More confessions

After admitting that I enjoy two pretty cheesy shows, I had a great conversation with a mentor of mine last night.

What is the Christian assessment of entertainment?

Entertainment is probably the biggest idol in our culture (pun somewhat intended), and I'm afraid that I buy into it a lot, and I don't really like to think about that.

I could sit down and watch 3 NFL games in a row EASY. I could play Halo for 6 consecutive hours EASY (and, last week, I might have come close!). But then I talk about not being to find time for people like my mentor, or I talk about how worn out I am, or I talk about how it's difficult to find time to devote to prayer and study.

That's crap, I just choose having fun over doing stuff that matters!

So there we have sort of the first principal in the question, how do we balance work and entertainment?

The second, and I think more difficult question, is what sort of things are innappropriate to be entertained by? If I believe that war is wrong, should I really be spending hours shooting at pretend spacemen on Halo? If I believe that marriage should be the context in which two people become one through sex, is it wrong to watch The Office; where Michael Scott and Jan have a sexual relationship outside of marriage? Am I in a really small way, lending support to these views that are not what I say I believe? Am I being honest with myself in saying that I enjoy the commradery of playing online with my bros, and love the witty humor in the office apart from the afforementioned issues? Or is that like the classic: "I don't listen to the words, just the beat" that no body ever believes?

Worst of all, I feel like such an old fogey saying all this!!!! Help!

What is happening to me?

I have some confessions to make...

Maybe it's because I've been without cable for so long but I have been watching...and secretly enjoying both American Gladiators and American Idol.

Un-related side note: You can send American Gladiator Valentine e-cards from nbc.com

Retraction

Here was a line from one of my recent blog posts:

"No-thanks to my Dad, who never emailed me any feedback!"

After conversing with said Father figure, it was brought to my attention that I failed to attach said sermon in said email. Thus, no attachment, no sermon, no feedback.

I would like to take this opportunity to offer the most sincere apologies to J. Brent Mustoe. It just goes to show that no matter how old I get, he will always be right. Lets recap some of the more famous "Dad was right" moments over the years shall we?

-In 8th grade, it's moving day from St. Charles to Cape Girardeau. I forgot to pack my bb gun (ironically, Dad's old copper Daisy, it was sweet). As I'm loading it into the trunk he says "Now Adam be careful with that it might still be...." and is interrupted by the sound of me accidentally shooting him.

-Sometime in Middle School Kelly, Dad, and I are at the Mid Rivers Mall food court. I of course go with Taco Bell and am applying hot sauce to my tacos. I tear the corner of one, but not deep enough; pressure starts to build as I try to persevere with my insufficient tear. Dad warns me to rip another corner because it'll all squirt out, and then as he finishes that sentance I accidentally squirt hot sauce all over his shirt from across the table.

-My parents explicitly banned me from riding my bike on Mid Rivers Mall drive. Boy were they right, and it was wasn't fun to explain to them how I had got hit by a car while on my bike.

-Dad warned me about credit cards. Nuff said.

-and probably his all time favorite: After repeated warnings but a very "I'll let you make the choice" policy on prom party, I went. Everyone ended up getting hammered (just like he said) and my prom date hooked up with a Southeast Missouri State cheerleader named Hoss. I had a terrible time just like he said I would, but he let me have the freedom to find out just how right he was.

So, Pops, Sorry, and you were right, just like always.

Election 2008>www.glassbooth.org

Many people say politics and religion are two sensitive conversation topics. I definitely focus a lot on the latter, so why not talk a little bit about the other one.

Here's a site I've found that does a great job of "matching" you with a candidate, as well as provide you with some good information on where they stand on "major" issues. It's informative, succinct, and seemingly neutral.

www.glassbooth.org

I'll also post a link on the left.

The Office: Keeping Us Waiting until April?

According to this TV guide article, the Office will be shooting 5-10 new episodes to air in April/May.

The good news is, it's coming back. The bad news, it won't be for a while. Do you think they'll still charge full price for the season 4 DVD set? I have a sneaking suspicion that they will...

Ash Wednesday Continued

As part of our service yesterday we had prayer stations incorporated into a time of silent prayer. My message was about 12 minutes long, and placed toward the beginning of the service. I think we can sometimes make all the other elements of worship a "warm up" to the "real" point of the service,the message/sermon/talk/whatever else you want to call it. So the message was really more of an effort to explain some things, and set up the rest of the service, so that the "meat" of the worship service was done by the actual people- praying and the imposition of ashes.

Here's some pictures of the stations. The first couple are of tackboards we covered in sackcloth and encouraged people to write down their response to some prompts we had given them. The prompts read:

1. What unresolved sin in my life needs to be confessed and repented of so that I can truly feel God's love for me just as I am?

2. What lies from our very affluent culture have I incorporated into my life, so that I no longer see them for what they truly are- IDOLS?

3. What seemingly good goals am I working toward, that have crept up from acceptable second place desires to first place priorities?

We then encouraged folks to write them down, and tack them up. We did not collect a monetary offering that night, but rather, the "rending of our hearts" was the offering.

The last one is a shot of our prayer stations, with scrolling scriptures on the screen and a kneeler so that people could meditate on the word and be in prayer.

I hope it's clear that the point of these isn't just to be cool, or have something hip to put on my blog. If doing some more experiential orientated things made last night "emergent" then I guess we were. But the point isn't to be emergent, the point is to try and make set it up so that people can faithfully engage God.

I was so proud of our congregation- this was a little out of the ordinary for an Ash Wednesday service. The response was beautiful. Everyone from 5 year olds to 85 year olds were participants. It's so great to be a part of a congregation that doesn't just give youth 1 token Sunday a year to lead the service and do their best to put up with it, or think it's cute or something. (sorry to be so pessimistic)

So, as I have stolen from many people, please, use in your own context.

Ash Wed. Sermon

The youth are leading worship at our church tonight, for those of you far away- here's the message I'm giving tonight. For those part of the same community as I here's a sneak preview I guess, because I know that the anticipation is so palpable...

Thanks to my friends and co-workers for reading it and helping me iron it out. No-thanks to my Dad, who never emailed me any feedback! I've tried to slim down how much is actually written here by linking to all the Bible verses.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I remember going to see the movie “Titanic”. I leaned over to my sister and said- “Hey, betcha I know how it ends…the ship sinks!” She didn’t think that was very funny. It’s a little bit like that with the season of Lent. I don’t mean to make light of anything with a Titanic reference, but we know how the story ends don’t we?

We just came out of advent; a season of the church that centers on hope, love, peace, and joy coming to us with the birth of Christ. We had a wonderful sermon series continuing these things beyond just Christmastime. But during Lent we prepare for Easter not with wreaths and signs of life, but with ashes- signs of decay. The centerpiece of Christianity is the resurrection of Jesus, so Easter is the culmination of the hope, peace, joy, and love. But before we get to the good stuff we need to remember that Jesus was betrayed by a disciple, and his closest companions bailed on him; among them the case of Peter’s denial. We remember that Jesus was tried as a peasant criminal, beaten mercilessly under Roman rule, executed as a heretic to the Jewish authorities and a subversive to the imperial authorities.

In a conversation with someone from another church once, I was relating to them some of the things our church has done to remember Good Friday; with a funeral type service to remember the Passion of Christ, the Earthly, bodily sacrifice of Jesus. She sort of frowned through what I was saying and remarked: “I just don’t like those types of services. I just think it should be a celebration. Where’s the joy?” Lent is not happy time. Easter is happy time. Lent is about remembering why and how Easter came to be. I hope to reveal some of the biblical images and concepts we’ll be incorporating tonight, first by hearing about them then by acting on them.

So what’s the deal with the ashes? We use Ash Wednesday to mark the beginning of Lent. Ashes have two meanings: Repentance and Mortality. Neither of those are real causes for celebration are they? Here are some places in the Bible where we see ashes as a symbol of repentance:

Job 42: 6

Job uses ashes as a sign of self deprecation before God.

