(verse 3)
I know a healer whose breath gives me life
Who binds up my wounds and gives sight to the blind
Whose death changes hearts and whose life changes minds

And I serve a God with a purpose for me
A plan that I might prosper and I might be free
So I stand and believe

(bridge 3)
Believe in the One who breathed life into me
Life not just here on this earth but eternally

God bless and thanks for the prayers!

when it's time to change you've got to rearrange!

2008-05-30T16:06:00.002+01:00

Hello dear friends,

It’s been a while. Since my last post, another friend died of alcohol poisoning (he was one day older than me) and my grandmother died of cancer. I’m actually in the States this week attending her funeral and visiting with family. It’s been a tough month.

It’s always strange to come back to the place where I was born. I moved to Oklahoma when I was ten years old, but until that time I lived in the Northern panhandle of West Virginia, about 45 minutes outside of Pittsburgh. To come back here is to visit a place that America’s government forgot. About thirty years ago America’s government began selling these people out to China. Their steel mills began shutting down and, after building their entire economies around the steel industry, they were left with little to fall back on. Many of them fell back on alcohol. Today they seem to be falling back on what they call “café’s” which are nothing more than a poor man’s casino. It’s heartbreaking to see.

I went to visit the local Salvation Army church in this town but it has been recently closed. I pose the question again: how does the Salvation Army become irrelevant in a poor community? How long will we maintain our motto of “full steam ahead” while pieces of our ship lay broken off and floating behind us? If serious changes aren’t needed in our church, then what is? Are we waiting for the world to change? That’s a terrible strategy. Heaven forbid we maintain the same goals but change the methods we use in which to reach those goals.

I maintain my belief that reaching a lost community isn’t hard. The hard part is talking Christians into doing it.

On a brighter note, Jamie and I have just received word that the Salvation Army intends to continue funding our ministry in North London. We’ve not received the details yet, but we’ve been greatly encouraged by the correspondence and meetings we’ve had lately. It seems that God is doing a work among the immigrant population (in particular) of our neighbourhood, and the Army is keen to continue being a part of that. Your prayers continue to be appreciated though as church planting is expensive and can be extremely lonely at times.

God bless

i miss the way

2008-04-24T12:34:00.001+01:00

Well, several of you have been expecting me to write about my road trip by now. Unfortunately I came home to a full plate of work, including an essay on contextualization that is due rather quickly. With that in mind, my days have been taken writing for other causes.

That said, I’ve had a lot on my mind over the past few days, nothing more so than the suicide and apparent loss of reality’s grip on an old and dear friend of mine. Many of you will know of whom I speak.

Ken, along with his family, was somebody that I loved very much. I dug out an old photo today of he and I wearing grass skirts and coconut bras for a youth event we did together about fifteen years ago. Ken helped me work out the details of a car purchase my wife and I made about ten years ago. I spent many a nights in his police cruiser, and many a nights in the company of his children and lovely wife Maya.

I remember when Ken went to prison for the first time. I remember visiting him in jail, after his first night, and seeing the hopelessness and despair in his eyes. In his latest mug shot I could see that same despair, only more so. It brought me back to that place. It’s been a heart breaking place to visit. As always, it’s even harder to deal with 3000 miles away.

How do you get to the place where Ken was? The easy answer is that it is a series of choices: a series of compromises. And I suppose that that is true. Still, that’s not a good enough answer.

Mind you, this is, by no means, a sermon or even a full take on the matter. This is me very much trying to work it out in my own head. But there was always a desperateness just below Ken’s surface. I could never quite put my finger on it, but it was often manifested through Ken’s desire to find some way in which to get rich quick. He always seemed to have some little deal in the works. Many, many times those deals went bad. After his first fraud case came to light, several past stories and events began to fall into place for me and I began to understand them more clearly. Ken was desperate and, I say with all love and respect, but also in the interest of learning the lesson that he apparently never learned; monetary wealth, in particular, was his seductress. It was an evil demon that he chose to worship alongside his maker. So, even as he bowed before the cross, to his right there was always the seductress.

Times like these always make you reflect. At least they do me. And I’ve been wondering two things since Ken’s suicide; (1) I continue to make my own series of choices that clearly can be headed in only one direction. How many choices away am I from finding myself in a deep load of trouble? What is my seductress? And how does one rid himself of that seductress? (2) It’s easy to read a story like Ken’s and, if you don’t have a personal connection, fold your newspaper up and go on with your life in the knowledge that there are very bad people out there. But behind every horrific story like this one, there is a life, a soul, and a home full of friends and family who are now left to try and find a way to go on. Ken’s solution was suicide, but this is not always the case. Our prisons are full of people who have just made very bad choices, often due to circumstances way beyond their control (though that was not the case here), who are now left to deal with what society is very willing to chalk off as a throwaway life. But certainly there are lives, much like Ken’s was, that are not throwaway lives. And surely those lives are worth saving? But, and to put it mildly, that is not what our prison systems are doing. And what about those who are left to pick up the pieces of somebody else’s decision?

Ken and Maya were long time members of my childhood church. And though they have not attended that church in quite sometime, I hope that those from that church that read this blog will make a strong and very concerted effort to reach out to Maya and Morgan. Can you imagine what they must be going through right now and can you imagine the difference just five people from a past church family could do if they decided to take care of her (emotionally, spiritually, physically) over the next year or so. We should be bringing them meals. We should be driving out to pray with them several times a week. We should be pouring out love and support on them at this time. I’m heart broken that I’m not there to do it myself. I hope that several of you will hug them for me.

they drive only the nicest cars...and four wheelers

2008-04-18T21:26:00.004+01:00

A quick note to say how shocked I've been at the amount of Mercedes, BMW's, and Porsches we've seen on this trip. And every single one of them seemed to be either black or silver. Today I finally made the statement that every fifth car seemed to be either a Mercedes or a BMW. After some discussion, I decided to start tracking them. So, from 11:00 a.m to 12:00 noon, I kept track of every single car that passed us on the highway (Germany). Mind you that I kept the speed between 140 and 160 kl an hour. During that time, the following cars passed us:

10 Audie's
8 BMW's
6 Mercedes
1 Porsche
17 other cars

That means that, in one hour, every 3.5 cars that passed us was either a Mercedes or a BMW. And I promise you that it's been true of the entire trip! Furthermore, over the course of our five our drive today, we were passed by 5 Porsche's (all of them black) which averages out to 1 Porsche an hour (in case you were unclear on that math). That is also a good representation of the entire trip. In Italy, we also must have averaged being passed by 1 Ferrari an hour (which I didn't mind at all!). Mind you, we were only counting the cars that passed us. This does not include the cars we passed!

That said, by far the weirdest automobile we've seen on the trip was the one pictured above which we passed today in Germany on the autobahn. Your eyes do not deceive you! That is a freaking four wheeler!!! Look again and you'll see that he was even in the second lane!!! The guy was actually passing people on that thing!!!

from florence with love...

2008-04-14T15:56:00.002+01:00

I'm sitting in an internet cafe, somewhere in Florence. We've had mostly rain on our trip, but the views have been unbelievable none the less. This photo was taken about two hours ago in a park overlooking Florence.

We had a bit of an eventful trip getting here which had us taking a three hour detour through the Swiss Alps (totally worth it!). I'll, of course, give a complete overview when I get back. For now it's been an amazing trip, we're loving Itally, and also totally looking forward to the trip home which should also be amazing.

Finally, and as expected, my playlists have been amazing and have also been well recieved. Jamie's wasn't nearly as bad as any of us thought it would be.

Speak soon!

and then God created music

2008-04-06T19:38:00.002+01:00

So tomorrow we head out on our epic European adventure, also known as the Epic Frissanic (France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany) Adventure. We’ll spend four days driving through France, stopping one day in Geneva, and then spend a week in Florence. On the way back we’ll take a four day northern route and hit Switzerland and Germany. Really been looking forward to this for a while and glad it’s finally here.

One of the things Jamie, Becca, and I have been working on are our ultimate road trip playlists. So, without further ado, below are my playlists for the trip.

Playlist 1
Tiny Dancer – Elton John
Peaceful, Easy Feeling – Eagles
Copied Keys – Kathleen Edwards
Devils and Dust – Bruce Springsteen
Easy Silence – Dixie Chicks
Golden Slumbers – Ben Folds
What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye
Long May You Run – Neil Young
Sister Golden Hair – America (oddly, a British band)
Best of My Love – Eagles
Long Ride Home – Patty Griffin
Black Cowboys – Bruce Springsteen (it mentions Oklahoma)
Landslide – Fleetwood Mac
America – Simon & Garfunkel
Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters – Elton John
Come Away With Me – Norah Jones
As Time Goes By – Jimmy Durante

Playlist 2
Next Year – Foo Fighters
Cowboy Take Me Away – Dixie Chicks (slightly embarrassed about that one)
Free Fallin’ – Tom Petty (not up for debate)
Wouldn’t It Be Nice – The Beach Boys
Mrs. Robinson – Simone & Garfunkel
Brighter Than Sunshine – Aqualung
A Long December – Counting Crows
Wanted Dead or Alive – Bon Jovi (yesssssss)
Take It Easy – Eagles
Running On Empty – Jackson Browne
Go Your own Way – Fleetwood Mac
Mandolin Rain – Bruce Hornsby & The Range
Reelin’ In The Years – Steely Dan
Listen to the Music – Doobie Brothers
Papa Loved Mama – Garth Brooks
How to Save a Life – The Fray
Killing Me Softly With His Song – The Fugees

Playlist 3
Keeping Me Alive – The Afters
Copied Keys – Kathleen Edwards
Strange Form of Life – Bonnie *Prince* Billy
To Die in LA – West Indian Girl
Sooner Surrender – Matt Nathanson (one of my favourite albums from last year)
Trouble – Ray LaMontagne
Easy From Now On – Miranda Lambert
Heartbeats – Jose Gonzalez
Streets of London – Ralph McTell
Along the Way – Ashley Parker Angel
Forget About Tomorrow – Feeder
Sprout and the Bean – Joanna Newsom
Let Go – Frou Frou
The Part Where You let Go – Hem
Just Like Heaven – Katie Melua (The Cure cover)
Dead Meat – Sean Lennon (John’s son)
With a Room Somewhere – Sixpense None the Richer (back when they were good)

Playlist 4
A Country/Bluegrass playlist that includes Miranda Lambert, Dixie Chicks, Mindy Smith, Patty Griffin, and Hem.

Playlist 5
An entire playlist of Patty Griffin stuff

Playlist 6
An entire list of Beatles and Beatles covers. The covers are as follows:
I’m Looking Through You – The Wallflowers
Across the Universe – Jim Sturgess
Golden Slumbers – Ben Folds
The Long and Winding Road – Phil Driscoll
Hard Day’s Night – Rene Marie (great jazz cover)
Two of Us – Aimee Mann & Michael Penn
Strawberry Field Forever – Joe Anderson
Eleanor Rigby – Julia Macklin
Blackbird – Sarah McLachlan
Hey Jude – Joe Anderson
You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away – Eddie Vedder
Norwegian Wood – Mia Doi Todd
Across the Universe – Rufus Wainright

Playlist 7
An entire playlist of Eagles stuff

Playlist 8
All 80’s stuff

Should be a great trip!

Now I can only hope that my wife’s playlist is not made up entirely of selections from Amy Grant and the Grease Soundtrack. : (

what did we really accomplish?

2008-03-29T01:13:00.000Z

In 1989 I was listening to Al Denson. Denson was part of a new worship movement targeted towards teenagers, that was very much bringing a new excitement and spirit to worship for those of us who were tired of the same old hum drum arrangements that had been targeted towards our Great, Great, Great Grandparents (or before) but that had surprisingly fallen out of fashion by the 1980’s. It was both an exciting and frustrating time. Exciting because worship was suddenly interesting to me. Frustrating because of all the flack we had to put up with from people who were convinced that, if we weren’t worshipping God their way, we were, in fact, worshipping the devil. An argument that was (and still is) mind numbingly short on scriptural support, and based on the theology of pharisaic and Roman teaching, rather than the words of David, or Paul or, for that matter, Jesus.

Following Denson were a whole host of guys, mostly playing keyboard, many local to the Bible belt, and all wearing vests with buttons (also called flair, for those of you in the know). I have to admit to being quite taken by these guys. They brought something fresh to church, even if many of them weren’t particularly great musicians (I once spoke to a popular worship leader of the day who told me that he technically only knew how to play his keyboard in the key of C, but had a button on board that would automatically transpose it to other keys). In fact, I wanted to be just like them.

Church in those days was completely out of touch with my generation. Truth is, the church had been out of touch for several generations, mine was just the first to come up with a solution that didn’t involve leaving the mainstream church or church altogether. We naively thought that there’d be no problem in getting our parents to adopt this new form of worship. After all, it was moving, and wasn’t that what we should all be looking for in worship? To say the least, we were wrong. In fact, to this day there’s a war raging across the western world about styles of music appropriate to a worship service. Church’s have split over it, fired staff members, started up new congregations and/or services for those who like “choruses”, and have truly allowed it to become a real dividing point in the church. Many have pointed to it as the seed of a new era in the church. I have to admit to being one of those voices in the past.

We gave many reasons for trying to usher in a new sound during the worship service, but they all seemed to boil down to one thing; church simply wasn’t relevant anymore. We believed that bringing in “contemporary” music would make church relevant again and would, without a doubt, bring in new people.

It’s fascinating to look back on that time in my own life. I fought that battle fiercely. In fact, I first learned to lead worship on the keyboard (minus the vest and flair, I’m sorry to say) and then eventually switched over to the guitar (anybody found playing a keyboard in the 90’s was shot and killed, his vest hung in the youth room as an example of what would happen to you if you did not stay relevant). I led worship in churches, and for retreats and camps, believing that if Christians would adopt this new style of worship in their church, people would once again begin attending. For a period of time, we were partly right in that belief. Church’s that adopted the new worship style did succeed, for a while, in keeping their own young people around. They also managed to attract young people from other churches who were looking for something fresh. No doubt, those that didn’t take on the new style were seen as completely out of touch, irrelevant, and soon found themselves struggling to pay the bills (even many of the old established mega churches across the U.S. today resemble a religious form of global warming; if you’re not paying attention, they actually look pretty healthy. But with no young people coming in, death is in sight.) The problem was that we still weren’t really attracting any lost people through the movement. True, church was more interesting to me, but lost people never go away from church talking about “how great the band was”. Fact is, even the best worship bands are cheap knock offs of U2, and we all knew it.

Today we’re beginning to see the true results of our efforts. We managed to suck the young people out of the churches that weren’t interested in change, and send them all across town to the church that was, only to see them drift away from church all together, once they realized that there really wasn’t much substance behind the music. In fact, many began to realize that it was the music they were worshipping (and once again, if you’re going to worship a band, better make it a good one). So they left.

Twenty years later and, for many, that battle still rages on. I still get asked to lead worship and from time to time, I take the opportunity to do so. But my passion and fervour have changed. Worship music no longer represents church for me. In fact, there are times when I have to turn down opportunities simply because I just can’t stomach being on stage, singing songs that failed to do what we all swore they would do. I sometimes find myself looking out into an audience and thinking, “What the heck is this? And why are we all standing around singing, with these enlightened looks on our faces, when all the lost people are outside?”

Today I’m beginning to gain a new (and I hope, finally, a genuine) understanding of what church is supposed to be about, what it looks like to have an authentic faith, and what it looks like when there’s substance behind our worship. There’s a growing movement of people who don’t care about the music anymore. Standing in a circle and singing a few songs A cappella is just fine, because the music really isn’t the point. For them, church is about the fellowship and the mission. And it isn’t that worship isn’t important to them, they’ve just discovered that music only speaks of their worship, rather than representing it. For them, worshipping through their lifestyle is a form of worship with a whole lot more substance behind it than any music could ever bring.

I went through a period of years that I’m just now coming out of, where I began to search for new ways of leading worship. The few I found always involved the arts; draw a picture of your relationship with God. Drop a stone in this bucket of water and imagine your sins being washed away. Use this pen and stationary to write a letter to Jesus. Imagine the static on this television as your life and then ask God to bring you some clarity. But none of those ideas brought anymore authenticity to my worship leading.

I believe that music speaks to the soul, for most people. It certainly does mine. I can recognize God in all forms of music, secular or religious, worded or wordless. But as far as my relationship with God goes, music can do no more than describe what is or what is not going on. Again, music, in and of itself, is not what’s going on, it can only describe what is or what is not going on. So if all I’m doing is showing up and singing, and that’s what it means for me to “worship” or “do church”, there’s really nothing to the song. It’s an empty shell. It would be like having a bag full of walnut shells that, once opened, had no walnut inside. Nice shells, but who really cares?

It reminds me a lot of the churches in the 90’s who tried starting coffee houses in their fellowship halls (incidentally, I still see churches trying to do this!). They honestly believed that if they put in a stage and a few coffee pots, and got people from their church to sing acoustic songs, outsiders would actually want to hang out there and drink coffee. They missed the whole point and spirit of the coffee house.

And the same thing goes with today’s church start ups who seem to be justifying their existence based solely on their music. The ministry isn’t any more authentic, the fellowship isn’t any sweeter (except that there’s less fighting about the music), there aren’t any more lost people coming through the doors (though a few lost Christians are coming back for a while), and the new church really isn’t affecting change in the community anymore than the old church was. Fact is, visit on a Sunday morning and you’ll still see a pretty traditional church service; music and preaching.

When I was living in Pittsburgh my wife met a man around our age at a bookstore who was starting a church. They got to talking and, next thing we knew, we were being invited to the very first service of this new church. They were meeting in the basement of a hotel and, upon walking through the doors, I was amazed at how many people were already there. There must have been 150 people in the room! However, three minutes into the music portion of the service, and one thing became abundantly clear; everybody in that room was a Christian. They all knew the songs and were singing them like Pink Floyd had gotten back together. But that wasn’t the worst of it. The worst of it came when the guy got up to preach. Using power point, the man showed us his resume in an attempt to assure us that he was more than up for the task. His resume basically consisted of him having been a youth minister, having spent a couple of years as a youth evangelist, and having led a mission trip once. That took twelve minutes (which was seven minutes too long) at which point he got an awkward look on his face and announced that we should all worship again (he was the lead singer of the band, incidentally)! Jamie and I didn’t stay for the rest of it. After having been a part of several church plants ourselves, we knew right away that there simply wasn’t anything of substance behind this new start up.

My prayer is that we get our act together. Is it possible that we simply don’t understand the point of church these days? Have symbols, meant to represent something of great significance, become hollow shells? I know in my own denomination that we’re often guilty of actually wearing garments, meant to represent our commitment to God and those in need, but only worn to worship in. The meaning behind those garments seems to have been completely lost. We’re no more involved in social action than any of the rest of the church. So what’s the point of the garment?

I suppose it’s too much too hope for, but my prayer is that my daughter’s generation will be able to see beyond the symbols and methods. That they’ll be like nomadic congregations, happily moving from one method and symbol to another, understanding that the point is sustenance, not where you lay your head. That the mission gets priority.

I pray that young men will stop starting churches where one of the first questions asked is; where can we get a good sound system for not much money?

And I pray that my generation will see the irony in the excuses we’ve used to leave old churches and start new ones, and will also see the irony in the methods we’ve leaned so heavily on to start those new churches. Sometimes when I stand in front of a congregation of young worshippers, I find myself thinking; same act, different song.

No doubt, churches that were unwilling to bend on the worship topic signed their own death certificates. And rightly so. They proved themselves to be irrelevant even to the culture around them. They were focused on the methods rather than the mission. But I truly believe that, as relevant as we might have been to the surrounding culture, we were just as irrelevant as our parent churches to the needs of our communities. And I think that we were focussed much more on the methods than any of us would like to admit.

We truly were the same act with a different song. And these days, neither our act nor our song is as good as U2’s.

the problem and its solution

2008-03-24T15:13:00.000Z

highlights and lowlights

2008-03-23T16:26:00.002Z

Well, it’s been over a month since my last post. A lot has happened over that time. The following are some highlights and lowlights:

I was thinking the other day…actually, I do think every day, but on this particular day I was thinking the following; If you were having a reunion of all your high school friends (whether friends from high school, or church), and you could bring in any band you wanted (money and location were no object), who would it be? After giving it some thought, I actually decided that it was a really great question. Genius in fact. And so I open it up to the general public. Would love to hear your responses and also the reasoning behind them. As for me, I’m actually going to go with Genesis. Genesis is nowhere near my favourite band but, when it comes to the 80’s, they rank right up there with some of the most hits of any band. They’re also listener friendly meaning that I don’t really know anybody who wasn’t into them, at least somewhat in the 80’s. I think they’d be a good generic band that would cross all the different personalities represented among my friends.

I read last week that the ultimate sign of fitness is in how many push ups you can do. Apparently there is no other form of exercise that tests out so many different areas of your body. A man my age should be able to do at least 29 push ups properly. I can’t. I’m working on it.