Nehemiah 9: 1-3

Note the first part of this scripture- they gathered wearing sackcloth and had dust on their heads. They gathered and heard the word and confessed their sins. Sounds a lot like what we’re doing!

Daniel 9: 3-11

Daniel is praying for forgiveness for his own sins and the sins of his people with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. Also note the inclusion of fasting to deny ones self as a sign of repentance, a tradition that many still observe during Lent by “giving up something”. We’ll come back to that later.

So clearly ashes are a sign of making one low before God, to be a sign of repentance before the God that we have sinned against. We are orientating ourselves to God as lowly in comparison to him.

The other thing ashes symbolize is mortality. Again, not a real fun topic is it? That we are all born and will all die. As my Dad says: “Death bats 1000”. Check these out:

Psalm 90: 2-3
Genesis 3: 19
Genesis 18: 27

So once again we see ashes reminding us that were are humans, and God is God. We are the pots, not the potter. God is marvelous, and we are dust. It is important to remember what ashes symbolize. We come tonight to be humiliated in being convicted of sin and assured of our finite state before God.

So then Lent becomes about the journey towards glorious Easter while remembering our sinfulness and acknowledging our need to repent and turn to God. Lent is a church wide reminder that we are not immortal or invincible, something you parents may have said to your growing children. This is a lesson not just for careless teenagers but for every human and for all times. Listen again to the words of Joel:

“Even now declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity (other translations read “punishment”).” Joel 2: 12-13

We are not without hope! Again, we know the end of the story! We can allow the season of Lent to transform us. We’re called to change! We’re called to repent, to turn from our ways and start living the way God intends us to. We can “rend our hearts” to God by taking time to examine our priorities, our decisions, our relationships in light of the Cross. Listen to what Paul says in the epistle to the Corinthians, Epistle is derived from the Greek word for “message” or “letter”:

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says ‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”

We don’t need to despair, for God has made himself available through Jesus. Christ took our place on the cross, so that through the resurrection we are restored back to God. His sacrifice once and for all has made all those who believe in him collaborators with God! We are suddenly much more than just dust aren’t we? Yet the season of Lent calls us to be reminded of our sinful or mortal state so that we don’t lose sight of the resurrection on Easter.

Paul continues:

“We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” (this and the above quote from 2 Corinthians 5: 20-6: 10)

So no matter what happens, we still remember who we are to God. We are still human and God is still God, but what was mere dust is now to be commended! Paul describes enduring lots of tough things, which he himself did. But notice at the end Paul sets up dichotomies of seemingly contradictory nature: “genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” What do I mean by “dichotomies of seemingly contradictory nature”? Things that are this, and yet also are that. Just like clay is clay, but is becoming a pot. It is at once formless but is being formed.
Could it be that God is transforming us from one to the other? The potter molding his clay? The mysterious is being made known. While we are yet dust and dying, we may live in Christ. We may suffer but we will endure. Seemingly having nothing but really possessing everything.

I invite you to experience Lent as a formative process, honestly looking at your priorities, decisions, and relationships. If you want to “give up” something, then please, go ahead if that will help you in being formed back in God’s image. Many times I’ve given up something like soda and said “Ok, every time I want a soda, I’m going to pray.” Then once Easter hits it’s like: “Fill er up!” So consider more than dropping something; why not take up something this Lent? A sacrifice of your time is probably worth more than a sacrifice of caffeine. Regular, intentional acts of service (notice I didn’t say Random Acts of Kindness). Take time for relationships that matter, whether that’s “dusting off” old ones or starting new ones. Find ways to remind yourself of your needy state, yet also finding encouragement in knowing the end of the story.

Ooops I Ripped My Pants!

Here's a story for ya.

I'm teaching around 15-20 adults in a confirmation class for parents. We're about 4 minutes into our time together. I'm using the dry erase board, and drop the eraser. I bend down to pick it up, and thats when it happens...

About a 3 inch tear along the right side of my zipper.

Thats right, in front of parents of students I help teach, I have a gaping hole in the crotch of my jeans. Awesome.

So, I did what anyone else would do. Gathered what little pride I had left and said: "Well, I just ripped my pants. I'm not sure what to do next. So there it is, let's just keep moving."

*shakes head*

I need to change industries

Hey gang, did you realize Exxon made over 40 BILLION last year? Breaking their previous record of most money made ever by just under a billion!

Success!

Here's a great summation of a couple days worth of dialog from Greg Stier:

"...the gospel is a propositional message about a real Person who is offering a personal relationship through faith in Him that leads to transformed living."

(do you spell dialog like that or like dialogue?)

Awesome.

Sticking with the video theme, here's something I got from Michael.

Souper Bowl Promo

For our church this Sunday.

Bring Me Love

Our Director of Multi-Media Ministries Michael Logsdon created this for our sermon series last Sunday. Michael is extremely gifted and captures the perspectives of St. Louisans with out a place to call home, careful, this might break your heart.

Book Review>Peculiar People by Rodney Clapp

Just finished this wonderful book, recommended to me by my good buddy Mr. Caldwell.Clapp's thesis is the church needs to reclaim Christianity as a way of life, as it's own distinct culture. He asserts that the church doesn't need to
blend or mold to "culture" but rather, seek to form/be it's own culture.

Adam read this in seminary, and another close friend who is attending Asbury also has recommended the book. Clapp does a good job of being practical yet I also had to sound out several words, and look up even more on dictionary.com

Clapp points out that there really is no distinct "culture" in modern
America, and that any social analysis will instead yield a picture of
pluralism where there are many varieties of culture. So it's not so much
"the church vs. the culture" but rather the church BEING culture, as
the subtitle suggests. Excellent book. Very thoroughly footnoted and also written in good humor.

One "issue" I took with the book was Clapp's critique of what he called "foundationalism",being the

"pervasive Western philosophical doctrine that all rational belief must be builton the foundations of a-cultural and universally compelling beliefs or
realities, themselves in no need of support" (as made popular by Rene
Descartes).

He cites C.S. Lewis' "moral law" as a failing exercise in moral foundationalism. But then later the next page Clapp refers to "the human conditon". Isn't that a foundationalist assumption? That there is a universal, a-contextual condition thatevery human is in? I just really feel like people really haven't changed much since we've been around once you get down to the bottom of
things, and the way Lewis talks of the moral law makes a lot of sense
to me and I believe is a very compelling "argument" towards the existence of God.

I dunno, maybe a small point to pick on. But I would really recommend this book to any one interested in studying culture or how the church behaves as the body of Christ.

Great book, and it was written in 1996! Mr. Clapp was very prophetic, in that I've read books like Brian McLaren's "Secret Message of Jesus" that share topics and conclusions that Clapp wrote about over a decade before. Let's get peculiar baby! (oddly enough, I have been through Peculiar MO many times.)

The Spoken Gospel vs. the Living Gospel

Alrighty. So Greg Stier is founder of Dare2Share ministries. I frequent his blog and also frequently comment. I have huge respect for Greg even if I don't always line right up with his theology. After about my 5th comment of dissent on his blog, I decided to man up and lay out some of my own thoughts. Not to compete or try and one up him, I just thought it was lame of me to always be hatin' but never really put out any material myself, so awaaaaaaaaay we go:

The crux of my argument is this: the gospel cannot simply be a list of propositions. If a person agrees to a list of things procured from the Bible, it does not neccessarily mean a full induction into the way of Christ. In short: It is irresponsible for Christians to rely merely on information as opposed to relation.

My first encounter with this particular brand of Christianity was about 11 years ago. I remember being in 7th grade and going to an event called "Judgement House". It was a "haunted house alternative" held at a Baptist church around Halloween. We went through different rooms where the scenario of a high school boys basketball teams bus crashed, some of them went to hell some of them went to heaven. At the end of the program, they brought you into this little room and asked you if you knew where you were going when you died. They handed me a little card that had an acronym on it. A middle aged man who was a total stranger had sized me up and was asking me very probing questions. They were trying to make sure I was "saved".

Ever since then there has been an icky feeling in my stomach when I see/hear about events like this. This carries over into theological positions as well. What they were doing at "Judgement House" was actually pretty judgemental in itself, so maybe the name fit. They were making sure people understood "the gospel".

Ever since 7th grade, I couldn't quite formulate why I disagreed with this particular manifestion of evangelism; until I read "The Cost of Discipleship". Mr. Bonhoeffer says it best:

Cheap grace means sold on the market like cheapjacks' wares...Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principal, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian "conception" of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins.

Snap! So to Bonhoeffer, coming to the "intellectual assent" doesn't cut it. Instead of mere mental synthesis, Jesus takes hold of you, and transforms your life. You die to your old self, and put on Christ as I believe Paul says it. You're born again, as Jesus put it.

Yet this "if you only agree to THIS then you'll get to go to heaven" attitude permeates Christianity. It's as if the gospel were a commodity, something that worked like a ticket. Hhhhmmmm, where could we find such clear examples of this bad theology? No better place than Cokesbury my friends! (for those of you who aren't methodist, hopefully that's a lot of you, Cokesbury is a Christian Bookstore with particularly Methodist roots)

Let us consider EXHIBIT A:

Here is the front of one Christian t-shirt, taken with my camera phone. Now, this is a spoof of "Deal or No Deal". So the gospel is likened to Howie Mandel asking if you want eternal life if you agree with such and such list of statements, OR you can choose eternal suffering- take the deal! In the shape of a cross no less!

EXHIBIT B:

Now, here we have a spoof of the show COPS and hey, we even get an acronym! Christian sub-culture bonus for those oh so witty acronyms! Christians Obediently Preaching Salvation, and the verse referenced is Ephesians 5: 6 which reads "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient." So can't you just hear the COPS theme song playing (bad boys, bad boys...) as Jesus returns to lock up all those bad guys who didn't listen to him; brace yo'self whachu' gonna do!?!?!

and the worst one of them all, EXHIBIT C:

A Staples easy button spoof. The Jesus easy button. Seriously. I know Jesus said his yoke was easy and his burden was light, but is this what he meant? YOU'VE GOT TO BE FREAKING KIDDING ME! EASY!?!?!??! One might even say...cheap! Just press the Jesus button, say the prayer, and you're good to go! IT'LL BE EASY! What could be further from the truth? Was suffering the entire weight of human sin easy? Was being constantly dissapointed and let down by your best friends easy? Was being despised by his own people easy? For Christians today, and in all times, picking up your cross and following him easy? Is praying for your neighbors, turning the other cheek, and loving your enemies easy? Is loving others easy? Didn't Jesus actually say the opposite? That when you love those who love you, it's easy, but it's only when you love those who hate you that it's really love? THIS SHIRT IS THE BIGGEST BUNCH OF CRAP, PERHAPS THE BIGGEST CROCK OF ALL TIME. *ahem* sorry, but that just sent me through the roof.

SO, lets recap according to our Cokesbury t-shirt theology shall we? Whacha' gonna do when we comes for you? So take the deal so you won't burn in hell, and best of all it'll be easy! Jesus, lifes easiest solution!

Whats wrong with simply a spoken, intellectual, propositional gospel is that it's too easy and it doesn't hold any existential weight. My parents divorced, I've had friends die, and I've seen people in my congregation suffering unimaginable pain- and that's just my experience the last couple years! I won't even get into AIDS or evil, or any of the other tough stuff. The easy button Jesus doesn't exist. The COPS Jesus and the Deal or No Deal Jesus are bankrupt. Why? Because all they're concerned with is you "making a choice", as Bonhoeffer says "an intellectual assent" to the truth, and then you can know the state of your soul and let the easy life begin.

Jesus said we can know the truth and the truth shall set us free. The truth is not a list. The truth is not a formula, the truth is a person. The spoken gospel works like a magic spell. The lived gospel works like a living, breathing, person because that's what we become when Christ makes his home in us (John 14).

So I won't deny the power of words, isn't that what I'm employing to make my point? But the gospel cannot be reduced to a forumla that is abstracted and presented to people on their doorstep and in the grocery aisle. That's mere information. If we start with the information, ok, whatever works. But if that's where we end- we get cheap grace. Christ calls us into relation with him, and with people.

I know this was horribly long, but I've said my piece. If I've offended folks, at least it will make for exciting conversation. I'm out!

Awesome Story

Last night Kelly and I were on our way home from downtown visiting some friends. Earlier she had made fun of me for listening to the top 40 radio station so much. She contends that it's not "research" about youth and culture like I say, but that I've grown to like it.

So we turn it off for the ride home. Randomly Kelly starts singing Fergie's "Clumsy" and I join in. I think to myself, "hey, that'd be great if it was on the radio"

AND IT WAS, AT THE EXACT PART WE WERE JUST SINGING.

it. was. awesome.

A Prayer

I want so badly to be more like you.
I know that I am a sinful being,
But I also know that you have placed a light in me.
A light not only for me, but for everyone I encounter.

Please help me to change.
Please help me to be more urgent.
Please let me bear fruit for your sake.

Let me be honest and have a spirit of truth
Free me from guilt and pessimism
Always help me find my hope in you
As far as the east is from the west
So you remove my transgressions from me

Let my soul praise the Lord.
Amen.

"talk" from worship last night

Here's a sermon/talk/devotion/whatever from last night. The Hebrew and Greek word studies were from Studylight.org, which I linked to from Biblegateway.com. Very cool!

Matthew 4: 17 From that time on Jesus began to preach “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near!”

Some thoughts on repentance…

Repent is not really a fun word. It sounds really old, and it kind of makes me feel guilty just thinking about it. You may be imagining some preacher on the street screaming it at the top of his lungs. Let’s look at the definition:

repent - [ri-pent]
–verb (used without object)
1. to feel sorry, self-reproachful, or contrite for past conduct; regret or be conscience-stricken about a past action, attitude, etc. He repented after his thoughtless act.
2. to feel such sorrow for sin or fault as to be disposed to change one's life for the better; be penitent.

3. to remember or regard with self-reproach or contrition: to repent one's injustice to another.
4. to feel sorry for; regret: to repent an imprudent act.
Now, these definitions are from a modern English bible. Translated closely, when we see “repent” in our Old Testament it means more closely “to turn away from”. In the Greek form where Jesus says this in Matthew, the Greek word means “to change one's mind, i.e. to repent to change one's mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one's past sins.”

At this point I’d like to digress for a moment. How many of you guys have had a close friend or even a girl/boyfriend do something to make you mad or hurt your feelings? Have you ever gotten what I like to call a “halfway” apology? It all centers around one or two words. Check it out, note the difference:
“I’m sorry that I hurt you” vs. “I’m sorry if I hurt you”

The first acknowledges that your actions have hurt the other person directly; the second is really more a mere admission that the other person may have been hurt indirectly as an unintended result of your actions. See the difference? I’m sorry THAT I hurt you is an apology, I’m sorry IF I hurt you is not. We see this all the time with really bad celebrity statements. I actually run into this a lot with my soon to be wife Sarah- I give her the halfway stuff. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings” is MUCH different from “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings”. Because regardless of intent, damage had been done.

Much in the same sense, repentance isn’t just about admission of guilt or wrongdoing, although that’s a big step one, repentance is about change. So often I find myself giving God a halfway apology. The Biblical understanding of sin and repentance should lead us to realize that repentance isn’t just a one shot deal, but rather a continual process. If you punch your sister and say you’re sorry, it doesn’t really matter to much the next time you punch her and say you’re sorry right? To feel sorry, to realize something as wrong, to regret an action or thought is meaningless, unless it then takes root and leads to change. 1 John 3: 4-6

See, at New Years we see all the headlines about resolutions and think “ok, this is it! I can do it”. Then two weeks later we’re right back where we started. This is tempting because as people we love quick results! But often if we expect to be drastically different people inside and out overnight, we’re going to end up very discouraged. I’ve brought an example to show you how the process of repentance works. My car has a hideous reputation for always being trashed. It has earned this reputation because it’s true! Here is all the trash that was in my car as it sat in the parking lot.