A Canadian colleague of mine became so enraged over my “Oh Canada” post that I was actually reported to the higher ups! I’m not kidding. It actually took several phone calls to convince my own supervisor that it was all tongue in cheek and written specifically to take a jab at my plethora of Canadian friends. Sheesh. I love the internet, but I keep forgetting that sarcasm doesn’t translate very easily in the written word.

For decades it’s been cool…no, downright SHEIK to be a fan of the lovable loser, i.e. the Cubs or Redsox. My question is this; when does it become cool to be a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates? They’ve completely sucked for nearly fifteen years with absolutely no hope of getting better on the horizon. Am I cool or what?

I’ve never wanted to see the U.S. boycott an Olympics more than I do right now. Throw the UK in there too. The truth is that China should have never been granted the Olympics. I don’t know what the Olympic committee was thinking. And, for those not paying attention, it isn’t just about Tibet. China is notorious for human rights violations. Tibet just happens to be the one group of people, whose rights China violates, that they can’t keep quiet. Honestly, we’ve invaded countries for much less than China is getting away with. Have some courage politicians. Step up, do the right thing, and send a message, not only to China, but to the committee who thought it was ok to send the Olympics to China.

Today, while visiting one of our churches in London, a car alarm went off outside. It went off forever. It was as if the world was announcing the fact that they were, in fact, outside, and challenging us to get out of our bubble and to come out where they were. We tried to pray through it, but were absolutely distracted. As always, those doses of reality always make a church service seem a little more real to me.

The countdown has begun to what my household is referring to as the Epic Fritssanic Adventure. “Fritssanic stands for France, Italy, Swittzerland, and Germany. In two weeks we leave for a European road trip which will have us taking a train from London to Dover, a ferry from Dover to Calais, and then a car from Calais to Florence. On the way there we’ll drive across France, making a two day stop in Geneva, and then finally arriving in Florence, Italy where we’ll spend a week taking in sights like Venice, Pompeii and, of course, Florence. On the way back we’ll take a Northern route which will take us through Switzerland and Germany. I don’t know what I’m most excited about, the time off, eating Italian food for a week, seeing Switzerland and Germany, or simply the opportunity to drive. I desperately miss driving.

I guess that’s about it for now. I’ve actually been writing these random thoughts out over the course of this weekend. I just sat down to finish this up and ran across another story of Tibet and the Chinese crackdown. What a bunch of evil bullies.

canadian rage 2

2008-02-24T12:07:00.002Z

Update.

Less than 24 hours after writing my “Canadian Rage” post, the screen on my laptop was shattered. It’s going to cost me £100 to replace! Apparently God is a Canadian too! And He has Canadian rage!!! Who knew???

That said, I went and saw Rambo 4 last night and I’m pretty sure he could take Canada all by himself!

oh canada...sigh

2008-02-22T14:36:00.004Z

I never thought much about Canada. To me, Canada was nothing more than that country north of the U.S. which spoke a strange form of English and, apparently, had eccentric outsiders as its citizens. I never thought about it, that is, until I started working at a Camp in Pennsylvania that hired international staff every year. It was then that I first encountered the Canadian rage.

The Canadian rage is what happens when a Canadian feels slighted by the United States or one of its citizens. Imagine how Eli Manning feels trying to measure up to Peyton, and you’ll have some idea of the frustration and bitterness that Canadians carry around in their hearts on a daily basis. Even the British have recognized it. In fact, the British (and its many immigrants) are so aware of it that, upon hearing a North American accent, they’ll first ask if that accent is Canadian. They’ve learned the lesson that Americans don’t mind being called Canadians, but that Canadians will fly into a Canadian rage if they’re called Americans. Which brings up another point Canadians like to make; they’re Americans too. After all, Canada is in North America. Now here’s the thing; I won’t dispute their geography. In fact, I’ve long thought the same thing. The problem is, abroad, Canadians are known as Canadians, and U.S. citizens are known as Americans. I spent two years telling people in the UK that I was from the U.S. or the States, but nobody ever knew what I was talking about. It was only when I said “I’m from America” that people understood. Still, they keep asking me if I’m Canadian. I just give them a knowing smile and say, “American”.

With that in mind, it came as no surprise when, upon checking out the leader board for Hasbro’s “Monopoly Here and Now: World Edition”, that I noticed that Canada had two cities in the top twenty. Hard to believe, you say? Not when you account for the Canadian rage. In fact, go to Google, type in “vote on Monopoly” and some of the first links you’ll come to are links to a network of Canadian blogs, rallying the “troops” (a term we have to use very lightly, since we’re talking about Canada) to go to the site and vote for Canadian cities. Think about it; they contribute nothing to the global economy. Don’t have a single professional sports league that is recognized globally. Offer nothing in the way of protection or aid to developing countries. And don’t have a single textile or agricultural product that can’t be found in several other dozen countries across the planet. Even their flag tells the story. Most flags have colors, stripes, or other symbols which tell the story and significance of the country in which it represents. Canada’s flag has a maple leaf on it…which represents all the maple trees in Canada.

Fact is, Canada is the one country in the world that could sink into the ocean tomorrow and not impact the world in the slightest. We wouldn’t miss them at all. Probably wouldn’t even notice they were gone until Autumn came around and we all started having to order our syrup from New England instead of Canada. And yet they’ve managed to get two cities onto the international Monopoly board? With all of the above noted, I guess it’s safe to assume that Canadians have nothing better to do than sit around all day, voting for their cities on Monopoly’s website.

As I said, I never thought much about Canada until I started having to work with Canadians and had to spend six days a week, for six straight weeks, hearing them wine about America and watching them hang up their flags on “Canada Day” (apparently the day they all get together and thank the United States for winning them their freedom). So my hat is off to you Canada and I send you this note of encouragement; If nothing else, fifty years from now our grandchildren will be able to point to Toronto on an international Monopoly board and say, “What’s that?” It’s then that we’ll turn to our grandchildren and tell them the story of Canada, that other country that sank into the sea.

Incidentally, though Oklahoma City has not made the top twenty, I can at least revel in the fact that no city from the State of Texas has either! Freaking arrogant, know it all, red neck, big mouthed, waste of a state!

Vote for Oklahoma City HERE. : )

ashley simpson disease

2008-02-22T08:15:00.003Z

My appointment was for 3:40, but I had already been waiting in the doctor’s office for an hour and a half. To be fair, I had showed up half an hour early out of fear of being late. Still, it was 4:40 and I wasn’t too impressed.

I had been dealing with throat problems since returning from the United States. I absolutely could not shake them. I had had sore throats before, but this time was different. I could not sing more than five notes without become horse, could not speak up at all without the same result, and my throat became tired after just a few minutes of conversation. I had visited the doctor twice already and had taken several different medical concoctions (including a few I had found online that involved gargling with salt water and several other ingrediences, like Tabasco sauce). At one point I felt as if I had been punched in the throat. I could not sleep at night, could not swallow without flinching, and was beginning to worry that I might lose my voice permanently. Then, upon my third visit to the doctor, I was asked if I had any history of “illness” in my family. I thought for a moment and said, “only heart disease” to which he replied, “what about cancer?” And so I was set up with a specialist. Within a week, I was sitting in the lobby of the specialist’s office.

And so there I sat, in a hospital in North London, waiting to get in to see the doctor. At 4:40 I finally went up to the attendant to make sure that I had not been forgotten about. I hadn’t, but ten minutes later I was sitting in a chair, answering questions, and having something sprayed up my nose. Then I was sitting back out in the lobby again, waiting for the spray to numb my throat.

I began to look around me. Talk about diversity. Not only were there people of all different races, but ages and mental capacity too. There were several parents there with their children. And then there was this lady in the back. She was clearly crazy. She kept laughing hysterically. At what? Nothing in particular. She was just crazy. I continued to look around. There were people of all nationalities represented in that room. People of all different financial backgrounds as well. I sat there, taking it all in. And then it hit me; the reason I had to wait was because here, everybody has access to medical help, not just those of us who are fortunate and/or educated enough to have the kind of job that provides health coverage. Here, working at McDonalds, Asda (Walmart) or a petrol (gas) station doesn’t mean that you’re out of luck if you come down with health problems. Here, everybody gets to go. I was waiting because everybody gets to go.

Since the early 90’s, when Bill Clinton first became President of the U.S., I’ve heard a lot of debate about national health care. Socialized medicine is the term we conservatives like to use. It makes it almost sound ungodly since, as we all know, God hates socialism (though the New Testament church seems to have revelled in it). I’ve also heard a lot of horror stories concerning national health care. Now, to be fair, the UK certainly hasn’t perfected national health care. For one thing, you still have to pay to go to the dentist’s office or to get glasses. But for all the horror stories I’ve heard about national health care, I’ve heard at least that many about HMO’s. And honestly, who hasn’t waited on a doctor before? And for the record, I rarely wait to see my local doctor. He’s usually right on time.

I share all of this because, no doubt, national health care will be one of the strikes against whoever wins the Democratic nomination. But, when those debates do start up, consider why you’ll have to wait an extra half hour to see your doctor; because everybody gets to go. Not just you.

After another half hour, waiting for my throat to numb, I was finally ushered back into the torture chamber where a long tube with a camera on the end was sent, roto rooter style, up through my nose, and down my throat. After a few uncomfortable minutes of looking around, the doctor pulled the tube out of my throat and informed me that I had laryngitis caused by acid reflux…the same “disease” that Ashley Simpson claimed to have had. I just looked at the guy. “Are you sure?”, I said, thinking that I couldn’t possibly go back and tell my friends that I had Ashley Simplson disease. But apparently it’s true. I’m now taking capsules that I can quite literally smell coming out through my pores, and also steroids that I have to spray into my nose. Guess my professional sports career is finally over (though I’m still considering The Tour De France).

In all, I got in about an hour and a half after I was supposed to. Was it worth it? Yes. In fact, if it means that everybody gets to go, I’ll bring my ipod and a couple of magazines and wait a few more hours if it will help. Join me?

(Incidentally, and after watching several of the debates, it appears that Hillary’s hope is to change the U.S. health system completely, replacing it with nationalized medicine. Obama, on the other hand, hopes to simply add to the already existing health system by providing health vouchers for those under a certain income that would allow them to access doctors/medicine as well. I have to believe, in either case, that they’ll learn from the mistakes of countries like the UK and Canada, and come up with an even better national health system. One easy way will be to digitize health records, something that will initially cost a lot of money, but which will save a lot of money in the long run and also make it easier for those in communities, where hospitals are being shut down, to seek medical help in another part of town.)

fair trade me please

2008-02-20T12:12:00.002Z

I’m not sure how familiar you are with the Fair Trade label. Before coming to the UK, I wasn’t very familiar with it at all. But, as I have several American friends who buy fair trade across the U.S., I do know that it exists and that it is possible to support fair trade in the States.

The fair trade industry basically exists to point out the areas in which developed countries are ripping developing countries off. As if developing countries didn’t have it bad enough, when they finally do get their act together and start growing (in particular) agriculture, too often developed countries come in and buy it for only pennies on the dollar. The most notable products which get sold unfairly are coffee, cocoa (anything made of chocolate), sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine, fresh fruit, and handicrafts. Like so much of what we buy in the West, if it seems too cheap too be true, you can bet that somebody is being treated like a slave on the other end (ala anything that comes from China, like children’s toys). However, all of these products can actually be purchased fairly, you've just got to look for the label, or ask your local store for it if they don't have it.

I make mention of this now because this week and next have been designated as Fair Trade weeks with the goal of not only buying fair trade when possible, but also to maybe point out the areas where it is not, but should be. One easy way to address this is to make sure that we purchase fair trade chocolate for our children’s Easter baskets. I’m being more and more convicted over the idea of not celebrating religious holidays or anything involving my children by purchasing things that lead to poverty for somebody else. When I do I fear that I am laying on my child’s shoulders a heritage of injustice.

In addition to making the effort to shop fairly over the next two weeks, HERE is a link to the above sign that you can print off and tape to candy machines, coffee cans (at your work…or church), tea cans, the front of a Walmart/Asda store, etc., to point out when somebody is about to consume something that has impoverished somebody else. It’s a small effort that can help make people aware and hopefully reap big rewards someday.

Incidentally, Lucy over at Attempting Abandonment reminded me of this. Her entire blog is dedicated to getting Christians and the church involved in social justice and I really appreciate the things she writes. She also has several great links over in the right hand column of her blog. I've just added a new one to my right hand column that was stolen from hers. Thanks Lucy!

a foreskin's lament

2008-02-13T15:39:00.001Z

by Shalom Auslander

paying it forward, also called "the gospel"

2008-02-12T13:42:00.000Z

As a believer that the Gospel is a plan, put into motion by God, not only to answer the question of eternity, but also to solve the social evils that plague us now, I found the film Pay It Forward particularly poignant and can’t help but believe that it was a great tool that the church totally missed.

We’re discussing it tonight at Streetwise as an introduction to the Gospel.

friends who know your history

2008-02-06T01:54:00.000Z

This evening we held our first overtly Christian youth meeting. It was actually a combination dinner/small group time where I presented a video clip, shared a 2 minute thought on the Christian tradition of the Good Samaritan, and then gave them some questions to discuss at their table. It went surprisingly well and all of our young people, including those of other faiths, got very involved in the discussions and it all seemed to go very positively.

One story I’ll pause to tell is that, after the evening was over and we were shuffling kids out the door, one of our girls stopped to look at one of our human trafficking posters. She stopped and stared at it for what seemed like an eternity. I was both touched and excited at the same time. My first thought was, “Wow! I didn’t think anybody even paid attention to those posters!” My second thought was that of sheer joy at the thought that one of our young people might be concerned and interested in the subject. Then suddenly she pointed at one of the young girls in the picture and said, “that’s how I wanted my hair to be done.” Sigh. Guess we can’t win every battle in one night.

Though the evening exceeded our expectations, I have to admit that it was slightly anti-climactic for Jamie and I. After four long years of building bridges of trust throughout our community, those who had battled alongside us for all those years weren’t around to see the culmination of all that work (Mel). Most of our volunteers over the past few years have been youth ministry students and, as we’re working with no money, none of them have ever been able to stay on once their studies were over. All of our current volunteers except one have been with us for one year or less. For them tonight was great, but they know too little of our history to understand the true significance of tonight’s success.

Which brings me to the topic of this post.

My wife has a saying that she often turns to when down or homesick; sometimes it’s nice to be around friends who know your history.

Moving around as much as we have, we’ve experienced this desire on lots of occasions. A couple of our friends are experiencing that now as they go through a tough time with their church.

I’ve known Brad since I was a senior in high school. I girl I was dating at the time introduced us. Actually, she spent several months talking about this “great guy” she went to school with. In fact, by the time I actually met Brad, I just wanted to punch him in the neck. But I eventually broke up with the girl and Brad and I remained friends. Eventually we became very close friends and spent a couple of years travelling and leading retreats and workshops for young people around Oklahoma and Texas.

One retreat in particular comes to mind. We’d had a long day of teaching and leading worship and found ourselves in the room we were sharing for the night. I contest that, because I was the first to actually get into my bed, Brad was responsible for turning the light out. Brad contests that, because my bed was actually closest to the switch, I was responsible for turning the light out. We discussed it for a few minutes, then debated it. After about five minutes we decided that this was definitely one of those battles worth fighting and, determined to stand our ground, both rolled over and attempted to sleep…with the light on.

I don’t know what time it was, but at some point in the wee hours of the morning, I grabbed a shoe that was next to my bed, and threw it at the light switch in an attempt to turn it off…WITHOUT leaving my bed! This, in turn, woke Brad up who, without saying a word or looking in my direction, got out of bed and turned out the light. Lesson learned Brad; Tim is more stubborn than you are. I can play this freaking game all night!

That’s a dumb story and we were both pathetic for even going through it. But, by next morning, we were back to our old selves, brothers in arms, and never again spoke a word about it. It’s good to have friends who not only know your history, but whom you can fight with and still remain brothers. I miss he and his wife dearly.

When we got to Uni, Brad actually went off and spent a year with the military to earn money towards college. When he got back he married his high school sweetheart and they spent a year having me over for Ramen Noodles. I don’t miss the classes I was taking that year, but I definitely miss those very dear times in Brad and Jenn’s apartment, with their charity shop pictures on the wall.

I’m thinking of several of you tonight. Those who know our history. I think you would have really rejoiced with us tonight. I know that cell groups happen every week in churches across the world, but this first one took us four years of blood, sweat, and tears to get started within the most culturally diverse community I’ve ever experienced in my life. I wish you could have been here to see it. You were dearly missed.

I need a new name to drop

2008-01-25T16:39:00.000Z

This is my lovely friend Mel (wearing a very 80’s dress). I’ve had several friends over the years who have made it into the music “biz” and several others who should have had they only given it a real shot (freaking Shaun). Mel is one of those whom I believe has real talent. She’s got a great voice, her writing continues to improve, and she’s not so ugly.

Recently Mel signed up on a site called My Slice which promotes unknown artists. This week she was informed that her tracks had received high enough scores to qualify her for a £15,000 grant to record an album. The only requirement is that she simply has more votes than the other contestants who have also made it in.

With that in mind, if you could take a minute to sign into slicethepie.com and vote for Mel, your kindness would be greatly appreciated (and I might get a mention in the liner of her album!) All you have to do is:

Register your email with slicethepie.com (or, if you're like me, that email you made up to collect junk email.
Go to the bit along the top that says 'showcases'
Select 'All Genres 2'
Select 'vote'.
Find Mel on the list
Click click click on her!

If there is anything on there that asks you to buy any shares or backstage passes, you don't have to and it will not effect her votes in any way.We’ve only got about three weeks to hype this, so your quick response would be really appreciated (and might get me a mention in the liner notes!) : )

Thanks!

notes on salvation 4

2008-01-24T17:29:00.000Z

Are We Making Disciples or Just Converts?

In Matthew, Jesus closes out his physical time on this planet by exhorting his followers to make disciples of all men. According to Webster’s Dictionary, a disciple is “a person who is a pupil or an adherent of the doctrines of another”. In New Testament times, the Hebrew word for disciple would have been Talmidim, a term that, much like our modern day understanding of disciple, would have defined somebody who, not only understood the teachings or doctrines of his teacher or Rabbi, but a student who would have also had the commitment to, quite literally, live out the doctrines of his Rabbi or, to become like the Rabbi. This would explain Peter’s attempt to walk on water, just as his Rabbi had done. And while it is easy to pick and choose verses, as I have done over these related posts, that would support the idea of social justice being at the very heart and soul of Jesus’ doctrine, I feel confident in saying that an unbiased read through the gospels and the prophets will confirm Jesus’ words and my belief that all of the law and the prophets really do come down to loving God and loving our neighbour.

And so, for me, the idea of “just getting them saved” is a good one as long as it includes a full understanding of what, in my opinion, the gospel was meant to be; not just a moment of personal conversion, but a more encompassing reform of our culture’s morals, i.e. sense of justice, and the church’s theology. I fear, however, that when most of the church uses the phrase “just get them saved”, they are speaking of an understanding of salvation, born out of the great revivals where, like cattle, we herd people through a service, coerce them into repeating a prayer, and send them on their way, “saved” and ready to face eternity. Rather than Paul’s understanding of salvation, that it is a process meant to be worked out, this theology of salvation is much more convenient because it takes all the responsibility of social justice out of our hands and leaves us with only the responsibility of, at most, telling our friends about salvation from hell or, at the very least, inviting them to church so that our pastor can tell them.

In conclusion I believe that, just as Old Testament law was meant to govern social justice into action, so was the full gospel of Jesus. To bring it back to Wesley’s Means of Grace, the night of the last supper was meant to be an analogy of the gospel or The Good News. In one night Jesus summarized the entire gospel plan. However, the evening did not end with the drinking of the wine and the eating of the bread, meant to symbolize Jesus’ redemption of sins, it ended with Jesus washing his disciple’s feet, an act meant to demonstrate how God’s Kingdom on Earth had arrived and was meant to reverse the injustices that so many around the world were experiencing. Without this part of the story, God seems impotent and powerless to do anything in this dimension and outside the realms of a spiritual heaven, somewhere up above the clouds, where the streets are gold.

I also believe that, while their methods may have differed, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, and Barth would have rebuked much of our modern day theology of salvation and clearly encouraged the making of disciples rather than just converts. And for me, the making of disciples, or discipleship, has to include our part in fighting social injustice because without it we are only becoming converts rather than true disciples of Jesus Christ. And though, in the end, all we may ultimately be able to do is throw all of our good deeds at the feet of Christ and admit that we are not fit to wipe off His shoes, it is still our mission, not as converts, but as disciples, to have good deeds to throw.

(the end)

notes on salvation 3

2008-01-22T17:00:00.000Z

We're the plan
In my opinion, one of the tragedies of conservative evangelicalism is that it fiercely defends literalism when it comes to things like the creation story but seems to happily embrace a more figurative definition when it comes to things like Matt. 25:32-46.