Now, has the ‘Bu ever been clean? Sure! Once while we were in Mexico Susan McIntyre cleaned the whole thing! Just a couple months ago I paid my sister to clean it up. But the catch is, even though my car had changed my habits had not. In order for my car to stay clean, I must become disciplined enough to take the Dr. Pepper bottles out when I get done drinking them! If I really cared about my car being gross, I would change my habits instead of letting the crap pile up and then getting my sister to clean it up.

So as we enter into 2008 we need to not give in to the tempting thought that we can change overnight. However we also need to know that if we’re not really seeking to change, we aren’t truly repenting. And so while you can’t change in 24 hours, maybe you can find small change in a week. Maybe a little more in a month. Maybe a little more in a year…you get the idea. We can’t just mentally acknowledge that we should be sorry and then keep on sinning. We can’t just become apathetic and comfortable because “at least we’re not doing __________”. No, our new years resolution will not be a glamorous renouncing of our old ways with a sudden dramatic transformation; but rather the Christian will repent and thus begin the painful, almost boring work of changing our habits of what we do, what we think, and even what helps us evaluate the choices we make. And then? You wake up and do it all again tomorrow! 1 John 1: 8-9
Psalm 103: 12

A Late Night Mustoe Beard Salute

Here's to you David Letterman. You endured Robin Williams mocking (which is ironic that he would make fun of someone's hairiness) and still proudly sported your silver beard. Well done. Conan Obrien also was sporting a beard, but I can't find a picture of that on Google yet. So this is really a first for the blog- a double beard salute!

Advent Smackdown

Read this. This is a little piece of whats wrong with everyone who is under the Christian umbrella.

Choose the Booze You Lose (it's a long one!)

Here's an "article" I wrote for youth group. In summation, we cannot expect our schools to "fix" problems like under-age binge drinking as it is not within their scope of influence.

Alcohol

With New Years Eve approaching I want to address a pertinent issue in our community. New Years is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, party night of the year; which is ironic because you’re either ending or starting your year partying, depending on how you look at it. Either way our students will certainly be in a position to make some choices if not this year, then in a rapidly approaching year.

Over the past several months I have had the privilege of working with a local coalition for drug free schools, made up of leaders from the Rockwood School District and the community. Rockwood students rate higher in participating in binge drinking than other students in Missouri and the country. In those meetings I got be on the “front lines” of alcohol abuse prevention and interact with teachers, students, and law enforcement officials. I learned a lot of information and got to see great efforts being made to face this issue in our community, an issue that could easily be swept under the rug or dismissed as “kids just being kids”.

I commend the efforts of the coalition and look forward to future collaboration with them. However I feel as a person in a position of “influence” with youth and parents, and as a Christian I can offer a unique perspective (by influence I mean I have a forum to espouse my ideas, that doesn’t mean I’m important!). It is not the responsibility of our schools to teach our children not do drink.

It’s ours.

By “ours” I mean parents and other adults who care about what is best for our students not only in the eyes of society (i.e. being “good” kids) but in the eyes of God. You see, our schools can’t really teach our kids about ethics or morality, that is not what they’re charged with. We cannot expect them to, nor be angry when they do not. Our students can learn about the legal and biological consequences of binge drinking, but they cannot be taught about why it is a “bad” choice. Because in making a judgment of what is “good” or “bad”, you will ultimately have to appeal to a higher authority. Otherwise your parameters for what is “good” and “bad” will be mere subjectivity, emotion, or pragmatism.

Again, our schools can demonstrate how you’ll pay this much for an M.I.P. ticket when you get busted or show a picture of a scarred liver after binge drinking for years. But can a health teacher weigh in on whether or not binge drinking is a good choice from a moral standpoint?

The problem with this situation is that most high school students do not find statistics, legal repercussions, or health problems to be a deterrent. After all, when we’re young we’re immortal! The “I’ll never get caught” or “that won’t happen to me” cards quickly trump any grounds we present from the perspective of mere information. So we are left with kids that are well educated but not morally (one could even say spiritually) motivated to resist the lifestyle of binge drinking.

So it then becomes the responsibility of the parents and other caring adults to impart this wisdom to our students. This can be very tricky! As a parent, do you fear your child asking if you ever drank before you were 21? Or that they’ll ask if even after you were 21 did you drink to excess? As a 23 year old male, who is a role model for students, should I feel dirty if I buy a six pack at the grocery store? Where are the boundaries? Total abstinence? The age old “if you’re going to drink I’d rather have you at home safe”?

We need to do more than make students aware of the laws in our community. They need more than stats or mock drunk driving accidents or Bible verses. Students need to see the behavior their parents are expecting modeled. Our students are surrounded by images that promote binge drinking as not just what is cool, but what is normal. If you want to see an image that is being portrayed to our students as “par for the course” behavior, rent “Superbad”.

Students need to be shown that binge drinking isn’t just a “bad choice” because of what it does to your liver or how much community service you have to put in if you get caught, binge drinking is a wrong choice because you’re not really living it up, you’re running away. When you drink it does harm your body; but so does the McDonalds I just ate for lunch. Again, it’s not just about the physical consequences. When you drink you are able to engage in behaviors that you might think twice about if you were sober- so you essentially can be someone else. Because hey, you can just blame whatever you did on the booze! (I won't even get into the drinking and driving issues, when you effect not only your own life, but those around you.) This is no way to live.

So what will “fix” the teen drinking problem is not more seminars or more education or more dramatic depictions of binge drinking, but a relationship with Jesus Christ. Now, that’s a very “youth pastory” thing to say. What I mean by that is, students can relate with peers and other adults who honestly care about them and who are trying to live as Christ did. The student can see a very invisible thing be visibly modeled in others lives! If a student has already committed their life to following Jesus Christ, that student can be encouraged so that they don’t feel like a weirdo and they don’t have to judge the kids who are still engaging in un-wise activities. No one could come up with a sound argument against education and awareness, that would be ridiculous- there are consequences for actions. But we need to see the limits of mere information and re-commit ourselves to the power of relation: modeling the behavior Jesus commands for our students.

Appendix: Please know that I am NOT arguing for the Bible to be taught in the classroom or for our schools to be overtly religious in nature. What I am saying is, what else could you expect from an institution that is not bound to instill the things I described above?

Ladies and Gentlemen, I Present A Very Mustoe Christmas: Platinum Edition

Starting in high school, back in the Napster days, I scoured the Internet, the airwaves, and the archives of western music in search of the best Christmas songs for a little compilation I like to call- A Very Mustoe Christmas.

You see, I am a Christmas music phene. I could listen to it all year round, as a child I actually did. You know when you're in stores like Old Navy and they're blaring some awful techno mix of "feliz navidad" and you're thinking "Man, I'm pretty sure they use this as torture at Gitmo" well, I secretly am enjoying it...

So I realize I'm tooting my own horn here, but I consider myself somewhat of an authority on the subject of Christmas music. Every couple years I try to update my ultimate Christmas playlist, and this years is now complete. Over the years there has been some great new additions (this year in particular) and we've seen some songs like "Mary Did You Know" be dropped altogether.

The list contains some songs that are actually quite bad, after all, part of the greatness of Christmas music is that it is so cheesy. Some songs might actually make you gag, but don't leave any comments talking about how terrible such and such song is. I don't want to hear it. If you don't like it, go sit in your tower and make your own list! I tried to limit instrumentals as well. So some of these are meant to be funny (like the first one), some are for nastalgia, some are classics, some are remakes of classics, and there are some really really really great songs here, like, make-you-get-a-little-weepy-great. The one rule I have is that there are no repeats, which makes for some tough calls, but I hope you can enjoy these songs as much as my family and friends have:

(artist/song, in alphabetical order)
Aaron Neville / Silent Night
Aretha Franklin / O Christmas Tree
The Beach Boys / Little Saint Nick
Bing Crosby / White Christmas
Bing Crosby / Mele Kalikimaka
Blues Traveler / Christmas
Bobby Helms / Jingle Bell Rock
Brenda Lee / Rockin Around the Christmas Tree
Bruce Springsteen / Santa Claus Is Comin to Town
Choir from Home Alone / O Holy Night
Counting Crows / A Long December
Dianna Krall / Jingle Bells
Frank Sinatra / Let It Snow!
Georgy Moravsky / Angels, We Have Heard on High
(from a CD my Grandma got me like, 6 years ago called "Acoustic Christmas Reflections" it's awesome)
Harry Connick Jr. / Ol' Saint Nick
James Taylor / Go Tell it on the Mountain
James Taylor / In the Bleak Midwinter
Jamie Cullum / Next Year, Baby
Joe / This Christmas
John Denver and the Muppets / The 12 Days of Christmas
John Legend / Jesus, What a Wonderful Child
Jose Feliciano / Feliz Navidad
Keith Sweat / Be Your Santa Claus
Luthor Vandross / O Come All Ye Faithful
Mariah Carey / All I Want For Christmas Is You
Martin Sexton / I'll Be Home For Christmas
Martin Sexton / Little Drummer Boy
Martin Sexton / Silver Bells
N*Sync / Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays
Nat King Cole / The Christmas Song
Nat King Cole / Deck the Hall
Nat King Cole / Caroling, Caroling
Perry Como / It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas
Ray Charles / This Time of the Year
Relient K / I'm Gettin Nuttin For Christmas
Tony Bennett / Winter Wonderland
Trans-Siberian Orchestra / Carol of the Bells
U2 / This Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Various Artists (Jack Johnson) / Rudolph
Various Artists (Barenaked Ladies & Sarah Mclocklin) / God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Vince Guaraldi Trio / What Child Is This?

So there it is. In terms of Christmas albums, here's some favorites:
John Denver and the Muppets, A Christmas Together.
(from my childhood, and STILL on my iPod!)
Martin Sexton, Camp Holiday
Relient K, Let It Snow Baby...Let It Reindeer
Nat King Cole, The Christmas Song
James Taylor, James Taylor at Christmas
Vince Guaraldi Trio, A Charlie Brown Christmas

Technology

The things we can do really never cease to amaze me. I was able to watch the George Mitchell conference live online, while simultaneously downloading and reading his just released report on MLB and steroids.

Book Review: Can Man Live Without God?

I'm home sick today with an ear infection. So you know what that means, lots of time to blog! A couple weeks ago I finished this book by Ravi Zacharias. I have also read "Jesus Among Other Gods" by the author, and his CD of a lecture series entitled "Why I Am Not an Atheist" really affected me in a positive way.

This book is very much a synthesis of Zacharias' lectures, built mostly upon those delivered at Harvard. There is a section at the end with actual dialogstranscriptions from audience-posed questions. So if you listen to his podcasts or are familiar with any of his audio lectures, then you will already be privy to the material.

In terms of format, the book is very conversational and is divided into three sections:

“Antitheism is Alive—and Deadly,” deals with issues such as God’s existence, ethics, evil, and death. “What Gives Life Meaning?”, investigates man’s relationship to God, and the nature of truth, knowledge, and love. The third section, “Who Is Jesus (and Why Does It Matter?),” compares Jesus’ truth claims with those of other religions. from review here"

Ravi is very much an analytical, logical thinker and his style lends itself to scholarly credibility while at the same time not writing from such a cold and detached posture that it alienates anyone outside academia. His critiques are formed by taking antitheism to its fullest logical conclusions and then juxtaposing those against existential problems that arise. For example, from page 140:

Two contemporary cosmologists make the terrifying comment, "Ultimately it is not human beings that are important, it's DNA." From those words one may infer that prejudice is not personal, it is merely an aversion for certain DNAs. Is this not the inevitable slide of an antitheistic view of man, even though counterintuitively and in practical terms such a bizarre conclusion is incongruent with life itself, where personal love and concerns outweigh all other considerations? Can we just reduce people to chemicals?

We can look at any one of the major tragedies going on in the world right now and if antitheism is true, no body should care because there is no point anyway- after all, we're just DNA.

Ravi is huge on worldview and I believe he is right when he looks at four questions that every worldview must answer: Questions of origin, meaning, morality, and destiny. Great author, great book, great discussion opportunities within a local community.

Ravi Zacharias official website

Ear Infection=No Good

Haven't had one in years, ugh.

Under the Arrow

* warning, quasi-cheesy post ahead *

So yesterday I had to take I-44 on my way back home after dropping off my lovely special lady friend to whom I am betrothed. Highway 40 was closed in st. louis (ugh) and there's this one part where 44 and 55 split off. On the road, they have painted a giant I-44 West sign, in full color and everything. It was great! I don't often take that way home, plus it was dark with a wintry mix about which further impaired my confidence in where I was going. Also, I only have 1 headlight currently functioning. Anyways, I loved crossing over it and knowing full well that I was where I needed to go.

I thought, "hey, that's a great cheesy intro to a blog post about life, direction, etc" So here it is. As I thought about it further, I have thought this way about being on the highway for a while. When there's an exit sign before the exit, you know the one with the yellow "exit only" strip with an arrow pointing to the lane, I love that. It started when I was 16. I always would want to be right under the arrow. Even now, knowing that you don't have to be right under the arrow because of the ways the highways merge two lanes can go the same direction, I still prefer being under the arrow.

I think this is how a lot of us feel about life. We like the certainty, the satisfaction of knowing that we're where we need to be. Now, how we know that and who determines "where we need to be" and even who "we" is could all be seperate discussions. But let it suffice to say that people like security, especially in terms of our lives and plans we're making for the future. Even not making plans to change anything is still having plans.

The problem is life doesn't work like that great I-44 West sign does it? Almost a year ago I wrote a post about how I believe young adulthood is like another puberty. I know so many people my age who are struggling just to figure out what kind of person they are and how to determine their next steps.

A big frustration for me is that in trying to make decisions and seeking God's guidance for my life, it doesn't seem to work the way it does in the Bible. I don't hear clear audible voices. I don't have prophetic dreams. No angels appear to me (that I can tell anyway). I freely admit this could be totally my fault. But I think a lot of us would LOVE to recieve a "vision" telling us how to proceed.

Sometimes feeling like being under the yellow trimmed arrow would be nice huh?

I consider myself extremely lucky. I have found love, I have a career and a calling which I love, and I feel very secure in the choices I've made to work in ministry, and especially at my church- so this is not a veiled cry for support from EUMC people. I'm just saying I have experienced a disconnect with Biblical prophecy and my personal experience. Anyone else? Anyone feel differently?

H.O.P.E.

I saw a Hummer commercial and went to check out the website because at first I thought the commercial was for:

1. a new discovery channel show
or
2. some stormchaser movie or a twister sequel.

It's for real.

Hummer
Owners
Prepared for
Emergencies

...I wish I didn't think it was kind of cool.

Check it out.

Love/Hate

So this year I've blossomed into a full blown fantasy football nerd. It's great. There is a massive amount of coverage on fantasy sports these days. The information that you have instant access to is just silly. ESPN has several columnists dedicated to covering fantasy sports. The most well known is Matthew Barry, who, every week writes a "Love/Hate" column. In it, he talks about players who will do better than predicted (the players he loves) and the players who won't live up to their statistical predictions (players he hates). So I'm going to do a little something similar, kind of. Things I'm loving and hating right now. I know hate is a strong word, I really don't, blah blah here's the list:

Love
-The rise (or return) of the "vocoder" effect in pop music. You know what I'm talking about; remember that Cher song "Believe"? It's in there a couple times. Most Daft Punk songs, Hellogoodbye uses it, and pretty much every song T Pain is involved in. I'm a sucker for that little effect.

-Winter weather. In St. Louis it has been getting chilly which always makes me feel festive. Although, we didn't get any snow like a lot of the country did this week.

-Although I said it above, Fantasy Football. It makes every game fun, because chances are you're rooting for a player on your team or against one of your opponents players.

-Favorite TV shows online. This amazes me. I don't have cable, so I can keep up with my favorite sports show everyday, for free!Also I have worship band rehearsal during The Office, so I can keep up with that as well. Although, more on this topic below.