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

What does it mean to do good works? For many Christians, their Sunday and even daily rhetoric seems to suggest that the Bible does not exhort us to “do” so much as it exhorts us “not to do”. In other words, “fleeing sin” or even acts of piety are the same as “doing good works”. This sort of religion and theology seem to be in direct opposition to the Bible and to the way that Jesus taught and lived. In fact, when considering this and then reading through the gospels, it becomes apparent that much of the modern day church has taken on an almost identical religion as that of the Pharisees, only different in that we acknowledge Jesus’ divinity. You could say then that we have split from the Pharisees and have developed a reformed Pharisaic doctrine.

Is it acts of piety that God requires?

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:6-8

What does it mean to not sin?

When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if
you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash
and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight!
Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the
oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the
widow. Isaiah 1:15-17

When we read these passages, and the many more like them, we see that we do not worship a God who is impotent or powerless to deal with or change our current circumstances, but a God of social justice who has very much put a plan in motion to oppose the oppressive powers of this earth. As Gary Haugan of the International Justice Mission said concerning God’s plan for fighting social injustice:

“It turns out that once again the answer from scripture is pretty
straightforward, it turns out that: we're the plan."

streetwise

2008-01-21T20:12:00.000Z

Many of you know that my wife and I have planted a ministry in North London and, as part of our ministry, we run after school clubs for young people. Tomorrow we start our first cell group for teenagers. We’re calling it Streetwise. The idea is that we’ll be discussing the wisdom that is needed to make it out of the streets.

First of all, let me say that I hope that’s true. I hope that we actually have the courage to discuss the wisdom that is needed rather than giving the canned answers that adults are supposed to give to young people; like if you’re being bullied, tell a teacher.

That said, we begin tomorrow with The Good Samaritan. In a multi-cultural (ethnic, race, and religion) neighbourhood, we felt like this would be the perfect start. And in a neighbourhood where everybody outside your culture is the enemy, I thought the below video would be a great discussion starter for this topic.

hired guns

2008-01-20T08:40:00.000Z

Last night I got a call from a friend whose church has decided that, as a staff member, he might not have the spiritual gifts that they’ve decided they need for his particular position. Actually, the senior pastor has decided this.

I’m constantly saddened by how much a church turns into a company when, among other things, it comes to their staff. Rather than working with and allowing for growth in the life of a staff member, many churches see their staff as hired guns (and, to be fair…) who were hired to do a job and, if they are unable to do that job in a manner that is acceptable to that particular church, the church has little hesitation in moving on to the next hired gun. To be fair, clergy often see themselves as hired guns. I know I did. So it shouldn’t be surprising that congregations have learned to see them like that as well. Still, there doesn’t seem to be much about our current outlook on the church and clergy that sounds very much like the kind of church that Jesus intended the disciples to plant.

I have to admit that, as a young youth minister, I was terrible at actually becoming a part of the fellowship. I had been mentored by a guy who saw himself as a hired gun (and, to be fair…) and whose goal it was to go into a place, build an impressive ministry, add another gold star to his résumé and then move on to the next rung of the ministry latter. In light of that, I took an almost identical path. I look back on the churches that I served in as a young youth minister and realize that I’m only in contact with one of them. Out of the other three churches I served in in my twenties, I’m only in touch with one staff member from one of those churches. The one church that I am in touch with almost doesn’t count as it was my wife’s college church before I was ever a staff member there. In addition, this particular church is one of those anomalies that almost wouldn’t allow people to come in and not be drawn into their fellowship. Still, I would have to admit that I have a lot more meaningful relationships at that church now, fourteen years later, than I did when I was actually a member of staff.

The bulk of that is certainly my fault. As I said, I simply never learned anything different. And, in looking back on that time, I definitely have to acknowledge that I truly missed out. I’d also have to admit that that lack of fellowship probably contributed to what became a pretty cynical outlook on the church as a whole. But, almost ten years beyond the last church where I served on staff, I think it’s also important to point out how bad churches can be at this. So let me share this encouragement…

I know that youth ministers (in particular) can be absolute punks. Too often they think they know it all and that you are lucky to have them as staff members. I realize that they often close themselves off in the youth room and make it very difficult to ever get to know them. And I also know that youth ministers often make the mistake of making the parents the enemy. I know that one too well. But please, if you can, remember that they are (often) still young people themselves and, while they may not know it, they also need mentors and people who are willing to disciple them.

I experienced this in the first church I ever served in. The worship minister there was a former youth minister who, in his God given wisdom, recognized that I was a nineteen year old kid who, though cocky as I could be, knew nothing and needed an advocate. While he could have taken the angle of having much to teach me, he instead took the angle of sticking up for me. When a parent or deacon would come in, guns a blazin’, Mel would stand in the gap, pound his fists on the table (quite literally on one occasion) and remind people that I was a young Christian. To be sure, I didn’t deserve that. But I have to tell you that he may be the only reason I ever survived that time and am still in the ministry, eighteen years later.

To any young youth minister (or staff member, for that matter) who might be reading this I would simply challenge you to find a mentor in your local church. You’ll not only find yourself growing through that relationship, and find yourself an advocate, but you’d be surprised how much that one act can endear you to a church.

The problems in this area are no one person or group’s fault. Ministers become frustrated with congregations that are unwilling to bend or move forward, and likewise, congregations sometimes become frustrated with ministers for the same reason. Sometimes ministers are visionaries or great administrators, but terrible at building relationships. Likewise, congregations sometimes treat staff members as nothing more than CEO’s or employees. It really is a matter of putting others before ourselves and doing everything we can to make it work. The church – an idea that is broken but full of world and life changing possibilities.

notes on salvation 2

2008-01-18T17:18:00.000Z

Eschatology
For many Christians their understanding of the gospel is rooted solely in eschatology. Eschatology is defined by The Cambridge Companion to Christian Doctrine as “the doctrine of the last things”, often identified as “resurrection, judgment, heaven and hell”. So in much of the modern day church, The Good News or The Kingdom of Heaven speak of eternal life and eternal life speaks of life in heaven after we die. However, Jesus defines eternal life as such:

“Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom You have sent.” John 17:3

If this truly is the literal definition of the phrase eternal life, which is used to describe The Good News or The Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus and, as a result, the Apostles were preaching about, then it, along with Luke 4, paints a very different picture of salvation for us. Suddenly, when we read the story of the rich young ruler in Luke 18 and Mark 10, we get a sense that Jesus is not condemning rich people to hell but simply pointing out that our possessions sometimes get in the way of us experiencing the eternal or fulltime presence of God because, rather than leaving our possessions and, quite literally, hanging out with God, our time is spent focussed on and looking after our stuff.

If we then take Jesus’ definition of eternal life and use it in reference to all of the places in the Old and New Testament that speak of The Good News or the Kingdom of God, we suddenly get a sense that God is not asking us to wait it out until this planet eventually spins out of control and he comes to take us up to heaven, but that God is building His Kingdom here on earth, that he is inviting us into communion with him here and now, that a time is coming and has now come where it no longer matters where and when we commune with Him and that we no longer need a priest to commune with God on our behalf. God is inviting us to become a part of His Kingdom here on earth and that, to be a part of His Kingdom, we must look after each other.

a break in the action

2008-01-17T00:57:00.000Z

A friend just finished up an article on his blog in which he asks the following question:

As much as I love the precepts of the emerging church, I wonder how well some of these ideas would work in a non-white American culture.

That got me to thinking that the so-called emerging church movement (of which I reluctantly consider myself a part) is, in fact, VERY white! Am I wrong about that? I can't think of a single minority author or even minority speaker who are a part of the emerging church movement.

That's got to mean something.

notes on salvation 1

2008-01-16T02:44:00.000Z

...or, 'They just need to get saved and then they would be alright.'

Well I’m back from the States and it’s been a while since I’ve written. As usual, it’s not that I don’t have anything to write about, just never quite sure where to start these days. One thing I will mention is that we’re beginning a new chapter in our local youth ministry and I’m very excited about it. After a couple of years of building bridges in the community, we actually begin our first “cell group” for teenagers next week. I feel confident that, out of the fifty to sixty teenagers that we have contact with, not one of them is a Christian. Many of them are Muslim, and a few are Buddhists. So it will be a very exciting new journey as we try to find a bridge building way to share the gospel.

With that in mind, I recently wrote an essay on salvation. The topic I was given was ‘They just need to get saved and then they would be alright. Discuss.’ In the essay I actually discussed the ideas of Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley (I’ve decided that I’m a huge fan…more on that later) and Karl Barth, and then my own ideas which I based, I believe, on scripture. I thought I’d post that last section (I’ll actually post it in several sections over the next few days) as a way of getting the blog ball rolling for this new year. I’d be very interested to hear other’s thoughts. Is my theology off base? Agree/Disagree? Is John Calvin really the ogre I think he is (Shaun)?

Christology
Who is Jesus? Most evangelicals would respond by saying that Jesus is “savior and Lord”. A few, if given time, might add that He is also “an example” of how we should live. Yet, when reading about his example and describing it in sermon, far too many seem to skip over his ministry as an example of how we should live.

In Luke 4:18-19 Jesus sets the foundation for the next three years of his ministry when he gets up and reads from Isaiah.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he
went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The
scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place
where it is written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he
has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to
proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to
release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's
favor."

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the
attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on
him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your
hearing."

John Wesley suggested that Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, as summed up by Matthew, provides the clearest guide as to what William J. Abram calls “the moral center of gravity of the Christian faith”. In this sermon (Matthew 5:1-48) Jesus exhorts us to let our light shine before men that they might see our “good deeds” and praise our God in heaven. How do we let our light shine? By doing good deeds. Jesus further exhorts us to forgive our enemies and that hate is the same as murder. He further encourages us that those who realize their need for God, who mourn, who are humble, who hunger and thirst for justice, who are merciful, whose hearts are pure, who are peacemakers, and/or those who are persecuted for trying to live out any of the above merits, will be blessed.

With all of this in mind, Jesus seemed to be clearly concerned with not only a spiritual healing and salvation, but also a physical one. How else can you explain all the time he spent healing and raising people from physical death? One could argue that Jesus did it simply to gain the attention, trust, or even faith of those being healed or witnessing those miracles, but one must also acknowledge that, at the very least, Jesus acknowledged mankind’s desire for physical healing and affirmed that need and desire by, in fact, physically healing them.

(to be continued)

(Incidentally, this is not a Salvation Army blog and the thoughts and ideas expressed here are, in no way, meant to represent the thoughts and ideas of The Salvation Army. It is an independent blog written and maintained by a Christian who just happens to be a member of The Salvation Army church.)

you choose

2007-11-26T18:58:00.000Z

what is this holiday about?

2007-11-16T23:59:00.000Z

It’s been exactly two years since I was emailed a petition asking me to commit to never shopping at Target (a huge U.S. retail chain) again unless they reintroduced the word “Christmas” to their holiday signs and decorations. It seems that, in an attempt to greet customers of all religious (and non religious) backgrounds, this non-Christian affiliated company chose to use a very generic greeting, one that would express holiday greetings to all of their customers, Jews and Gentiles alike.

As often happens with me, my hurt and disappointment with the church quickly turned to anger as I came to believe that another selfish protest would only lead to more people turning away from the message and the mission which were most important. And I vented that anger quite publicly.

This year it has been on my mind again as I will shortly travel home to the U.S. for a month of Christmas insanity. There are a lot of things I’d like to say in a post like this. I’d love to throw out facts about pagan holiday traditions that we’ve embraced in our own Christmas traditions. I’d love to outline the history of both Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations in an attempt to remind my brothers and sisters that our claim on the month of December really wouldn’t hold up in a court of law. But what I think I should do is simply implore you to consider the witness you bear when you spend your time only standing up for self serving interests (celebrate our religious holiday or else!) rather than standing up for justice. Not self serving kind of “justice”, but true justice.

For instance, can I assume that those who signed that Target Petition turned right around and shopped at Walmart? Walmart, of course, is another huge chain in the U.S. only this one takes human rights violations to a new and impressive level. Not only does it buy and sell products made in sweatshops and often by child labour throughout China and other parts of Asia, Walmart underpays employees (by an average of $1 an hour), has been accused of doctoring time sheets, costs U.S. tax payers and other employers over $1 Billion a year in health care costs for Walmart employees who are not covered (over 70% are not), and, for every two jobs Walmart creates in a community, they destroy three more by putting other local businesses out of business. Most branches have also worked out massive tax breaks with local governments that local citizens have to pay for. So that cheap toy, made by child slaves, that you’re giving your own children to celebrate the birth of the Messiah, isn’t nearly as cheap as you might think.

This Christmas consider the cost and your witness when you shop.

- Is it really honouring to Christ when you give companies like this your money in His name?

- Aren’t our protests surrounding the Christmas holiday a lot like Peter cutting off the ear of the guard? Didn’t he think he was standing up for exactly the same thing that we think we’re standing up for? And what was Jesus’ response? What do you think it might be today?

- When Jesus was given the opportunity to defend himself against charges of blasphemy (among other things), Jesus did not take it. Jesus wasn’t into self serving “justice”. But, when money changers decided that they would cheat other people by using small sacrificial animals as a huge cash cow, er, money maker (sorry), Jesus actually took the time to leave the temple, hand weave a whip, then return to the temple to dish out some serious premeditated justice. Jesus believed in and lived out a very holy kind of anger and justice. And so should we.

- And in that vein, when unbelievers see organizations like The Red Cross doing more for needy people than the church, they wonder if we have any purpose beyond a self serving one. And they have a point. In fact, one could make a strong argument that The Red Cross is actually more Christ like than many churches.

I can’t wait to give my daughter presents this year. Jamie and I have made a commitment that, in an attempt to teach Olyvia the real meaning of Christmas, we’re going to do our best to make birthdays the “big present day” and leave Christmas for family, and charity, and others. Still, presents will be given and I can’t wait to see her face. But can’t we also find a way to instil in our children, and maybe also ourselves, that when we celebrate the birth of Christ, we really should do it in a Christ honouring way? Where we shop and how we shop really does matter. And what we protest and who we protest does as well because, when we take on Christ’s name, we insinuate that he would be doing what we’re doing.

Your witness matters and people are watching to see what your religion is all about. I don’t know about you, but I hope mine is more about holiness and justice and the meaning and values behind the name Christ, than a word and a holiday that I invented. Want people to respect that holiday? Then give them something to respect. Love God and love others.

Merry Christmas!

robertson’s hypocrisy

2007-11-11T17:05:00.000Z

In 1979 a guy by the name of Tim LaHaye (yes, that Tim LaHaye) and another by the name of Jerry Fallwell established what they called The Moral Majority, a network of fundamentalist churches and Christians who were the beginning of what we now know as the Political Right, or the Right Wing, a much farther reaching network of evangelical Christians across America. Shortly after this, they recruited guys like Pat Robertson to join their ranks and spread their message on topics such as homosexuality, abortion, drugs, pornography, gun control, judicial appointments, and the Middle East (specifically concerning the nation of Israel). Today the Right Wing continues to be led by guys like Pat Robertson and James Dobson while LaHaye remains in the background. Fallwell passed away earlier this year.

Though the nation of Israel, pornography, and the love of guns have certainly been popular topics among Right Wing speakers, it would be fair to say that no topics have dominated the movement like homosexuality and abortion. Over the past twenty-five years we have been led to believe, among other things, that it is these two topics which have affectively escorted God out of America and made it clear that He is not welcome. I grew up in the epicentre of the Right Wing Movement. Before moving to Oklahoma at the age of ten, I lived in West Virginia, attended a fundamentalist church, and made annual trips to Lynchburg, Virginia to hear the Reverend Jerry Fallwell speak. To us he was Moses. I even had him autograph my Bible.

Homosexuality and abortion have been the glue that has held the Right Wing movement together. When its leaders decided to get together and oust Jimmy Carter (possibly the last Christian President the U.S. will ever know) out of office, and push Ronald Reagan into office, they did it under the heading of “family values”. Family values, of course, did not include homosexuality. Like the Pharisees themselves, guys like Pat Robertson and Jerry Fallwell preached fear. I can remember praying that Ronald Reagan would win the election against Jimmy Carter, afraid that the apocalypse would take place if Carter were in office another four years. Imagine that, fearing that if a peace loving Christian, who had helped to start an integrated Baptist church in Georgia, were to remain in charge for another four years, that God would actually unleash Satan upon the United States. To be honest with you, when I think about that time, all I can do is scratch my head and then applaud the genius of the men who were somehow able to convince us of that. While preaching fear isn’t a completely original move (it’s a tactic still very much in use today), convincing Christians to vote another Christian out of office lest Satan gain control may be the greatest game of switcharoo ever played. The math simply does not add up. After all, Ronald Reagan was about as Christian as the prophet Muhammad.

So why the history lesson? Well because this week Pat Robertson gave his official endorsement of Rudy Giuliani for President and, in case you haven’t been paying attention, Giuliani is unapologetically in favour of gay rights and a woman’s right to choose abortion. In his endorsement speech Robertson said that, although he and Giuliani “disagree on social issues, those disagreements pale into insignificance when measured against the import of the fight against global terrorism and radical Islam”. Robertson went on to say that "We need a man who sees clearly how to deal with that issue". Giuliani pointed out the common ground he had with Christians by emphasizing his “work to rid Times Square of pornography”.

I don’t quite know how to respond to that.

For twenty five years Robertson has been assuring us that there were no greater issues nearer to God’s heart than homosexuality and abortion, and that if we got a man in the oval office who would rid our country of these two sins, our country would once again find favor in God’s eyes. Now he’s telling us that they’re really not that big a deal? Wow. Is it ok if I feel a bit jaded now? Can we agree that the word “cynical” is no longer an accurate description for my feelings concerning the right wing? This reeks of somebody who is trying desperately to align themselves with the winning candidate. I can’t see any other way of seeing it, after all, Robertson aligning himself with Giuliani is like PETA aligning themselves with Michael Vick. As far as issues go, John McCain and Mitt Romney are clearly more sensible candidates...unless you want to win.

And so, with the burden of right wing guilt now lifted from my shoulders, I’m finally free to vote the issues, rather than the candidates. With that in mind, I stumbled across a really great website called votetheissues.org. It has a twenty question quiz that allows you to electronically find out which candidate most represents the things you feel are important. According to this quiz, the following are my top five candidates.

John Edwards
Hillary Clinton
John McCain
Tommy Tompson
Barack Obama

Jesus never talked about homosexuality, but constantly talked about the poor. Could it be that this vote will draw me closer to the heart of Jesus than ever before?

shots fired

2007-11-01T23:10:00.000Z

Last night somebody took a shot at Jamie and I. We were walking down the street when suddenly we heard the sound of gunfire coming from an automatic weapon. We looked over to our right only to see a car whose passenger was hanging out of the window holding a high powered rifle of some sort. It took us a second to figure out what had happened and, after gaining our composure, we noticed the splatter of red paint all around us. Somehow the guy had missed us with his paint gun and we were able to walk without flinching, much, I’m sure, to the complete disappointment of the gunman and driver. In America we learn to aim a gun at the age of five. Happy Halloween and kiss my red, white and blue…

That is all.

what makes somebody a disciple?

2007-10-26T17:41:00.001+01:00

It’s been an interesting week for me. Over the past few days since writing my last post, which included a thought on why cell groups sometimes don’t work, I read a post by a friend who was discussing the same thing. Between his post and several emails I received from friends, I was pointed to several articles and even a video by Willow Creek who apparently are now suggesting that the style of church they’ve been promoting for the last thirty years, might not be the way to go after all. I had not read their articles, seen their video, or was even aware of the discussion, but I was surprised to see that they were using the same language I had used when they suggested that maybe “one size doesn’t fit all”. Stay tuned boys and girls, I’m not completely out of my mind.

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Willow Creek. On one hand, they challenged us to consider the things about our worship services which might feel a bit exclusive to outsiders (something that the Army still hasn’t really taken on board), but they also suggested that worship wasn’t seeker friendly. They brought cell groups to the forefront, something that I believe in very much, but they also gave us the four laws of cell (something that my church is obsessed with) and suggested that, if we didn’t follow them, we would never truly succeed with cell groups. They encouraged us to reach out to our communities, and even gave us many great tools for doing it, but they were also very happy to stamp their name on churches across the U.S. by developing the Willow Creek Association. I have to admit that the franchising of church has left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Sometimes it felt a little too much like church was a business for Willow Creek.

I guess it’s easy to take shots at those at the top. Madonna was criticized for adopting a child who was living in poverty. Oprah was criticized for starting a school for girls in South Africa. Bono is constantly being criticized for his mission to free third world dept. And Willow Creek will have their detractors too. But I have to applaud Willow Creek for having the courage to do the research, and then the courage to actually admit that the research had proven them wrong.

In a nut shell, Willow Creek is now admitting that regular attendance at a church programme does not necessarily affect long term commitment to Christ. Again, I haven’t read the book, but apparently they are now promoting personal prayer and Bible study as the way forward. I’m sure that that’s a bit of a simplistic description of their new direction, but I believe it is the basic idea. With that in mind, their new direction will include giving their members the tools they need to own their faith, rather than trusting the faith of a leader who is simply herding people from one programme to another.

All churches should take note of this, but I speak to mine own denomination now when I reiterate my concern that we are not discipling our people. Even our most traditional leaders are concerned with the fact that our Corps are depleted of leadership, yet we do not seem to be connecting the dots. Again, I am impressed with the fact that Willow Creek was willing to put their own necks on the line by funding the research, and then were further willing to admit that they got it wrong. A few years ago our now general was the territorial commander for the Salvation Army in the UK. Upon realizing that we had very few people entering our “seminary” anymore, he demanded that divisional leaders start pushing more people in that direction. He never bothered to ask why there were fewer people, mind you, and to this day, our “seminary” classes remain alarmingly small.

Why don’t we have more local leaders? That is the question that we should be asking. I believe that there are lots of reasons behind this, but one of them is certainly the fact that we’re simply not discipling people and helping them to take ownership of their faith. We usher them from one programme to another and then send them home. We wouldn’t expect somebody to learn how to dance by attending several ballet performances a week, and we shouldn’t expect somebody to take ownership of their walk with God when there are people who have been willing to do it for them for the last fifty years.

I look forward, only somewhat cynically, to hearing what Willow Creek’s plan of action will be.

the devil and daniel johnston

2007-10-23T12:10:00.000+01:00

Last night I watched the documentary, The Devil and Daniel Johnston, and my mind is blown. It tells the story of a manic-depressive American singer/songwriter/artist who has been covered by nearly 150 artists, including Pearl Jam, Beck, Bright Eyes, the Eels, and Tom Waits, and who is and was revered by people such as David Bowie and Kurt Cobain. His art has been exhibited in studios from New York to London. While I was intrigued by his work, and managed to find several of his singles which I’ve now included on my ipod, I was just as intrigued by those who idolized the man.

It was easy to watch the documentary and see the similarities between Johnston and Dylan (lyric wise), as well as Johnston and Brian Wilson (madness wise), but I was more interested in the similarities between Johnston and a dear friend of mine who is also manic depressive (also known as Bi-polar). My friend is just as much the artist and, like Johnston, if my friend could ever get it together long enough, could easily get their work published for others to see and be touched. This friend often sends me work and I’m always blown away, but they are just as quickly in the hospital dealing with their latest episode. It’s such a frustrating and sad cycle to watch from the outside and must obviously be even more frustrating and sad from the inside.

As I’ve spoken with my friend about finding an agent, their response is always that an agent will make them do public appearances, something that they are extremely uncomfortable with.

Anyway, it’s a great film if you have the means.

Believe it or not, I’ve actually written quite a bit in the past couple of weeks, just nothing I felt like posting. Topics have included but have not been limited to:

- When Cell groups don’t work – a discussion on why one size never fits all. Ask a tailor if one size fits all and he’ll turn his nose up at you. That’s because a tailor is committed to the idea that everybody is different. When we try and take one model of church programming, and squash it into a different context, we often get a programmatic version of a one size fits all t-shirt. In some cases it gets us by, in others it doesn’t work at all. Either way, it could be better with some thought and effort.

- Successful Discipleship and Outreach? - If a church isn’t succeeding in youth ministry, senior adult ministry, or ministry to those with special needs, it isn’t succeeding. My argument is that if a church is reaching young adults, they should be encouraging/discipling those young adults to reach out to their community. This will include other young adults and should also include the discipleship of people younger than themselves…namely teenagers. If a church is reaching adults, where are their children? Therefore, if a church is targeting and reaching either of these targets, and not reaching teenagers, it is not a successful discipling community. However, you could have a very successful ministry to senior adults or to people with special needs, and not reach any teenagers because neither of these two groups would necessarily be associated with teenagers. I also included an encouragement that reaching and leading a group of 5-10 teenagers a week really isn’t that difficult.

- Know Thyself – One of the greatest problems the church faces right now is one of identity. Nobody knows what their local church should be. Is it a place to uphold the traditions handed down by the generations before? Or is it a place for something else. My problem is that I’m so biased I couldn’t write the article without demeaning one side and making it very obvious which side I stood on. Still, I quoted Socrates which would have surely given me cool points.

- The Big Move - Another exhaustive discussion of the church’s attempt to move from modernity to post-modernity and why it struggles so much to do so. It points out that the church is rooted so much in modernity that it struggles to figure out a way to shift into post-modernity and still sustain significant continuity with its past and, therefore, what it considers to be its makeup.

- Universalism? - A discussion of theologian Karl Barth, somebody I’ve been reading lately and somebody with which I have at least one thing in common. It seems that Karl Barth was often labelled a Universalist for suggesting that all humans are children of God and are in a “covenant partner relationship” with Him. I’ve also had it suggested to me that I’m a Universalist for the very same reason. Neither Barth nor myself are Universalists, though I admit to having tried to be for a while.

So that’s my past couple of weeks summed up in a nice little post. Where have you all been?

cantina

2007-10-10T14:36:00.001+01:00

It's about time! Seriously, the new millennium was supposed to bring us all kinds of cool new products. In fact, I have a Sports Illustrated issue from the early 70's which promises that by the year 2000, we'd have 150 yard football fields, women quarterbacks, and that some of the positional players would be using jet packs. But none of that stuff came true (well, the women quarterbacks thing is kind of true)! We're not even riding around in hover crafts yet, something that I find immensely disappointing. So finally a product like this shows up. I feel like Han Solo and Chewy should be sitting over in the corner, having a conversation, while Ben cuts off somebody’s arm with a light saber at the bar. This thing is straight out of Star Wars.

Now, the key is going to be somebody actually learning to play this thing, rather than just playing with it. Can you imagine the first club that features a legitimate DJ playing this? Who cares about dancing! Suddenly we’re just all standing around the light table, watching the DJ and his magic cubes!

you're really selling yourself

2007-10-10T02:08:00.000+01:00

Today I taught my first English class. I had three Polish ladies, two Bangladeshi ladies, and one lady from Chili. An interesting mix. I have to say that I was a bit anxious when I first got started, but really ended up enjoying the experience a lot. I felt a lot like Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam.

It’s funny what you end up doing in life. When I finally went forward and admitted that God had called me into fulltime ministry, I can remember making an unspoken and unofficial yet very serious pact with God. All I asked, really, was not to move out of the States. I was very serious about this. In fact, I once broke up with a girl based souly on the fact that I thought she’d been called into missions and I was not interested. But here I am, living in London, working in a neighbourhood where there are over 350 languages spoken, and teaching English classes.

The irony doesn’t stop with my move to London, however. I took both French and Spanish in school and really didn’t learn a word of it. Furthermore, I was a terrible student passing only because I went to a Christian school where they gave serious extra credit for memorizing Bible verses. Yet again, I’m now teaching people English. I guess that I should probably also throw in the irony of an American teaching English classes in Great Britain. The Brits don’t consider my form of English actual English, after all.

With no training in church planting whatsoever, and nobody around us who’s ever done it, the question in our minds is always how to connect the dots between our community service and our faith. Don’t get me wrong, for me, my community service is a big part of my faith. But how do you get those involved in your community services to start asking the questions. People around us, especially those with the money, are getting a little antsy. They want results. And results for them are souls saved or, at the very least, attending a Bible study. It’s funny, I’ve never felt more proud of a situation that I was involved in, yet also never felt so much like I was walking on shaky ground. I’ve never felt more authentic as a Christian and never felt more like what I was doing really mattered, yet every day there’s the knowledge that it could all end tomorrow if our funding runs out. In fact, we have a meeting next week with the people who make those decisions. How do you make one Bible study with ten people in it sound bigger? I don’t know.

For those of you with SA ties, this weekend is our Youth Councils and, for the first time in our project’s history, we will be taking young people from our own community. It’s a huge step and an exciting new chapter in our project’s history.

I’ve never been good at selling myself or anything that I was involved in. I tried selling shoes but I was terrible at it. Same thing with menswear. And trying to sell my ministry to those with the money just makes me feel dirty. Next week I have to do just that. If you’re the praying kind, please remember us as we try to lay aside those feelings and convince people that what we’re trying to do is worth it.

tps reports

2007-10-05T00:40:00.000+01:00

Is it cheesy that I have a “spiritual gifts inventory” on my blog? In fact, does it make me look like a charismatic? I once stumbled onto a blog whose description included the fact that the writer was “non-charismatic”. I still haven’t gotten over it. In fact, I entered into a week long debate with the writer of that blog until it dawned on me that I didn’t even know the person and was, therefore, a dork for getting into the argument.

So today I started work on a Masters in Theological Education. It was a strange mix of emotions to be back at University. Mostly, I just felt old. College kids are dressing like it’s the 80’s again. I have a 20 year old in my Masters class. He started University at the age of 16 (he’s American, btw). Nice, and just what I needed; a twenty year old genius in my class.

Anyway, today the professor said something that I really liked. He said;

“Tradition is the living faith of the dead while traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.”

I might have to get that one on a t-shirt.

come alive

2007-09-30T15:24:00.000+01:00

Last night I dreamt that I was the drummer for the Guns ‘N’ Roses reunion tour. Two things about the dream really stood out for me; (1) Even in my dream I couldn’t actually play drums and it was a bit embarrassing. (2) Even in my dream Axel and Slash couldn’t get along. What kind of a dream is that? I feel cheated.

Along with all of my other work over the past week or so, I’ve taken on the task of trying to convince the Brits that Bruce Springsteen is legit. It’s not an easy task. At best, they consider him a country artist, at worst they know him from his Dancing in the Dark video. Either way, he starts out with at least one strike against him. Then, in an attempt to compare him to a legitimate band, I made the mistake (apparently) of comparing him to Dire Straights, a band that I consider to be a legitimate British classic rock band. But, among the twenty-something year olds I have around me, they are not. I can’t understand that! Dire Straights? They were an awesome band! (incidentally, I found out the other day that their drummer lives in my neighbourhood…which I found both exciting and sad.)

In other news, I woke up this morning with the mother of all pains in my right arm. In fact, it was so bad that I actually had to ask Jamie to remind me which arm it was that hurt when you were having a heart attack. It freaked me out. It felt like I had crushed a vein which is a pain that really can’t be explained. It might have been all that drumming in the middle of the night? Who knows?

Fall is in the air. It’s mixed in with all that auto exhaust. Mmmmm…can you smell it? Sadly, the Brits don’t seem to make much of Autumn. They don’t have high school or college football games to attend, no hayrides or Halloween parties disguised as Christian harvest celebrations, no bonfires or mazes made out of hundreds of bails of hay, no rides made from metal barrels and rope strung between four trees with which children of all ages can break their necks, no tepees made from corn stalks, and the Brits don’t really believe in holiday decorations outside of Christmas trees. At least not the ones here in London. In fact, here you know it’s Autumn because all of the Muslim kids are fasting for Ramadan. It’s just not quite the same.

The above picture was taken at a retreat I spoke at last weekend. This was my room at the retreat. I kid you not. The centre was a converted church and this was the window in my room. When I get rich (robbing a bank?), I’m going to buy this place and turn it into my house.

p.s. the song playing in the right is off the new Foo Fighters album. I'm loving it!

Thanks!

2007-09-10T16:19:00.000+01:00

Just a quick note to thank all of you for joining us this weekend in prayer! More than one-hundred people signed up for specific slots this weekend, with many more promising to join us in prayer throughout the weekend. Your prayers were definitely appreciated.

As stated, our first cell group begins this Wednesday with a second one starting up in October for young people. Your continued prayers would be most appreciated.

We have also started a blog specifically to tell the stories of our local ministry. It can be found here and also on the right hand side of this blog.

Thanks again!
Tim & Jamie

dear friends

2007-08-28T16:18:00.000+01:00

On Wednesday, the 12th of September, as part of our ministry in Tottenham, England, we will begin our first community discussion group on Christian Spirituality. It’s taken us nearly three years of building relationships throughout the community to get to this point, but we finally feel that the time is right. Many of our relationships, however, are with Muslims (predominately), Hindus, and Buddhists, and so this new programming will, no doubt, bring many questions and even concerns for them.

With that in mind, on the weekend of September 7-10, myself and Jamie, as well as our team of volunteers, will be holding a 60 hour prayer vigil for our local ministry in Tottenham and for the beginning of our Christian discussion groups. It is our hope to have people praying with us throughout the world. The following are links to time zone sensitive sign up sheets, along with information about our project and a copy of the prayer guide.

Information & Prayer Guide

London Vigil, U.S. Eastern Vigil, U.S. Central Vigil, U.S. Pacific Vigil, Sydney Australia Vigil

It would be our honour if you would join us in prayer and even find a few of your friends and loved ones who might join us as well. As you can see, the time slots are only 30 minutes in length, so we are not asking for a huge commitment, though we would also be happy for you to sign up for as many of those slots as you like!

Once you and your loved ones have signed up, please send us the details so that we can add you to our own vigil sheet. It is our hope to have somebody praying during each of the 30 minute slots throughout that weekend. It would be great if we could receive these back by the 5th of September, the Wednesday before our vigil is to take place. Incidentally, if you don’t think that you can get people signed up, but would still like to sign up for a slot yourself, please feel free to simply let us know and we’ll get you added to our own vigil sheet.

Thank you in advance for all that your prayers will mean for our community. We will do our best to keep you updated on the work that God continues to do through your support. May God bless you as you serve your own local communities!

Tim & Jamie Miller

UPDATE!

Hi readers. First of all, thank you to all of you who have already responded with emails and sign ups. They have been very encouraging for us and we’re excited about the weekend.

By popular demand, below is a form that you can use to easily sign up for our vigil. If you'll be signing up several people, the downloadable forms above are what you'll need. If it's just yourself, the form below will make it easy. Either way, please be sure to download the Information and Prayer Guide docoment above.

the wind

2007-08-28T11:15:00.000+01:00

pc

2007-08-22T22:32:00.001+01:00

Dare I take a stab at a topic like this on such a serious and theological blog? Oh, I’m sure I can twist it into some sort of theological debate.

Michael Vick. There’s a lot about this situation that intrigues me.

Take R.L. White’s (president of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP) suggestion that Vick’s admission of guilt should not end his pro career. Can I just say that I’m as sick of seeing the NAACP stick up for criminals, just because they’re black, as I am of seeing rednecks condemn people, just because they’re black. If something is wrong, it’s wrong, no matter what your skin color. Please don’t be afraid to admit it NAACP, you just lose our respect when you suggest otherwise.

Another thing I find interesting is people’s suggestion that Vick “made a mistake”. A “mistake” is when you respond violently to somebody in a night club. Funding both an underground gambling ring, and an underground dog fighting kennel isn’t a mistake. It didn’t happen accidentally or in a moment of momentary mental lapse. He made a wilful decision to break a federal law. It’s not even like it’s an addiction or that he was desperate for money. The guy has all the money in the world and decided to start up and fund a federal offense.

The third thing I find interesting is people’s suggestion that, once Vick pays his time, he should get another shot at the NFL. Show me another company in the world, as visible as the NFL, that would hire back somebody who’s been convicted of the things Vick’s been convicted of. No doubt, we as Christians should forgive, and society at large should probably forgive once he’s done his time, but to suggest that the NFL should give him a second chance is preposterous. Why should they?

The fourth thing that peaks my interest is the suggestion that dog fighting might be a cultural thing among blacks in the South and that they, therefore, see nothing wrong with it. That one has me listening because, if it’s true, there are much wider implications here.

Since moving to London about three and a half years ago, there’s a term I’ve heard thrown around at churches of diversity, all over the city. That term is “African time”. African time refers to the suggestion that Africans, living in the UK, often have a much more laid back approach to time keeping. Specifically, if something starts at 10:30 a.m. you can be sure that the Africans in your congregation won’t start showing up until around 11:15 a.m. I’d like to say that this is an unfair stereotype, but it actually seems to be pretty accurate. I’ve not only heard testimonial after testimonial, but I also witness it myself every Sunday. In fact, the “problem” is so wide spread that it has even come up in divisional strategy meetings (hard as that is to believe).

My problem is twofold. Number one, I’m an avid time keeper. If something starts at 10:30, I’m there by 10:15. To me, 10:15 isn’t early, it’s on time. So I’ve always struggled with people who show up late for things (I personally find it to be extremely inconsiderate and rude. I also believe that it makes the statement, to the person in charge of planning, that they are not important enough to show up on time for.) On the other hand, is our insistence that Africans change their cultural clock to match ours just an example of modern day colonization? I ask that seriously.

And so these question goes out to my, mostly, white audience. I’ve been meaning to bring them up for several weeks now, but have been looking for a time to do it.

Is insisting that our “out of town” (whether they be Africans or any other nationality) neighbors a modern day form of colonization?

And second, should we have a different standard in the church? In other words, even if we can expect people coming here from other countries to adapt to OUR way of life, is that the approach we should take in our churches or should we be a lot more flexible (I’m steering very clear of the word “graceful” here as to not bring about guilt votes)?

Those are sincere questions. Your insight would be greatly appreciated as I’m very much trying to figure it out myself.

p.s. The song playing to the right is a song called Fieldtrip Buddy by an artist named Matt Alber. I am absolutely cracking up at this song right now.

are you certain they'll come?

2007-08-20T13:11:00.000+01:00

Well, I’ve had lots to write about over the past week or so, but I’ve just not been able to collect my thoughts in any kind of a coherent way. So here I go, into the abyss.

A friend committed suicide while I was in France.

Wait. It gets stranger.

Few people know that, at the age of four, a tie die wearing, long haired hippy showed up, married my mother, and adopted me. Like many single moms, my mother’s decision was based largely on the fact that he got along with me so well. He lived next door, had a motorcycle, a boat, a mustang, and played guitar. He was perfect. At the age of four, I would wander across the yard to his house, and he would feed me popsicles and let me play his guitar. Eventually he and my mother started dating and, six weeks later, got married and, like any other classy couple of their day, spent their honeymoon at Niagara Falls. What a couple of cheese balls. Anyway, within one year, he had adopted me, sold his boat, motorcycle, and mustang (to my horror), become a Christian, and had become the model father and husband. Let me pause here to say, don’t try this at home. Millions of suckers a day think they’ll win the lottery, only one ever does. Millions of women a day think they’ll “change him”, few ever do. The difference is that the lottery will only cost you $5. The other usually costs the lives of the couple and often the children involved. Don’t do it. It rarely works out.

Anyway, having been adopted at the age of four, I really knew nothing else. He was my dad. In fact, I would go through long periods of time (literally years at a time) where I would forget that I was adopted. My biological father was not in the picture. In fact, I had never met or even seen a picture of the man. I didn’t need to. I had a good dad. So, after a few years of forgetting, it would suddenly come up. I remember one day coming home from school and asking my mother if I “looked like dad”. She looked at me for a second, then gently reminded me that dad had adopted me. I looked at her, eyes wide, and shouted “WHAT!” Haha. That happened a couple of times. I just simply forgot. In fact, I can remember attending big youth conventions as a kid and being asked to raise my hand if I was from a “broken home”. I can remember looking around at all those kids and thinking, “those poor kids”, not realizing that the speaker meant me! It was easy to forget, after all, my home wasn’t broken. And so life moved forward with me forgetting for a while, then suddenly being reminded through some happenstance.

One of those happenstances took place about six years ago while I was living in Pittsburgh. One night, in the middle of the night, I received a phone call to let me know that my biological father had passed away. To be honest with you, I don’t remember much about the call, nor even who it was that called me. But I do remember a few things. One of the things that really stood out to me that night was that it was real, and that other people knew about it. That hadn’t really occurred to me but it was something that became a reality once I received that call. The other thing was the realization that I had two half sisters and a half brother living in Colorado. Again, the details are a bit sketchy for me, but I somehow made contact with them that very night. To this day I can’t remember how it happened. How, after all those years, I was suddenly in contact with all these people within minutes. That night I also discovered that I had a grandmother alive and living in Colorado. Suddenly my Beaver Cleaver existence ended, and I was booked on the next episode of Jerry Springer. It was surreal.

Within a few months, I was making the trip to Colorado and meeting my sisters, brother, grandmother, and nieces and nephews for the first time. It was a strange day spent looking at lots of family photos, visiting my grandmother in a nursing home, taking a motorcycle ride with my brother in law (oddly, the one I probably had the most in common with), and realizing that I had very much gotten the better end of the deal. Though they were older than I was, my biological father had left before I was born, and had eventually taken up residence near them. From the stories they told, and even through seeing their own interpersonal relationships, it was pretty clear that my childhood had been a dream vacation compared to theirs. It was a sad day as I realized that I had teenaged nieces and nephews that I probably would never know, a grandmother who was mad at the world, and siblings who really had little in the way of family support. I went away determined to maintain a relationship with them. Shortly afterward, I moved to London.

In the years since that visit, the youngest of the sisters and I have stayed in touch. She sends me regular pictures and updates of the family. The story goes that, on Cayrn’s thirteenth birthday, our grandmother told her about me and even gave her a picture. Apparently she had been looking for me ever since. I haven’t, however, been as fortunate with Pam and David. Whether its busyness, or simply a lack of desire, Pam and David just haven’t been very open to having a relationship beyond Christmas cards. Still, they’re often in my thoughts and prayers and I have this hope that one day they’ll see the love of Jesus.