-Family and friends in the coming weeks- 2 weddings, a fiance coming home, a visit with the family, and my Grandma's birthday party...at Red Lobster!

-Registry. What a great idea. "Alright guys, I'm gettin married, and I need some stuff. Here's a list for your convenience."

Hate
-The writers strike. I think it is kind of cool that the writers are stickin it to the man. That I salute. However, NBC and whoever else needs to get with it and pay these people. From what I can gather, the writers weren't getting revenues from newer sources of viewership like iTunes or online advertising. C'mon guys, buck up.

-As a subsequent "hate" item, I want to publicly denounce NBC for cutting ties with iTunes. I loved getting the Office episodes every week. NBC wanted more money per download (of course) but they also wanted to bundle TV shows with movies featuring actors from their shows (ex: you buy a season of the Office bundled with The 40 Year Old Virgin, and you have to pay more). This is lame. So NBC, you break even. But all I want to do is buy your show from iTunes, why won't you let me?

-Every single "carol of the bells" christmas time commercial parody. Guys, it's got to stop.

-Tailgaters. This could be a whole post in itself. Lets clear this up: if you are in a residential area, going the speed limit, tailgating is just rude. Most of the time the way stoplights work, you don't get ahead anyway. Now, if someone is on a major highway/interstate in the leftmost lane and is going the speed limit, they need to get over. But I've had way to many Suburbans and H2's creepin up on the Malibu lately, no respect. Also, I especially hate that my car is the perfect height to where my rear view mirror is at headlight level for said tailgaters.

I stayed away from several topics that really matter, but these are some of the things I've been appreciating and ruing lately.

The Golden Compass

Greetings blog people. I haven't posted in longer than I'd like to admit. I apologize. There's been lots of buzz at my church and around the internet about the upcoming movie The Golden Compass. Here is an article you can read that outlines some of the controversy. From the article:

Starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, "The Golden Compass" traces a 12-year-old girl named Lyra from Oxford, England, to the Arctic to the edge of another universe, where she becomes locked in a battle between good and evil. The characters are shadowed by their own "daemons," talking animal companions that take on soul-like qualities.

In early October, the New York-based Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights launched a boycott of the film, calling it "selling atheism to kids" at Christmastime in stealth fashion.

Director Chris Weitz has said he cut controversial religious content to make the film more commercially viable, with the plan of being more faithful to the original material in sequels.

For instance, the evil organization dominating the world is not "the church," as it is in the book, but the "Magisterium," which is getting criticism anyway because it's a Catholic term.

Here's what I think is funny- they changed some of the language and plot lines to make it "not quite as anti-religious". They did this to make the movie more appealing to a wide variety of groups. Hhhmmm...how ironic. I remember when "The Prince of Egypt" came out they changed some of the scenes, Moses murdering an Egyptian in particular, to make the film more "kid friendly". So Hollywood makes our anti-Christian movies less anti-Christian, and also changes elements of our pro-Christian films to broaden the appeal of both.

I think people need to keep a couple things in mind, before we get all upset.

1. First and foremost Hollywood is out to make bucks. I don't think they're out to change people's perceptions about religion, they're out to make a movie that people will pay to see. With big budget films and studios, anything beyond economics is just an unimportant subsequence.

2. If people from religious groups get upset, I can kind of understand. A movie based on a book where the church is a worldwide institution of evil is an unfair characterization (although more fair than I would like to admit!). However, the answer isn't boycotting. The answer is to do it better. I challenge anyone to name 5 "Christian" movies they've seen that are any good. If we've got a better story than Mr. Pullman has written, we should be better at telling and living that story.

3. We can get all worked up about a movie coming out condemning Christianity. We can fear that our children will read the books and be influenced by the author's anti-theism. But I would contend that Cosmopolitan Magazine and Top 40 radio
(just to name 2) promote messages just as evil as the Golden Compass, they just do it more subversively. Or perhaps we're just used to it and don't hold that media to the same scrutiny. In short, your 6th grade daughter reading Cosmo might be worse than reading Pullman's trilogy.

So we need to teach our kids to think critically. I do believe that ideas and images have consequences. I'm not saying any hub-ub over this film is all misplaced, I'm simply saying that we should be just as discerning in what we are exposed to and what is shaping our children's ideas about what life is all about.

For my street cred

Book Review>UnChristian>part 2 Busters, Mosaics, and 6 Criticisms of the Church.

In UnChristian David Kinnaman seeks to discover how those outside the church view the Christian faith. The bulk of Kinnaman's research was done among two generations: Mosaics (born between 1984 and 2002) and Busters (born 1965 and 1983). I'm right at the beginning of the Mosaics baby! From the book:

"This book will focus primarily on the oldest Mosaics, those in their late teens up through age twenty-two, and the youngest Busters, primarily describing those under thirty...Keep in mind that identifying a "generation" is an analytical tool for understanding our culture and the people within it. It simply reflects the idea that people who are born over a certain period of time are influenced by a unique set of circumstances and global events, moral and social values, technologies, and cultural and behavioral norms...Recognizing the generational concept as a tool, rather than as definitive for every person means that exceptions are to be expected."

This is a great snapshot of Kinnaman's writing. He clearly defines his terms and is not pretending that his research is the ultimate authority, nor does any study capture 100% of reality. Consider this quote from page 20: "Jesus is so much more than a logical proof". In clarifying the generations he studied as well as allowing for "grey" with exceptions Kinnaman shows that he is a top notch researcher with integrity and does not pretend to have the silver bullet.

Each chapter contains some charts and graphs to visually demonstrate Kinnaman's findings. There are also some thoughts/real life examples from leaders within the church at the end of every chapter. This is the 3rd or 4th book with "reflections" after each chapter that I've read, and these were the best.

The chapters are built around 6 major areas of "heartburn" people expressed about Christianity:

Hypocritical
To focused on "Getting Saved"
Antihomosexual
Sheltered
Too Political
Judgmental

throughout the book there is sort of a "thesis" at the beginning; how Christians are perceived followed by an appropriate Christ like "position" on the issue. More on those with later posts. As you can see, these certainly interweave. So for those of you who just want to know what the book is about and the format it takes, there's two parts for ya. I hope to write on each chapter soon.

Right now I'm off to replace some tires on the Malibu.

Book Review>UnChristian>part 1 Knowing your audience

UnChristian is an empirical effort to examine how those "outside of the church" view Christianity. The research was done by David Kinnaman from The Barna Group, sort of a Christian Gallup Polling organization if you will.

The subtitle reads "what a new generation really thinks about Christianity...and why it matters". So as you might infer research was primarily focused on those aged 16-29. Which is a crossing of two generations: "the leading edge of the Mosaic generation and the trailing half of the Buster cohort". Throughout the book, Kinnaman provides well defined terms so even if you disagree with them at least you know up front with what you are not agreeing. Also, there is just the right amount of graphs/charts/pictures to know that this is great research, without feeling like a boring communications class presentation.

The overall "posture" of the book seems to be towards born-again evangelical Christians. Kinnaman seems to be peeling back the curtain for those folks that are along his own theological lines of thinking. He'll use the words "we" and you're not sure if that means Christians, or those that subscribe to particular doctrines within Christianity. Kinnaman does lay out different "tiers" to Christianity:
Self-identified Christians, Nonevangelical born again Christians, and Evangelical Christians. Since no one likes a mega-post, and Kinnaman has essentially written this book for an evangelical audience, here's his definition: (which is found in a small "glossary" in the back, great idea)

Evangelicals are "born-again" (meaning they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ, and believe they will go to heaven when they die as they have confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior).

Evangelicals also meet the following criteria-
1. saying their faith was very important in their life today
2. believe they have a personally responsibility to share their religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians
3. believe that Satan exists
4. believe that eternal salvation is possible only through grace, not works
5. believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth
6. asserting that the Bible is accurate in all that it teaches
7. describe God as the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today.

Kinnaman's definition of evangelical did not consider any denominational affiliation or requisite for church attendance.