This month, however, some of those hopes were lost when I first received an email to let me know that my grandmother had died, and then received another only a week later to let me know that David had committed suicide. Apparently he had separated from his wife, had been living in an RV, and decided to end it, all alone in that RV.

I don’t write any of that for sympathy. The truth is, I didn’t know David or my grandmother. My grandmother was in her 90’s and David wasn’t all that interested (though possibly a little more interested than I understood as he mentioned me in his suicide letter and also left me some art work.) I mention it only because the first thought in my head, once I heard the news, is that Jesus came to heal the sick. There are a few themes, always rattling around in my head, and one of those is that Jesus came to heal the sick. When I read the stories of Jesus, I always have to ask myself who he would be hanging out with if he came to earth today? I don’t think we quite grasp the enormity of whom Jesus spent his time with. People so reviled, not only by religious leaders, but also by the culture at large, that he was regularly rebuked for it. Yet his response was always that he had come for them.

What good are Christians and churches, hanging out in steepled buildings? I recently had a pastor friend suggest that one of the biggest problems facing the church these days was the “I want it my way” culture that was rising up around us. It is his belief that this culture is leading to an epidemic of church hopping. That, when people don’t have their needs met through a church, they simply leave. And, while I have always agreed with that to a point, I also think it’s a cop out. Why, for instance, aren’t their needs being met? And, furthermore, what are their needs? Answer those two questions and we’ll be well on our way to winning several generations to Jesus.

As my two sisters, and their children, try to deal with the grief of a lost grandmother and brother, all in the space of a week and a half, I can’t help but wonder if there are any Christians nearby, reaching out to them. Do those Christians even know they exist? Or, like so many Christians, are they satisfied with the notion that, as long as that sign sits out front with its catchy little slogan, the sick will know where to come when they finally get desperate enough.

Build it and they will come. A slogan that’s lost nearly all of its certainty.

parlevue english?

2007-08-08T10:36:00.000+01:00

You have to hand it to the French. Nearly every other nation on the planet is learning and embracing the English language, but not the French. They don’t care if it affects their business, their politics, their foreign affairs, their tourism, or anything else. If you think you’re going to come to France and find people who can even muddle through some English, think again. They’re simply not having it. Either learn French or be prepared to really struggle to find what you need. I found that out the hard way.

Jamie and I arrived at the airport on Monday, stood in line to check our bags, haggled with the Ryan Air staff over all of our baggage issues (this airline seems to have restrictions on everything from the weight, to the shape, to the very colour of your luggage), only to find out that Jamie’s passport was expired. I just stood there shocked. Even more so, I picked up the passport and stared intensely at the dates as if I believed that, if I stared hard enough, they would change. They didn’t. As I was going to France to lead worship, however, there was no backing out, so we had no choice but to change our plans. I was going to France alone.

After the shock of it all, we were able to reach the U.S. embassy and get an emergency meeting for Jamie to receive an emergency passport. Still, she and Olyvia would have to come a day later which means that I was on my own. Now, normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but Jamie is the only French speaker in the family and was the only one who knew the directions from the airport to Les Pas Opton. In fact, I didn’t even know where we were going (a really bad habit I have).

And so I got Jamie and Olyvia safely on a train back to London, while I boarded a plane to Nantes, France. Upon arriving in Nantes, I made my way through passport control, picked up our bags (got asked if I was playing at the Celtic festival this week…sadly, no), and headed over to the car rental desk where I was handed the keys to a large bubble on wheels. Then I began the task of trying to figure out where I was, and where I needed to be. I knew that it was somewhere on the Vendee Coast, but I had no idea where. Furthermore, not only did my car rental place not have GPS, but the only one that did wouldn’t rent me a unit without the car (let the French snubbing begin). I was on my own.

Though I knew that I was somewhere on the outskirts of Nantes, I really had no idea where. Furthermore, the only map I had came in the French guide book Jamie had packed in our backpack, and it was and is the smallest, and saddest map ever conceived. All I could do was to try and drive southwest, make it to the coast, and then ask around to see if anybody knew where “Spring Harvest” was. I was in for a long drive.

After a bit of effort (and a couple of backtracks), I did eventually find a highway that was located on the “map” (thank GOD for numbered highways!). Problem was, I couldn’t decide which way I needed to head on that highway. There was just no way of knowing. None of the town names on the signs were on my “map” (and I use the term loosely). All I could do was to pick a direction and see if one of the town names that was on my map, eventually showed up. So I drove.

Eventually, not having any idea where I was, nor where I was heading, I got off the highway and pulled into a car wash where I approached a man who was washing his car. “Parlevue English?”, I asked him. Of course not. By some miracle, however, I had just happened to get off where another highway was passing through (Bare in mind that highways over here are rarely like American freeways. They’re sometimes just simple two lane roads. I have no idea why they call them highways.), and also where there happened to be a sign within sight. I showed him where I needed to be on the map and, through sign language and lots of French (he continued to speak to me in French even though I had made it very clear that I did not speak French), he pointed me in the direction that I needed to go. I eventually found a petrol station where I bought a real map and sat through another lesson in directions, and in French.

By some miracle I did eventually find my way to the coast and, once there, also realized that one of the documents given to me by Spring Harvest happened to have an address on it. I just hadn’t recognize it as an address. So, only two hours late for my meeting, and after having seen most of the French countryside, I made it to my destination where I was greeted…in English…sigh.

Now, there are probably several morals within the above story. And if I were Carrie, I would probably point them out to you. But the lesson that keeps coming back to me here is that there’s no such thing as pointless education. You see, In 5th and 6th grades, and then again in high school, I actually sat through French classes at school. I say “sat through” because very little learning actually took place. At least not on my part. I was living in Oklahoma and the closest French speakers were in Canada (I’m not including the Cajans here because they also speak English) and, let’s be honest, who cares? So why in the world did I need to learn French? And so, after more than three years of French, I knew how to tell somebody my name (She’s my pal Tim Miller), knew how to say cheese (fromage), knew how to say green (verde), could count to ten (I won’t go through it), and knew how to stress the word DAM on the end of MaDAM! That was it. And that’s how I found myself driving through the French countryside, in a rental car, approaching strangers, and asking them if they parlevued English (and overhearing every one of them whisper “dumb American”, in a snooty French accent, as I was walking away).

And so this plea of forgiveness goes out to my French teacher, Mrs. Girrard. Mrs. Girrard, you were a Saint (she’s catholic, so that will mean something to her), I was a fool, and I’ve truly paid the penance for my arrogance and stupidity. You were right, and I was wrong.

And if I had it to do all over again, I’d have at least listened long enough to learn how to say “Lance Armstrong owns you! Kiss my red, white, and blue backside!”

: )

questions

2007-08-04T09:40:00.000+01:00

Do all rappers, and/or people who enjoy flashing gang signs in pictures, live on the west side?

How is it possible that Level 42 have a Definitive Collection album? Wouldn’t it basically just include that one song? And, on that same note, wouldn’t Tears For Fears definitive collection basically just be Songs From the Big Chair?

Did you know that, according to British charts, The Goo Goo Dolls are a one hit wonder?

“Do I look like the kind of guy who wears gold chains?” This was my question to a twelve year old who kept trying to sell me “a genuine 24 karat gold chain” out of his pocket yesterday.

Is it wrong to open a worship service with, “To those about to rock, we salute you.”? More importantly, are the French easily offended? I hope to answer both of those questions this week.

And finally, how many roads must a man walk down, before you can call him a man?

Answers to any or all of these questions are appreciated.

In the news of the week, and after a whole lot of work, I got accepted into the University of London, Kings College, this week to work on a Masters in Theological Education. It will take me two years to complete but I couldn’t be happier to put in the work. After that I’m thinking about truck driving school.

us vs. the world?

2007-08-02T21:04:00.000+01:00

Serve them. Love them. And remember that the mission is always right in front of you.

The following video was actually on CNN this week. The man doing the yelling is the priest of the church that sits in the background. I think he forgot the point. Prepare yourself. It’s offensive.

drinkers needed

2007-07-31T20:11:00.001+01:00

A school teacher, an accountant, a goth couple, two church planters and a lesbian walk into a barbecue…and thus began my attempt to befriend the live in lovers next door.

Let me back up.

My neighbours are gay. Not all of them, just the two ladies living (almost) next door. And, like any group that has been cast out by the church, they’ve been on my heart. I like to think that God put them there. So, with that in mind, I’ve been looking for a way to befriend them. This, however, is not a post about lesbians or barbecues (to the disappointment of many of my readers). It’s a post about mission and our understanding and embrace of it.

For weeks I had been trying to plan this barbecue. It’s a delicate balance. I don’t know Emma or Kate very well, and I understood that our conversation could be very awkward if it were just the four of us. Problem was, who could I invite that would understand and embrace the mission of what we were doing? Mind you, the purpose of the barbecue was not to ask this couple where they would spend eternity, but simply to give them a glimpse of Jesus, if only by letting on, in some subtle way, that we were Christians. I’m burdened for the homosexual community. They’ve been cast out by the church yet are as desperate as any of the rest of us to be loved. I want to be about loving them. Still, I didn’t want them to see an agenda in those burgers, even though, in fact, there was one.

As Jamie and I began to discuss the possibilities, we were surprised and saddened at just how few there were. Don’t get me wrong, we know a lot of good people over here. A lot of good people who are truly about the mission. But this was an entirely different beast, and we knew it. Finding that balance of people who were, in fact, deep in their faith, yet who understood that salvation is a process and who, furthermore, weren’t homophobic. We thought and thought. The other problem is that Jamie and I don’t drink and I just knew that this couple would bring wine (they did). In addition to mission minded, grace filled Christians, we also, frankly, needed some people to drink! We didn’t want this couple to feel awkward about their gift.

We thought long and hard about this and finally decided on four people. One is a teacher friend of ours who grew up Anglican. Those people have no problem with alcohol. Her husband, unfortunately, is a Salvationist…so he was no good to us. The other two are a couple of goth friends I met a couple of years ago. He is in a metal band (hallelujah) and she is a youth worker. Their church affiliation is non-denominational and, in addition to being very cool and edgy, they have no problem with alcohol. And thus our barbecue was complete.

Still, I found myself wondering about all the others. What would they do if they knew they hadn’t made the list? If they knew that we were concerned about their ability to relate to and embrace our neighbours. Would they be embarrassed? Angry? Would they disagree with our assessment? Furthermore, would I make their list? Have I presented myself in such a way as to gain their confidence in the mission? Would they choose me to fight in their spiritual fox hole? Who knows? Nobody’s asking.

In the end, the barbecue went well, but only Emma came. Still, I think it was a good start. I had my 80’s playlist on (over five hours worth of music and counting!), grilled up burgers, wings, and lamb, and spent the evening arguing the fact that Genesis were, in fact, a decent little pop band in their day (along with why Billy Idol’s White Wedding should be played at Olyvia’s wedding, the fact that Heart are one of the most underrated bands of that era, and why Korn’s cover of Word Up was a huge mistake.)

Now, how many barbecues does it take to convince somebody that Jesus loves them?

just a brother working it out

2007-07-27T11:21:00.000+01:00

I’ve only been invited to IHQ (International Headquarters for the Salvation Army) twice in my life. Once was for a casual lunch, and the other was to lead a youth ministry workshop. The second one took place yesterday.

IHQ now sits in a new building that’s been very well designed. All of the outside walls, and many inside, are glass and, along these walls, are printed scripture in coloured fonts. It’s amazing and, unlike the U.S. Army’s decision to take God out of their motto, is a really non-threatening yet obvious witness to thousands of tourists and citizens who walk by the building every day on their way to St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Tate Modern, the Millennium Bridge (which it sits at one end of), and office buildings. I was really impressed and particularly liked the fact that, as we sat in a board room all day discussing youth work, we could see everybody walking by and they could see us. As somebody who loves people watching, it was slightly addictive.

One particular guy really caught my attention. He came in and immediately went downstairs to the café where he ordered lunch. It didn’t take too long to realize that the guy had a different sense of reality than the rest of us, that he was playing in his own ballpark, that he was a few tacos short of a platter, and that he was just a bit crazy. In the words of Sinbad, "He was just a brother, working it out."

It was easy to write him off as simply somebody who had dropped in and had no affiliation with the Army whatsoever. After all, a lot of people eat in the café who aren’t in the building to do anything else (it’s actually a very nice café.). It was easy to write him off, that is, until he literally started walking around the building saluting everybody. And I’m talking about the official Army salute. The guy was not only saluting people, but walls, ceilings, mirrors, the bathrooms, you name it.

And before anybody asks, no, his initials were not SC.

young modern

2007-07-27T11:06:00.000+01:00

“You’re gonna wait too fat boy, fat boy, wait ‘till tomorrow.”

With those words an Australian grunge band, led by a fifteen year old singer, was launched onto the scene back in 1995. The words were from a song called Tomorrow which was one of several singles from their album entitled Frog Stomp. It wasn’t the greatest album of all time, and there were lots of accusations about these guys being a Pearl Jam copy cat band, but for a band of young teenagers, it was an impressive album. That was twelve years ago and the band was called Silverchair.

Since that time they’ve come out with a few more albums, and their lead singer has done a few side projects as well as dealt with depression, anorexia, and debilitating arthritis. Behind the Music called and want their storyline back (though this one takes even the Behind the Music storyline to new heights).

Anyway, I write all of that to say that the song playing to the right is off their new album called Young Modern. It’s a song called Straight Lines, and I like it. Another good single off this album is Waiting All Day. If you’ve got the means, check it out.

youtube, itube, wealltube

2007-07-24T10:34:00.001+01:00

Last night and this morning I watched the Youtube debates. First let me just say that, for the first time, I loved the questions. I was disappointed that nobody asked anything about immigration, but other than that, I thought that the majority of questions were hard hitting and to the point. As far as the candidates, however, who in the world is funding the Mike Gravel campaign??? I mean, wow!

The above video and question was asked of the candidates last night and highlights, for me, one of the fundamental questions facing the church right now. What right do we have to enforce our beliefs on others? The Bible seems to make it clear that, while we’re to hold each other as believers accountable, that we’re not, in fact, to judge those outside the church.

Personally, I see our government’s job as serving and protecting us. If somebody else’s choice isn’t harming me, then what right do I have to tell them that they can’t do it? In the case of homosexuality, I can’t figure out, for the life of me, how their choice is bringing me any harm. Furthermore, if they want to call their relationship a marriage, how does this affect me?

Any light that others could shed on this would be greatly appreciated.

robots in disguise

2007-07-21T21:35:00.000+01:00

Well call me a geek but if you haven’t seen Transformers, and you were a fan of the original cartoon and action figures, I highly recommend it. I realize that, for my American friends, this is old news but it isn’t even out in the UK yet, I just happened to get in on this weekend’s preview. Unbelievable! Ten minutes in and I already felt like I had gotten my money’s worth. Now, granted, you’ve seen one shoot ‘em up action film, you seen them all. And, as somebody who believes that every battle scene has already been shot (seriously, when’s the last time you saw a battle scene that was truly original and that inspired you?), I confess to being a little bored over the last half of the film. Still, as somebody who loved the cartoon and spent all of his allowance money on the action figures, it was like going to my first concert to watch that first Transformer transform from a helicopter into a robot. Probably the best and most shocking special effects I’ve seen since Terminator 2 and I can count, on one hand, the number of films I’ve ever noticed the sound affects in before (late Star Wars films, Private Ryan…I’d have to think about the rest), but this was one of them. Amazing!

updating my understanding

2007-07-20T20:22:00.000+01:00

In the past I wrote a series of posts entitled A New Kind of Church (pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3, . I took a few shots from those posts, mostly from Salvationist friends (you know what they say about defensiveness), but it was never my intention to bash any of the denominations that I covered. In fact, my initial goal was to give credit to those denominations for the spiritual and doctrinal input that they had had on my life. Still, through those posts and through the couple of years that I’ve been blogging, I have taken a few shots at the denomination that I grew up in, and so I write the following as an attempt to be transparent and show the areas where I continue to learn and grow.

One thing that I’ve really come to understand in recent years is that the things that most frustrated me about my childhood church are things that aren’t exclusive to any one denomination. In fact they’re found in most churches. Things like politics, and greed, and an unwillingness to change, absolutely disgust me, and I’ve found them in all denominations. In fact, my Salvationist friends will find some humour in the fact that, among the three reasons Jamie and I gave for deciding to leave the Southern Baptist Church and start work with the Salvation Army, was because we were sick of politics. Haha! Is that the irony of all irony or am I simply understanding Alanis Morissette’s definition of it? Either way, I would like to go on record as saying that I have come to love my childhood denomination again, even if many of the churches throughout the West leave me wanting more.

One of the main reasons for this reawakening in my life, I have to say, is because of a group of SBC missionaries that we’ve encountered while working over here. Missions and church planting have long been the SBC’s strength. As a child, we spent every Wednesday night learning about missions (actually, we spent every Wednesday night playing basketball, but we were SUPPOSED to be learning about missions!). In fact, Jamie went to University on a partial scholarship due in large part to her being involved in that study of missions as a young person (thanks GA’s!) The missionaries we’ve encountered here are here under the sponsorship of the local Salvation Army church that we worship at on Sundays. The UK government requires a missionary to be sponsored by a local church (Jamie and I are here on the same visa) and, as the Baptist church in this country will no longer sponsor SBC missionaries (The SBC is considered waaaaaaaaay too conservative for UK Baptists), our local church has taken up the cause. Because of that, and the fact that there are no SBC churches in this country, we actually have five SBC missionaries that worship with us, are a part of our cell groups, and even volunteer in several of our programmes, and a couple of them volunteer with Jamie and I as well. We’ve not only found these people to be hard workers, and very encouraging and supportive, but they’ve got a massive heart for the lost and, unlike many of the SBC churches and pastors we’ve encountered and worked with over the years, these guys are pretty radical in their approach to evangelism. To be honest with you, that’s probably why they’re missionaries rather than local pastors (although, isn’t a missionary also a pastor???)

The other thing about these guys that have concerned me for my own denomination is their understanding of theology and, in particular, the methods they’ve learned concerning evangelism. In fact, I’m due to meet with one of them this coming month to learn a “new” method for making the gospel clearer to other cultures. As the guy sat and told me about the method, I knew immediately that it was something that would be invaluable to our local ministry.

So I say all of that to say that, while I still challenge the effectiveness of many churches throughout the west, I was wrong in suggestion that this denomination as a whole was ineffective. After all, Jamie and I are a product of it and look at us!

Haha.

(Incidentally, does every city have a Cheers now???)

to be or not to be?

2007-07-17T12:00:00.000+01:00

The funniest thing happened to Jamie last week. Among the seventy or so students we work with, we have two British kids. One is an English girl, and the other is a Northern Irish Gypsy (a term which, apparently, is not pc over here, but whatever…). Our Irish kid (I mean Northern Irish…you people really need to get over it) has a bit of a temper (go figure) and is this funny little caricature of what most Americans think Irish males are like (and to be fair…). This one, in particular, is very issue laden and manages to wrestle with ADHD and, if he were American, anger management issues but, since he’s not American, is simply identified as a kid who wasn’t raised very well (I tend to lean more towards the British way of thinking on this one). Anyway, in a move that will go down in the annals of our experiences working with kids over the years, the other day a girl in the club really ticked him off. I mean REALLY ticked him off. Normally this would send him into a rage that would invariably end with he and somebody else in a fist fight, but Jamie’s been working with him for about two years, and on this day that work became evident for, instead of lashing out violently at this girl, he simply spun around, looked at Jamie, and shouted “MISS, WILL YOU PLEASE TELL ASIMA TO SHUT THE F*** UP!!!” Jamie thought it was such a funny request that she nearly did ask Asima to shut the f*** up, but thought better of it. Still, he’s moving in the right direction.

(on a side note Mel, you might remember his older sister. she was a part of our clubs when you were around.)

The question of “what is church” is always on my mind. I couldn’t tell you when I started asking that question, but I can tell you when it came to the forefront of every concern I have about the Church. I was working in an advisory role with a church who had recently purchased a roller skating rink to use as part of their ministry in the local community. After about a year, they had 350 young people coming through the doors of that rink each week, with about 50 attending a Bible study in that same rink on Wednesday nights. In the three years that I was involved in advising this ministry, however, this same church hired and fired three separate youth ministers on the basis that they were never able to bridge the gap between the roller skating rink and the Sunday morning congregation of this church. In other words, they could never get those kids who showed up for the Bible study on Wednesday nights, to show up for worship over at the church building on Sunday mornings. This ticked me off to no end because (a) As many churches often do, they were invalidating what was taking place on Wednesday nights. Was this Bible study, somehow, not church? Explain that one to me? In fact, explain to me how the youth worship service at your church isn’t church? (b) Never ever did anybody make the connection that, if young people (or any new people at all, for that matter) weren’t interested in attending their Sunday morning worship service, maybe the way they approached Sunday morning services just wasn’t relevant to that particular community. And (c), why does everybody always suggest that it is the young people who should join the adults for worship, rather than the other way around? I’ve been involved in several churches, and have advised several more, where the youth congregation was the only one that was growing. Seems to me that they’ve earned the right to keep doing things exactly as they’re doing them, and that the adults have lost the right to call their particular service “the main worship service”. I always wondered why the adult congregation of that church didn’t simply start attending the Wednesday evening Bible study? It’s like this church had a half hearted heart for mission, but didn’t have a mind for it at all.

Recently a pastor friend shared that one of the mothers who attended their mom and tots group had decided to have their baby dedicated, but that they wanted to do it during the mom and tots time in the middle of the week. In this mother’s words, “this was her church”. I sat in the midst of a group of pastors, wondering if anybody else had truly just heard the message that was shared. What is church? THE definition doesn’t need to change, but our modern day understanding (and possibly expression of it) does. In this ever changing world that we find ourselves living in, one of the commonalities that I find throughout many parts of the world, and throughout many different cultures, is that people are not finding our traditional expression of church (show up on Sundays) very fulfilling at all. Furthermore, many, many people do not trust “the church” these days and so, while they may be open to more casual conversations and even expressions of church, they just aren’t interested in walking through the doors of many church buildings. And please understand that when I say “casual”, I don’t mean “less committed”. In our current situation, volunteers are beginning to appear from the midst of the very people that we’re ministering to. Bare in mind that we’ve never ever asked these people to volunteer, they’ve just started showing up.

I once was involved in a cell group, made up mostly of life long Christians, but with one girl in it who hadn’t been a Christian her whole life and who spent her weekends as a jazz singer. One night, as we were discussing the idea of “what is church”, she expressed that she felt more loved and embraced at the jazz clubs where she sang, than in the church. This, of course, started up an uproar among the extremely defensive Christians in our group, but it continued the process in my own mind of re-evaluating this idea of church and trying to remember what exactly it meant to “be” church.

Ever go on a mission trip and come back feeling completely liberated and fulfilled? Try “being” church. You might just find that that feeling of liberation and fulfilment don’t have to be just a temporary thing.

thoughts on serving

2007-07-16T11:33:00.000+01:00

A friend of mine has posted some really good thoughts on what it means to be a servant. He sucked me in by opening with the statement, "The church is like someone who is in a coma. We know they probably won't recover, but we still get excited when they squeeze our hand", but then he quickly turned it around to challenging me with, "You know you are a servant when you are treated like one and it does not bother you." Ouch!

Anyway, check it out at Questionable Content.

the little guy...

2007-07-15T11:57:00.000+01:00

latest gadget

2007-07-14T12:29:00.001+01:00

This week I discovered a new gadget (actually called a widget) that allows me to update that section in the upper right hand corner of my blog entitled “Mobile Blog”, anytime, using my mobile phone, for the cost of a text. I simply signed up, entered my blog address, entered my mobile number, and now all I have to do is send a simple text (can only be 140 characters long) and it updates that section of my blog within seconds. I don’t even have to have a browser on my phone to do it! I’m loving it. Now all they need to do is find a way to allow me to type longer messages. If you're interested, go to twitter.com and sign up for your own account.

digging up truth

2007-07-11T18:09:00.000+01:00

An expert working at the British Museum has confirmed the existence of an important Biblical figure after deciphering a cuneiform inscription on a small Babylonian clay tablet.

Austrian Assyriologist Dr Michael Jursa made the breakthrough discovery confirming the existence of a Babylonian official mentioned in the Old Testament and connected to the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar.
The clay document is dated to the 10th year of Nebuchadnezzar II (595 BC) and names the official, Nebo-Sarsekim. According to chapter 39 of the Book of Jeremiah, he was present at the siege of Jerusalem in 587 BC with Nebuchadnezzar himself.
In 601 BC King Nebuchadnezzar marched to the Egyptian frontier where the Babylonian and Egyptian armies clashed with both sides suffering heavy losses. Over the next few years the struggle between the Babylonians and Egyptians continued and in the course of these campaigns Jerusalem was captured (597 BC).

Nebo-Sarsekim is described in the book of Jeremiah as ‘chief eunuch’ (as the title is now translated, rather than ‘chief officer’). Dr Jursa’s translation of the Babylonian tablet proves that his name was really pronounced as Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, and gives the same title, ‘chief eunuch’, in cuneiform script, thereby confirming the accuracy of the Biblical account.
“Finding something like this tablet, where we see a person mentioned in the Bible making an everyday payment to the temple in Babylon and quoting the exact date is quite extraordinary,” said Dr Jursa, who is Associate Professor at the University of Vienna.

“Cuneiform tablets might all look the same, but sometimes they contain treasure," added Irving Finkel, Assistant Keeper in the Department of the Middle East at the British Musem. "Here a mundane commercial transaction takes its place as a primary witness to one of the turning points in Old Testament history. This is a tablet that deserves to be famous."

(taken from 24 Hour Museum)

why isn't this working?

2007-07-08T15:16:00.000+01:00

If I were a carpenter, and you were a lady, would you marry me anyway? Would you have my baby?

I guess that was the precursor to Timbaland’s new The Way I Are. But I digress.

As an adult, I’ve always worried about two things: (1) Losing my passion. I never want to be one of those people just existing, having given in to those around me and having just accepted that “this is the way it is.” “Nothing can change.” (2) I never want to be that guy in the church fighting change. God please don’t let that happen.

In that vein, one of the things I’ve always wondered is whether or nor my generation of Christians will have the ability to see beyond ourselves. Will we embrace flexibility in our forms of evangelism and discipleship, or will we too get to a point where we find a programme that we believe to be the “be all end all” of church programming. The same things goes with our style of worship.

As a local practitioner and church planter (how did this happen?), I’m getting the opportunity to experiment with many of the popular models of evangelism and discipleship. Cell church, of course, being one of the trendiest of the models (incidentally, the word “cell” takes on a seriously different connotation in a neighbourhood with a high concentration of Muslims…thus we’re not using that word.) And I have to tell you that, in our current setting, I’m just not sure of the effectiveness of the traditional model of cell church. For one thing, cell church meant to bring back the idea of community. But, within a culture that is already very much living in community, I’m not sure that the need exists. Furthermore, they might need something that is just the opposite to balance things out. I’m not suggesting that we go back to having a traditional worship service, but I am suggesting that a more traditional form of community Bible study might be in order.

Now, for those not up to speed on the cell church lingo, you might be wondering what the difference is. I’m with you. To me, cell church is nothing more than a way of breaking down some of the formal barriers of church and allowing people to interact and, therefore, journey (doh!) together. But for many hard core cell churchers, (believe this or not), there is a very formal and structured approach to cell church. And, for those who subscribe to this formality, there is a BIG difference between “cell church” and “small groups”. Some of you are laughing, but it’s true. Kind of ironic isn’t it? Anyway, as I travel around London, checking out what other churches are doing, and as I attempt to put a “model” in place in my own locality, I’m finding that the models suggested out of California and Chicago, might not be entirely relevant among Africans, those from the middle east and parts of Asia, or even more traditional English men and women (who really seem to struggle with intimacy in any form). Young, hip English men and women seem to eat it up, however, as do people from the far East (China and some of its surrounding countries), so I am not suggesting that we throw it out all together. Still, as with any “new” idea, let us keep an open mind. New ideas might have some good guiding principles, but they’ll no doubt need to be tweaked from one location to another.

Btw, I’ve added two great new blogs to my right hand column. Questionable Content and Schmuckfactor. Both good reads. Questionable Content is written by an old childhood friend of mine who, during our childhood, was Pentecostal and who spent most of his life in that church but who recently switched to the Methodist church and is now serving there as a worship minister. I’m watching with much interest (and a big grin on my face) to see how that one works out. : ) The other is an old friend of mine from one of the first churches I ever served in. He and another friend were the ones who introduced me to one of my all time favourite singer/song writers, John Gorka (the legend). Check them both out.

controlled explosions (there's a joke in there somewhere)

2007-07-03T20:39:00.000+01:00

Today I lost a book and I’m bummed about it.

I was trying to get across town (waaaaaaay across town) for a meeting when the conductor came on over the speaker and informed us that there were major delays due to suspicious instances in several other stations (I would later find out that police had conducted a controlled explosion of several fire extinguishers outside a station…???) So, upon finally reaching the next station, I surfaced from the metal tube of stink and began trying to find a bus that could take me to my destination. Now, anybody who’s ever tried to use the bus system in a city knows that, unless you’re familiar with the route, or are near a computer, using the bus system is nearly out of the question. So, after a phone call, questioning several other local pedestrians, and sacrificing a small pigeon to the god of directions, I finally gave up and hopped in a cab. And that, evidently, is when it happened. I lost my book.

Now normally a book loss wouldn’t kill me. I buy books all of the time and was about to purchase several copies of this particular book to pass out to a few friends anyway. Ordering an extra one for myself wouldn’t (and won’t) be that big of a deal. Problem is, I had about twenty pages worth of highlighter in this particular book. Future sermons and, no doubt, blog posts just waiting to be created! And I lost it! And I’m absolutely bummed!

In other news, I was at our youth club yesterday, overseeing the computer suite, when one of our young people (who’s name is Osama, incidentally) made me wonder how it is that young people ever make it through their adolescent years. As often happens, the kids were listening to music and watching videos over the internet. This is always a struggle for me as the kids listen and I sit in the corner shouting near obscenities and trying to explain how, in my day, music was real! This always helps to add about twenty years to my already growing age. Anyway, the music is pumping when suddenly a song comes on that is apparently called “I’m In Love With a Stripper”. Forgive me, I was out of the loop. So, I listen to the lyrics for a minute, and then tell our corner DJ to move on to the next song. As always, this brings a mass of debates. “Why?” they ask, at which point one of our girls says “Because it’s offensive”, to which I agree. So, after some debate, our DJ finally moves on to the next song. About half an hour later, however, the song is being played again. I turn, look at the kid and say, “Didn’t we already have a conversation about that song?” to which he replies, “But sir, this is the remix!”

I just stare at him blankly when luckily, one of his mates starts laughing at the absurdity of his argument.

Remix indeed.

nice gifts, lots of em'

2007-07-02T20:16:00.000+01:00

What is your role in the church? Be specific.

As part of my ministry with the Salvation Army, I have the opportunity of visiting churches all over the city of London. The same was true in my last division. Officially my responsibilities cover only Salvation Army churches, but I tend to look in on other churches as well, just to get a general feel of the health of the church as a whole. I’m sorry to say that, in the majority of cases, many of the churches I visit aren’t doing so well. Old, tired, and uninspiring services mixed together with irrelevant programmes don’t tend to be a good formula for vibrancy. It’s easy to blame the dullness on any number of factors but, as an old pastor (Officer) reminded me this weekend, homelessness isn’t the problem, it’s a result of the problem. And I agree.

I’m often guilty of pointing out the obvious; that churches are often very uninspiring these days. What I, and often others, sometimes miss is the “why?” Why is this the case? Why, in a world full of creative people, aren’t we able to put some of those ideas into action? Now some might suggest politics, and certainly that can be a problem, but can I suggest that the biggest reason might simply be that congregations aren’t aware of their spiritual gifts anymore and are therefore, not putting them into practice?

Think about it. How many of you attend a church where the pastor is basically in charge of everything? From preaching, to teaching, to leading worship (even if he simply puts the Sunday morning programme together while somebody else leads the music, he’s the one who’s directing/leading the worship experience), to administration, to maintenance, to pastoring, to leading, to encouraging, to discerning (who does the hiring?), you get the idea. Think about the absurdity of this. 1 Corinthians 12 makes it pretty clear that each of us receives only a handful of the gifts, making it necessary for all of us to work together (as one body) if we want the full New Testament experience. Yet many of us appear to believe that, once somebody is ordained, he or she is bestowed with all of the spiritual gifts. This just isn’t the case. Upon my own ordination, I walked out of the service with only three new gifts; a Bible, an ordination certificate, and a new computer (thanks grandma). Sadly I wasn’t anymore organized, or merciful, nor did I have the gifts of tongues or interpretation (to the dismay of all of my charismatic friends). Seems that ordained ministers are limited to only a handful of gifts as well. No wonder then that, in churches where all of the paperwork is in perfect order, and the bills are paid on time, we often encounter worship services that are less than engaging, or in churches where there seems to be a limitless supply of creativity, the office is a disaster area. Creativity and administration are two gifts that rarely go together (which explains why all of my artist friends are often so flaky). We could also mention here that, in the cases where a creative pastor seems to be leading less than creative services, it’s often a case of having to spend all their time trying to take care of the areas of the church where they’re simply not gifted and, therefore, have to spend extra time accomplishing (like the finances).

Meanwhile there’s the congregation, full of spiritually gifted people who are unaware of their gifts and/or whose gifts are not being engaged. It’s sad what this will do to a person. A person unneeded and unengaged is a person who is unhappy and unfulfilled. I once heard somebody say that, in 80% of the cases of depression that they counsel, the problem is spiritual rather than physical. And can I suggest that the spiritual problem is often one where their spirit is simply in a vegetative state?

Now please don’t sound any alarm bells here. Many of us have been in churches where the opposite has seemingly been true for us personally. Anytime anything needs being done, we’re the ones who are asked to do it. Still, the argument above remains true only with us taking on the role of the one believed to have been bestowed with all of the gifts while the rest of the congregation remains in the vegetative state. It’s just not a healthy way to work or to live.

So what do we do about it? The seemingly easy solution would be for our church leaders (pastors or otherwise) to lead our congregations in discovering what their spiritual gifts are and then to begin a journey of putting all of those spiritual gifts into practice. Sadly though, even many of our church leaders have never really discovered their own spiritual gifts. It seems that in many churches, this basic understanding of how to live our lives and keep the church affective has all but been forgotten. And so I propose an alternative plan; that each of us begins to discover this for ourselves.

On the right side column of this blog is a new section entitled “Spiritual Gifts” and in that section rests two files for downloading. One is a spiritual gifts inventory (the best I’ve ever seen), and the other is a document that will help to explain, encourage, and even give some warning on each of those gifts and their use. I would really encourage you to complete the inventory questionnaire before even looking over the second document as it might influence your answers.

What happens when your pastor is away on a Sunday morning? I can tell you what often happens. I and others in similar positions get called in to cover your Sunday morning service. And please don’t get me wrong. I enjoy doing this because it just happens to fit (often) neatly into one of my own spiritual gifts. Still, I do find it alarming and concerning that there is no one present locally who can lead a simple time of worship. Could it simply be that those gifts have been lying dormant? I think so.

Begin today to discover, not who others think you are, nor what circumstances have limited you to be, but who God actually created you to be. I promise that it will absolutely begin a journey towards fulfilment and will also begin a new growth in our churches to boot!

dear matt

2007-06-26T18:24:00.001+01:00

As a member of the Salvation Army who grew up in another denomination and has quite a few ties in other denominations, I get asked a lot about the Salvation Army’s stance on the sacraments. We don’t practice them. Officially the Army doesn’t have a stance on the sacraments, but unofficially many take a very strict and hard to understand stance against them.

I understand their excuse. The Salvation Army did not start as a church. We were a missionary movement reaching out to the neglected and unwanted and our hope, after reaching them, was to plant them in other local churches. As the question of sacraments came up, debates began to take place over how we would practice them. Would we baptize infants, for instance, and would we fully submerse adults or simply sprinkle? Would we, like the Catholics, teach that the wine (or grape juice if you’re a Baptist) and bread actually became the body of Christ, or like Protestants, would we teach that it was merely a representation. It, apparently, was a pretty big debate and the founder of the Army, William Booth, felt like it was distracting people from the mission. So, in his infinite wisdom, Booth decided to table the discussion and revisit it at a later time. For now their mission was to send people to other churches anyway, so maybe it was a question that we would never have to get around to answering.

Problem is, a hundred and odd some years later, and we clearly are a church. In fact, about twenty years ago we officially declared that fact and so, for many people within the Salvation Army, it is quite clearly time to revisit that topic.

A lot has been said, even in the comment sections of this blog, about the Army not having a problem with the sacraments, but many of us know otherwise. I hesitate to share the experiences of others (Officers) who have been disciplined by the Army for sharing in communion, or for asking for permission to baptize somebody in their Corps who have asked to take part in the experience, so I’ll share my own much less extreme example.

When I first began working with the Army, I was still very much identified as a Baptist. I held both a license and ordination certificate through the Baptist church and had spent nine years serving as a minister in Baptist churches across the state of Oklahoma. My first experience working with the Army was through one of their summer camps. After getting to know some of the staff at that camp, a young Christian from New Zealand who was not a Salvationist (member of the Salvation Army) found out that I was ordained and asked me if I could baptize him in the creek that ran through our camp ground. Though he had been a Christian for a few years, he had never actually experienced the act of baptism. I told him that I didn’t have any problem with it, but just wanted to run it by the camp director (who was a Salvation Army officer that held a divisional role) to make sure that I was not stepping on his toes. Upon sharing the news with the camp director, however, I was asked to please do it off of camp grounds.

It’s hard to know exactly how to respond to that. I can remember reaching a point where I wanted to preach on evangelism but wasn’t sure about using Matthew 28:19 because in it Jesus commands us to baptize people. I eventually went to my divisional commander about it who encouraged me that we couldn’t leave out verses of the Bible.

I think, in the end, I do understand our excuse for not participating in the sacraments. But I can’t understand our justification for it. And so I send the question out to you all. Our excuse is wrapped up in our history. The history that I’ve already shared above. But does anybody know or understand our justification for it? Our justification would have to be wrapped up in our theology and I just don’t see it there anywhere.

Are we being disobedient by not practicing the sacraments and are we, further more, being bullies by punishing those who do?

follow the leader

2007-06-06T21:19:00.001+01:00

“You’re the leader”, she said, “you should be the one inviting folks to come”, and thus summed up one of the points on my top five list of the fatal flaws facing our church at this time.

I’ve heard those words before, this time from an older woman, but I’ve also heard them from people in their 20’s, waiting around for their pastor (Officer) to start something new, and pinning the blame on him as their church (Corps) continues to lay stagnant. It is partly our fault. It is we who have managed to rear several generations of Christians (Salvationists) who take and take, but give nothing back. It was mainly our ego that did it, in more ways than one, insisting that our Pastors (Officers) hold the majority of power in our churches (mistake), and also refusing to change (in so many ways) when it became so clear that we needed to. This last thing contributed to our dying attendance which made our pool to draw leaders from, that much smaller. So small, in fact, that we began to send people, without the gifts of pastoring or leadership, to our seminaries (training colleges) and then out into cruel congregations where their souls were left to die and whither away, and left to believe that they had failed in their calling when, in all actuality, the calling had never been theirs in the first place.

What makes your church, The Salvation Army? I visited a Corps (Salvation Army Church) a few Sundays ago, looked around, and realized that while this “Corps” had Sunday programming, a band, plenty of people in uniform, and several traditional SA programmes (like Home League), they had no programmes that reached out and helped their local community and I found myself wondering how they were The Salvation Army? What set them apart from any other church besides their strange and eccentric traditions? Surely, if asked, they would have had the sense not to list their band and uniforms as the things that made them “Army”, yet there didn’t seem to be anything else to distinguish them by, and thus summed up another point on my top five list of the fatal flaws facing our church at this time. If it is simply our strange and eccentric traditions that distinguish us from any other church, or any other Christian, then we are a waste of God’s resources.

In the Army, on average, we move our Officers (ordained ministers) about every five years. For some reason we believe that upheaval and instability is a good church growth plan. This absolutely baffles me and, in today’s day and age, with the fragility of our local churches, this one definitely makes my top five. I’ve never heard a sensible argument for this strategy, nor for the process that makes up this strategy. I’ve seen families of four (including one teenage boy, and one teenage girl) moved to a Corps (church) who’s quarters (parsonage) only had two bedrooms. The teenage boy was forced to sleep in the living room. Yeah, good call. And you prayed about that one? Were you listening? And yes, I know that that one will be extremely controversial, but it also leads me to my next point.

In the Army, we have a top down approach to the church. As already referenced above, we’re currently dealing with a situation in which very few of our Corps (relatively speaking) have local leaders, prepared to take on significant leadership. In fact, in many divisions, if local CO’s (pastors) go on holiday, or are out of commission for a while, Divisional Headquarter staff are signed up to lead the Sunday morning services. Now, before I’m misunderstood on this one, let me be clear that I’m happy and willing to teach or even lead worship on a Sunday morning, but I find it alarming that so few of our local Corps have local leaders who can even cover a simple Sunday morning worship service, especially when, so often, we’re dealing with congregations of fifty or less. I know teenagers who lead youth groups of fifty or more. There’s just something not right.