This could be a misinterpretation on my part, but evangelicals are the audience to whom this book is written. This makes sense, because that is where David Kinnaman is coming from. To me, that is a fundamental (no pun intended!) factor in how one will receive the information. If you are not a part of the "we" that Kinnaman addresses, you could be in for a bumpy ride. If you're wondering whether I am on the fence on this, I happen to agree, if I had to pick yes or no, with Kinnaman. I would identify myself as an evangelical, with only a slight amount of trepidation given his definitions. But again, Kinnaman is very upfront with this, and kudos to him for not being wishy washy nor arrogant in his assertions. We could go round and round about the definition of "evangelical" and his criteria, etc. The most important part of the book is not what I've started out discussing, the most important part is the research and what it reveals about the state of the church in relation to the world around it.

So, now that you understand the basic premise of the book, and equally importantly the assumptions ( I'm not saying "bad" assumptions) behind the audience let's get to the good stuff.

Burst Your Bubble

So I've had an interesting couple of days. A little context- I'm currently reading the book "UnChristian" by Kinnaman/Lyons and one of the chapters talks about the perception of people outside the church thinking that Christians are sheltered. Dan Kimball speaks of the "Christian Bubble" many times in his books, on his blog, and in his sermons. You guys probably know some of the symptoms- Do you know who Doug Fields is? What about Dan Kimball, who I just casually referenced? How many Jars of Clay concerts have you been to? Can you use the word "fellowship" in a sentence? Do you know what an Epistle is? If I sing two words- "Father Abraham..." can you complete the melody with "had many sons, and many sons had...", and so on and so on*.

If you are reading this and that didn't make much sense to you, you probably aren't in the Christian bubble, or at least have not been exposed to it that much. But if you're like me and your first real concert was CARMEN, then you are in danger of being in the Christian bubble.

The danger of being caught in the bubble is exponentially higher when you are on staff at a church. Even if you volunteer a lot, you still have a job where you interact with people outside of a church community. The office can be almost like a cell in trying to reach a world thats going on outside the bubble (inside the bubble still needs redeeming too, but thats another post altogether).

But I've discovered if you want to burst the bubble a little bit, you can. If you missed my Imam encounter, go read that post to understand a little better. Yesterday, Mohammad called me. His car is still busted, so I helped take him around a couple different places in our area so he could invite people to his Mosque's inauguration (post office, city hall, police/fire stations, area churches, etc). I told him to call me if he ever needed anything, and he did!

You know what Mohammad told me? I had said something about being glad we were friends, and he said that we're more than friends because many "friends" won't help you when you're in need, but I was helping him. What a compliment! He also gave me a copy of the Koran, which, is another blog post altogether, as is some of our conversation.

So there I was, suburban white boy (complete with North Face Fleece jacket) hanging out with a Muslim leader. That was yesterday.

Today, I had breakfast with my good friend Harry. Harry is pastor of a church downtown that I contacted earlier in the summer because some of the Men's Ministry guys had him speak at their retreat, and I knew he had a church downtown and was looking for a place to do some service. Well, a great relationship evolved- Harry and I have become quite close.

Harry and I ate at Bread Co, with time going much faster than we thought. I come outside to discover I have a flat tire. Well, crap. Harry had AAA so he gave them a call (thanks Harry!) and we got to continue our long breakfast discussions. Now I have to tell you we're on Delmar street, an area in St. Louis known as "the loop" which I believe Nelly has referenced more than once, not that it matters. The Loop is one of the most diverse areas of the city in every facet you can think of.

So Bread Co. being the melting pot that it is, Harry and I are hanging out waiting for the tire to be changed and out comes a young woman wearing a pentagram around her neck. Just to give you a visual, Harry has got on a cap that says "Hooked on Jesus" and a t-shirt that says "Jesus Saves". I'm sort of blocking this girl from exiting the parking lot and me and Harry are standing there talking, and we both sort of pause. I darted back and forth between Harry's gear and her jewlery like somebody at a tennis match and braced myself for something going down.

Turns out this young woman was a witch, she was soon moving to Phoenix (and was allergic to the sun, which I found funny, she didn't). She had been raised Catholic/Baptist/Witch and had settled on the witch. She knew more about the Bible and took her faith more seriously than her Christian friends. She was very quick to assume that Harry and I might try to convert her (sort of) and was reluctant to really stand there and discuss with us but talked way more than I thought she might. Her name was Danny. The interaction that took place is ANOTHER blog post for another time.

My point is, maybe if I give a little effort, and take the opportunities right in front of me breaking out of the bubble isn't so hard. The white bread west county mold isn't so binding after all.

After all, a black preacher, a white preachers kid, a Muslim preacher, and a witch sounds more like a bad joke than my last two days. But it's true! We can burst our Christian bubbles if we look hard and take the risks. No, I didn't convert Danny or Mohamed. But I am helping to reverse the stereotype.

New Blog

My boy Cody just entered the blog world, check him out at:

www.codycruise.blogspot.com

Youth Worship

So we're having worship the first Wednesday of the month. The whole goal is to create an "alternative" worship experience. We don't really have a catchy name or some revolutionary model. I have blatantly stolen ideas from lots of sources, and our whole goal is to get kids (and their families) connecting with God in ways they may not be used to, on a night they may not be used to.

We set up chairs in a circle, so we're looking at each other, not at the back of everyone's head like when you're in pews. We have youth leading the music, but it's without amplifiers, and they join us in the circle. Whoever speaks (it's not me every time) sits right there in the circle with everyone else. This use of space communicates a theology that whoever is leading does not have higher access to God nor do they have some privileged position (literally above everyone else on the stage/platform/alter area/whatever).

Our focus is to try and move away from music and lecture into more experiential worship. Tonight it worked out pretty well, so I thought I'd share:

We sang Chris Tomlin's "indescribable" but before we did I asked everyone to take out their cell phones. I explained that we had been having problems with phones going off, and if every one could silence them, then throw them in the middle of the circle so that we wouldn't have to worry about them.

Then I said we'd be spending time thinking about the concept of forgiveness and how Jesus calls us to live, reconciling and bringing healing to our relationships. Then I gave a short introduction to the song "Apologize" by Timbaland feat. OneReplublic (it's actually a OneRepublic song, remixed by Timbaland. OneRepublic has a pretty remarkable MySpace following, and is releasing their first album soon). The song is about broken relationships and being hurt, and the haunting chorus says simply: "it's too late to apologize"

While the song was playing, I had asked everyone to write down the name of someone that they felt they had wronged...a relationship that needed healing...a person that needed an apology.

Then we read Matthew 5: 23-25:

"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

I talked very briefly (again, the focus is not the speaker) about the ancient laws about offering sacrifices and that people could be following all the rules but not really be doing God's will. You can follow all the rules but still miss the point. Then I said how we can come to church on Sunday, walk out the door, and be jerks. Jesus says this is crap. It is never to late to apologize, it is never to late to restore a relationship by asking for forgiveness. We cannot seperate our worship of God from our relationships with people.

Then, I asked everyone to pick up their cell phones and call the person they wrote down. Ya know what, just about everyone did. We then came "back to the alter" for prayer and appropriately sang "Grace Like Rain".

Funny how that works- came to church, tried to live out what Jesus said. Plus, we were done in about 40 minutes!

I encourage everyone to try this and let me know how it turns out.

National Youth Workers Convention

Friday through yesterday I was able to attend the National Youth Workers Convention right here in St. Louis. We were able to take 6 of us from church, which was great. Not only did we get to spread out and capture many different workshop sessions but it was also cool just to hang out.

Heard some great speakers- Duffy Robbins, Tony Campollo, and the producer of the X-Men movies. Got some really good music too- Leeland, Jars of Clay, and the surprise hit, Family Force 5.

Also, met some cool new folks. Thats definitely the best part of the convention, the sheer sense of community. Just yesterday (after the convention obviously) I had 3 people ask me "what it is I do exactly" and it's so cool to be with 3,500 people who do the same thing. We were at a Chinese buffet in line to pay, and some people from the convention were also in line and were eating sherbert. Upon commenting that it looked good, the guy offered me some right then! Now, how often does a stranger offer you ice cream, and neither of you feel creepy about it!?