We’re dealing with a vicious cycle here. On one hand, we have few local leaders who are willing and able to take on any significant leadership at their Corps. On the other, we have no strategy for enabling local leadership and, in my opinion, a reluctance to do so even if we could. There’s no doubt that strong local leaders can sometimes be hard to work with. God knows I’ve had my share of struggles in that department. But the alternative is a retarded church.

Re-tard – adjective
1. A slowing down or hindering of progress; a delay
Synonyms – backward, disabled, handicapped

A few years ago we were asked by the UK territory to develop a strategy for each of our divisions. Our own division worked on ours for months. We would meet in board rooms, desperate to hash out a strategy that would make sense for our division. But, during the process, I always kept coming back to the same thing; if we are unable to raise up and equip local leaders, no amount of “strategery” is going to make any difference. In my mind, our strategy needed to simply consist of finding a way to teach our local officers (pastors) how to identify and then equip local leaders. Upon presenting this to the group, it was embraced and adopted as our divisional strategy. Less than six months later we had a new Territorial Commander with a completely different opinion on strategy and the document was scrapped all together. Have I mentioned how little sense it makes to me to move officers around so much? Upheaval and instability. Not a good church growth plan. On a personal note, in eight and a half years, I’ve had eleven different supervisors in The Salvation Army, and each one of them had their own completely different strategy on how things (including my job) should be done. We are a gypsy church and, let me tell you, the gypsies aren’t living too well nor are many people rushing to become one of them.

The above points of view are listed in no particular order and, as I’ve already been spoken to about my fifth and final concern, I’ll leave it off this public forum. But let me just say that our church is only in a hopeless situation as long as we continue down the path that we’re currently trudging. And, have no doubt, many people are happy to do just that. I mentioned on a friend’s blog recently that I often feel like a man with his arm overboard, paddling with all his might, as the ship goes down and the captain stands behind the wheel swearing that there is no problem. We must address these problems. We must quit discussing them and address them. Wishing your Corps had a cell group? Then start one. Wishing you were more involved in social action, then get involved. Gather some friends, make some sandwiches, and go and feed and pray for the homeless (incidentally, socks and underwear will be greatly appreciated as well). Or find a family and buy them some groceries anonymously. Or purchase some school supplies for some kids. Those are really easy things to do and, I promise, very addictive.

It may take us stepping outside the four walls of our church, and starting something fresh, to get the rest of our church on board. There is no excuse for our unwillingness to contribute a verse. It is our choice to do so or not to do so. Shake the dust off if you must and step out in faith.

distractions...

2007-05-05T23:24:00.000+01:00

If I had a nickel for every time the devil distracted me…

I’ve just suffered my second great betrayal. Like so many things, it isn’t something that I can talk about on a public forum, so I can only say that it has been brutal.

During my first, I found myself thinking back to the story of Jesus when He suffered the betrayal of God, His own disciples, the Jews (His chosen people), and the world at large, which he had created. I tried to remind myself of the words, “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do” and I tried to adopt them as my own. I have to confess that I was sometimes able to do that, but mostly I was not. In fact, it took years to get over, finally happening gradually, almost ten years after it had taken place, and about two years after I had made a concerted effort to forgive the offending party by showing up at their door and confessing to them that, though it was my desire to forgive them, I had not yet been able to do it.

It’s a pretty arrogant statement, and a pretty arrogant state of mind though if you think about it. Who am I not to forgive and who am I to show up at someone’s door to proclaim that they are not yet forgiven. What an idiot to think that I have that right, as if trumpets should have sounded as I stepped from my car, or (apparently) the horse drawn carriage in my mind. This is me typing out loud.

And so I know that the party involved is not the enemy, and that I must forgive them because I too have been forgiven. That the forgiven servant who does not also forgive his fellow debtor is doomed. And I do not want to be doomed. But I would like to figure out the meaning of “guard your hearts and minds”. I don’t think I’ve ever truly understood what that means, let alone how to actually accomplish it.

an nfl draft day prayer...

2007-04-28T13:52:00.000+01:00

Today they sit themselves down for the draft
Each team with figures, and legers, and drafts
They’ve taken their 40 times, bench presses too
All in the hopes that one might come through
But I have just one wish, just one wish I pray
Please don’t let Peterson live by the bay
I’m not talking Wisconson, or Florida down South
I’m talking of Cleveland, with all the loudmouths
Cleveland, the one with the Championship drought
This is my prayer Lord, thank you, I’m out.

p.s. If you could send him to Pittsburgh, I’d be especially greatful!

original words by Timothy Miller, Pittsburgh and Oklahoma Sooners Fan!

Dr. Hunter's reply...

2007-04-27T20:16:00.000+01:00

Hi Timothy:

Numerically, in the USA, the Salvation Army would not be a "major"denomination, but if they were--the generalization would be valid--bothin the USA and much of the rest of the world. The "Sallys"admittedly do more ministry to outsiders than almost anyone, but their capacity and intentionality in evangelism has slipped enormously. I have led seminars in "Evangelism 101" for Salvation Army officers in Australia, New Zealand, Russia, and Moldova for this very reason. They are trying to recover the Apostolic priority.

I am grateful you liked my Celtic project.

Power to you,

George Hunter

(My response to him...)

Thank you very much for that sir.

I wanted to get your feedback before I let on that I too am a Sally though I've only been a Sally for about eight years and was raised, ordained and served in the southern baptist church before that. What's interesting is that I left the baptist church and joined the army because I believed it to be a place where we could easily reach lost people based on our social action interests. I find that outsiders find authenticity in that, and don't have much time for churches who are only interested in themselves. But, as you've suggested, a church with a heart for evangelism is not what I found. In fact, I found a church that wanted nothing more than to be like all the other churches with their traditions and Sunday morning meetings. I have stuck with the Army because I believe that were we to ever get back to our mission, we would be an extremely relevant church in this day and age.

(Dr. Hunter's response...)

Hi Timothy:

Your instincts are right on; the Army could be an impresive redemptive force.

evangelism...not always a dirty word pt. 1

2007-04-26T23:58:00.000+01:00

I have a book that I constantly refer back to called The Celtic Way of Evangelism, by Geroge G. Hunger III. In it he makes the following statement;

“No major denomination in the Western world regards apostolic ministry to pre-Christian outsiders as its priority or even as normal ministry.”

I happen to think that that statement is fairly accurate but wonder what others might think about it and whether or not it is accurate in light of their own denomination.

I’ve actually contacted Dr. Hunter to get his response concerning the Salvation Army. Does he consider this statement to be true about the Army and, if so, is it because he doesn’t consider us a “major denomination” or is it something else? I’ll let you know when and if I hear back from him.

Again, how do YOU respond to this statement?

envoy for pointing out the obvious

2007-04-23T21:58:00.000+01:00

I don't know about you, but I practice a disorganized religion. I belong to an unholy disorder. We call ourselves, "Our Lady of Perpetual Astonishment."
Kurt Vonnegut

Hahaha. That quote made me laugh.

Speaking of disorder, I got to spend tonight at one of my favorite youth groups in London. They’re actually more of a youth congregation, and they inexplicably tend to draw in a lot of street kids. Tonight a homeless man, a regular from what I gathered, joined this congregation of young people as we discussed the topic of dating and marriage. A questionnaire was handed out that was meant to make the point that we must not assume anything in a relationship, and that we must communicate. It hoped to make the point by asking what tasks people intended to perform in their marriage (such as tending the garden, changing fuses, doing laundry, etc.), and which tasks they expected their spouse to perform. So here we are, asking these questions, and filling out this survey, when this homeless man looks up and says, “Let me ask you a question, any of you people ever heard of equality.” Hahahaha. Nothing makes me happier than people in a church service who haven’t been taught “how to act” in a church service.

So I’m reading this book called The Gospel According to Moses; What my Jewish friends taught me about Jesus. It’s a good book and, only a chapter and a half into it, has already been pretty challenging to my safe little world.

One of the ideas this guy proposes is that God actually chose to limit himself through his creation and the laws of the universe that he set up and that, to this day, God is limited. So with that in mind, and according to the laws of the universe which he set up (including what we call “free will”), God cannot step in to keep things like the holocaust from happening because, to do it, He would have to end the universe as we know it. Thus he keeps the rules in place and allows us to choose to do right or wrong. He further suggests that it is “free will” that allows emotions to exist in the first place and that, without “free will”, there would be no emotions. In other words, if we had no choice over what we did, we would be more like machines or a droid, doing good simply because there is no other choice, no other option. I’m not sure that I’ve done a very good job of summing up this guy’s thoughts on the matter, but I have enjoyed the read so far and found this particular explanation of “free will” a really good way of putting it.

A friend of mine (and his family) were over for lunch Saturday. I won’t post his name, but he is a fellow blogger. He said several things that had me laughing, including his suggestion that our denomination needs a position entitled Envoy for Pointing out the Obvious. This position would exist simply to point out the obvious problems that nobody else was willing to admit. I got a good chuckle out of that one but also agreed that there is a deep, DEEP need for that in our denomination. Somebody simply to bring up the hot pink elephant in the room that nobody else was willing to acknowledge. Then again, all churches and denominations probably need one of those.

rome

2007-04-19T16:53:00.000+01:00

I have to be honest with you, Rome wasn’t that great. At least not for me. Don’t get me wrong, it had its moments, as well as thin crust pizza so thin that it could better be described as a large cracker with toppings. Just the way I like it. But mostly, Rome was a crowded, very touristy city, with some old and amazing artefacts, and quite a few guys dressed up as Roman soldiers who charged you $5 Euros to get your picture taken with them. Not exactly the romantic city I had envisioned.

The trip started with us being picked up by the guy (American/Aussie) whose apartment we were renting. The first words out of his mouth were, “Jesus Christ, what took you so long!” Nice. On our ride to the apartment, he went on to describe just how awful Rome was, and just how worse it had gotten since they “let in the towel heads”. The guy was a modern day Archie Bunker minus the irony.

Upon exiting his 4x4 (in Rome ?), we were greeted by the smell of cat urine and a mould infestation the likes of which I’ve never seen and hope to never see again. We spent the first night choking and praying to the god of toxic mould disease not to take us before we had maxed out our credit card! The next day we opened up all of the doors and windows, bought some spray cleaner with bleach, and promised ourselves never again to use a website that did not include reviews.

But again, it did have its moments.

One of those moments came one evening after a full day of being herded through Rome’s finest. I had decided to get out and clear my lungs, and had decided to do it by taking a walk up the long hill that our apartment rested on. Being American, this in itself was a magnanimous decision for me. Atop the hill sat a small café that served drinks and assorted pastries. So there I stood, drinking my Italian coffee, looking out over Rome, and watching the sun set in about forty-five seconds. All while I listened to Metallica. I couldn’t tell you why I was listening to Metallica. A little pent up frustration perhaps? Or maybe I was just hoping that the music might travel through my ears and, quite literally, shake the fungus loose from my lungs. Either way, I stood watching the sun set over Rome while Wherever I May Roam pounded in my head. And then I noticed him. An Italian guy, standing just to my left, and giving me the “I like to rock too” head nod. He made his way over and asked what I was listening to. I asked the same. Turned out he was listening to a band that he had discovered only about a year and a half ago, but which he had fallen in love with. That band was U2 (cue the angel choir and beam of light), and thus began a good conversation. It turned out that the man’s actual name was Amadeo Dylan. Can you imagine that? Mozart and Bob Dylan all in one name? Then, during the course of the conversation, the heavens actually split open and the man asked me my top five. I had met a brother. It was a good conversation. God bless you Amadeo, wherever you may roam.

On Saturday, after being totally disappointed with the city of Rome (and the Vatican praise band, which left a lot to be desired), we decided to rent a car and drive up the Italian coast, and quite possibly over to the city of Assisi. There was no real reason to go to Assisi, except that I would be able to slip it into sermons for the rest of my life, and that would make me deep and well traveled. I have to tell you, like leaving London and seeing the rest of England, the Italian countryside is nothing at all like Rome. It is beautiful, charming, and everything you think the Italian countryside is going to be like. At one point we were driving along when we saw a sign for a restaurant that pointed down a small road that led into the forest. We were ready for lunch, so we decided to check it out. After several bends we eventually came out into a clearing where there was a beach, a castle, and a small Italian seafood restaurant. And while I can’t say that I will ever again order the seafood ravioli, the atmosphere more than made up for what was a little too authentic seafood dish for me.

Further into the drive we stopped at some Etruscan tombs which had been discovered in the 60’s. There were about fifteen of them, each with a set of steps that led down into a tomb, each one designed and decorated differently, but each one basically having been painted with a white background, and red designs. These tombs were about 500 years older than the city of Rome, which meant that they dated back to around 500 B.C. I’ve said before that I’m a bit of a history and archeology geek, and these things made my day.

Further up the coast we stopped for cannolis and to let Olyvia play in the town park a bit. She loved it and even made a little friend who couldn’t speak English, but who could go down the slide on her own which Lyvie found both very exciting and impressive.

To backtrack a bit, we did spend Easter morning in St. Peter’s square with, I’m guessing, several hundred thousand other pilgrims. It was ok. Not nearly the inspirational moment I thought it would be. Jamie bought prayer beads from the money changers standing outside the square, and Olyvia walked around and engaged those who were not being otherwise engaged by the Vatican worship band or the Pope. Later in the week we stood in the two hour line to get into the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel. We were then herded another two hours through hallways, past priceless art, through tiny sixteenth century doorways, all with the goal of, in the words of Robin Williams, smelling the Sistine Chapel and looking up that that ceiling. Well, sadly, the Sistine Chapel smells like the sweat of about five hundred people all of which are crammed into a tiny little space where they’re constantly being told to be quiet and to not use any flashes. Any hopes of a serine moment were the hopes of a naïve tourist. Namely me.

On the other hand, St. Peter’s Basilica was amazing. I don’t know that it’s as ornate as Westminster Abbey, but the sheer size of it blew me away. The one thing I found a bit odd, and that Jamie found a bit freakish, were the former Popes that were still there lying in State. Their bodies had been preserved, mummified I suppose, and they were scattered throughout the Basilica in glass coffins. I’m not sure about that and, as a protestant, found it a bit weird. But outside of that, St. Peter’s was amazing.

One of the highlights about Rome itself was definitely the Forum. For some reason the Forum isn’t all that popular, which means that it’s also not that crowded, which I find a bit weird considering the fact that it is the oldest part of Rome and is, quite literally, the original part of the City. It is a small valley full of ruins. One of the interesting things about this area of the city is that another, slightly newer forum lies just across the street. These two forums were originally connected and were one area until Mussolini decided that he needed a big street to parade his military down, and so decided to build it right through these old ruins. Thankfully Italy has since that time come to its senses and begun to reclaim this area. In fact, from what I understand, this road may eventually be permanently shut down.

Driving in Rome is a bit crazy. Not only is the traffic a little out of control, but so are the streets. Whoever said that Roman roads are straight has never been to Rome. These things are all over the place. They’re a bit like London actually. And, to make matters worse, all of the street names are in Italian. So here we are, trying to somehow navigate our way through Rome, and at the same time trying to call out street names to figure out where we are on the map. “Via Giacinta Pezzana!” By the time you’d get it, along with the other three street names out, you were long past the intersection. Jamie and I are pretty good at navigation. We’re both pretty good map readers and she has a natural sense of direction, but we found Rome to be the hardest city, by far, to navigate.

More to come…

conversations in a public restroom

2007-03-20T19:32:00.000Z

I swear a saw a 60+ year old man yesterday with a proper mohawk and a limp. I’m talking about a wrinkled 60+ year old man, who was walking with a limp, and who was sporting a proper six or seven inch long mohawk. It was unbelievable and I had to do a double take just to make sure I had just seen what I had just seen. My hat’s off to you sir. For all I know, you were the original punk!

I was grabbing dinner at a pub the other night when I decided to go into the wash room to wash my hands. Public transport is where dirt and germs go to find new homes. So I washed my hands and then decided that I also needed to use the bathroom. So I made my way over to the latrine and that’s when one of the strangest conversations I’ve ever had in a wash room began. First the guy who was standing beside me asked, “you wash your hands before you go to the toilet?” To which I replied with the sort of stupid joke that a guy in a pub wash room might respond to another guy with (I like to keep it clean, for instance). But then the guy went on to give me his discourse on germs in wash rooms. About how they multiply there and then get blown around for people to breath in when somebody uses the hand dryer (I actually share this guy’s hate for hand dryers). But then he said something to me that I’ve found puzzling ever since. As if to verify the fact that he knew what he was talking about, he informed me that he had AIDS. Now listen, I know that we’ve come a long way when it comes to the discussion and the public’s understanding of HIV and AIDS, but have we yet arrived at a point where it’s perfectly normal to share that kind of information with a complete stranger in a public rest room? I didn’t think we had, but evidently I was wrong.

The guy didn’t seem saddened by the fact, nor did he seem to be looking for sympathy, so I didn’t quite know how to respond. I just kind of shook my head and continued to listen to him talk, finally washing my hands and joining my table mates with the apparent news that any topic was now on the table between strangers in public rest rooms.

Incidently, thank you to all who contributed to my last post, and Danielle, never write in my comment section again!

alphabet of greatness

2007-03-12T09:25:00.000Z

So, for whatever reason, I started thinking about making a list of the greatest artists and/or bands at each letter. Below is what I came up with. Bare in mind that it is an extremely biased list and I’m happy to hear your own thoughts on anybody I might have missed. Before I begin, I have to point out the tragedy of letters like B, J and T which had, to say the least, stiff competition.

At letter A we have Aretha Franklin. This is a popular vote, for obvious reasons, but I chose her because of an aria I once heard her sing on short notice. She was unbelievable and I knew that night that she was among the greatest singers in the world. Having said that, honourable mention goes out to Al Green, Annie Lenox, and AC/DC. Somebody will want to mention Alanis Morresette here and, while it’s true that Jagged Little Pill is one of my all time favourite albums, Alanis has had only a handful of good songs since.

At letter B I’ll break my own rule and choose an artist who was actually in a band, Brian Wilson. I went with Wilson simply because he was The Beach Boys. He wrote all the songs and did all the arrangements. It wouldn’t have mattered who the other members of the band were, they’d have sounded just like The Beach Boys did. That band might as well have been called The Beach Boy. Having said that, honourable mentions go out to Barry Manilow (completely underrated and the KING of sad songs), B.B. King, Billie Holiday, Billy Joel, Billy Idol, Bob Marley (if only for his political importance), and the Beastie Boys.

At letter C I’ll go with Curtis Mayfield and throw shout outs to Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, Coldplay, and, the greatest voice in modern day rock n’ roll, Chris Cornell.

At letter D I’ll take a relative newcomber, but one whom I think will probably be recognized as the new Frank Zappa, and that’s Danger Mouse. I do have to throw out honourable mentions to Dire Straights, however.

E for Elvis.

At F we have none other than Fleetwood Mac. Sigh. Why can’t these guys just get along?

G is for Guns N’ Roses.

At H I’ll risk abuse and take Hall & Oates, another couple of underrated song writers. Honourable mention goes out to Hank Williams and, in my opinion, the greatest female group and one of the most underrated groups of all time, Heart.

Next I took Isaac Hayes. I’m not an Iggy Pop fan.

And then there was J. Sigh. Let me start off by saying that I’m not going to pick John Lennon. To me Lennon and McCartney were never as good as when they were in The Beatles. A few others I really considered were Johnny Cash and James Taylor. I’m also a Jackson Brown fan, a Jerry Lee Lewis fan, a Joni Mitchell Fan, a Journey fan (Steve Perry is Chris Cornell’s only competition), and I recognize Jay Z’s skills. But you really can’t take anybody over James Brown can you?

At K I went with Kermit the Frog, and if anybody mentions anything about KISS in the comment section, your comment is getting deleted!!! If Heart is one of the most underrated bands of all time, KISS is absolutely THE most overrated bands of all time!!! Kermit wins hands down!!!

At L I’ll take Little Richard but throw props to Led Zeppelin and Lauryn Hill. I’m not a big Lou Reed fan. Props to LL Cool J.

At M I’ll take Marvin Gaye on principle, but admit that Michael Jackson is clearly the front runner, followed by Madonna. Special shout outs to Mariah Carey (remember when she wasn’t crazy and slutty?), Mary J. Blige, Mindy Smith, Metallica, and, of course, MC Hammer.

At N I’m actually going to shock the world and take Neil Young. As big a fan as I am of Nirvana, we’ll never know just how good they were. Kind of like Jimmy Hendrix, in my opinion. Honourable mentions go out to Nas and Notorious BIG.

At O I just don’t know enough about Otis Redding so I took Oasis. I might just be a slacker for that pick.

At P I just have to take Pink Floyd. Ridiculous. But I really wanted to take Pearl Jam. As a child of the 80’s I also have to mention Phil Collins, the Pretenders, and Prince. I’m also a big Pete Yorn fan but don’t think he quite qualifies yet.

At Q I struggle because I’m not actually a big Queen fan, but couldn’t think of anybody else besides Quincy Jones, who’s solo music I don’t actually know a whole lot about.

R is easy with Ray Charles but I will mention both Radiohead and Run-D.M.C. I don’t actually think that Run-D.M.C. were that good, but I loved them as a kid and they did usher rap into the suburbs.

S is another easy one with Stevie Wonder but Sam Cooke is no slacker. I also loved Sting, and, of course, Stryper!

At T you have The Beatles. Enough said except that you also have The Beach Boys, The Eagles, and The Rolling Stones (in that order!).

U2. C’mon.

At V I couldn’t think of many artists besides Van Halen, so I’ll go with them but only during the Sammy Hagar years.

At W I’ll take Willie Nelson. The guy just has too many hits as both a solo artist and writer for other people. I’ll also mention the White Stripes, the Wu-Tank Clan, and Waylon Jennings.

At Y the only band I could come up with was the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I’m a moderate fan at best.

Z was tough because I’m not actually a Frank Zappa fan and would be embarrassed to go with ZZ top. Discuss this one amongst yourselves.

And finally there are the bands with numbers in their names. For this I went with 10,000 Maniacs. How awesome was Natalie Merchant?

So there you go. Your thoughts?

simply christian

2007-03-07T22:53:00.000Z

Remember when I used to do this religiously? Those were the days.

I’ve just started reading a book by Tom Wright called Simply Christian. I got two paragraphs into the introduction and had to stop and contemplate on it for the rest of the day. It was the following sentence that caught my eye;

“I have explored four areas of contemporary concern: the longing for justice, the quest for spirituality, the hunger for relationships, and the delight in beauty.

Wright goes on to suggest that none, on their own, can do anything more than enable us to deduce that the world is a strange and exciting place. Can I then assume that together they point to something beyond the world? Yes, I think I can.

I can’t help but think that Wright sums up, very well, the longing of all mankind and found myself wondering if that is what we offer people through our churches; a place to fight injustice, a place to explore spirituality, a place to find relationships, and a place where we can experience and delight in beauty? If that is the only thing that I get out of this book, it was worth picking up.

I also just finished up a book that Becca passed on called Killing Yourself to Live. It was written by Chuck Klosterman and is basically his narrative of driving across the U.S. seeking out the locations where different rock stars have died. In it he discusses past and present relationships and manages to compare each, and all of the circumstances surrounding them, to different albums, songs, and even lyrics from rock n’ roll. Very interesting and entertaining read.

I don’t ask for prayer much on this blog, but I will share one prayer request with you tonight. In recent months, things have finally begun to get pretty interesting at our project in Tottenham. Muslim parents have begun getting involved in different daytime activities, a Russian church planter has asked to use our facilities to start a Russian speaking church, and over 300 Polish people walked through our building this past Saturday afternoon, just to name a few. Sadly, however, we are well short on funding. Well short to say the least. So short, in fact, that we are actually having to discuss the very real possibility of closing our doors. We could really use your prayers right now. I’m not one to exaggerate the potential of a church plant. I’ve been a part of several church plants throughout the course of my life and ministry, and I think that I am very willing to admit when one isn’t working or, at the very least, isn’t showing a whole lot of promise. That is not the case with our project in Tottenham. While we have enjoyed support from the local school system and many local families since our start a little over two years ago, we are only now beginning to see a real influx from the community and many local agencies. We are beginning to talk about real programming opportunities with the local police. We have just started up English and computer classes for the local immigrant community. And we have found a new and very viable target population within the Polish who have recently started taking over our neighborhood. Now seems like an awful time to have to stop. Plus, on a more personal note, Jamie and I have really fallen in love with the ministry. So your prayers would be greatly appreciated. And, if you happen to be rich, donations wouldn’t be a bad thing either.

make mission tangible

2007-02-20T12:39:00.000Z

This blog has gotten away from me again. If you’ll check back, you’ll note that that has happened several times now. I write, and I write, and I write and then, at some point, I give the blog away and allow it to become a forum. It’s hard to find a balance sometimes. I’m so passionate about so many issues that it’s easy to use this as a public forum instead of a place to simply journal about life. I’m sure I’ll lose the balance again, but for now, I’m going to at least try to get back on track.

One of the issues I’ve been really thinking through lately is the idea of authenticating my faith. I suppose, from the very beginning, that this has been a struggle. Cane killed Abel (or was it the other way around?) for what he saw as a de-authentication of Cane’s faith. The children of Israel looked to Moses to authenticate their faith, rather than going up on the mountain and meeting with God themselves. Even Paul spoke of some of the early Christians as drinking spiritual milk, rather than eating spiritual meat. And, in today’s day and age, we gripe about uninspiring sermons, boring and tired worship, and the lack of social service/justice opportunities provided in our local churches. Even today we’re looking for our church leaders to authenticate our faith, rather than owning our faith and getting out there and authenticating it ourselves.

This week I set out to change that in my own life. I’ve shared on here before that I’m tired of Make Poverty History campaigns that seem to challenge you to do nothing more than buy and wear a trendy bracelet, or Live 8 concerts that seem to challenge you to do nothing more than…well…go to a concert. I want to do more than just talk about fighting injustice. Yes, human trafficking is bad, now what are you going to do about it? I want to actually be in the fight. So today I met with a police officer in our community that I’ve done some work with before. I wanted to speak with her about two specific issues that deal very much with social justice in our neighbourhood. One had to do with some con artists that show up each year. This particular issue seems to have worked itself out in that some of the laws have changed that now allow the police to go in and kick these guys out which, incidentally, explains why I’ve not see those guys in a while. The other issue revolved around the “saunas” and so-called “massage parlours” that exist around our neighbourhood. My concern is not that sex is being sold in these places, but simply that women may be being trafficked in to do it. I spoke with the officer about it for a while. She assured me that her team make regular appearances in the places in our community, and that they assure the women that if they want to get out, they can get out then and there. I hope that’s true. In her opinion, the women in the places I was referring to are not trafficked in. I’m not sure that I believe that and intend to keep pushing it. There were a few other places, however, where she said the women had been trafficked in and were immediately shut down.

I did get a chance to talk with her about a whole host of other issues though, and made it very clear that we want to help. The amazing thing was that she voiced her cynicism and also made it clear that there would be a building full of cynical officers back at the precinct. I smiled and said, “And that’s why this will work. Because I’m cynical too! And that’s why I’m approaching you about this.” I went on to share my cynicism in a religion that is all talk and centres its life around a Sunday morning meeting. And in a religion that talks about injustice, but never gets around to actually doing anything about it. I told her that I was on a personal mission to authenticate my faith by getting involved which ended up leading to a discussion of Christianity and the message of Christ. It was an encouraging conversation. By the end of it we had brainstormed several ideas, and she was going back to the precinct to speak with her Sergeant about it all. (Incidentally, she had also agreed to teach a beginners Karate workshop at my Youth Councils in October.) Thirty minutes after she left, I had already received an email from her with ideas she and her Sergeant were working on.

I have not accomplished anything yet. But there is this glimmer of hope that maybe I’m finally onto something here. When I left my childhood denomination, I was looking for something more than I saw around me on a Sunday morning. I felt like I was doing Christian theatre, showing up on Sundays and entertaining Christians. I came to the Salvation Army because I believed that it was a church of action. I have learned, since that big move to Pittsburgh a little over eight years ago, that there are people riding pine in any denomination and that, if you want your religion to be authentic, only you can make that happen. Otherwise you’re simply riding the coat tails of other people’s authenticity.

flow fatal

2007-02-11T17:55:00.000Z

I’ve heard from three old friends this week. That’s always a good week.

One was the girl I asked to my 10th grade church valentines banquet. She could drive, but I couldn’t, and I was a traditional sort of guy so I got one of my friends to drive us. Trey drove and we sat in the back seat of his station wagon as if it was a freaking limousine. And then, because the whole situation wasn’t dorky enough, I recorded George Michael’s Father Figure over and over again on the same tape and allowed it to play, over and over again on the way to the banquet. Oh man, I was such a dork and I am sooooo sorry Krista.

The second was a guy that I’ve known since the 5th grade. Brandon. I’ve got a lot of funny memories of Brandon. We used to have knock down dragouts on religion, specifically as it related to the world of Southern Baptistism (made that word up) and the Assemblies of God. We were good friends, but at total odds on things like tongues and whether or not you could lose your salvation. It’s funny how far we’ve come since then. I’m now serving in the Salvation Army and Brandon is a worship minister in a Methodists church. Wow!

And then there’s Elizabeth. Dear, dear Elizabeth. I’d call Elizabeth one of my best friends in high school. In fact, I have called her that. You know those movies with the pretty girl and the dorky guy who happen to be good friends? That was us. My friends used to ask me all the time why I didn’t ask her out. I played it cool, but the answer was “because she’d say NO!” Haha. Elizabeth taught me a lot about faith and sacrifice, but one of the most important things she did was to help me to set some dating standards, standards that very much kept me on the straight and narrow and standards that I credit to eventually leading me to Jamie, that awesome chick I’m married to. Sadly, Jamie wasn’t nearly as hard core about her own dating standards, but whatever. So, for those of you who’ve heard me speak on the subject of dating, just know that I stole half that stuff from Elizabeth.

A friend of mine recently wrote me with, what appeared to be, another version of the make poverty history bracelet. One more item we can wear or post on our blogs to make ourselves feel like we’re actually doing something. Now, truth be told, there may be more to my friend’s idea than that. I don’t know, I didn’t ask, and it was wrong of me to jump to conclusions. But, even as I apologized to my friend for the possible misunderstanding, it finally dawned on me why I hate those campaigns so much. The obvious answer is what I’ve already stated; that I hate anything that can allow Christians to go on feeling like they’re actually about God’s business, when all they’re really doing is talking about being about God’s business. Particularly when it comes to the subject of social justice. But the truth is, I hate it about myself. When I see those bracelets and blog banners, I’m really reminded that I too am just talking about social justice, but not really doing much to get my hands dirty. Being a hypocrite is…well…the worst. And so, this week, I strike out to try and change that about myself. Hopefully my own “stop human trafficking” banner will soon be written across my heart.

I read a funny phrase this week that was attributed to Rick Rueben. Rueben is the producer who first produced the Beasty Boys and has gone on to produce everybody from the Chili Peppers, to Justin Timberlake, to the Dixie Chicks, to Jay Z, and the list goes on and on. In fact, he’s nominated for a Grammy this year for producer of the year. It’s a lock and he should probably be receiving one for producer of the last two decades. Anyway, when asked about how he chooses whom he will produce and whom he won’t, he said that sits down and asks the artist to play some of their songs on an acoustic guitar or piano. He said something that I’ve always believed and that was that, if a song can sound good on piano or acoustic guitar, then it’s a good song. I totally agree. But then he made another statement that made me laugh. He said that there’s nothing even he can do when an artist is “metaphorically challenged”. Haha. Sadly I very much relate to that. I’ve been asked before why I never pursued music on a full time basis. I’ve always answered that I simply didn’t have the guts. I’ve often also thrown in that I’m not disciplined enough. But the truth is, I’m also just not a good enough writer. However, until this article, I could never quite define why. But now I know. I’m metaphorically challenged. Things like “a sky that was blue like jazz” just do not naturally come out of me, and so I’m stuck with covering other people’s songs or my own very average attempts. Sigh. I turn 35 this year and my dream of rock stardom is slowly…or maybe quickly, slipping away.

Good night Kirk. I’ll never write like you, because I never had any idea what you were trying to say. The sun is gone, but I still have a light.

grace, the extended remix

2007-01-23T17:17:00.000Z

So I just finished watching the One Punk Under God documentary. A six episode series showing on the sundance channel or, in my case, downloaded off of itunes. It’s basically the story of Jay Baker, son of Jim and Tammy Baker. The story goes that, after watching how the church treated his parents after their huge fallout, Jay left the church and spent several years messing around with drugs. But he eventually got his life turned around, and began a ministry to outcasts.

I’ve been keeping up with Jay’s ministry for several years now. His message of love and grace, as well as his understanding that not all believers wear kakis, is one that has inspired and encouraged me over the past few years as I’ve tried to find my own place in ministry and the church. This documentary, however, challenged me in a way that I did not expect.

One thing that I have begun to realize over the past year is that, while I have huge amounts of patience and grace for unbelievers, the amount of patience and grace I have for believers is extremely limited. Extremely limited. I’m quick to throw around the word “Pharisee”. And, I’m sorry to say, I’m also quick to harbour bitter feelings towards those I feel responsible for turning a lost world against Christ.

I want to find some balance in that.

I want to hold believers accountable. I want to remind believers of the mission and of the point for our existence. But I also want to be able and willing to offer grace to people, even believers, even when their actions may have, indeed, had massive consequences on the mission. That’s hard to do. And even now I find myself much more willing to offer grace to Jim and Tammy Baker simply because they’ve been forthright with their sins. Guys like Tim LaHaye, Jerry Fallwell and Pat Robertson haven’t done that, and so I find myself still very much struggling to offer them any grace.

I’m not quite sure what to do with that, nor exactly where the balance lies. One thing I do know is that the Bakers have both asked for forgiveness, and I have been wrong in not giving it to them. LaHaye, Fallwell, and Robertson I’ll just have to continue to struggle with I guess.

Btw, I have no idea what to say about the response to my last post. If not for the counter on my page, I’d assume that people had just stopped reading my blog. Are people rolling their eyes at that post? Are they unsure of what to say? Are they too angry to type? Are they in agreement and just don’t want to say? I have no idea.

to err...

2007-01-11T22:51:00.000Z

I started reading from the beginning of the Bible again - you know, that bit in Genesis where God creates the universe - and I can’t help but feel like, in our attempt to stay true to the words we’ve translated into English, that maybe we’ve humanized it a bit. I don’t want to get into all the theories on creation here, but you know what they are. From God creating the universe in seven literal days, to an accident that took place over billions and billions of years. Now obviously, as somebody who believes in the existence of God, I’m always going to point to the fact that, no matter how many theories “evolutionists” come up with to explain the universe, nobody can come up with any solid theories for how it all began in the first place, where that first protein came from. But I wonder too if some of my more conservative friends have humanized God a little bit by clinging desperately to a very literal understanding of the text we have translated into English. Which brings up an even bigger point, no, question, that I throw out to some of my scholarly and even not so scholarly friends.

In Genesis chapter 9, God tells Noah and his sons to be fruitful and multiply, a verse that many have used against those who would suggest that we are overpopulating the planet (a belief that I don’t necessarily agree with, by the way). But in 1 Corinthians 7, Paul suggests that it’s better not to get married at all. That we’d be better off staying single like he was (he actually says “like I am”). Isn’t that a bit of a contradiction? Furthermore, and this will follow a theme I’ve been on lately, several times throughout the Gospels (Matthew 5:32, for example) Jesus suggests that were you to divorce your wife, then marry somebody else, you would be committing adultery. In one passage (Luke 16:18) he even says that were you to marry a divorced woman, you would be committing adultery. Yet many, many churches have set that verse aside. We don’t even bring it up anymore. I know pastors who have been divorced. And the list goes on and on. We could all name verses in the Bible that seem to contradict other verses in the Bible, and we could all name verses in the Bible that the modern day church has decided not to bring up anymore. Furthermore, I know people, guilty of the very sins that these verses talk about, who, like the servant forgiven of his dept who is unwilling to forgive others of theirs (Matthew 18), are unwilling to forgive people around them who’s sin hasn’t yet been forgiven by the church. And, keep in mind, these servants still owed. These aren’t debts, long overdue, that had eventually been paid off. These were debts still owed! Those servants were, if you will, still very much living in sin.

And so, I have to ask again, where does grace end? What verses do we continue to hold over people’s heads, and which ones don’t we? And does grace have anything to do with this at all? I’m driving at something here that I’ve been wrestling with for a couple of years now, and very few people are going to be happy about it. But please know, I don’t write this to be controversial, I write this because I sincerely believe we’ve picked and chosen verses based on convenience and popularity. So here goes…

I understand that there are verses throughout the Old Testament that we, as Christians, no longer stick to because they’re a part of the purity code, a code that God told Peter and the New Testament church to let go of. But there are other verses, like the ones mentioned above, that Jesus himself declared. Yet many have been willing to (and I’m being gracious with my words here) graciously set those verses aside. So why then, when it comes to a topic that Jesus never addresses, have we not been willing to do the same? And the topic I’m talking about here is homosexuality.

I’m not going to argue whether or not homosexuality is ever a choice for some people. One reason I’m not going to argue it is simply because we still don’t know enough about it and, therefore, really can’t make any educated arguments either way. However, among the ever increasing number of homosexuals that I know, I don’t know a single one who up and decided to be gay. In fact, I only know homosexuals who tried and tried for years to be anything but gay, often even getting married in a desperate attempt to “fix it”. So, if for these people it was not a choice but was truly something that they were either born with or had cast upon them through some tragic event, yet for many who have been divorced it was a choice, how is it that we condemn homosexuals but not divorces???

Now listen, lest anybody get the wrong idea here, I’m not out to condemn people who have gone through a divorce. Far from it. And I’m not necessarily out to defend homosexuals. What I am out to do, however, is point out a position in most evangelical churches that is just hard to stand by. It’s on shaky foundation, at best. It’s one of those things that I have a hard time discussing because, were I to take the traditional church’s approach to the conversation, I would not be able to look people directly in the eye as I did it.

And so I pose the following questions:

Is it possible that Paul’s humanity and cultural bias got mixed into the words that God was giving him at the time? Bare in mind that, if you say no, you’ve got an awful lot of explaining to do on key topics such as divorce, women’s place in the church, etc.

Is it possible that Christ’s death and resurrection covers sin beyond what we’ve accepted or even understood?

And, if you’ve answer no to either of the above questions, what does this suggest about the state of the modern church and the state of the modern Christian?

Likewise, if you’ve answered yes to either of the above questions, what does this suggest about the state of the modern church and the state of the modern Christian?

Btw, I won’t be writing a follow up to this post where I lay it all out for you because, frankly, I’m personally a bit stumped. I just don’t know. Thus I find myself wondering if, if I’m going to ere, if I be should be sure that I’m erring on the side of grace.

Be kind and all comments are appreciated.

I walk the line...or do I?

2006-12-29T19:19:00.000Z

Somewhere there’s a line between grace and conforming, but I find that line…hazy. I’m not always sure where it is…to say the least. I mean, surely God’s grace is greater than mine, yet I often find myself wanting to offer grace to people that the church around me often just isn’t willing to offer it to.

I have this basic belief that God’s grace is a God sized grace. That, if my grace is this big, then God’s grace must be what…a bazillion times bigger? And, if this is the case, then what in the world does that mean? How big are we talking and exactly what does it cover? I mean, in today’s modern church, we no longer hold that verse over people’s heads that says that, were you to get a divorce and remarry, that you would be committing adultery. But is that right? Is that grace? Or are we conforming? And, if it is grace, and not sin, then what else does grace cover like that? What else can we get covered under grace? And, furthermore, many churches are willing to look at a lot of verses, like the one suggesting that woman should remain totally silent in church, and admit that we’ve read that verse wrong or that it was written to a very specific group of people or even that it was written under the cultural guidelines of a society that no longer relates to ours. So they let it go. But, if we’re willing to offer grace in certain areas, and willing to overlook verses in others, where does it end? Where does grace end?

There’s no doubt that our grace pails in comparison to God’s. And there’s no doubt that we can’t comprehend God’s grace. But, if this is true, then where does the grace end and the conformation begin? Surely it’s further along then we think. ???

Your thoughts?

it's 5:00 a.m. in london...

2006-12-28T10:46:00.000Z

According a survey I just took on myspace, I am only 15% emo. Thank God!

After only a week in Egypt, my schedule is all jacked up. It’s 5:00 a.m. and I’m wide awake. At 8:00 p.m. last night, all I wanted to do was sleep. I fought to stay awake until 10:00 p.m. and then I was out. Could this be the beginning of me finally being on farm time? I would love to be on farm time. I believe in that whole “the early bird” thing, I’ve just never been able to do it. I’ve always been a late night guy. This has come in handy, here in England, as I often have to stay up ‘till 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. to watch NFL games. Still, I’ve always wanted to be one of those people who got up early. They’re seen as more spiritual than the rest of us, and I’ve always wanted to be more spiritual than the rest of you. Hopefully I’m finally on my way. Bring on the early morning prayer breakfasts!

It’s dreary here in London. After a week of sun, we came home to London’s signature grey skies…oh, and it’s five mile walk from the terminal to the baggage claim. What is up with that? Haven’t they ever heard of a tram? I think that technology arrives around the same time as air conditioning. So I guess we’ve still got a few years.

In the last three days, James Brown and Gerald Ford have died. I’m sure if I thought about it long enough, I could match it up to some sort of an apocalyptic sign. The Godfather of soul and the guy who got us out of Vietnam, both dying within three days of each other. Actually, I’ll have to leave that one to Rick Ponder who seems to have cornered the market on Biblical numbers.

Bugs Bunny still holds up! It’s on right now and it still holds up!

When you get up at 5:00 a.m. you’re either very deep, or not deep at all. Enjoy!