Also, I attended two seminars with the same guy, and we struck up a conversation and ended up eating dinner one night. I just realized how "Meg Ryan Movie-ish" that sounded, and I'm sorry. Anyways, his name is Jake Bouma and he is a youth leader in Iowa. Even though he's a Cubs fan, I'll throw him some link love on the right!

Anyways, it's good to be back!

Quote of the Day:

"Whatever type of activity you have in mind, there’s Musto footwear that will suit it perfectly."

Apparently, there is a British performance apparel company; Musto!

Yea! Go out and get you some Musto gear!

Upon perusing the website a little more, I found the MUSTO ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE, which is in association with the Royal Yachting Association. I've been trying to tell people for years, I'm a blue blood baby!

Why My Job Is Awesome

This is great, from Youth Group last night.

Powerful Witness.

Posts like this make everything else I put up here pale in comparison.

As some of you may know, I had a friend die in a car accident a year ago. Today, the man who killed him (and a passenger in his own car) was sentenced.

Click to read.

Look at what his Dad said, from the article:

"Steven Downey, choking back tears as he spoke before House, described his son as someone who volunteered in inner city neighborhoods and foreign countries and helped victims of Hurricane Katrina on various mission trips.

Steven Downey said he spoke for his son and other victims in court, and he also wanted to speak for Jesus Christ.

"As his representative, I want to forgive Calvin and tell him with Jesus in his life, he can make better decisions," Steven Downey said."

Polygamy

Let me start out by saying it's funny how a lack of cable changes your opinions on what to watch. So, brace yourself-

Right now I'm watching Oprah.

It's about polygamy. Earlier there was a dude with 3 wives. Now a young woman who grew up, was married, and escaped from a polygamous community in Colorado City, Arizona.

I find it funny that there are no major lobbying groups, bumper stickers, sit-coms, reality shows, or major advocacy groups for polygamy. I'm just sayin.

Bliss.

The sweet "Dunder Mifflin" shirt is from one of the kids at church! It doesn't get much better than that; only one downside was the kids called me "papa smurf"

Ecumenical Baby!

So I'm on my way back to church from lunch (McDonalds, #11 in case you were wondering) and near the intersection right down the street (a fairly major one) there is a car stalled in the right lane.

I drive by, looking back to glance at the driver, and he looks like he could use a friend.

So I park at church, and walk back down to the car. I say hello and in somewhat broken english, get the same response.

The man's name is Mohammad, he's very nice, and very greatful that I stopped. I offer to push his car to my church's parking lot (a very masculine, but foolish instinct, the road is at a slight incline) and get him some help. He is somewhat apprehensive, and who wouldn't be, because tow trucks can be pricey.

About this time a St. Louis County officer pulls up and radios to another police car with one of the guards on the front to push a car in just this type of scenario. So, they push the car up to the church while I called the tow truck.

Turns out Muhammad is the Imam at a new mosque not to far from my church. After the officers left we chatted while we waited for the tow truck. He was very friendly and I think we were both relieved that we could both be sincere in appreciating the other.

The tow truck comes, and I had offered to give Mohammad a ride. Even after the tow guy said he could just take him, Mohammad invited me to come see the newly completed mosque.

It was really cool, I had never been in a mosque before. We chatted about the Muslim tradition of praying 5 times throughout the day and about how his community had gotten started. We were both interested in working together in the future. We talked a little theology, I mostly listened. We talked about what Islam and Christianity had in common, the main difference coming from what Mohammad called "the philosophy of the trinity."

What would not have made much of a difference was me sitting there and trying to give an apologetic of trinitarian doctrine in the middle of this man's mosque. What did make a difference was a sincere and mutual kindness between Mohammad and I: hospitality was shown in me paying for his tow truck, and in him giving me an extensive tour.

It was quite a lunch!

Cursing Increases Morale?

Check out this article off of yahoo.com today. "Regular swearing at work can help boost team spirit among staff, allowing them to express better their feelings as well as develop social relationships, according to a study by researchers."

Wonder how this would go over where I work? (a church for those that don't know me)

It is funny (not funny "haha" but "odd", not like a clown BB) to see how different words are appropriate in different situations depending on people's views. It's an especially tough line to walk as one who interacts with young people, whose parents may have widely varying views on the issue. For example, the following might be black listed in some households:

"stupid"
"dumb"
"shut up"

Growing up, I probably deserved to have all of the above said to me! I remember being told not to tell my sister to shut-up, so I guess early on I was under a "G" rated home.

But now as an adult, I casually use the following frequently:

"shoot"
"crap"
"that pisses me off"

Now, when you type them out it seems worse than when you use them in a sentence! But one has to be mindful of the context in which one peppers their vocabulary with such language. So the question is: If its inappropriate sometimes, is it really inappropriate all the time?

So whereas I would use the word "crap" in front of my Grandma and not think twice about it, other words used casually do inspire a double take in my opinion. I've been around young pastor-y types who cursed frequently, and it struck me as very funny because it was very apparent to me they were doing it for "street cred". Which leads me back to the article (betchu thought I would never get back there!).

I think what "raises morale" is there is a certain sense of casual-ness that comes with using cuss words. It's like people feel un-restricted to share this sort of machismo comradery. It's like an ongoing verbal casual Friday- you can take off the tie, loosen the shirt tail, and talk like you were at a bar in Memphis Missouri.

That, would definitely not fly where I'm at.

However there have been times when a well placed curse word (the a-word if you're wondering) provides some urgency or poignant definition to the subject at hand. So maybe there is some truth to this?

What do you guys think? POST A ^%$#@ COMMENT!

YEA BABY!

It's nearing the end of 2007. You know what that means.

NEW 2008 MALIBU.

Wedding Band

So I might be pushing the limits of masculinity here, but I did this for Sarah's ring so I figured by title 9 standards I can do it with my own.

Some friends went to Israel a couple years back and returned with these rings on. The middle part actually spins, which is cool, and you can customize the Hebrew script in the middle. Mine will say:

"For if one falls his friend can lift him up" from Ecclesiastes 4. What do you guys think?

Another Mustoe Beard Salute

This time is a dandy my friends. Today we salute the original Mr. Caldwell himself. I'm not sure if this was taken in the 1980's, or the 1880's. Look at that beautiful goat and that dastardly stache! I don't know if I have ever beheld a beard so charming yet so creepy. Well done Mr. Caldwell, well done. You can view his offspring's blog on the "links" section.

Last week wrap up

I know this is a little late. Most of the things I highlighted from last week should be well known as awesome without me having to provide specifics, but here-a-goes:

Halo 3- I call this "the Jack Johnson factor". Jack Johnson makes great albums. Sure, you might not be able to tell a huge difference but one to the next, but why would you want to? Same with the Halo games. They improved on some interfaces, provided some new weapons and sweet new vehicles, and basically just kept doin what they do. Well done.

Remedy, Crowder's new album- Unlike Jack Johnson, you can draw some differences between his different albums. My only complaint about this album is that its too short.

The Office season premier- You could make a case for The Office being the funniest show ever. It did not disappoint either.

Other stuff I've been thinking is awesome lately:

Streaming TV shows- The decision to say "screw you Charter" and go no cable was made MUCH easier by the fact that I can watch my two favorite shows online for free. PTI and The Office are both available on demand. It's a beautiful thing.

The Jive and Wail- It's a new dueling piano bar in St. Louis. I've never seen such a diverse group of people all together having a good time quite like that. From 21-70 everyone was jamming. (I wish the church could bring people together like booze and crass piano players do)

Facebook- Tonight I'm meeting up with my bff from elementary school. I'm actually really excited. He'd probably think it was creepy if he knew that: 1. I wrote about him on my blog and 2. referred to him as "my bff" on said blog.

Pillsbury Biscuits

My friend Steve's videos- We've been having a youth worship service the first Wednesday of the month for the past two months. As part of that we have "video liturgy". Click on the link to see the video.

Well, there's some tidbits for ya. Hopefully this was a more all around positive post. Peace up, A-Town down!